Tag Archives: fast

*Voigtländer 17.5mm f/0.95 – Getting some time in with another m4/3 system gem.

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Believe it or not, I’m still attempting to actively write, and after a very hectic year, I’m getting back into the game, kinda.  This article all started indirectly during the total solar eclipse this year.  A friend who also shoots micro 4/3 and I got to talking about lenses we like for the system.  We were taking turns using my adapted Sigma 150-600mm through a solar filter to snap shots of the celestial event, and we got to talking about the Voigtländer offerings.  I, having been the proud owner of the 42.5mm Nokton (review on that bad boy HERE), was excited to find out my friend was toting the 17.5mm version around with him.  Well, I’ll spare you the minutiae of the back and forth, but we decided to do a lens swap for a month or so, and here we are. C’mon in for some touchy, feely bits on my time with the Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 lens…

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*ZY Optics, Zhong Yi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95 lens for Micro 4/3 user review

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

ZY Speedmaster 25mm f/0.95

Small, sharp, fast, relatively light and comparably inexpensive.  All things I love in a lens.  ZY Optics has produced yet another ultra fast option for micro 4/3 shooters, but a first option available in a dedicated mount, faster than f/1.4, new for under $400. 

The question now stands, how does this fit in with all the other standard/normal lens offerings within the micro 4/3 landscape?  Well, more easily than you might think.  While not perfect, it definitely has enough going for it to justify a look.  C’mon in for my thoughts and some tests against the Pana-Leica 25mm f/1.4 Summilux…

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*Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Art Lens on the Sony a7II and Canon 5DII, a user review w/ @adorama

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

 

Sigma Art EF 20mm f/1.4 Lens review

Happy new year! I’ve been having a wonderful holiday season, largely thanks to Adorama for lending me this beaut of a lens.  The Sigma Art 20mm f/1.4 is the widest, f/1.4 full frame lens, and is the newest addition to the much vaunted line of f/1.4 Sigma Art Primes available in Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony FE, Leica L and Sigma mounts.  In this article, we’ll explore a bit of the more measurable aspects as well as the more touchy, feely parts of interacting with this lens.  I shot this lens on both the Canon EOS 5D mkII and the Sony a7II via the EF>FE Metabones MkIV smart adapter, and it performed equally as solid on both cameras.  Is this a viable option for full frame system shooters for fast, ultra wide applications?  Well, seeing as there has never been a full frame compatible lens this wide, this fast, it’s forging new ground for many shooters, and that is pretty rare in this day and age.  C’mon in to see some example images and read my rambling thoughts…

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*Pana-Leica 15mm f/1.7 ASPH Lens on Sale!

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

leica 15mm on sale!

This little gem is on sale for $70 off right now.  I’m not normally a sale pumper unless it is for stuff I use, I like and I would recommend.  If you’ve been on the fence, or waiting for this lens to drop a little, here’s a great opportunity to save a good amount of money on a great little lens.

Find the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 Aspherical lens on sale at Adorama HERE and B&H HERE.

If you’d like to see my review on the Leica 15mm, you can read that HERE.

Or, if you’d also like to read the head to head (to head) between the Leica 15, and the two Lumix Pancakes (14mm and 20mm) I did a comparison article HERE.

It is a great mate to any of the micro 4/3 cameras, especially the GM bodies, and is compact and lightweight enough to go largely unnoticed in the bag.  I’ve been shooting the 15mm on the new GX8 with its 20mp sensor providing great results for me.

 

*Using the Kipon EF to m4/3, smart adapter. Things are getting interesting w/ @adorama

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

kipon ef to m4/3 af adapter

The Kipon EF Lens to Micro 4/3 mount smart adapter is a fairly big deal.  Not just because it enables aperture adjustment for the electronically controlled EF line of lenses when adapted to a micro 4/3 camera body, but it has also bridged the proprietary technology to gain the use of full auto focus and lens based image stabilization capabilities.  Having followed a fairly similar path into the micro 4/3 world as I would imagine many others, I came from a long standing investment in the Canon system.  I still shoot my Canon full framers, and have compiled some very nice glass over the years that tends to sit on the shelf more often now that I shoot the micro 4/3 system.  I’ve been waiting for a solution to merge my two beloved systems, and Kipon has produced it.

Enter the new, Kipon EF>m4/3 Smart Adapter. Come on in for some insight and my experience over the last month…

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*Micro 4/3 Portrait Lens Shoot Out! Leica Nocti vs Voigtländer Nokton vs Olympus

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

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Few systems can boast multiple, high quality portrait prime lenses.  Here I’m looking at three, very good lenses all in their own, respective rights.  Each, have their upside and for a given shooter, a very justifiable argument in favor of, over the others.

While there are two more proprietary portrait prime, focal length lenses with a micro 4/3 badge printed on them (the Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro and the new Lumix 42.5mm f/1.7) I have been able to justify buying all three of these for one reason or another over the last few years.  I must cull my quiver to make room (and provide budget) for new, fun things to review, so I need to decide which I’m going to hold onto.

C’mon in for some shots, and my thoughts…

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*Topaz ReMask4 – Free upgrade now available!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2014-07-21 at 10.44.49 AM

If you hadn’t heard, Topaz has ReMask on sale for half off this month, and they’ve also just updated it to version 4!

download a full free trial, update for free or purchase via Topazlabs website HERE

– enter “julyremask” to get 50% off

If you own ReMask3, simply download and instal the newer version from the link above and you’re golden!

The interface has been streamlined and simplified while it still provides the same amazing tool for the extraction of subjects by simple, quick and efficient selection and masking for a variety of host programs.

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I’ve reviewed ReMask twice and continue to find uses for it which saves me an amazing amount of time in Photoshop.  I’ve rambled on about it but it really is an amazing tool and time saver which I’d suggest trying out for yourself. With the new version, it has streamlined it into a quicker, more user-friendly interface which falls in line with the more recent design changes for other Topaz plugins.  Click these links to see my reviews and simple tutorials if interested:

Topaz ReMask Tutorial and Review

Topaz ReMask3 – Why have I not been using this until now?

Try it out.  We have until the end of this month to take advantage of the 50% off sale.

Enjoy and feel free to fire off any questions, I’d love to try and help answer them.

Happy shooting,

Tyson