Tokina is Bringing Its 11-18mm f/2.8 to Fujifilm X-Mount https://petapixel.com/2025/02/14/tokina-is-bringing-its-11-18mm-f-2-8-to-fujifilm-x-mount/ #tokina1118mmf28atxm #fujifilmxmount #superwideangle #wideanglezoom #kenkotokina #cropsensor #lensreview #Equipment #wideangle #apsclens #fujifilm #zoomlens #tokina #xmount #News #apsc #lens

Laowa 10mm f/2.8 Zero-D Review: A Fun Lens That Has Some Tradeoffs https://petapixel.com/2024/11/01/laowa-10mm-f-2-8-zero-d-review-a-fun-lens-that-has-some-tradeoffs/ #laowa10mmf2-8zerodff #venusopticslaowa #superwideangle #zerodistortion #laowa10mmf28 #venusoptics #Equipment #autofocus #laowa10mm #wideangle #Reviews #nikonz #review #laowa #nikon #sonye #ZeroD #Sony

The Pixii Max.. Finally! 🤩
Full frame digital rangefinder with Leica thread mount 💪 Looks so darn cool with the Voigtlander 15mm Super Wide-Heliar and its viewfinder 😎
Swipe to see a picture taken with this combo 👉

#pixii #digitalrangefinder #pixiicamera #rangefinder #pixiimax #manualphotography #pixiicameraclub #pixiiframez #fullframe #fullframecamera #camera #cameraporn #voigtlander #wide #wideangle #superwideheliar #superwideangle #superwide #peakdesign

FUJIFILM X-H1 + Fujinon XF10-24mmF4 R OIS
#Japan #富士フイルム #FUJIFILM #FujifilmJapan #FujifilmFocus #FujiLove #IshootFUJIFILM #MyFujiLove #FujiShooters #FujifilmPhotography #FujiFeed #FujiPhotography
#FujifilmXH1 #FujiXH1 #XH1 #Fujinon #XF1024 #XF1024mm
#超広角 #広角 #WideAngle #SuperWideAngle #UltraWideAngle #corner #角 #VanishingPoint #消失点 #monochrome #blackandwhite

Sigma 20mm f/2 DG DN Review: An Excellently Average Lens

#equipment #reviews #20mm #emount #fullframelens #gearreview #lens #lensreview #sigma #sigma20mmf2dgdn #sonyemountlens #superwideangle #wideanglelens

Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens Review: Feels Good, Shoots Great

The RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM is a brand new ultra-wide-angle zoom lens from Canon. Its impressive range of 14mm all the way to 35mm with a constant f/4 aperture in an L-series full-frame lens is a big deal, and we haven’t even gotten started.

Build Quality and Design

The RF 14-35mm f/4L is a fat and stubby lens that honestly looks gorgeous. It measures 3.3 inches (8.4 centimeters) in diameter and 3.9 inches (9.9 centimeters) in length at its shortest. Interestingly, the lens extends both at the 14mm end and the 35mm end but sits flush at 22mm. At 35mm, the lens length is 4.25 inches (10.80 centimeters). When I’m packing up the lens back in my bag, it does feel a little strange to not simply collapse it by moving all the way to one end of the focal range. Rather, I have to take the extra second or two to find 22mm on the markings.

Its exterior construction is matte plastic, however much of it is covered with its zoom ring, focus ring, and control ring. Each ring has a different texture, but throughout testing, I never really developed a sense for the tactile difference on my fingertips. Either way, it’s really obvious what ring is being turned once in motion as they all have different properties. The zoom ring is quite stiff and I find it’s a touch too much for my taste, yet it does have the benefit of being unlikely to knock out of place. The focus ring is very nice and fluid and can be adjusted with just one finger. The control ring has steps to it like a typical aperture ring and again feels great.

The lens weighs 1.2 pounds (0.5 kilograms) and from the size of it, I thought it would be heavier. Overall, I’m very impressed with the build quality. I shot with it unfazed for a short period in the rain and it does feature weather-resistant seals at the mount, switches, and all three rings.

Image Quality

Inside, the RF 14-35mm f/4L uses 16 elements in 12 groups, including three ultra-low dispersion elements, three aspherical elements, and one ultra-low dispersion aspherical element. The aperture uses nine circular blades which can still produce a nice sun star.

With the lighting source in the frame, it’s not hard to attract ghosting flare, albeit well controlled. That’s surprising given that the lens elements have Canon-developed super spectra coatings, sub-wavelength structure coatings, and air sphere coatings.

Testing out the sharpness of the lens, I found that shooting at any focal length produces the same results throughout the aperture range.

Looking at center sharpness, I saw that stopping down to just f/5 is already a great improvement, but it’s f/9 that will be peak sharpness. By f/16 it retains about the same sharpness as wide open at f/4 and continues to decline from there. While f/22 is the softest, it’s not unusable by any means, especially with post-sharpening work and the fact no one else will be pixel peeping the images. At the corners, peak sharpness is slightly different being f/10. If you’re a landscape photographer searching for optimum sharpness, either f/9 or f/10 is where I’d suggest starting.

On the opposite end, out-of-focus areas look terrific with the RF 14-35mm f/4L. At the center when shooting wide open, bokeh balls are circular with only the slightest hard edge to be seen. Likewise, out-of-focus objects do not stand out with busy, hard edges, rather they produce pleasingly soft gradients. Near the corners, the bokeh balls do begin to become lopsided but it’s hard to tell in a full image.

You may not think the bokeh characteristic would come into play much with such an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens, but that’s not entirely accurate. One thing this lens is outstanding at is its minimum focus distance. Throughout the focus range, it can virtually focus on anything in front of it. Maybe not exactly to the point the front element is touching the subject, but just as close as you’d ever want to be safe -- close enough to where the lens hood’s shadow becomes evident, I’ll say.

To conduct this lens review, Canon sent me the EOS RP camera. Given the entry-level body, autofocus abilities are difficult to ascertain. That said, moving from point A to point B is still lightning-fast and silent. I noticed that 14mm goes directly from one point to the other while at 35mm the focus does bounce quickly at the endpoint before settling (but seems likely a symptom of the camera). As for tracking, on the EOS RP, the combination works relatively well when a subject is approaching but seems to not be able to handle a subject moving away. Not only does the camera not keep up in those instances, but it also seems to completely fudge the focus to infinity even if nothing in the frame would be in focus at infinity.

Feels Good, Looks Good

This is my very first experience with the Canon full-frame mirrorless system, and despite being handed the budget camera to get the job done, I’m walking away impressed. I’m not sure what it’s like shooting the kit lens for the EOS RP, but I can say for certain that the 14-35mm f/4L is making the images coming off the camera look really good. It’s a sharp zoom lens that’s well balanced for all situations going from 14mm all the way to 35mm with a constant f/4 aperture. I love its adorable stubbiness in the design and how lightweight it really is, ready to be carried anywhere.

Are There Alternatives?

Coming in at $2,400, there’s the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM. For $700 more than the 14-35mm f/4L, this lens would add an extra stop of light while maintaining many of the great qualities. The downsides are that it’s half a pound heavier, an inch longer, and all-around larger as it takes 82mm filters rather than 77mm.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. Overall, the RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM is a great choice that I would recommend to any Canon shooter looking for an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens.

#equipment #reviews #canon #canon1435f4lisusm #canonrfmount #landscapephotography #lensreview #rfmount #superwideangle #ultrawideangle #ultrawideanglelens #wideanglelens

Sony Unveils the Compact and Lightweight 14mm f/1.8 G-Master Lens

Sony has unveiled the 14mm f/1.8 G Master, an ultra-wide lens with a large aperture that the company believes is ready to take on astrophotography, landscapes, and architecture along with plus portraits and closeups thanks to its unique design.

The new 14mm f/1.8 GM is now Sony’s widest full-frame prime lens with only the 12-24mm f/2.8 and 12-24mm f/4 zoom lenses going wider in the lineup. While a 14mm full-frame prime lens is nothing new, the combination with a wide f/1.8 aperture is rare. Considering the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens was designed for DSLRs, this is the first mirrorless-centric release with such a combination.

Measuring 3.9 inches (99.8 millimeters) long by 3.3 inches (83 millimeters) in diameter, the 14mm GM takes full advantage of its mirrorless, short flange back design. It weighs 16.3 ounces (460 grams), and Sony made a point to keep the balance away from the front for better handling.

Inside the lens, there are 14 elements in 11 groups including two XA elements, one aspherical element, one Super ED element, and two ED elements. These special elements work to minimize chromatic aberrations and sagittal flaring, and the application of Nano AR Coating II subdues ghosting and flaring that can crop up with tough lighting situations.

At the rear of the 14mm GM are two XD linear autofocus motors. Sony promises fast, precise, and quiet autofocus performance for photo and video applications. The lens can focus as close as 9.8 inches (0.25 meters) which equates to a 0.1x maximum magnification. Paired with the f/1.8 maximum aperture, there are creative depth of focus possibilities to be explored despite the ultra-wide 14mm focal length.

The exterior of the lens features a linear focus ring, an aperture ring with a de-click switch, an AF/MF focus mode switch, and a customizable focus hold button. The front element has a fluorine coating to repel dust, water, and fingerprints, and the lens body itself is dust and moisture resistant.

Due to the bulbous front element and built-in lens hood, traditional screw-on filter systems will not be compatible. However, Sony has provided a rear filter holder like the 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens where gel filters can be cut from the included template to fit into place.

The Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master lens is priced at $1,600 and will begin shipping in mid-May 2021.

#equipment #news #14mm #sony14mmf18gm #sony14mmf18gmaster #superwideangle #wideangle #wideanglelens

Sony 14mm f/1.8 G-Master Review: An Impossibly Good Lens

Super-wide-angle lenses made for full-frame cameras are usually some combination of big, heavy, slow, or riddled with image quality problems. Usually.

The new Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master lens is trying to go where almost no lens has gone before. The company claims the use cases of its 14mm GM ranges from astrophotography, architecture, and landscapes to close-ups and portraiture. To do so, they created a bright, super-wide lens with a short minimum focusing distance and advanced autofocusing motors. It has all the best optics that Sony has to offer in an effort to create something sharp and free of distortion and aberrations. It’s then packaged in a size that is unheard of for all the things just mentioned.

The crazy part is I think they succeeded.

Design and Build Quality

The Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM measures 3.9 inches (99.8 millimeters) long by 3.3 inches (83 millimeters) in maximum diameter. It only weighs 1 pound (460 grams). Yes, feel free to get out the tape measure and scale to confirm that these are indeed some mind-blowing numbers. Take the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 AF, add one and a third stops to the maximum aperture, add all the best lens design Sony has to offer, and it’s somehow even lighter and almost the exact same size.

I don’t get it either.

The balancing point of the lens alone is almost exactly right in the middle and on my Sony a7R III with vertical grip and two batteries, the balance is right at the sensor. Sony said that having one of the two XA (extreme aspherical) elements at the front plus the two XD (extreme dynamic) linear focusing motors at the very rear helped to create a lens not so front-heavy as often seen with ultra-wides.

Something it does share in common with other ultra-wide-angle lenses is the bulbous front element and a built-in lens hood. Because of this, there are no front filter threads. Like the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, the new 14mm GM instead has a rear filter holder that can take third-party gel filters cut from a template.

The construction feels mid-tier in terms of ruggedness.

There’s the plastic housing, plastic non-removable lens hood, plastic controls, and a metal mount. With the click switch set to on, the aperture ring feels chunky with well-defined clicks between each one-third stop from f/1.8 to f/16. With the click switch set to off, there’s an even resistance to the aperture ring movement, and not quite as fluid as the rubberized focus ring. The lens also has a customizable focus hold button and focus mode switch.

f/16, 25s, ISO 100

The front element uses a fluorine coating to repel water, dust, and fingerprints. While shooting close-up photos of my dog, more than once she smudged the lens with her nose in excitement, but cleanup was just a quick wipe away. Depending on how careful you are, the 9.8-inch (0.25-meter) minimum focus (distance from the sensor to the subject) combined with an ultra-wide field of view means things may be moving in closer to the bulbous front element than intended, so easy cleaning is a big plus. Overall, the lens is also dust and moisture resistant to the same levels as the rest of the most recent G-Master line.

As a side note, when the camera is off it is normal for the lens to have a moving piece inside of it. This is the focusing element sliding back and forth with no power to hold it in place. With the 14mm GM and the way it’s designed with the focusing groups at the very back, you can watch it moving when the lens is detached. I get a lot of people asking me if their new Sony lenses came damaged and this is always the culprit for that fear.

f/1.8, 1/3200s, ISO 100

Image Quality

Corrective features inside the 14mm GM to improve image quality include two XA elements, one aspherical element, one Super ED element, two ED elements, and Nano AR Coating II. Overall, I found the lens hits its peak between the apertures of f/4 and f/8. That being said, I was impressed with the lens across the board and there’s no f-stop I wouldn’t use.

Looking over all the RAW photos I shot, there was very little color fringing to be found. Virtually none at 1:1, but if I went on a search mission at 3:1 there would be traces of it in the usual places, such as thin tree branches against a bright sky. With lens profile corrections coming any day to RAW processing software, even these trace amounts would vanish before you know they’re there.

f/11, 1/4s, ISO 100

As for vignetting, it exists most heavily at f/1.8 and f/2. It takes its first big jump toward clearing up at f/2.2, and then by f/3.2 it essentially disappears with no difference between that and stopping down more.

Vignetting at f/1.8 Vignetting at f/2.2 Vignetting at f/3.2

The 14mm GM is a sharp lens. Do you know how I know it’s a sharp lens? Because it exhibits the same issue a couple of other super sharp Sony lenses have: the JPEG photo shown on the back of the a7R III is notably crunchy from being over-sharpened in-camera. Below are full crops showing center sharpness at f/1.8, f/4, f/8, and f/16. To my eye, the lens is sharpest at the center when stopped down to f/4. While most of the aperture range performs quite well, the diffraction all the way down at f/16 takes a toll on sharpness.

Center sharpness at f/1.8, center focus point, 100% crop Center sharpness at f/4, center focus point, 100% crop Center sharpness at f/8, center focus point, 100% crop Center sharpness at f/16, center focus point, 100% crop

Looking at the corners, there is sharpness to be gained by stopping down the lens, but you may not realize it unless you are doing direct comparisons like this. Realizing the first photo below is the far corner of a 14mm full-frame lens at f/1.8, I would call it superb performance under the circumstances. It’s only when bringing the aperture down some that we see it gets even better. At f/8, the corners of the lens reach their peak sharpness. As we saw with the center sharpness, the effects of diffraction also creep in at f/16 to make the image a touch softer but absolutely usable.

Corner sharpness at f/1.8, top left focus point, 100% crop Corner sharpness at f/2.5, top left focus point, 100% crop Corner sharpness at f/8, top left focus point, 100% crop Corner sharpness at f/16, top left focus point, 100% crop f/8, 1/25s, ISO 100

Moving away from the center of the frame, there will naturally still be perspective distortion that causes a heavy skew on vertical lines as the lens is tilted upwards or downwards. However, because there is very limited barrel distortion with the straight lines, fixing this with only a perspective distortion correction is simple.

Once the lens profile corrections are added to firmware updates and popular RAW processing software, any minimal tweak needed to correct barrel adjustment should have virtually no effect on the original composition.

f/1.8, 1/400s, ISO 125

The autofocus uses two XD linear motors at the rear of the lens to move the smaller focus groups. Overall, the autofocus speed is snappy. There is a hushed grinding noise when the autofocus moves from one extreme focal distance to the other, and a gentle vibration can be felt in the grip of the camera. Much more relevant to real-world shooting, however, is that while actively tracking something with any focal distance change, no sound can be heard or vibration felt.

f/1.8, 1/1600s, ISO 100 f/2.8, 1/3200s, ISO 400

A Primo Lens

The Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM is a very appealing lens to those who crave fitting the most into one frame in terms of both field of view and light gathering. For low-light shooters, the aperture can be the difference in shooting something at ISO 8,000 with a 14mm f/2.8 lens or ISO 3,200 with the Sony 14mm f/1.8. At high ISOs, your camera can either handle it or it can’t, and this 14mm f/1.8 gives a big boost in what’s possible.

It’s not just these photographers that will find this seemingly niche focal length useful. With the distortion control, outstanding sharpness, shallower depth of field, and quick autofocus system, it’s become a more versatile lens that could fit its way into anyone’s camera kit.

f/1.8, 3s, ISO 100

Are There Alternatives?

The most direct comparison to Sony’s 14mm f/1.8 GM comes from the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art. Seeing as they are comparable in price, though, it’s hard to imagine Sigma winning in every category against this G-Master lens, especially when there’s a world’s difference in weight and size: Sigma’s E-mount model measures in at 5.9 inches (152 millimeters) long by 3.8 inches (95.4 millimeters) in diameter. That’s two full inches longer than Sony thanks in part to their built-in mount converter. The weight difference is also substantial: The Sigma weighs 2.7 pounds (1,230 grams) versus the 1 pound (460 grams) of Sony.

Looking at a 14mm lens that’s similar in size to Sony, and we are back to the Rokinon (also goes by Samyang) that I mentioned early on in this review. The Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 AF is one and a third stop slower than the Sony, however it at least costs about $1,000 less, too. If you’re looking for peak optical quality and all the light-gathering you can get at 14mm, this might not be enough for you. But as we’ve seen with the success of Rokinon lenses through the years, the quality-to-price ratio is fair to many.

Lastly, keeping it within the Sony lineup the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM is about $1,000 more expensive than the 14mm f/1.8 GM, is one and a third stop slower, but at the end of the day it can zoom and therefore take the spot of multiple lenses in a bag if versatility is of key importance to you.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. Not only is the Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM an optically wonderful lens with excellent sharpness throughout the image and controlled distortion, but it’s also all housed in a package that beats the pants off of its current main competitor in Sigma. The f/1.8 aperture with a wide field of view has obvious benefits to nighttime shooters, but the possibility of a shallower depth of field at an ultra-wide focal length can create compelling photos anytime.

#products #reviews #14mm #emount #fullframelens #lensreview #review #sony14mmf18gm #sony14mmf18gmaster #sonyemount #sonylens #superwideangle #wideangle