So, this is up on El YouTube, voyeuristic capitan of everything video, but doesn’t seem to be up on Lee’s site yet, but apparently Lee Filters hasn’t taken the conundrum of how to put a filter over the bulging eye of Nikon’s 14-24mm f2.8 lens lying down. No sir, showing a resolve the likes of which is unknown to lesser men, they walked away from the intimidating lack of filter threads unscathed and instead created a three-piece compression mount system. Very clever. Don’t believe me? Check out the video here:
Posts Tagged ‘Zoom’
Finally, A Reasonable Set of Lens Recommendations
February 25th, 2010 by DerekSo, I know it’s popular right now to love primes, especially among hobbyists, but for my money I think guest blogger Chris Folsom over at DPS is on to something when he says the three best lenses for a beginner to own (or anyone, for that matter) are a standard zoom, a telephoto zoom, and a macro prime. He argues that those will cover the bulk of any shooting situation, and then once you’re used to their limitations and what you shoot more you can expand your collection to match your needs,which I approve of. That’s why my kit consists of two mid-grade zooms, a single fast prime, and a Lensbaby.
Most prime fans I know counter with cost, primes are (typically) cheaper than zooms. My counter is that a mid-grade zoom (take my Oly 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 for example), I have marked on the barrel 14, 18, 25, 35, and 54 (that’s 28mm, 36mm, 50mm, 70mm, and 108mm for those of you not used to Oly’s system). That’s five good prime lengths there, and while 2.8 – 3,5 is a bit slow for some of them, it isn’t out of line for others even in primes. So, was it worth 400 bucks for 5 known focal lengths, and the 36 others in between? I think so, which is why always tell friends to get the best zooms they can afford for most of their work and fill in special needs with primes as needed. But, that’s me.
Check out the full post through the link. If you’re reading this on Facebook, jump over to our blog to see said link.
Nikon 70-200mm VR II Gets Thouroughly Reviewed
February 25th, 2010 by Derek
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
So, Nikon’s new top-pro standard telephoto zoom, the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G ED VR II, has been reviewed by the venerable review staff over at DPReview. The conclusions are so unsurprisingly positive as to be pedestrian, but they’ve got their really useful sliding charts for sharpness at all focal lengths and apertures, so that’s worth checking it out alone.
If ya wanna read it yourself, your hyperlink chariot awaits: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/nikon_70-200_2p8_vrii_n15/
Nikon Loves You All, Rewards You With New Wide-Angle Lenses
February 9th, 2010 by DerekNikon has today announced two new lenses, the AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR. Now, those of you used to Nikon’s nomenclature will already know all this, but for those unsure, the AF-S designation in both of those means they’ll auto-focus on any body, and the lack of “DX” anywhere means these are designed for use on FX (and will still work, albeit with crop factor, on DX). They’re both G series lenses and both use ED and aspherical elements and Nikon’s new nano crystal coating to handle optical phenomenons like diffraction, ghosting, etc…
As those of you with a grasp of modern optics and physics might expect, the 24mm f1.4 is rather chunky, basically a 3.5″ cube and weighing in closer to 1.5 lbs. It’s also not a budget prime, and it’ll enter the market at just under $2,200. The 16-35mm f/4, being a slower aperture zoom, slots in as Nikon’s affordable alternative to the 14-24mm f/2.8 (well, sorta, it’s obviously not apples-to-apples), weighing in at $1,260, or approaching 600 bucks cheaper than it’s bigger bro.
They’re both up on our preorder waitlists, so you should go here and add your name: https://www.robertsimaging.com/preorder.jsp
P100, other Coolpix point and shoots announced
February 4th, 2010 by NickToday Nikon announced their refresh for the Coolpix line by adding the P100, L110, L22, and S3000, S4000, S6000, S8000 compacts. The P90 is to cede to the P100, and it looks like it’ll be a doozie of an upgrade. The Nikon Coolpix P100 will have a 10.3 megapixel back-lit CMOS sensor and a 26x optical zoom (26mm-678mm equivalent) Nikkor ED lens. It’ll also be able to churn out 10fps at 10MP, and near 120fps at 1.1MP. No idea how the 3200 ISO setting will perform yet, but maybe you won’t need to use it given the sensor-shift VR system. There’s a host of other software functions to make “minimal user intervention shooting” produce good looking pics. It’s also got a macro focusing distance of .4″, though no word on what the maximum reproduction ratio. Oh right, 1080p HD video is also on the menu.
If you’ve got to use AA batteries and don’t trust this new-fangled back-lit CMOS business, then step down to the L110 and take your pick between black and red. Your glass is 15x optical from 28-420mm (equivalent), supported by sensor-shift VR image stabilization and a max ISO of 6400. It also has the first ‘cyanotype’ color setting I’ve seen a manufacturer brag over. Ta da. It takes 12.1MP stills and 720p HD video (at 30fps).
The other AA offering is the L22, weighing in at 12MP with a modest 37-134mm equivalent focal range. The L22 has a ‘Big, Bright 3.0-inch LCD’ with an anti-glare coating and a maximum ISO of 1600.
The 000 (Tri-aught?) range of Coolpix this time around are the S3000, S4000, S6000, and S8000. The S3000 (for Style yeah) wields 12.0MP, a 27-108 equivalent focal range, a 2.7″ LCD, some firmware functions to correct for red-eye, florid, staggering friends who neither smile nor cease blinking, and a maximum ISO of 3200.
Next up is the S4000, which looks to succeed the S230 and put a 3.0″ touch screen in your hot, little hands for things like touch-shutter (which sounds like an alt-rock band who should be opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket) and touch-AF. Beyond that it records 720pHD movies, and sidles on up to 3200 ISO. It also has a cyanotype color mode.
The S6000 appears with 14.2MP, a 28-196 equivalent Nikkor ED glass lens, and spits 4fps for up to 45 frames in Sports Continuous mode. It also features the “make your friends look good without trying” firmware functions.
The S8000 crowns the Tri-Aught sorority with a 14.2MP sensor, 10x optical zoom with Nikkor ED glass (starts at 30mm equivalent), a 3.0″ VGA display at 921,000 dots, and Optical VR Image Stabilization and a close focus distance of .4″ in Macro mode.
Olympus Updates 9-18mm and 14-150mm into m4/3 Lenses
February 3rd, 2010 by DerekSo, sorry, pictures of these are a little less forthcoming, but apparently Oly also formalized the release of it’s very popular 9-18mm f4-5.6 and the very long-lived (for a system as young as 4/3, anyway) 14-150mm f4-5.6 super-zoom for the m4/3 mount. The 9-18 has been a very popular super-wide angle lens for the price point, and the 14-150mm was always the affordable super-zoom, and I don’t imagine those will change with the change in mounts.
Again, more to come.
Olympus Owns All Zoom
February 3rd, 2010 by Derek
So, I have to admit, I’d stopped really paying attention to Olympus’ SP- UZ line of super-zoom bridge cameras because they’ve been in a pretty slim market for so long it wasn’t worth remembering their individual specs, it was just enough to point anyone who needed 24x zoom over to whatever the newest model was. Today, though, I want to take a moment to point out that a 30x wide-angle 28-840mm equivalent zoom is nuts. Nuts!
And yet, that’s exactly what Oly’s newest SP- UZ model, the SP-800 UZ, is packing. I mean, seriously, look at that lens barrel. Wowza. It’s also got 14 odd megapixels, a 3″ LCD, and 1.7GB of usable onboard memory. And, Oly’s continued its retro-minimalist controls started on the E-P series here, so the back is very clean and uncluttered. Not so much good news for button junkies like me, but for the target audience of point-and-shoot users needing more reach, it should present a stylish and undaunting interface.
Nikon’s Pro Constant Aperture Zooms Now At Sheet, Better Hurry
January 14th, 2010 by Derek
So, Nikon’s pro zooms, you know the ones– the big, black, AF-S G series lenses with f.2.8 constant apertures that form the backbone of many a working professional’s kit, the 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm II. Well, we got all of them marked down to sheet, you pay what we pay and nothing more (literally, if you buy online to get our free ground shipping). But, they’re only on the cheap until the 28th, so, uh, hurry.
Nikon Coolpix Flowchart: January 2010 Edition
January 14th, 2010 by Derek
So, one of the biggest things I do here at Roberts is try and find new and better ways to merge our in-store expertise and helpful guidance with the cold, spec-oriented world of the internet. Every year manufacturer’s release dozens of point-and-shoots—each—and even if you’re in the business it can be hard to keep them all straight. For a casual consumer who just needs pictures of their family and friends? it’s an impossible chore, and a lot of people still like going into stores—many times with limited, poor selection— just because it’s easier to find out which camera they need.
So, my most recent solution is a visual flowchart, so we’re going to try this out. Here’s the current Nikon Coolpix lineup in an easy-to-read, non-technical flowchart where simple answers will help you find the exact model you want based on what matters these days. In a world where all cameras can take perfectly acceptable pictures, and the old measurements of lens zoom and megapixel matter less (Nikon announced 5 models with the same megapixels and zoom range. 5!), we need better ways to find you what you need.
If this seems like a good plan, and if you’d like to see us do these for everyone’s lineup, hit us up in the comments and let us know. We need your feedback to make this happen.
(Click the thumbnail to the left to see it rather large)
Nikon 70-200mm VR II: Lower Magnification?
December 4th, 2009 by Derek
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
So, we’re starting to hear some hubbub about Nikon’s long-awaited new 70-200mm VR II having a somewhat different field of view at it’s longer end than its predecessor. A quick-and-dirty test by Jody and Nick seemed to confirm this, although being wildly unscientific (and ugly, boy was it ugly), we can’t say with the certainty we expect DPReview will that it exists and to what extent, but we suspect this’ll be a hot topic among shooters.
So, after a brief bit of head scratching, because while variances in actual versus stated focal lengths are really not uncommon, unexpected, or even bad, this seemed a bit unlikely to be the mere result of the lens being, say, 197mm and not truly 200mm, we did what any reasonable gearheads would do. We looked at the spec sheet. And, sure enough, look here:
On the OLD 70-200mm VR, we find this entry:
Maximum Reproduction Ratio AF: 1:6.1 (x0.16), MF: 1/5.6 (x0.18)
And on the NEW VR II?
Maximum Reproduction Ratio 0.12
Now, we don’t claim to be engineers. At all. So this is just rationed assuming, and not us proclaiming any gospel truths, but it seems that since the new one has very notably lower magnification than the old one, that this might be playing a factor in why the apparent field of view is different? In theory, a lower magnification should always lead to less of a telephoto effect, allowing more of a scene to fall in the frame, so it makes sense, but we can’t promise you that’s what’s up. Something to think about before lighting up the forums, though.
