All posts by BastianK

My name is Bastian and for many years I have been mostly shooting Nikon DSLRs. As of today I have made my transition from Nikon to Sony and I am mainly using small but capable manual lenses. My passion is landscape photography but I also like to delve into other subjects from time to time.
lenses, Review, Sony E-mount

Rolling-Review: Laowa 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 FE C-Dreamer

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Introduction

laowa 10-18mm zoom c-dreamer 4.5-5.6 ultra wide 42mp a7 a7rII a7rIII review sharpness
Laowa FE 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 C-Dreamer on Sony A7rII

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, coma, vignetting, sharpness close and alternatives sections added, sunstar section updated, preliminary conclusion added (10/21/18)

Sample Images

laowa 10-18mm zoom c-dreamer 4.5-5.6 ultra wide 42mp a7 a7rII a7rIII review sharpness
Sony A7rII | Laowa FE 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 | 10mm | f/5.6
laowa 10-18mm zoom c-dreamer 4.5-5.6 ultra wide 42mp a7 a7rII a7rIII review sharpness
Sony A7rII | Laowa FE 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 | 10mm | f/11
laowa 10-18mm zoom c-dreamer 4.5-5.6 ultra wide 42mp a7 a7rII a7rIII review sharpness
Sony A7rII | Laowa FE 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 | 10mm | f/8.0
laowa 10-18mm zoom c-dreamer 4.5-5.6 ultra wide 42mp a7 a7rII a7rIII review sharpness
Sony A7rII | Laowa FE 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 | 10mm | f/5.6

Continue reading Rolling-Review: Laowa 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 FE C-Dreamer →

photography, The creative process

How to: Create Environmental Portraits

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Introduction

Sony A7rII |Voigtlander VM 35mm 1.7 +5m PCX | f/1.7

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.

Continue reading How to: Create Environmental Portraits →

Accesories

Photokina Recap Part 7: Tripods, Filters, Accessories

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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.

Gitzo

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 →

Sony E-mount

NiSi 75mm f/0.95 FE prototype and Cine lenses: Photokina Recap Part 2

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Most people know NiSi as a manufacturer of high quality optical filters for cameras and cine lenses. In 2017 they introduced a whole line of professional cine lenses and now we can have an exclusive first look at their first camera lens, a 75mm f/0.95.

75mm f/0.95 FE prototype

Disclaimer: this lens is an early stage prototype. Housing, coatings and polishing of the elements are not comparable to the final production model. Nevertheless we are allowed to show a few pictures to give you an opinion on the bokeh rendering of this lens. Since I am a NiSi ambassador we got an exclusive sneak peak at this lens.

Continue reading NiSi 75mm f/0.95 FE prototype and Cine lenses: Photokina Recap Part 2 →