The Phoblographer

Put your DSLR lenses on a film camera and give them new life.

Of course, you could adapt them to your mirrorless camera. But generally speaking, your DSLR lenses are too big for your mirrorless camera. Instead, why not consider getting back into film? DSLRs were the direct evolution of film cameras. And if you really want to keep using them, it just makes sense to use them on another format. Maybe you’ve never shot film. I’ll judge you for a bit, but you really should. It teaches you so much about shooting and photography that you wouldn’t know otherwise. I’m not saying that you should shoot only film, of course. But you’ll see how you start creating differently.

So let’s break this down. You’ve got a few solid options. There’s Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony/Minolta A, and Pentax K. Those are the major DSLR manufacturers that were around. I’m not going to count Four Thirds–that was the first true all-digital interchangeable lens camera platform.

With Canon, there are tons of excellent EF SLR film cameras. Of course, you can’t use these on the old FD mount cameras. Instead, try going for an EOS 7, EOS 5, EOS 3, or an EOS 1V. Canon’s film Rebel cameras are also an excellent choice. But who really wants a Rebel? If you’re going to shoot film, then go higher end. I used to own a Canon EOS Elan 7. Then I sold one. Then I bought another. And eventually, I ended up selling it again. Best of all, all your EF mount glass can be used with it. In the later years, Canon L lenses got pretty decent. Sigma and Zeiss also made phenomenal lenses for the system after 2011. If you want weather sealing, I’d advise you to go 1V or bust. Remember, these cameras have electronics in them.

Lastly, forget about EF-S lenses on film cameras.

If you shoot Nikon, you’ve also got several options. First off, you should know that any Nikon Lens with the E nomenclature is off the table. Nikon made these to really embrace digital a lot more. If you mount them to a film camera, you won’t have aperture control. So they’re pretty useless. Before this, though, Nikon made some fantastic F mount lenses. For example, they had a bunch of excellent f1.8 prime lenses. Tamron also made very good lenses for them within the past decade. Again, so too did Zeiss and Sigma.

Also, and maybe this is as obvious, but only go for FX lenses. Those are for full-frame. Try to snag a Nikon F6, F5, or an F4. But if you want something more affordable, the Nikon F100 was incredibly solid. I should’ve sprung for that instead of the Nikon N80.

Now we get to Sony and Minolta A-mount. You’ve got some options here. If you want to use some of the later lenses, you need a Minolta a9 with SSM support. But for the most part, a Minolta a7 works just fine. Third-party manufacturer support for Sony wasn’t all that prevalent. But Minolta has a bunch of cool, older lenses. Sony and Zeiss both had a super close relationship for years. The weird thing here, though, is the hot shoe. The Minolta hot shoe has to be one of the weirdest creations ever made. It’s so completely different than anything else ever made. Thankfully, Sony wisened up and switched to the multi-interface shoe a while back.

Pentax is where things get super confusing. First off, check your mount. Pentax came out with a bunch of SLRs in different mounts. Pentax K mount is what you’re after. As far as I go, it’s Pentax LX all the way. This camera is weather-resistant and had the best durability. Personally, I’m a spotmatic man, but that’s not K-mount! Like Sony, they didn’t always have the most support. But Pentax has a large variety of lenses. Be sure you get FA lenses. These are full-frame. DA lenses are pretty useless on film cameras. D FA lenses can work on higher-end Pentax film camera bodies.

The cool thing about this is the different looks you’ll get. Newer lenses with newer coatings give film a pretty awesome render.

The Funleader 18mm f8 lens can surely be a joy to use, but you’ll use it maybe once and then give it up.

We’ve been asking manufacturers for something different for a long time now. And thankfully, we’re experiencing a lens renaissance. So the Funleader 18mm f8 seems like just the right tool, right? It’s a pancake lens for a variety of lens mounts. It’s got an 18mm focal length with a fixed f8 aperture. Plus, you can’t even focus the lens. It’s got a fixed focus to a certain distance away. Best of all, this lens packs in character to it that’s beautiful.

Too Long, Didn’t Read

The Funleader 18mm f8 is a lens that basically makes your dedicated camera function sort of like your phone’s camera. It’s also incredibly limiting, a bit too much for our liking. Move on. Personally speaking, the lack of weather sealing, fixed aperture, and fixed focus is just too much for me not to take this lens seriously. At the same time, you’re not really supposed to take the Funleader 18mm seriously at all.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Super small

Fun to play with: this is the closest thing to a modern toy lens you can find.

Can be very sharp

Cons

It’s super affordable, but you’re probably going to use it only once.

Gear Used

We tested this lens on the original Sony a7, just for fun!

Innovations

There’s nothing particularly innovative about the Funleader 18mm f8. Many other lenses have done similar things. Not many of them have metal bodies, though.

Funleader 18mm f8 Tech Specs

Specs are taken from the company’s website listing.

Focal length: 18mm

Frame: Full-frame / Specific APS-C

Aperture: f/8.0

Field of view: 100°

Closest focusing distance: 2.62ft (0.8m)

Lens construction: 6 elements in 5 groups

Coating: Multi-coated

Body material: Aluminium

Weight: Approx. 80g

Size: 2.56in Ø x 0.59in (62mm Ø × 15mm)

Funleader 18mm f8 Ergonomics

The Funleader 18mm f8 is super small. Ergonomically speaking, this is the front of it. There’s not much to speak of. You can’t even attach a filter to it.

When you look at it from up top, you won’t see a whole lot. It doesn’t have a focusing ring, nor is there any aperture ring. And because it doesn’t have any electronics on the inside, it’s purely analog.

Funleader 18mm f8 Build Quality

The Funleader 18mm f8 isn’t weather-sealed at all. And the body is metal. So it’s totally in this oddball category of lenses. Of course, since it’s metal, it’s very durable. But you also can’t take it out into the rain and expect that your camera’s mount will be protected. Further, it’s also pretty small. So you’re going to need to be careful taking it off at times. For example, if you have bigger fingers, getting a grip might be tough.

Personally speaking, I like the metal build. But I also understand that every lens can’t be weather sealed. So overall, the build quality isn’t anything to majorly complain about at this price.

Ease of Use

Slap the lens on your camera, point, and shoot. That’s it! There is no focusing. You’ll be best off setting your camera to focus peaking and then just walking up or away from your subject. That’s the only way you’ll get the shot. You also can’t change your aperture.

Does all this sound familiar to you? Basically, it works the same as a phone. Pretty much most of the scene will be in focus. You can’t change the aperture. But you can change the ISO and the shutter speed.

Focusing

You can’t focus the Funleader 18mm f8. Instead, it’s got fixed focus to a certain distance away.

Funleader 18mm f8 Image Quality

Our tests with the Funleader 18mm f8 we’re for shooting anything serious at all. Instead, we just tried to be experimental with it. Overall, it delivers a pleasantly lo-fi look. Your best bet is creating custom profiles in-camera to embrace the possibilities. Go super vivid for something more painterly. Or go high contrast black and white if you’re into that.

Bokeh

The bokeh from the Funleader 18mm f8 is…well…what bokeh? It’s a wide-angle f8 lens, and you can’t even focus closely with it. Don’t bother buying t...

The Fujifilm TX-1 in Champagne is incredibly gorgeous, and it’s hard to not want one.

To this day, I still think a panoramic digital camera could be a game-changing device. With that said, many of you have probably heard of the Hasselblad XPan. It’s a panoramic 35mm film camera that’s a thing of beauty. However, the lesser-known variant is the Fujifilm TX-1. If you weren’t aware, the XPan and the TX-1 are very similar cameras. The whole thing was a joint project done between the two manufacturers. Hasselblad has been known to do this for years. They’ve done it with Motorolla, DJI, Sony, etc. But in this one case, they created something truly unique. In fact, the Hasselblad XPan is an incredibly lusted for camera. But the Fujifilm TX-1 isn’t spoken of nearly enough. But we found a truly gorgeous one.

True Love: The Fujifilm TX-1

In an eBay listing for a stunning Fujifilm TX-1 in Champagne with a matching 45mm f4 lens, we’re taken aback. First, there’s the price of $6,834.30. That’s quite steep. But if you couple that with a really unique film emulsion that can’t be duplicated digitally, it starts to make more sense. The camera has some signs of use. But it can’t truly be all that much. The shutter has apparently only been fired 122 times. That’s insane!

About This Camera

You’d think that this is only a few rolls of 35mm film. And if it shot 36 images per roll, you’d be right. But these panoramic cameras like the Fujifilm TX-1 really eat film if they’re used in the panoramic function. Of course, the Fujifilm TX-1 can also shoot as a film camera normally would.

So what else makes this camera so special? The Fujifilm TX-1 can be broke down in the following way:

Rangefinder camera

Back LCD screen to display critical information

Working light meter

Meter is auto set with DX Coded film. This can surely annoy someone.

1/125th flash sync

8 second to 1/1000th shutter speed.

Aperture priority and manual mode

Focal plane shutter

Photographer Jonas Rask basically wrote a love letter to the camera. In his post, he states:

“So far this entire tsunami of words have acted like a long intro to what I’m about to write next. The entire raison d’être for the TX-1. The wide panoramic 65:24 aspect ratio. You might think that shooting these wide frames is easy because it will automatically seem very cinematic to the viewer, and hence tell a story per association. But if that’s your line of thought, then you couldn’t be more wrong! – Shooting the 65:24 format is some of the most challenging stuff I’ve thrown myself at photographically.”

Jonas did it right too! He shot with CineStill. CineStill is one of the few films that I’d probably consider shooting with today. Loads of film simulations can be emulated digitally. And let’s be honest, if all you care about is image quality, then all you need are the presets. To that end, you need to shoot with a film that can give you a unique look. CineStill can do that. So too can film from the Brooklyn Instant Film Initiative. They work with a pre-exposed film that works almost like a double exposure. SilberSalz35 is another who does what CineStill does but without removing the Remjet layer. So you’re basically just shooting on cinema film.

More photos of this beautiful camera are below. Won’t you give it a good home?

All images are from the listing by the seller, kyoto-japan_mall.

Reviews Editor Hillary Grigonis talks about her findings with this beautiful Nikon lens.

The Nikon Z 20mm f1.8 S review is done and scheduled for the coming days. Reviews Editor Hillary Grigonis thinks that it’s a beautiful lens with character, nice colors, and sharp image quality. Indeed, she shoots Nikon professionally. While these are all great, it surely does fall behind the competition. So we took our full review and summarized it in 5 minutes. Also, be sure to check out our Pro Camera Reviews show!

In This Episode:

Nikon Z 20mm f1.8 S:

“The Nikon 20mm F1.8 is arguably one of the best wide-angle lenses for the Z mount system. The image quality is spectacular. Photos are tack sharp, barrel distortion is minimal, and bokeh is soft and round. Even the autofocus performance is a little better than some other Z lenses. The sharpness, colors, and even the design of the lens itself is quite similar to the Nikon Z 24mm F1.8 S, but the 20mm does a better job keeping lines straight.“

“But, the lens design is very minimal. Like the other F1.8 primes in the Z series, there’s no secondary dial, shortcut buttons, or focal distance scale. The 20mm is priced higher than those other primes and, for $1,050, I would have loved to see the lens display panel and a second control ring that Nikon includes in other lenses. Even the budget-friendly DX lenses include a second control ring. The lens is larger, heavier, and more expensive than the similar F mount and Sony’s mirrorless 20mm.“

This is a quote from our upcoming full review.

On the Next Episode

The Megapixel Wars Have to Stop: Everything has changed when it comes to cameras, yet everything remains the same. Cameras have come on in leaps and bounds when it comes to technologies like autofocus and AI. Still, the one thing that camera manufacturers keep on trying to cram down our throats is Megapixels. Every week, we see speculation about brands pushing to release 100 Megapixel cameras, but why? At what point do we say enough is enough? In this segment, we’ll talk about the megapixel wars. Why it’s honestly a war that’s not worth fighting, and the implications it will have on you. We’ll also talk about what camera manufacturers should be focusing on instead.

The L Mount System is Finally a Fully Functional Camera Platform: Both Chris and Brett recently bought into the L mount system. They’ve been testing gear for a very long time and they thought it was finally time. The system consists of Leica, Panasonic and Sigma. Chris and Brett will go through what they like about the camera system vs others. And they’ll also tell you where they really need to improve. Could the second mirrorless full frame camera system really be your next purchase?

About Pro Camera Reviews

Pro Camera Reviews happens every Sunday. Sign up to join us! Please Register here or join us in the studio.

Pro Camera Reviews is a web show by the Reviews Team of The Phoblographer. Join them as they candidly discuss the products they’re actively reviewing and the gear they’ve just reviewed. Open Q and A from the audience towards the end of the show. Every Sunday at 7pm EST.

Please register here or join us in the studio!

If you’re looking for a fun time while staying safe, we strongly recommend that you tune in for Pro Camera Reviews. It’s a weekly show where the staff tackles a couple of issues in the Photo World. They mostly pertain to cameras and lenses, but sometimes things get a bit more serious. This is partly because we still feel that we need to be educators and leaders in this space. Additionally, we also need to be responsible. Episodes are done on Zoom and are recorded. They’re Live Streamed to our Facebook Page, then shared on Flipboard TV and YouTube. We recommend that you subscribe to us on Youtube to keep up.

“I really wanted to give a shoutout to all the amazing people I’ve worked with over the years,” explains Timothy Hiatt when talking about the release of his new book. He adds, “they mean the world to me…they’re the ones who make the images a helluva lot more than me.” In a body of work dating back to 2009, Hiatt is now offering everyone a look at his glittering career. From subtle portraits to full-blown conceptual shoots, his book, Muses, has everything! We spoke to Hiatt to learn more about his new release and why now was the right time to offer it to the world.

Phoblographer: Why did you feel it was the right time to release this retrospective book of your work?

Timothy Hiatt: Because I’ve had a lot of free time over the past year for some reason. Plus, I’ve always had it in my mind to do something like this. The kind of stuff I usually do, and that I’m somewhat known for lacks a certain creativity. I don’t mean that in a bad way, mind you because shooting music or events or red carpets provide their own sort of challenges. I love those challenges, but it’s a vastly different situation going from shooting something in which you really have no control over to creating something from scratch then taking the idea from planning to execution.

Since I haven’t been able to do the kind of work I normally do to keep the lights on recently, I wanted to use the time to focus on the kind of stuff I do to keep the creative blood flowing, and hopefully, something nice would come out of it.

Photographer: Talk to us about the selection process. How did you decide which images made the final print, and how long did it take?

Timothy Hiatt: It depends on how you look at it. It only took a couple of weeks to narrow them down from the time I decided to move forward with the project. But in reality, I’ve been living with the majority of the shots for years, so I had a fairly clear idea of which ones should make it.

I also wanted to make sure the book had variety. The hardest part was going over the shoots I’ve done with people I’ve shot with many times. There are a couple of people I’ve worked with so much that I could do a whole book on them alone. I also reached out to everyone I could to get their approval of selections. Only one shot that I really loved didn’t make it in because of that, but that’s totally ok. I always tell everyone I work with that if they don’t like a shot for any reason, even if it’s my favorite shot I’ve ever taken, I’ll make it go away.

Phoblographer: The book includes work dating back to 2009. Can you share one or two of the most enjoyable shoots you’ve done during that time?

Timothy Hiatt: I’ve got so many, and I hope no one will be offended if I don’t include their particular story, but here are just two. The first one may not technically fall into the “enjoyable” category, but the results do, and it’s the kind of shoot that you look back on when reminiscing and say, “You remember that time?”

A few years ago, I went to New Mexico to see a couple of my great friends and do some shooting with their daughter Ali. We did several setups over the course of a few days, and there was one specific setup that needed a bit more advanced planning and location scouting. So earlier in the day, Chuck (Ali’s father) and I went to search for the right place. We came across this great old car, from the late “50’s – rusted out, run down – clearly had seen better days. Best of all, it was unlocked so I could set up an accent light inside. We made a note of it to come back later in the evening.

After dark, we returned and started setting up. It was a six-light setup, so it was going to take a little time to get everything the way I wanted. Not more than five minutes had gone by before we hear “HEY!” off in the distance. I look around and tell everyone, “Don’t worry about it; let’s just keep setting up.” A few minutes later, from off in the distance again, “HEY!” Again, I tell everyone to keep setting up.

Well, sure enough, ten minutes...

Tamron’s impressive and affordable E mount lenses are incredibly popular.

It’s that time of the month where we look at the gear you, our readers, have been snapping up. This roundup will focus on the most popular lenses for March 2021. We’ve been seeing a trend over the last few months here at The Phoblographer. Photographers everywhere are going crazy for Tamron’s latest E mount lenses. This is really not surprising. The quality of their lenses has gone through the roof, and they have remained affordable. There are, of course, lenses from other manufacturers on the list too. So, lets, dive in and see the most popular lenses for March 2021.

Tamron 70-180mm f2.8

“Don’t let the plasticky exterior fool you. Like the other Sony E mount lenses that Tamron introduced recently, the Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 is weather-sealed. You don’t have to worry about photographing in inclement weather as long as you’re mounting this lens to a weather-sealed E mount camera body.”

Buy now: $1,199

Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Di III RXD

“One of the things that makes the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Di III RXD so appealing is just how good the image quality is. Not only is the lens capable of delivering sharp images, but the colors are very vibrant and the bokeh is smooth and beautiful.”

Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD

“The Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD is a fantastic lens overall. You’re getting old-school Sony image quality, lens character, weather sealing, fast autofocus, and a lightweight body. How could you complain? My absolute favorite thing about this lens is the nostalgic feeling I get working with it.”

Buy now: $799

IRIX 150mm f2.8 Dragonfly Macro Lens

“In the case of the IRIX 150mm f2.8 Dragonfly Macro Lens, it’s hitting the ball right out of the park. This lens exhibits great image quality in a lightweight body. Somehow or other, the company managed to cram 11 aperture blades, solid weather sealing, sharp optics, and an overall nice feeling into a moderately sized lens. Granted, they’re doing this at the sacrifice of autofocus, but I’m okay with that.”

Buy now: From $445

Fujifilm 23mm f2 R WR

In our review, we said:

Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief

“The speed when focusing with this lens on the X Pro 2 is very impressive. It’s by far the absolute best lens in Fujifilm’s lineup for street photography and candid shooting due to its autofocus speed.”

Buy now: $449

Reviews Editor Hillary Grigonis talks about her findings with this beautiful Nikon lens.

The Nikon Z 50mm f1.2 S was reviewed recently by us. And it’s an overall very beautiful lens. Nikon has always been a solid lens maker. Not only does this lens have great image quality, but it’s weather sealed. That’s so incredibly important for many of us who actively shoot outdoors. So we took our full review and summarized it in 5 minutes. Also, be sure to check out our Pro Camera Reviews show!

In This Episode:

Nikon Z 50mm f1.2 S:

“The Nikon Z 50mm f1.2 S captures an impressive mix of sharpness, color, and character. Images coming from this lens are gorgeous. But, you have to be willing to bring along the extra weight and work with an autofocus system behind the competition.” This is a quote from our full review. And as you’ll see we find the lens to be fairly pricey.

On the Next Episode

The Megapixel Wars Have to Stop: Everything has changed when it comes to cameras, yet everything remains the same. Cameras have come on in leaps and bounds when it comes to technologies like autofocus and AI. Still, the one thing that camera manufacturers keep on trying to cram down our throats is Megapixels. Every week, we see speculation about brands pushing to release 100 Megapixel cameras, but why? At what point do we say enough is enough? In this segment, we’ll talk about the megapixel wars. Why it’s honestly a war that’s not worth fighting, and the implications it will have on you. We’ll also talk about what camera manufacturers should be focusing on instead.

The L Mount System is Finally a Fully Functional Camera Platform: Both Chris and Brett recently bought into the L mount system. They’ve been testing gear for a very long time, and they thought it was finally time. The system consists of Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma. Chris and Brett will go through what they like about the camera system vs. others. And they’ll also tell you where they really need to improve. Could the second mirrorless full frame camera system really be your next purchase?

About Pro Camera Reviews

Pro Camera Reviews happens every Sunday. Sign up to join us! Please Register here or join us in the studio.

Pro Camera Reviews is a web show by the Reviews Team of The Phoblographer. Join them as they candidly discuss the products they’re actively reviewing and the gear they’ve just reviewed. Open Q and A from the audience towards the end of the show. Every Sunday at 7pm EST.

Please register here or join us in the studio!

If you’re looking for a fun time while staying safe, we strongly recommend that you tune in for Pro Camera Reviews. It’s a weekly show where the staff tackles a couple of issues in the Photo World. They mostly pertain to cameras and lenses, but sometimes things get a bit more serious. This is partly because we still feel that we need to be educators and leaders in this space. Additionally, we also need to be responsible. Episodes are done on Zoom and are recorded. They’re Live Streamed to our Facebook Page, then shared on Flipboard TV and YouTube. We recommend that you subscribe to us on Youtube to keep up.

Many have called on Apple to do more with cameras, and this will definitely be something new for them.

Apple is a company that likes to dip its hands into many different electronic markets. We all, of course, know about their smartphone empire, their computers, iPods, iPads, headphones, and even their much-speculated electric car. But what about cameras and other items that use them? Apple has been making waves with their iPhone cameras for sure, but will they ever break into another market that utilizes cameras? The answer to that is yes, apparently. News of an augmented reality headset has been floating around for a little while now. While it might not be a camera announcement we have been looking for, it’s still pretty cool. Let’s talk about this after the break.

A post on Image Sensor World describes a new augmented reality headset that Apple is apparently working on. Now, augmented reality shouldn’t be confused with virtual reality. Virtual reality puts you into a total virtual space. Augmented reality brings objects that you can see and manipulate through a headset into your real surroundings. Microsoft has a headset like this. It’s called the HoloLens, and while the talk was big about it for a while, it never made it into the consumer space. So, will Apple be able to make it work instead? Well, let’s take a look at what might be coming before we decide.

What Makes This Apple AR Device Special?

The Oculus Quest 2 has just four cameras.

So, how is will this Apple augmented reality device function? Well, it will have a whopping 15 cameras embedded in it. This is a lot more than most consumer-based VR and AR headsets. The Oculus Quest 2, for instance, has just four cameras.

Eight of the cameras in the Apple AR headset will enable pass-thru video so that you can see your real surroundings in the headset. The screens will supposedly be MicroOLED displays. Six more cameras will be used to feed innovative biometrics to the headset. This sounds pretty intrusive, but it could be an AI-based system that can detect other human faces and eyes, animals, or other object recognition technology. Perhaps it will be used for security too. There will also be one more camera that will be used for environmental detection. As you can see, the Apple AR headset will be loaded with optics and sensors. Whether or not we will see this tech remains to be seen. An AR headset definitely sounds great. We can’t help but wonder if some of this tech can be used in other applications.

What Does This Tech Mean For Apple’s Future

Apple iPhone 12

We know that Apple is hard at work trying to create the best mobile photography experience out there. Do they offer the best mobile photography experience? Well, that’s up for debate and is for you to decide. What we can glean from this, though, is that Apple seems to be fully committed to working on camera technology on multiple fronts. What’s really exciting about this AR tech are the biometric cameras.

If this AI technology works and can detect and track objects without any user input, this would be game-changing. Imagine having AI this powerful in your smartphone camera. I’m even sure there would be a market for this tech to be used in traditional cameras. So far, you have to tell a camera what it’s looking at, and then it will track. Having a dedicated sensor built into a camera that can automatically detect exactly what it’s looking at and that can use deep-learning to further expand its capabilities would be great. We will apparently see this technology from Apple in 2022. What do you think about a possible AR headset and deep learning tech from Apple? Let us know in the comment section below.

High megapixel sensors are great; however, a curved sensor would really spice up the camera market.

We love finding out about new sensors just as much as you do. However, new types of sensors have been hard to come by. Sure, Sony is killing it with their stacked sensors, but there needs to be a big leap technologically. There has been plenty of speculation about global shutters. These would be very cool. Still, recently there has been a lot of noise about curved sensors. Curved sensors would drastically reduce the size of lenses as they would allow for much simpler lens designs. Speaking of lens designs, Canon just filed a patent for a new lens. That’s doesn’t sound too exciting. However, this lens is designed for a curved sensor. Let’s talk about it after the break.

The patent for a new lens, which has been filed with a patent service, was first reported on by An Image On A Sensor. As mentioned above, curved sensors have been talked about a lot recently. In fact, we posted this article that talked about a curved sensor from Curve-One. However, this is the first time we have seen a patent for a curved sensor lens from one of the big dogs. So, what type of lens from Canon are we looking at here?

The Canon 70mm Prime For a Curved Sensor

According to the patent, this new lens from Canon will be a 70mm prime lens with an aperture around f1. That would make this one super-fast prime lens. Just think of the bokeh! Now, just to be clear, there are actually 12 designs for this lens in the patent. So, it’s pretty clear that Canon has not nailed down a perfect design for it yet. Still, this is incredibly exciting news. Looking at the twelve possibilities, it’s clear that this lens will be fast. The maximum aperture ranges from f1.03 up to f1.45. Where things get a little muddy is with the length of the lens. Depending on which design they go with, the lens could be anywhere from 74.56mm (1.87-inches) to 177.93mm (7-inches) long. Clearly, there’s still a long way to go in the design process.

What’s the Benefit Of A Curved Sensor?

Curved sensors will bring with them some benefits compared to regular flat sensors. Curved sensors will virtually eliminate distortion and vignetting when shooting at wide angles. Edge sharpness in images can be up to 5x greater when compared to regular sensors. Aberrations and chromatism are also supposedly improved. On top of this, the lenses that are designed for them are much simpler to construct. This means that lenses could be smaller due to the decrease in the number of elements needed to correct the image. Curved sensors can also collect much more light.

This all sounds incredible. Technology like this will open up so many new doors. However, the sensors will generally only work with one lens that has been designed for it specifically. So, what types of cameras will use these sensors? Fixed-lens cameras. We don’t expect to see fixed-lens cameras any time soon with these sensors. Still, it’s exciting to know that this technology is being worked on. What do you think about the lens design? Are you excited about curved sensors in general? Lets us know in the comment section below.

The 61MP Sigma Fp L looks like it might be oriented towards photographers, but we’re still not entirely convinced.

Sigma turned heads last year when they launched the Sigma Fp. An incredibly tiny, 24 Megapixel modular camera that was geared more towards videographers than photographers. Still, we took it for a spin. We found that while the camera was trying to be innovative, it still struggled with autofocus. Autofocus has always been Sigma’s Achilles heel, and it has been the downfall of many of their cameras. Now, we find out (late, we might add) about the new 61 Megapixel Sigma Fp L. It’s the same small modular camera from before, but it has a beefed-up sensor. Sigma is also launching a new EVF to go alongside the camera. We’ve got all the details as well as an opinion about it for you after the break.

What Is The Sigma Fp L?

So, the Sigma Fp L. What is it exactly, and should you care? The Sigma Fp L is the smallest camera on the market with a huge 61 Megapixel sensor. It measures just 4.4 x 2.8 x 1.8-inches. Yes, this is also most likely the same sensor that can be found in the Sony a7r IV–which right now only costs a few hundred dollars more. Along with the sensor, the Sigma Fp L features a new and improved hybrid autofocus system.

The AF system has 49 autofocus points, can track human faces and eyes, and utilizes both phase and contrast detection. It’s chargeable via USB-C, there no low-pass filter, it will capture 10 frames per second, and the LCD is just over 3-inches in size and has a resolution of 2.1 million dots. There’s still no IBIS, and the battery is rated for just 240 shots. Apart from the new sensor and an improved autofocus system, it’s basically the same as the Fp. It’s worth noting that the Sigma Fp L has a lower burst rate and worse battery life than the Fp. The price? The Sigma Fp L will cost $2,499, which is admittedly cheap for a 61 Megapixel camera. But wait! There’s more!

Let’s Not Forget About The New $699 EVF – The EVF-11

Launched alongside the Sigma Fp L is the new Sigma EVF-11. A $699 modular EVF that attaches to the side of the Sigma Fp L. It features a half-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 3.68 million dots. It has a dedicated HDMI connector built-in, and the viewfinder can be rotated between 0 and 90 degrees. This is a must-have item for photographers. Sigma knows this and has made a bundle that includes the Sigma Fp L and the EVF that will cost $2,999. So the same price as the class-leading Sony a7r IV when it’s on sale.

The Sigma Fp L Has To Deliver The Goods

Sigma took a big chance on the original Fp, and while it found some grace with videographers, it was a hard pass for photographers. During our review of the Sigma Fp, we found that the lack of direct controls made it unintuitive. The autofocus was so bad that it reminded us of a cheap point-and-shoot camera. As a webcam, it failed even simple autofocus tasks, and its image quality was a mixed bag. It also didn’t help that at the time, the available L mount lenses were all huge.

So, what has Sigma done to rectify these problems? Well, in theory, the new 61 Megapixel sensor should help when it comes to image quality. Well, that is if the image processor has been upgraded. I haven’t been able to find any information about the image processor at all. Sigma has released the I series of lenses which should balance well on the new camera. Whether or not they can resolve 61 Megapixels is another story. The autofocus system, well, we will have to wait and see how that does when we get our hands on the camera. Still, the videos that we have seen on YouTube show the Sigma Fp L struggling with tracking. Sure, it’s pre-production firmware. Still, by now, you’d have thought Sigma would know how to make autofocusing work reliably. It still seems to be their kryptonite.

Sigma Can’t Afford To Screw This Up

Sigma has been trying to make its mark in the camera market for some time now. They have seen limited success with their Foveon-based cameras....