Thursday 15 September 2016

N&R: Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sony, Tokina, Venus Optics, Zeiss and Think Tank.

This week we look at the Canon EOS-M5 release, rumours about Panasonic and Olympus, new lenses for Samyang, Tokina, Venus Optics and Zeiss, and a new roller bag from Think Tank.

The first serious mirrorless from Canon?

Canon


Canon have announced their latest mirrorless camera, the Canon EOS M5. DP Review have given their first impressions, and it sounds very solid. It contains Canon's highly regarded dual pixel AF, as well as a high resolution viewfinder.

I recently had a friend ask for camera advice, where they initially asked about the Canon M10. I advised against it, and suggested other cameras such as the Panasonic GX85 and Sony a6300. However, she was disappointed as she didn't want to hear about anything except Canon as, for her, 'Canon have the most natural colours'. For people like her, who probably won't ever look past the kit lens, I think this will make a fabulous camera (she doesn't need 4k which this camera also lacks vs its rivals).

For me, it does sound like it will be quite a nice camera, but Canon are severely lacking on the lens front for their mirrorless option. They need some bright primes. If I were Canon, I'd look at producing a 22mm f1.8 and 55mm f1.8 as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the DPReview have finished their review of the Canon 5D Mark IV, and unsurprisingly have given it their gold award.
With the EOS 5D Mark IV, Canon has further refined its semi-professional full frame all-rounder. With a solid build and improved weather sealing, faster burst speed, increased resolution, increased dynamic range, updated autofocus system and Dual Pixel live view functionality, the Mark IV will be as much camera as many people need, even if it doesn't revolutionize the 5D-line the way its predecessors have.

Olympus/Panasonic

Full specs of the new lenses from Olympus (25mm f1.2,  12-100mm f4 and 30mm f/3.5 macro) have been released, as well as specs on the e-pl8, fl-900r and the Pansonic lx10 (which sounds like a Sony RX100 competitor).

Meanwhile, rumour has it that the Pansonic 12-35mm f2.8 and 35-100mm f2.8 lenses are due for updated versions.

Samyang


Samyang has announced a new premium lens range, all manual focus, starting with an 85mm f/1.2 and a 14mm f/2.4. The 14mm will be produced for Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony E mounts. However, the 85mm f/1.2 has only been announced for Canon so far. It's possible that only Canon's lens mount allows for an 85mm lens with such a wide aperture.

Sony

Sony has announced the already rumoured 18-110 f4 cine lens for APS-C and Super35 E-mount cameras. What has surprised some is that it is costed at a higher price than its full frame sibling, though others point out it is probably due to the addition fully manual mechanical zoom.

Tokina

As rumoured before, Tokina have announced their 20mm f/2 Sony E mount lens. It can communicate focal length and aperture to the camera body.

Venus Optics

Venus Optics have also unveiled two wide lenses, a 7.5mm f/2 for Micro 43s, and a 15mm f/2 for Sony FE.

Zeiss




The lenses keep coming, with Zeiss announcing new Milvus lenses for Nikon and Canon mount. These lenses are screaming out for a body with Canon or Nikon mount, but an EVF and decent manual focus assist tools (the closest offering at moment is to use a Sony A7 camera with adapter).

I still think Nikon made a huge mistake in not offering the Nikon DF with an excellent ground glass manual focus screen.

Think Tank


Think Tank have announced a new rolling bag, the Airport Advantage. The most exciting thing about this bag is, for me, the low weight of 2.7kg. As much as I love the Think Tank Airport Airstream, its 4.1kg takes up too much of your weight allowance on international flights.






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