Pro Photo 231

Marvelling at the imaging performance of the Sony A7S III at very high sensitivity settings – it still looks good at ISO 51,200 – it was a reminder of how far we’ve come in fairly recent times. I started my career shooting Kodachrome 64 – that’s ISO 64 – and then switched to Fujichrome Velvia 50 when the Kodak product started to become harder to get processed. Velvia 50 was rated at ISO 50, but if you wanted more details in the shadows you shot it at ISO 32. Anything above ISO 400 was pretty terrible in colour transparency films and the limit with colour negative was really ISO 800 if you didn’t want loads of grain. I rarely, if ever, shot with anything faster than ISO 100, even with…

Sony continues on its merry way to what must surely be eventual dominance of the interchangeable lens camera (ILC) market. As if the A7R IV, A9 II and A7S III didn’t already hit all the right spots, here’s the Alpha 1 which, as you can probably tell from the emphatic model designation, is the alpha male in Sony’s full-frame mirrorless line-up (now numbering nine bodies). You get the best of all three of those cameras wrapped up in the Alpha 1, which has a 50.1MP sensor, but can also shoot at 30fps and, like the A7S III, delivers 4K UHD video at 120fps with 10-bit 4:2:2 colour. Unlike the A7S III though, it can also shoot 8K video internally at 30fps with 10-bit 4:2:0 colour sampling. Take that Canon! The Alpha…

The fourth digital medium format mirrorless camera from Fujifilm, the GFX 100S combines the 102 megapixels sensor from the GFX 100 with a more compact and lighter body similar to that of the GFX 50S. In fact, the GFX 100S weighs in at a modest 900g (500g lighter than the GFX 100) and measures a very manageable 150x104x87 mm (WxHxD) – yet it still incorporates in-body stabilisation, a 3-inch rear screen with three-way tilt adjustments, and full weather protection including for shooting in subzero temperatures down to-10ºC. Notably too, the GFX 100S brings in 100MP resolution at under $10,000… nearly $500 under and, consequently, it’s cheaper than Sony’s new full-frame Alpha 1. The all-new IBIS module has five-axis movements and gives correction for camera shake of up to six stops. The…

The latest addition to Leica’s Classics range of M-mount lenses is a reprise of one of its most famous. The new Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 ASPH is a re-issue of the original Noctilux-M 50mm f1/1.2 made between 1966 and 1975, and was the world’s first interchangeable camera lens to employ aspherical elements. And, of course, at that time, aspherical elements had to be cut and then polished by hand, a process that took in the order of 40 hours. In fact, this is the way Leica still makes its aspherical lens elements. Essentially replicating the original optical design, the new Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 ASPH is available in two versions. Before the introduction of the original Noctilux in 1966, silver was the customary colour for M-mount lenses – with the exception of a…

The line-up of L-mount lenses continues to grow with Panasonic adding a new telezoom to its Lumix S full-frame mirrorless system. The Lumix S 70-300mm f/4.6-5.6 Macro OIS features a weather-proofed construction that not only protects against moisture and dust, but also allows for shooting in polar climates down to-10ºC. There’s also a fluorine coating on the exposed surface of the front element to better repel moisture and grease, and allow for easier cleaning. The new 70-300mm’s optical construction comprises 17 elements in 10 groups, includes one ultra extra-low dispersion type (UED), two extra-low dispersion types (ED) and one using ultra-high refractive index glass (UHR). Collectively, these special elements correct for axial chromatic aberration at the telephoto end and chromatic aberration of magnification at the shorter focal length end. The lens…

Fujifilm continues to fine-tune its X-mount camera line-up and the X-E series has been given a reset with the much more compact X-E4. The X-E cameras have rangefinder-like styling, but the X-E4 is actually closer to the X-A series in size while still having a built-in EVF and tilt-adjustable LCD screen. Just 32.7mm in thickness (without a lens) and weighing 364g, the X-E4 is slim enough to be carried in a jacket pocket. The X-E4 also steps up to the current-generation 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 BSI sensor and the X Processor 4 engine. With the newer sensor, the X-E4 inherits a 425-point hybrid phase/contrast-detection autofocusing system that gives virtually full-frame coverage and is sensitive down to EV-7.0 (albeit with the super-fast 50mm f/1.0 prime lens). Subject tracking is enhanced by Fujifilm’s…