New Line of Lenses for Creative Photography

Lensbaby announced their launching of an entire new system of selective focus lenses with The Composer, The Muse and The Control Freak lenses. These new lenses provide photographers with a new way to control depth of field by bringing one area of a photo into sharpest focus, surrounded by graduated blur. Each lens also features the new Lensbaby Optic Swap system.

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Two new tele converters for Sony mount telephoto lenses that support HSM

Sigma announced two APO Tele Converters for the Sony Mount, the APO TELE CONVERTER 1.4x EX DG and the APO TELE CONVERTER 2x EX DG. These tele converters are capable of maintaining the HSM function of telephoto lenses such as Sigma’s APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM and APO 50-150mm F2.8 II EX DC HSM while increasing the focal length by a factor of 1.4x or 2x.

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A new compact large aperture standard zoom lens from Sigma

Sigma announced its new 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM large aperture, standard zoom lens.

This lens is ideal for general photography such as snapshots, portraiture and landscapes. The 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM covers focal lengths from 24mm and superior optical performance is ensured throughout the entire zoom range.

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A new large aperture, medium telephoto lens for the Four Thirds System

Sigma announced its new 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM for Four Thirds System large aperture lens.

The large aperture lens becomes a medium telephoto lens offering 100mm equivalent angle of view on Four Thirds cameras. It is ideal for portrait photography and provides sharp and high contrast images even at the maximum aperture.

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75 Years Later, Nikon Continues to Thrive with the Introduction of the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G Lens

Nikon released their newly engineered AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G prime lens and celebrates 75 years of Nikkor optical excellence.

The AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G is a compact lens ideal for travel, event, environmental and general photography. It integrates an ultra-compact Silent Wave Motor and has a superb optical formula with an ultra-fast f/1.4 maximum aperture.

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More Freedom and Creative Opportunities for Medium Format Digital Photography

Today, Phase One introduced new advances in medium format digital photography with their Capture One 4 PRO workflow software, extended lens range for Phase One 645 camera system, and an advancement in digital image capture, Sensor + technology.

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Pentax is introducing 4 new lenses at Photokina. There are two DA L zoom lenses, the smc PENTAX-DA L 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED and the smc PENTAX-DA L 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens – the kit lens for the new Pentax K2000 digital SLR. There are also two new high-end DA lenses - the smc PENTAX-DA★ 60-250mm f/4 ED[IF] SDM telephoto zoom, and the PENTAX-DA★55mm f/1.4 SDM prime lens.
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Leica’s New Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 - World’s Fastest Lens

If you love shooting shallow depth-of-field photos or shooting in near darkness, then you are no doubt excited about Leica’s latest 50mm lens. The Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 lens has no equal - at least not right now. Canon made a Leica rangefinder-compatible f/0.95 50mm lens in the early 60’s (CANON 50mm f/0.95). Those lenses now sell for quite a bit on the used market. Leica also makes a 50mm f/1.0 Noctilux lens. Very impressive - but not quite as exciting now that the f/0.95 lens has been announced.
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New Leica Elmar-M 24mm Lens Perfect All-Purpose Lens For The M8

Leica says their new Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 Aspherical lens is the perfect all-purpose walkaround wide-angle lens for the M8 digital rangefinder. The digital rangefinder’s digital crop factor effectively converts the Elmar-M 24mm to a 32mm angle-of-view when mounted on the M8. The Elmar 24mm is compact, has excellent image quality wide open at the f/3.8 maximum aperture, and has almost limitless depth-of-field when stopped down a couple of stops. The Leica press release didn’t list a price, but it does point out that “lenses with a medium initial aperture” are usually far less expensive without sacrificing quality. So we might expect the Elmar 24mm to have a more regular guy price than most Leica lenses.
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Leica Introduces Two New Fast Wide-Angle Lenses For The M-Rangefinder System

Leica is introducing two new Summilux lenses for the M-Rangefinders at Photokina. The Leica Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 and Leica Summilux -M 24mm f/1.4 lenses both feature extremely large apertures for their respective focal lengths. The Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 is actually the first 21mm lens with an f/1.4 aperture. Both lenses have new aspherical elements and Leica has worked very hard to effectively eliminate chromatic aberration, distortion and vignetting. The new Summilux lenses will appeal to photojournalists, travel, and street photographers who need to be able to shoot a wide angle-of-view in low light environments without flash.
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More optics for everyone

Today, Carl Zeiss is exapanding its line of SLR lenses with the Zeiss ZE Lenses with EF bayonet for all analog and digital EOS camera models. The new ZE lenses from Carl Zeiss transfer all information exclusively via electronic contacts, which means that all exposure modes such as programmed auto exposure, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual setting are supported. The first lenses to be available will be the Planar T* 1,4/50 ZE and the Planar T* 1,4/85 ZE and further focal lengths will be added. to the line within the next few months. Read the rest of this entry »

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NEW PREMIUM LENSES SUPPORT FULL-FRAME ALPHA DSLR CAMERA

Today, Sony announced two new lenses for its high performance Carl Zeiss and G Series, the SAL1635ZA and SAL70400G. The SAL1635ZA, Vario Sonnar T* 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Series Lens, is well-suited for landscape, snapshot and indoor photography. It offers the utmost flexibility in challenging lighting conditions due to its wide f/2.8 constant aperture. The SAL70400G, 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G Series Lens, is a 5.7x super telephoto zoom lens and is designed to deliver extremely sharp descriptive performance across its wide focal length range, it is ideally suited for sports, action and wildlife photography. The Vario-Sonnar T* 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA and 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G lens will ship in January 2009 for about $1,800 and $1,500, respectively.

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