Photo Industry News and new product announcements for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Sony, Tamron, Sigma, Tokina, and more.
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Sony has announced two new full-frame compatible FE lenses for their mirrorless cameras. The first lens is a less expensive 50mm f/1.8 lens that serves as an alternative to the 55mm f/1.8 Zeiss lens, and the second is a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 telephoto zoom.
Read more Sony Announces New 50mm f/1.8 and 70-300mm Full-Frame FE-mount Lenses
Sony has released Firmware Version 3.10 Updates for Sony a7RII, a7R, a7S, a7II, a7 and a6000 mirrorless cameras. The firmware updates appear to be mostly for support for new lenses that were recently introduced (the 24-70 f/2.8 G, the 85mm f/1.4 G and likely the 70-200mm f/2.8 G) as well as phase-detection autofocus and few other minor updates. Read more Firmware Version 3.10 Updates for Sony mirrorless cameras
Sigma has announced a new 20mm f/1.4 HSM lens that will be a member of their prestigious Art lineup. The other Art prime lenses recently introduced by Sigma have received rave reviews and have earned a place in many professional photographers bags as dependable, superior quality optics. I am anxious to see if the 20mm f/1.4 lives up to the reputation of the other Art lenses. Kudos to Sigma for taking on such an amazing feat as creating a 20mm f/1.4 full-frame compatible lens! The Sigma 20mm f/1.4 HSM Art lens is expected to begin shipping in Mid November, 2015 and will sell for $899. Read more Sigma adds 20mm f/1.4 to Art Lens Prime Lineup
Sony surprised us with the announcement of the new A7s Mark II body. Most of us were expecting the announcement of the A6000 replacement, but this camera also makes sense since the other two A7 models have recently been updated. Like the A7II and the A7RII, the new A7s adds the 5-axis image stabilization, and maintains the high ISO performance of the A7s model. This model also adds 4k Video recording to it’s list of features. The A7sII will be available in October for $2,999. Read more Sony A7s Mark II Announced
Tamron has announced 2 new fast prime lenses: a 35mm f/1.8 and a 45mm f/1.8. both lenses will feature Tamron’s VC “Vibration Compensation” image stabilization technology and weather resistant builds. The new 35mm will compete directly with the Canon 35mm f/2 IS that was released not to long ago, with the Tamron sporting the slightly faster max aperture and weather resistant construction over the Canon. The 45mm is a rather odd choice to me – not sure why they didn’t make it a traditional 50mm instead. The Sigma Art Series lenses (24mm 35mm and 50mm) have been very successful so it will be interesting to see if the Tamron lenses will be as popular. Read more Tamron Announces New 35mm f/1.8 and 45mm f/1.8 Lenses
Today Canon announced the new Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens. This lens replaces the curren “L” series 35mm f/1.4 lens with a new version that incorporates a new lens formula called “Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics” and a stronger build quality. The lens will be available in October for around $1800. Read more Canon Announces New Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM Lens
Canon USA announced today that the Canon EOS M3 Mirrorless Camera Coming to the US. It will be interesting to see how it does in a market that is dominated by Sony and Olympus/Panasonic. I currently own a Canon EOS 6D and a Sony A6000, and the thought of having a single system that can share lenses is appealing. Read more Canon EOS M3 Mirrorless Camera Coming to the US
Olympus has announced a followup to the OM-D E-M10 Mirrorless camera. The major changes are 5-axis image stabilization, 4k Timelapse video and 8.5fps (up slightly from 8fps). Read more Olympus Announces the new OM-D E-M10 Mark II Camera
Nikon has announced another fast enthusiast prime lens in the new Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8G ED. Nikon has been aggressively working to round out their FX/1.8 prime lens selection recently and this lens fills the gap between the new 20mm and 28mm offerings. Read more New Lens: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8G ED
Nikon announced a new standard fast zoom lens to their lineup: the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR. This is the first version of the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 fast standard zoom lens to feature Nikon’s image stabilization, VR (Vibration Reduction) system. Read more New Lens: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR Lens