All posts by BastianK

My name is Bastian and I am your expert here when it comes to ultra wide angle lenses, super fast portrait lenses (ranging from a 50mm f/0.95 to a 200mm f/1.8) and I also have reviewed way too many 35mm lenses. Don't ask me anything about macro or wildlife shooting though.

Review: Cobalt Elite Kodak Portra Film Emulations

Introduction

Sony A7III | Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM | f/1.2 | Cobalt Elite Portra 400 NB

I already wrote an article on Cobalt’s products here, but in the meantime they released a new line of “Elite Film Emulations”, covering some of my favorite films from the Analogue Adventures, and asked me if I want to have a look at those as well, so here we are.

Continue reading Review: Cobalt Elite Kodak Portra Film Emulations

Review: Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF E Pro APS-C

Introduction

viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF E on Sony A7rII

If you are a regular reader you know I only rarely review APS-C lenses – I only use fullframe cameras and therefore have no personal use for APS-C lenses – but Viltrox played it smart by just sending this 75mm 1.2 AF to me without asking first. I guess they were hoping a fullframe equivalent of 113mm f/1.8 coupled with the raving reviews from the Fuji-X users would be enough to convince me to have a closer look at this lens. As you are reading this now, it seems their plan came together.
Update: lens is available to order from the manufacturer’s shop (use the code PRnet for 8% discount) | ebay.com (affiliate links) now

Sample Images

viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Sony A7rII (crop mode) Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF | f/1.2
viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Sony A7rII (crop mode) Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF | f/1.2
viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Sony A7rII (crop mode) Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF | f/2.8
viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Sony A7rII (crop mode) Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF | f/1.2
viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Sony A7rII (crop mode) Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF | f/1.2
viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Sony A7rII (crop mode) Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF | f/1.2

Continue reading Review: Viltrox 75mm 1.2 AF E Pro APS-C

Analogue Adventures – Part 23: Silbersalz35 500T Push +1

Silbersalz35 500T

The guys from Silbersalz35 were organizing a small Night Photowalk in Stuttgart and part of the package was one roll of their 500T Vision3 cinefilms that you already know from some of my previous articles. I figured this was a good opportunity to find out how the film holds up being pushed one stop so I decided to pay the entry fee and join.
Processing (ECN-2, Push +1) and scanning was done at Silbersalz35 in Germany.

analogue photography leica m6 voigtländer silbersalz35 kodak vision 3
Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/2.0 | 500T +1
analogue photography leica m6 voigtländer silbersalz35 kodak vision 3
Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/1.2 | 500T +1
analogue photography leica m6 voigtländer silbersalz35 kodak vision 3
Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/1.2 | 500T +1
analogue photography leica m6 voigtländer silbersalz35 kodak vision 3
Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/1.2 | 500T +1
analogue photography leica m6 voigtländer silbersalz35 kodak vision 3
Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/1.2 | 500T +1

Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 23: Silbersalz35 500T Push +1

Photoshop Ai: What can it do for you?

Introduction

By now I am pretty sure all of you have already heard of ChatGPT, Midjourney or any of the other artifical intelligences you can now talk to or make use of. Where it got interesting for me, was in early 2023, when Adobe released a Photoshop Beta version with AI features and staggering capabilities. Over the past months I have been using it (for professional work and private stuff) so I wanted to show you some examples where it was useful to me and also how it works.
One thing is for sure, this will vastly disrupt image editing workflows.

Continue reading Photoshop Ai: What can it do for you?

Review: Funleader x Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 XSlim Pro-M

Introduction

brightin star 28mm 2.8 xlim pro-m review contrast sharpness compact thin leica m10 m11 m10r 42mp 61mp
Funleader x Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 XSlim ProM on Leica M10

You probably know by now I have a soft spot for the tiny MS-Optics lenses, but there are two major issues with them: they are expensive and the manufacturing quality sometimes leaves something to be desired.
I was always wondering: what if some other company with better manufacturing capabilities would design lenses just as compact? I even pitched the idea to several manufacturers: without success.
But now Funleader and Brightin Star teamed up to do exactly that with this 28mm 2.8 XSlim Pro-M. It looks just like an MS-Optics lens and I have been very curious about it since I first heard of it.
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10

Sample Images

viltrox 75mm 1.2 af e aps-c e-mount review sony a6700 a6600 a6500 a6000 fuji sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma ca loca aberrations
Leica M10 | Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 | f/2.8
brightin star 28mm 2.8 xlim pro-m review contrast sharpness compact thin leica m10 m11 m10r 42mp 61mp
Leica M10 | Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 | f/2.8
brightin star 28mm 2.8 xlim pro-m review contrast sharpness compact thin leica m10 m11 m10r 42mp 61mp
Leica M10 | Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 | f/2.8
brightin star 28mm 2.8 xlim pro-m review contrast sharpness compact thin leica m10 m11 m10r 42mp 61mp
Leica M10 | Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 | f/2.8
brightin star 28mm 2.8 xlim pro-m review contrast sharpness compact thin leica m10 m11 m10r 42mp 61mp
Leica M10 | Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 | f/11

Continue reading Review: Funleader x Brightin Star 28mm 2.8 XSlim Pro-M