Here’s More From The Photography Universe
Welcome back to your highlights from the fantastic world of Photography.
HARDWARE & GEAR
New 35mm f/1.8 for Full Frame Sony
Sony has recently launched a new f/1.8 35mm lens for their full-frame mirrorless cameras. The lens itself is weather sealed so you can expect it to be dust and moisture resistant. It weighs 280 grams, and it can be bought here for $748.00. It is still on the waiting list, and it will start shipping on August 30th. It can also be used on their APS-C cameras, and the crop factor results in a 52.5mm equivalent, which is a pretty nice focal distance for portraiture and other general purposes.
Most Travel Ready and Versatile Leica ever
Or at least that is what Leica claims it to be. This bridge camera will be a perfect companion for general travelling purposes. It has a 16X Optical Zoom, which is a 25mm-400mm equivalent lens. The great thing about this camera is that it offers enormous optical power in a relatively small package. This camera is called V-Lux 5 and can be found here for $1,250.00. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 at 25mm and f/4 at 400mm and has a 20mp sensor.
V for X100V
It is official, the fifth generation of the X100 series features a V label. It was announced earlier by the well-trusted folks over at Fuji Rumors, which honestly we suspect they have some serious spies inside Fuji's Headquarters. We are still not sure if the camera will feature a new lens of what, but we honestly wish that they keep it as pristine as usual, with its fixed 23mm and all the excellent features the new sensor could have. They don't cite where they got the official information about the V, but we trust these sneaky fellows.
About the Fujinon GF250mm
This lens had previously gone under our noses unnoticed, but thanks to a new firmware we finally spotted it. This is a 250mm lens for their medium format cameras. We don't have to explain to you guys how thrilling it is to have a 250mm lens attached to a powerful medium format camera (even the nice GFX100) which can also record video. You can read more about this solid beast here. The lens itself costs around $2,799.00 and can be found here as well.
What About a Pocket Size Full-frame ILC?
That is precisely what Sigma has developed, it is simply the world's smallest and lightest full-frame camera ever. Honestly, it looks like a sensor with some buttons and an LCD screen. Its dimensions are 112.6 × 69.9 × 45.3 mm and weighs just 370g (without the battery, but how much could that weight anyway?). It looks tough, and it is rough. The camera has been designed with a dust-& splash-proof structure and can fit any L mount lens, and they also have some converters for DSLR regular Sigma lenses, and Cine lenses too. There are no more excuses for switching over to mirrorless with this tiny yet mighty camera. You can read more about this crazy camera here.
Color Night Vision Video and Photo
The new Aurora Sport HD action camera by SiOnyx promises to deliver decent imagery in near moonless starlight conditions. The camera is very portable but not very stealthy with that white colour in the night. Some privacy concerns perhaps made SiOnyx to manufacture this camera like this. Here you can watch the promotional video (which has a piece of very hideous music) and here you can learn more about this $399 camera. It comes with a fixed 8mm lens (16mm equivalent) with a 1″ Ultra Low-Light CMOS sensor. The lens runs from f/1.4 to f/2 and then f/5.6, we think that these three steps might have something to do with the three shooting modes it comes with.
Classic Cine Lenses
Sigma has announced that they have developed a whole line of cine lenses that feature less optical artefacts to achieve a classic film look. This is not for the regular user of course but for the passionate cinematographers and film directors that want to mimic the aesthetic experience of long-time classic movies.
The lineup includes the following lenses:
- 14mm T3.2
- 20mm T2.5
- 24mm T2.5
- 28mm T2.5
- 35mm T2.5
- 40mm T2.5
- 50mm T2.5
- 85mm T2.5
- 105mm T2.5
- 135mm T3.2
If you are fluent in Japanese, you can watch the whole set of announcements made by Sigma last week here. And here you can read a short opinion about these lenses thanks to Morgan Dameron.
Digital Commands from Fuji
Fuji Rumors always has excellent information, and this past week they've shown us a new patent from Fuji. Here you can see a compact camera featuring the LCD panel for dials, just like their magnificent beast, the GFX-100. The note on Fuji Rumors is brief as always, but John Aldred from DIY has as more in-depth reading on them here.
Give your Old Bodies a New Life
I'm Back has announced a new gadget, and finally, the family is complete. This is a low-cost digital back for medium format analogue cameras. It comes with plenty of features that gives old cameras a new life. It was an instant hit on Kickstarter, so it will happen. Here you can read more about it.
Leaked: Fujinon GF50mm f/3.5 and XF 16-80mm f/4
Again, Fuji Rumors gives us more things to talk about. In this brief post, they have shown us two new lenses that will appear soon. One is for the X mount, a 16-80mm f/4, and the other one is a GF 50mm f/3.5. Remember that this last one is medium format, so f/3.5 is a decent aperture to have. The prices for both lenses should be nearly $800.00 for the 16-80mm and roughly $1,250.00 for the GF 50mm f/3.5.
SOFTWARE & APPS
We are Getting There
As technology advances, more and more twisted image solutions appear. Last week we witnessed how some researchers have started developing a way for actually relighting portraits in any way you want before the shot. This looks pretty similar to some features on iPhone that simulate optical stuff, and it might feel pretty fake right now, but it could certainly develop into something more and more precise with the years. You can read the whole paper here.
AI-Based Photo Restoration
A new website has sprouted in mother Russia, and it allows you to restore and colourise your old photos from the way-ago past. They promise to find all the image defects, from fractures to even holes, and after that, they colourise the image with marvellous precision. You can read more about the whole process from the man behind the project here. You can bring your old photos back to life, you simply upload them here, and their AI will do the rest.
SOME STORIES
Rock your Ugly
Photography is a powerful tool that can actually change some things in the world. From an individual's life to a social phenomenon. In this project, Waleed Shah features people that have expressed feeling insecure about their bodies. The project is very compelling and has gained notice among the photography world. You can watch Shah's whole project here.
Nadav Kander got Ripped off
Someone took a photo of a printed portrait Nadav Kander made featuring the one and only, David Lynch. The fellow “photographer” then uploads the image to one of those stock photo places run by AI, and it went through. Later The BiG Issue (a British mag) published an issue featuring the “legally bought photo” of Lynch in their cover. You can read the post by Kander himself here.
A Young Film Camera Repairman
I know a couple of fellow loons that love to repair old film cameras. And I am really thankful that they still exist in this era of disposable goods we currently live in. Today I want to share with you a video I stumble on featuring Pierro Pozella, a 22-year-old film camera repairman, and it is a fantastic story.
On Andriy Dubchak
Here Amos Chapple shared with us an interview made to Andriy Dubchak, one of the very few photojournalists that covered the conflict in eastern Ukraine since it escalated.
NYC's 2019 Black Out in a Beautiful Time Lapse
A considerable portion of New York went black on Saturday 13th after some electric failures. Joseph DiGiovanna has a pretty peculiar goal, creating a 30 year Timelapse of New York City. Therefore, he was able to capture the whole blackout as it was going on, and is quite mesmerising and also terrifying to watch.
FILM & PHOTOCHEMICALS
LomoChrome Metropolis
Manufacturing films isn't an easy task, and Lomography has announced a new film after releasing their last colour negative (C-41) film 5 years ago. The film itself has been designed to render a peculiar look with deep blacks for more contrast, and it has a very fine grain so you can expect a beautiful aesthetic. It will feature a generous array of formats (35mm, 120, 110 and 16mm if things go right). It is 5500K balanced and has an overall behaviour of deep blacks with curved highlights and stark tonal curve for dramatic exposures. Meet this new film here, and back it here.
Behind the Film, an Inside view to the Ilford Factory
So, if you don't trust us that making film is a very complicated thing, then you should watch this video. And if you do believe us, still watch it, you'll be delighted. Getting to know how this kind of thing is done is always a pleasure, and here in this short documentary film, we can get an inside look to one of the most renowned film manufacturers in history, Ilford by Harman. Here you'll get a glimpse of how film, photographic paper and chemicals are manufactured, enjoy!
Kodak Mobile Film Scanner
Finally, Kodak has made something at a reasonable price. Scanning film is complicated and quite expensive too. Kodak has developed a cheap solution for making it easy and fun to do. This product is called “Mobile Film Scanner”, and is made out of cardboard, oh, and you control it with your phone, so the quality will rely on your device. This piece of cardboard costs $40, and you can get it here!. It really looks fun to have.