The FE 24mm 1.4 GM – also known as the first Sony lens I ever preordered. At Photokina we could have a look at this lens and Jannik and Bastian decided to buy it. As they have now received it we are starting our rolling-review that will be steadily updated as we get to know the lens better.
10/17/18: Rolling-Review started by Bastian
10/19/18: Janniks lens arrived, Aperture series, bokeh, flare, samples and CA updated
10/20/18: Vignetting and close up updated
Last Update:
With the Sony FE 24mm 1.4 GM hitting the shelves soon and the ongoing Instragram hype it might be a good time to talk a bit about environmental portraits.
What is an environmental portrait and what is the difference compared to a normal portrait? Which lenses work best? Which mistakes I made in the past but you can already avoid today?
These are the questions I will try to answer in this article.
We have become used to old lens formulas being revived and sold for occasionally huge sums of money to collectors and photographers hoping to create images with a magical vintage look. All of us here have been very sceptical about this. Mostly they have been simple lenses in simple bodies with poor technical qualities being sold for more than the price of the latest and greatest glass. From one perspective the legendary C-Sonnar from Zeiss is like this. It’s a classic design dating from 1932 whose principal design goal at the time was to reduce the number of air glass surfaces because the coatings of the day were so primitive. Why do we need it now? But Zeiss bought it back in 2006 in M mount as part of the ZM series. The optical design is not much changed, but it comes with modern coatings. Many prize it for magical rendering and flattering portraiture, others think it shows that not even Zeiss is above trying to rip off nostalgic hipsters. Read on and find out who is right!
| Diameter | 56 mm |
| Length | 45 mm |
| Filter Thread | 46 mm |
| Weight (w/o adapter) | 250 g |
| Max. Magnification (w/o close focus adapter) | 1:15 |
| Close Focusing Distance from the sensor (w/o CFA) | 0.9 m |
| Number of aperture blades | 10 |
| Elements/ Groups | 6/4 |
Continue reading Carl Zeiss C-Sonnar T* 50mm f1.5 ZM: A Detailed Review
It seems every two years we see an interesting ultra wide angle FE lens by Laowa. First the Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D FE at Photokina in 2016 and now 2 years later the Laowa 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 C-Dreamer FE at Photokina 2018.
The Voigtländer 10mm 5.6 E held the crown for being the widest rectilinear lens, now we have a zoom lens starting at 10mm but going all the way up to 18mm by Laowa. Is the image quality good enough to get this over the Voigtlander?
This is a Rolling-Review, bits and pieces will be added as we get to know the lens better.
Last Update: More samples added, distortion correction profiles added, chapter use with filters added (10/14/18)
Continue reading Rolling-Review: Laowa 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 FE C-Dreamer
When I go to Photokina I am actually most interested in looking at new tripods, ballheads, bags and other accessories as most stores only have very limited stuff on display, and here you can often have a look at the manufacturer’s whole line up.
I will only cover the companies that I found to bring something new or interesting to the table.
I am a long time Gitzo user but the latest releases don’t really get me excited. Gitzo started producing a line of shoulder bags and backpacks. Whether you like the style or not is obviously a matter of personal taste, but I found most of them to be too heavy for what they offer.
Continue reading Photokina Recap Part 7: Tripods, Filters, Accessories