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Samyang expands its lens range Three new lenses are announced by leading Korean lensmaker Samyang: one autofocus and two manual focusmodels
EDITOR’S LETTER WILL CHEUNG
Samyang’s latest AF lens is an AF 85mm f/1.4 RF designed for Canon EOS R mirrorless cameras. This high-spec lens features an advanced optical construction of 11 elements in eight groups, with four high- refractive lenses (HR) and one extra low-dispersion (ED) lens, designed to give leading-edge image quality across the frame. The lens is weather sealed, minimum focus is 90cm and the filter thread is 77mm size. Availability is late June with a price of £599. The two manual focus lenses are mark 2 versions of its popular and much-respected MF 14mm f/2.8 and MF 85mm f/1.4 lenses. Both are designed for full-frame and smaller formats and will be sold in Canon EF, Canon EOS M, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, 3 News New lenses from Samyang, updated software from DxO and a vlogging sensation from Sony 5 Prizeword search Solve the puzzle correctly and you could win a Samsung 256GB micro SD memory card 6 Club news No physical meetings or exhibitions, yet the club scene remains vibrant – just in a different way 17Make the Switch: DavidMcKibbin We meet a PN reader who has made the leap to mirrorless, and his pictures are awesome
So, what are your plans for the new normal? As this is a photography magazine, I’m asking what your plans for your camera are, not what you’re having for dinner! Or do you even have any at this early stage? Actually, I’ve read several stories online this week that make hiding away indoors for the rest of the summer an attractive option. Idiots tombstoning off Durdle Door, visitors causing ‘significant problems’ and leaving ‘toilet waste’ in the Lake District and portable barbecues causing fires in the Peak District. Good grief ! Of course, everyone is entitled to enjoy our country’s delights, but they should respect it, too, and take their rubbish home with them. With non-essential shops opening in England and Northern Ireland, are you tempted for a trip out to flex the credit card? And if so, what’s on your shopping list? A nice shiny new camera or lens, perhaps? With The Photography Show 2020 cancelled and a virtual two-day event planned, if you were saving your pennies for a spending spree at the NEC, that avenue of pleasure has gone. If you do want to touch and feel a prospective buy, you’ll have pop into your local photo dealer. Many are open, so that’s definitely an option. Believe it or not, on a day-to-day basis, I have shot more frames during lockdown than I normally would have done. That’s quite remarkable, because I had two photo trips planned back in April so I probably would have shot thousands of pictures. Yes, it’s true my subject matter is more much restricted and actually not very interesting, but even on sunsets alone I am up into the thousands of frames – howmany I keep is another matter. Why sunsets? Well, we had a sunset most days inMay and the nearest hill is a ten-minute stroll, plus it’s high enough to watch the sun sink into the distant horizon. Basically, it’s an excuse to get some postprandial air, enjoy the sunset vibe and shoot a few (thousand!) snaps
with various bits of kit I am testing. And, of course, every sunset is different, too. Not only is my photo library of sunsets growing exponentially, my catalogue of water droplets and oil-on-water patterns has grown hugely, too, and I am still doing self-portraits (up to 17 at the last count). The self portrait- thing started with The Photography News Podcast as an idea to keep listeners occupied during lockdown. If you didn’t knowwe had a podcast – we do and it’s free on our website, photographynews.co.uk, and on Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Spotify. Catch the PN team chatting through their latest exploits, answering listener questions and generally chewing the photography cud. At one point, I had the mad idea of doing a self-portrait 365. That idea got the boot once I’d Googled ‘self-portrait 365’. I found several – and very good they were, too – but it was significant that the photographers were young and pretty and I’mneither. They were also fit, enjoyed leaping around and were skilled with makeup. It’s a big fail fromme on those points, too. Nevertheless, I sat down with a sketch pad and ‘imagineered’ ideas. Some were easy, many less so, but I didn’t want to just turn the camera on myself and grab a snap. One image, shot close to the camera with an 85mm lens wide open at f/1.8, took loads of attempts, simply because I couldn’t get the focus right. I put a lighting stand where I was going to stand, manually focused up on it, moved into the shot and still missed focus on my eyes. By taking the shotgun approach, ie self-timer set to nine shots with a few seconds’ gap in- between each and moving slightly from frame to frame, after a lot of frames and several hours messing around, I got the shot. Was it worth it? Probably not, but I happily passed an evening. I promise to get out more before we meet again, so stay safe and enjoy whatever you get up to.
Nikon F and Sony E-mounts. Both have gained an aperture declick option, a nine-blade diaphragm and weather sealing around the lens mount area. The 14mm f/2.8 has 14 elements in 11 groups and features five advanced lenses to minimise distortion and spherical aberrations. This lens also has a focus lock and sports a minimum focus of 28cm. With a built-in lens hood, no filter size is quoted. The 85mm f/1.8 has nine elements in seven groups and features a hybrid aspherical lens to optimise performance.
Filter size is 72mm and minimum focus is 110cm. Prices range from £359 to £439 depending on model and lens fitting and both are available now. The final piece of news from Samyang is its summer savings promotion, which runs until 28 June with savings up to £250 off guide price on a wide range of lenses. For more details, visit the website below. intro2020.co.uk bit.ly/SamyangInstantSavings
21 Buyers’ guide: printing services Whether you go small, large or panoramic, or choose canvas, block or acrylic, there’s a dazzling array of options out there. Now’s the time to get your best shots into print
8 Photo kit Mirrorless cameras
have brought along new opportunities for exciting, high-performing lenses.
We explain why 11 Camera technique
Lockdown is easing, so it’s time to set yourself some local photo projects 14 Video technique
26 Big test: FujifilmX-T4
It’s the first X-T camera with an image stabiliser built in and its video offering is impressive, but it comes at a price. It’s one worth paying, we reckon
Followus:
Improve your videos with the addition of some extra kit
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Issue 78 | Photography News 3
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