Tired of contorting your body into position to take a great wildflower photo only to find out later that it was shaky or out of focus? Hoodman and Trek-Tech are offering a kit to help photographers take better macro photos. The kit includes the Trek-Tech T-Pod tabletop tripod and the Hoodman Right Angle Viewer. These two accessories will help get your camera lower, eliminate camera shake and make it easier to deal with awkward shooting angles.
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Along with the new D3S digital SLR announced on Tuesday, Nikon also introduced a new DX-format macro lens. The Nikon AF-S DX 85mm f/3.5 Micro Nikkor VR II lens is designed to be used with APS-C sensor Nikon digital SLRs like the D5000, D60, D300s and D3000. The 85mm focal length is effectively converted to 127.5mm (35mm equivalent) on a DX-format camera body. The “Micro” in the name means it’s designed for close-up photography. In this case, that means a minimum focus distance of 9 inches and a 1:1, life-size reproduction ratio.
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Olympus launched their latest series of photography clases, specifically in the areas of lighting, portraiture and macro photography. These classes for photo enthusiasts will be taught using one of Olympus’ popular E-System products, including the E-3, E-30 and E-620, and the PEN E-P1. The classes are designed to encourage Olympus DSLR owners to experiment, move beyond their traditional shooting practices, and optimize their camera’s functionality. Read the rest of this entry �

Tamron announced the SP AF 60mm f/2 Di II LD [IF] Macro for Sony mount, a new macro lens for APS-C size format. This new lens joins the Canon and Nikon versions already available. It features 1:1 macro magnification and a built-in AF motor. The SP AF 60mm f/2 Di II LD [IF] Macro lens for Sony will launch in Japan on October 1, 2009. Read the rest of this entry �

Sony announced four new lenses, the DT 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 standard zoom lens (model SAL-1855), DT 55-200mm F/4-5.6 telephoto zoom lens (model SAL-55200/2), DT 50mm F/1.8 portrait lens (model SAL-50F18) and DT 30mm F/2.8 macro lens (model SAL-30M28) and a new HVL-F20AM compact external flash. Read the rest of this entry �

Tamron announced the development of the SP AF60mm F/2.0 Di II LD (IF) MACRO 1:1 medium telephoto macro lens. It is a life-size macro lens designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with APS-C size image sensors that offers a fast maximum aperture of F/2.0. The maximum aperture of F/2.0, is one stop faster than the F/2.8 maximum aperture found on conventional macro lenses in the same class.

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New Electronic Flash Macro for Sony and Pentax cameras

Sigma has announced their new Electronic Flash Macro EM-140 DG, designed for use with AF 35mm film and DigitalSLR cameras.

The EM-140 DG features flash tubes that can be switched on or off for creative flash control, Wireless Flash Control, High Speed Synchro Flash, and it is fully dedicated with the latest TTL auto exposure systems.

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The Zeiss ZF lens lineup at of August 2008

Introduction

In this era of plastic-barreled mass-produced lenses, the Zeiss ZF lenses stand out in sleekly-elegant fashion, with their beautiful and durable all-metal design. For the past year, I’ve used the entire Zeiss ZF lines extensively on both Canon EOS and Nikon, with outstanding results(see the diglloyd blog beginning June 2008). My Guide, Zeiss ZF Lenses, goes into depth on the lenses. This page captures my thoughts on this superb lens line. If you’d like specifications on weight, size, etc, please see the Zeiss web site; this review won’t go into that stuff. You might also want to see the Zeiss July 2008 Camera Lens News.

The unanswerable question that will invariably be asked is whether the Zeiss ZF lenses are “worth it”—are they actually “better” than an equivalent Nikon or Canon lenses? There is no unequivocal answer to that question unless priorities are specified. Here are just a few of the considerations:
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