Marc Alhadeff posted the review of the new Sigma 14mm F/1.8 DG HSM Art lens:
The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art (1600 euros) is an excellent lens optically for a wide angle with the fastest aperture available for that focal length. Centre sharpness is excellent , and corners are already good wide open and become progressively excellent The Sigma 14mm F1.8 is certainly the best 14mm available in the market in term of sharpness , bokeh and color rendition, and it low coma makes it suited for astrophotography The F1.8 allows for some unique effect of background blur for a wide angle that has no equivalent The only issue is the capricious Autofocus and the price tag (1600 euros), one of the most expensive of the Art line
The new Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5 E-mount lens is in Stock at Amazon US (Click here).
Fred Miranda (Click here) is the first person testing the Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5 E-mount
Pros Compact and light lens, ideal for hiking
Solid all-metal construction with tight manufacturing tolerance
Excellent resolution at all distances including MFD
Voigtlander signature color and contrast
Very good flare performance
Great coma performance wide open
Low distortion
10-blade straight aperture allows well-defined sunstars starting at f/4
Very low chromatic aberrations
Reasonably priced compared to the competition
Cons Mounting and un-mounting is troublesome since the only non-rotating lens’ surface is very thin
Mid-zone not as great as center and corners at wide apertures. (f/3.5-5.6)
Pronounced vignetting that never truly goes away
Slight lower contrast/resolution compared to its main competitor (Loxia 21/2.8)
Today we are announcing ON1 Photo RAW 2019 will be available this November.
Version 2019 is one of the biggest and best releases in our history. ON1 Photo RAW 2019 will include tons of improvements to the photo editing workflow and new features.
Version 2019 will include significant updates to both performance and image quality, notable new features like a new non-destructive workflow for layers, Lightroom® photo settings migration, auto-alignment of layers, focus stacking, a new portrait module, a new AI-powered masking tool, a new text tool, new digital asset management updates, and more.
Announce Campaign Details:
– ON1 Photo RAW 2019 with 1 year of ON1 Plus: $129.99
– Full Version for NEW customers: $99.99
– Upgrade for existing ON1 Product owners: $79.99
New Workflow for Layers
Layers will no longer be a separate module. Instead, the power of layers will be accessible within the non-destructive workflow inside of Develop and Effects.
New Lightroom Photo Settings Migration
New AI-powered algorithms will give customers the ability to transfer Lightroom edited photos, keep the non-destructive settings, and move them into ON1 Photo RAW.
Portrait Module
The new Portrait module will automatically detect faces in your photo and will retouch to smooth skin, brighten and sharpen eyes, and whiten teeth.
Focus Stacking
Blend multiple photos at different focus distances to increase depth-of-field.
Auto-Align Layers
Easily combine multiple photos as layers, then automatically align them based on image content.
Text Tool
Perfect for creating posters, adding your byline or adding editing annotations. Easily control font size, color, position, and more, then save to a preset to add the same text overlay to a batch of photos quickly.
Master Keyword List
Now you can see every keyword that you use in a single, searchable list. You can quickly apply, clear, edit, or delete keywords.
Improved Local Adjustments
Local adjustments will be updated to use the raw processing data. This allows for more highlight and shadow details with more tonal range.
Layered HDR Workflow
With the powerful new non-destructive layers you can combine other photos, text, or alternate exposures with your HDR photos. You can even use the powerful masking tools to combine multiple HDR renditions.
Filter Options in Effects
We have added dedicated film grain, curves, and color adjustment filters to Effects. There’s also a new way to select and browse filters.
User Interface
Overall contrast has been reduced to make photos stand out along with a new font to help increase readability. New icons, tabs, and sliders will also take up less visual space.
All Quiet (not quite) on The Sony Front at Photokina, But Why Not?
Zeiss Touit 32mm F1.8 review (Sonyalpha.blog).
Canon XF705 Nurturing Guide (Personal View).
Nikon Z7 Dissasembly and Teardown (Nikoneye.com).
Panasonic says L-mount alliance formed just a couple of months ago and Olympus didn’t want to be part of it (Mirrorlessrumors.com).
Track and Time-Lapse with the Syrp Genie II (Explora).
Evan: “Shooting a magazine editorial shoot. I go over lighting, hardware, settings for each shot, as well as methodology. I am shooting tethered with the Sony a7RIII, Microsoft Surface Pro, and Profoto B1 lights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiZLTnp0Mts”
Philip: “Breakthrough photography, the filter company, will be making a 150mm filter holder like this: https://breakthrough.photography/products/x100-holder?variant=13005112836138.It will allow you to fit a filter to the 12-24mm FE lens! This will be announced within 4-5 months, I believe. It’s a bit of a wait but it’s really good news in my opinion.”
Photonstophotos measured the Dynamic Range of the Canon EOS-R and Nikon Z cameras. Overall none of the competitor can match the performance of the Sony A7rIII or Sony A7III. Also keep in mind the Canon and Nikon cameras are the newest cameras meaning that the gap is expected to increase once Sony announces the new models.
Of course Dynamic range alone is not the measure for the overall quality of a camera. But at least from a pure IQ point of view Sony is definitely the leader.
