Katarzyna Herman for Stopklatka TV

Zeiss Otus 55mm 1.4 extended preview/ Medium format in…

Every now and then a piece of gear appears, which changes not only the photo gear landscape and forces the competition to alter their plans, but also pushes photographers into working differently using new equipment. The Fuji X system managed to do this, with lots of people switching to this system. The Nikon D800/e had a similar effect just as Canon 5D. And so we come to the Zeiss Otus 55mm 1.4, which might also be such a game changer, although matching its qualities will be very difficult for the other lens makers.  For now let us look at the basics.

Construction

Looking at the cosmetics, the lens has a modern look, an all metal barrel and a rubber like focusing ring, which is easy to detect with your fingers when looking through the viewfinder, easy to read distance and depth of field scales. Apart from the brilliant design (it won the 2013 IF product design award) the first thing you notice is the sheer size of this prime. It is after all a standard lens. It’s not a 50mm nor a 45mm, which is in fact closer to the diagonal 43.3mm, but a 55mm, yet the size and weight is much closer to a medium format 80mm, then the standard fifties we are used to.

All of this has a reason. The Otus, with the diastagon optical construction, is a very complex lens; 12 elements in 10 groups with floating elements design. The specialists at Zeiss worked on the whole project for 3 years, but the time from starting the work to building the first prototype was just one year. According to Dr. Nasse, scientist from Carl Zeiss and one of the first people to shoot with the lens, this was possible thanks to the extensive experience in building high performance cine lenses.

When designing the lens, the engineers and scientists had a totally free hand, not restricted neither by size, weight nor cost. Richard Schleuning from Zeiss says this was a new approach, as normally these restrictions are a part of every project of a new lens. This time there were no compromises with just one goal in mind, the absolutely best lens for 35mm.

Read more “Zeiss Otus 55mm 1.4 extended preview/ Medium format in a 35mm body? Yes, with the right lens.” →

Nikon d610 is here to stay- F4News

The D610 is here and it is shipping. Since it’s October 8th release date at lot of people have been writing about the camera and no wonder. At a price tag of just $1999 the d610, with it’s 24.3-million pixels sensor is a steal.

Let’s sum up what’s on the web about it as of today, October 20th 2013:
– Nikon press release, brochure
– Dpreview published their preview based on a preproduction d610
– Ken Rockwell assembled an extensive review, also with all the specifications of the camera, its accessories and how it fares in comparison to the other Nikon’s as far as the specs go
– DXO Labs test the d610 and gives its sensor the same as the d600, very high, 94 grade. Their review covers not only what’s new in the camera, but also how it compares to the competition.
…

Read on at F4News

F4News- A guide to visual news

In recent months I have spent my free time on a new project- F4news.com. A guide to visual news for the photographic, video and arts community.
For many years I have been searching the web for interesting and inspiring photographic content. Usually every day I check at least a few photo related websites, just to keep track with the changes. Recently I decided to launch a website which would bring all of that information to one place and from which everyone could go to the news they decide as most interesting.

Building the framework for the site has taken a lot of time, yet it is now alive and first website owners are agreeing to have there content shared through F4News. I hope to not let you down and have the site full of great posts in the next months. Please, go and have a look for yourself!

Have it up and running, I hope to be able to devote more time to finalizing my photo projects, especially H2O which, almost finished is waiting for the few final touches. Many more images, than these previews on the site here are waiting patiently to show themselves to the web audience…

Have a creative day! TK

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

Have you ever wanted to become a cinematographer instead of “just” a photographer? Now for a mere $1K you can shoot beautiful HD with 13 stops of dynamic range with the pocket sized Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

Have a read on Blackmagic’s website or a lengthy article by the camera beta tester John Brawnley here.

MōVI rig and Vincent Laforet

Vincent Laforet published a very interesting article on vis blog about the MōVI. This new rig type is an amazing breakthrough for handheld video. Check out the videos, they speak for themselves…

MōVI

Behind the scenes with commentary