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Last month, we looked at the pros andmassive potential of mirrorless cameras. Now’s the time to look at the vibrant world of lenses and themany options to check out
NEWCAMERA SYSTEMS means new lens mounts and, with the arrival of mirrorless, we’ve seen plenty of them since the first mirrorless camera – the Panasonic Lumix G1 in 2008, which sported the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) fitting, a standard shared by Olympus. Since then, we’ve seen Canon with two newmounts, Fujifilmwith two, Nikon with two (which included the now- discontinued Series 1), and Hasselblad, Sony and Leica with the L-Mount, also used by Panasonic and Sigma. Newmounts are needed to support the new technologies that have come along with mirrorless cameras, and also offer great opportunities for the lens designers and manufacturers. For photographers, though, at least to start with, it’s not plain sailing, because they are probably already committed to an existing system, so even if a DSLR user likes the idea of using mirrorless, it might not be feasible to embrace it. Switching systems, whether you do it all in one go or piecemeal, is an expensive exercise and not one to take on with your eyes shut. Once you have made the big decision, for the camera body you might need to invest in different spare batteries/cards or buy another L-grip or remote release. But these are minor headaches compared with the pain that comes with sorting out the lens system. You might have a set of fast aperture zooms for your existing camera and getting like-for- like replacements is going to be pricey, even if you do get a good trade-in deal. Of course, much depends on whether you are switching systems totally or whether you’re aiming to run both DSLR and mirrorless systems side by side, which might be the case until you make the final decision or build up the budget to get all the required lenses. The three most recent lens mounts have been for full-frame systems: the Canon RF mount, the Nikon Zmount and the L-Mount, designed by Leica and now also used by Panasonic and Sigma under the L-Mount Alliance. In the case of all three mounts, much was made of the wide inner diameter and short flange focal distance (the distance from the mount to the sensor), offering the lens designers greater opportunity to flex their creativity and to produce faster, more compact and very high-performing lenses for full- frame as well as APS-C formats. The Nikon Zmount is currently the widest full-frame lens mount and that has an inner diameter of 55mm and a flange focal distance of 16mm, a specification that allows lenses as fast as f/0.95.
That’s great in principle, but the fact is that while the manual focus Nikon Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct is now available, it tips the scales at 2kg and has a price tag of £8299, so it’s one for collectors and photographers with deep pockets. While not quite matching Nikon’s achievement, Canon has an RF 50mm f/1.2 and from Panasonic there’s an S Pro 50mm f/1.4 (an incredibly sharp lens), selling at £2350 and £2299 respectively. More affordable, relatively speaking, than Nikon’s beast of a lens. Sigma is in the position of being a leading independent lens manufacturer and it offers outstanding products in DSLR and mirrorless camera fittings, but it also has a keen interest in the camera market. Its latest product is the fp, the world’s smallest full-frame digital camera, which is fitted with the L-Mount. Sigma already has a raft of high-spec Art lenses, such as the 14mm f/1.8 and 35mm f/1.4, so with its commitment to the L-Mount Alliance, it’s not surprising we are seeing lenses coming out in that fitting. The Sony E-mount, for full-frame and APS-C cameras, has a short flange focal length of 18mm and inner diameter of 46.1mm, which is narrower than other full-framemirrorless mounts andmight limit the opportunities. The mirrorless revolution is not just withMFT, APS-C and full-frame formats – it has taken place in medium format, too, with the FujifilmGFX and Hasselblad X1D systems. Not having a reflex mirror has allowed larger format cameras to shrink, and these cameras are popular for outdoor and studio use alike. Both are new systems, but already both have ten lenses to choose from. Fast aperture, high-performing lenses aren’t just the province of the full-frame systems, and there are plenty of great options for the smaller format FujifilmX Series and the MFTmount supported by Olympus and Panasonic. One smaller format lens mount with less support is the Canon EF-M fitting, although there is a 32mm f/1.4 and a few choices from Sigma. Just to pick a few highlights from Fujifilm’s 29-strong XMount lens system (with 16 prime lenses), there’s the XF16mm f/1.4 and XF56mm f/1.2, and due later this year is the XF50mm f/1.0, which will be the world’s fastest autofocus lens. For MFT, there’s plenty of fast aperture, quality glass from Olympus and Panasonic, including the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2, the M.Zuiko ED 8mm f/1.8 (the world’s first fisheye of this speed) and the M.Zuiko ED 25mm f/1.2.
ABOVE The original Nikon F-mount, first seen in 1959, is still in use, here worn by a D850. Its inner diameter is 47mm and its flange focal distance is 46.5mm.Wind the clock forward nearly 60 years and there’s the Nikon Zmount, here on the Z 7. By comparison, its inner diameter is 55mm and the flange distance just 16mm. Buy the Nikon FTZ adapter for £269 and F-mount lenses can be used on Zmount cameras – this aspect of continuity is an important sell. Canon has the equivalent adapter for its mirrorless system, too RIGHT AYorkshire Dales red grouse photographed using an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III with an Olympus 300mm f/4 lens.With the 2x crop of the Micro Four Thirds format, this lens is the equivalent of a 600mm in the 35mm format, yet it is very compact and portable for a lens of this focal length
ABOVE Fitting a lens of one brand on to a camera from another was always possible, but rarely with a full focusing range. That’s totally changed with mirrorless bodies. Here, the lens was a Nikon F-mount 500mm f/5.6 with a 1.7x teleconverter giving an 850mm lens. Attached to a FujifilmX-T4 with its 1.5x crop factor and the equivalent focal length is 1275mm in the 35mm format. A Fotodiox Nikon F-mount to FujifilmX Series body adapter was used and you get infinity focus
8 Photography News | Issue 78
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