Photography News issue 20

8

Latest photography news

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II was a damn decent lens, but camp Canon has only gone and outdone itself by releasing a successor in the form of the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM. The main improvement is a fast, near-silent and super-smooth focusing system, which can get you as close as 0.35m to your subject whilst still delivering clear results. You’ll see a difference in imaging quality too compared with its predecessor as its seven-blade aperture delivers really beautiful blur and out-of- focus highlights whilst spectra coating minimises ghosting and flare as well as reflections. Smaller changes have been made too, such as the mount being redesigned for a more robust fit with your camera. Weighing in at 160g, it’ll keep your kitbag light but your wallet will still feel full as it’s retailing at a reasonable £129.99. Canon’s prime time π To find out more, go to www.canon.co.uk.

Keeping abreast with innovations in imaging technology, which is now making cameras quicker and images richer in detail, Samsung has released two new line-ups of SD and microSD memory cards. The Pro Plus and EVO Plus can handle more data faster, as well as support 4K and UHD video recording. Coming in 64GB and 34GB storage capacities, the Pro Plus range has read speeds of up to 95MB/s and write speeds of an equally impressive 90MB/s. The larger of the two can store almost 110 minutes of 4K footage or 490 minutes of Full HD video. The EVO Plus cards come in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, with the largest of the lot being able to store a maximum of nearly 11,000 photos or 980 minutes of Full HD video. The EVO Plus range has read speeds of up to 80MB/s and write speeds of up to 20MB/s, a vastly improved performance compared to the original EVO line-up. The Plus line-up also has the added bonus of being able to withstand up to 72 hours submerged in seawater (that’s 48 hours more than existing Samsung cards). The microSD cards are available this month with SD versions following later. Memorymagic

Another Fujifilm firmwareupdate

across a broader area to improve the X-T1’s AF skills. AF accuracy has been improved too with smaller zones in single-point AF and greatly enhanced sensitivity in low light, low contrast situations. The update also brings in Eye detection AF, which automatically focuses on the human eye even in complex scenes, and there is an Auto Macro setting too, which frees up the macro function button for another use. Go online in late June for the v4 update.

Many owners of the Fujifilm X-T1 rejoiced when firmware update v3 with 26 handling improvements was announced a few months back. And surely the bell-ringing, beacon-burning and merriment will be even greater when v4 comes out in late June. V4 brings a new AF system as well as other handling benefits to X-T1 and X-T1 Graphite cameras. The existing 49-point system has been embellished with new Zone and Wide/ Tracking modes, which use 77 AF points

π To find out more about the new cards, go to www.samsung.co.uk.

π To find out more about the update, go to www.fujifilm.com/x-t1/ver4/.

Olympus launches lenses Two optics join the PRO line-up, plus a limited edition E-M5MkII

A limited edition OM-D E-M5 Mark II will be available from June, body only at £999.99 or with the 14-150mm f/4-5.6 at £1349.99 (from Jessops). This titanium-coloured camera is in homage to an Olympus classic, the OM-3Ti that came out more than 20 years ago. Only 7000 of these special edition bodies will be made and the cameras will be numbered one to 7000. Also for OM-D E-M10 and E-M1 potential buyers and existing owners, Olympus is offering cashback and trade-in bonuses on these two bodies and selected lenses. See the summer special website below for more details.

Olympus’s range of Micro Four Thirds lenses has grown by two, with the ED 8mm fisheye f/1.8 PRO and the ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO, selling for £799.99 and £999.99 respectively. Both lenses will be in the shops from June. The 8mm at f/1.8 is claimed to be the world’s fastest fisheye lens and with the x2 crop factor of Micro Four Thirds, it’s equal to a 16mm in 35mm format terms. Like the rest of the PRO range the 7-14mm is weather-proofed with 11 separate seals and with a minimum focus of 7.5cm from the lens front, you can really get in close for dramatic wide effects.

π To find out more about the new kit or offers, go to www.olympus.co.uk/cameras or www.olympus.eu/summerspecial.

Photography News | Issue 20

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