ZY Optics announced a new super macro compact lens with high magnification ratio: Zhongyi Mitakon 20mm f/2.0 4.5X. The lens is available in Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A, Pentax K, Sony E, Micro Four Thirds and Fuji X mounts. The price is $199 (ZY Optics lenses are available for sale at B&H). Specifications, press release and sample pictures taken with the lens after the break:
Update: the lens is now in stock at eBay and B&H.
Irix now has a US based distributor (www.irixusa.com) and the Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens is now listed directly for sale on Amazon US (Irix lenses have been available for a while on Amazon UK, Amazon DE and Amazon IT). The US prices are:
Irix lenses are available in Nikon, Canon and Pentax mounts.
Via NikonRumors
The Panasonic GH5 camera is rumored to be officially released in early January. For a short period of time today B&H had listed on their website that the GH5 pre-orders will start at 1 pm on January 4th, 2017 (the text is now removed). The GH5 was announced at Photokina, but no additional information was provided. The only specs listed on the product page so far are:
According to the latest Panasonic roadmap from Photokina, there will also be three new Leica Hybrid f/2.8-4.0 MFT zoom lenses in 2017:
The new Macphun Luminar photo editing tool will be updated every couple of months. The first of these updates included Touch Bar support, and now Macphun have announced a second major update to the software introducing batch processing, new Dehaze and Golden Hour filters, an enhanced color temperature filter, and more. To find out more about the update, read this blog post from the COO of Macphun.
Here are a few screenshots from the new version:
Franzis currently offers discounts on many of their software packages (click on each package for more info).
Topaz Labs has a new deal every day starting from December 12th till December 23rd – check this link to see the currently discounted product.
→ Syrp announced their new Super Dark Variable ND filter that can cut 5-10 stops of light. Pricing is between $169-$209, shipping starts on December 16th.
→ Gariz announced a new leather case for the Sony RX100 V camera (check pricing and availability).
→ The Hasselblad X1D medium format mirrorless camera is now expected to ship in February 2017 in the US. Becuase of the delay, you will get an extra 6 months warranty for free:
Hasselblad will offer anyone who ordered an X1D in 2016 an extra six months of warranty as a way saying Thank You and We Are Sorry (source)
→ More info on the upcoming Leica M10 camera.
→ Sony will have their CES 2017 press conference on January 4th. As usual, there is no good intel on what will be announced.
Remember the Mitakon Speedmaster 135mm f/1.4 lens that was announced in October 2015? Well, the lens is about to start shipping according to a recent Facebook post from Mitakon. A few sample photos taken with the lens can be found here and here. Here are the technical specifications:
If you forgot how big that lens is, here are a few more pictures taken from previous blog posts:
Sigma officially announced the price and availability of the Sigma sd Quattro H mirrorless camera:
A new interview with Sigma’s CEO Mr. Kazuto Yamaki was published online. It seems that Sigma is interested in producing a mirrorless camera that can shoot video in the future (at the 7:40 mark):
Sigma’s current line of cameras cannot shoot video as a result of the high data volume the Foveon sensor is producing and has to be processed.
A few months ago Sigma announced a new line of cinema lenses.
Here is a rundown of the questions asked in the interview:
A Czech store has listed the new Irix 11mm f/4 lenses for sale on their website with the following prices:
For comparison, the Irix 15mm f/2.4 lenses were priced 475 EUR for the Firefly and 700 EUR for the Blackstone version.
Irix lenses are now sold also on Amazon US (via third party resellers).
Irix is expected to announce a new 45mm f/1.4 lens, Irix ILA-FE2EF adapter for Sony and new line of Irix Edge filters.
