Viltrox AF 85mm F1.8 STM FE: A Lot of Lens For The Money

By Louis Ferreira | Published: August 14, 2019

Dustin Abbott finished his Viltrox AF 85mm F1.8 STM FE review, which you can watch above. Below are excerpts from this video:

  • The Viltrox AF 85mm is a very good lens
  • Very nicely built
  • A lot of lens for the money
  • No weather sealing
  • Everything is metal and glass
  • The focus by wire manual focus is well done
  • Automatically detects motion on the focus ring and will magnify the focus area and give you an on-screen distance scale
  • Major focus changes take a few rotations
  • The 85mm AF lens identifies as the batis, but he 85mm MF identifies as the Sony lens
  • The batis profile works very well for this lens and it is similar
  • The AF and MF versions have the same optical makeup on paper, but the AF has a little better contrast, which might be sample variation
  • The Viltrox is super sharp at f/1.8 like the Samyang, but the Samyang has less vignetting
  • Samyang is maybe a hair shaper with a little more contrast at f/2.8 but both are super sharp
  • By f/4 both look almost perfect into the corners even on a Sony a7RIII but the Samyang still is a hair better
  • The Viltrox has some chromatic aberration that can be fixed easily.
  • Eye AF works very very well
  • Skin tones look nice and there is tons of detail
  • Pet Eye AF works very well too
  • When closing down the lens for landscapes use single-point AF, because C-AF will pulse at times
  • Deep depth of fiend AF isn’t great
  • Fringing isn’t bad with bokeh
  • Nothing negative to say about the bokeh
  • Bokeh looks really really nice with close subjects
  • Does a good job with human AF
  • If you stop down and use AF-C for video the camera will pulse while recording video, which Viltrox will try to fix with a Firmware update
  • Micro USB port in the lens for doing FW updates
  • Silent AF
  • A beautifully built lens that handles well, has good AF performance for portraits and is inexpensive, but not get for video

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VILTROX 85mm f/1.8: B&H Photo / Amazon
VILTROX 56mm f/1.4 (Coming Soon): B&H Photo / Amazon
VILTROX 33mm f/1.4 (Coming Soon): B&H Photo / Amazon
VILTROX 23mm f/1.4 (Coming Soon): B&H Photo / Amazon

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Adobe Adds GPU Acceleration to Lightroom Classic/Camera Raw, Plus a7RIV and RX100VII Support Added

By Louis Ferreira | Published: August 13, 2019


Adobe continues to address consumers complaints about their photography software running slower than competitors, but not their lack of stand-alone pricing. While it’s good that they continue to make their product better even as they vacuum money out of our wallets monthly it still isn’t addressing consumers largest complaint. The press release for this software leaked yesterday, but today is when the update went live and it does seem to be a little quicker than before.

Press Release:
Download the August photography releases today in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, Google Play Store, and using the Creative Cloud desktop app.

Improvements to Lightroom Classic & ACR
Updates are available today for Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw, our two desktop-centric photography applications. These updates focus on performance and improving your workflow. Read More »

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NiSi V6 Filter Kit III Released

By Louis Ferreira | Published: August 13, 2019


I demoed a NiSi filter kit for a little after I purchased my LEE setup and I was very impressed with its premium build quality and glass filters. The leather case that housed it all was one of the nicest out, but it was a little on the heavy side and not very functional. Well, now it looks like my small gripes about their system have been addressed with the new NiSi V6 Filter Kit III.

NiSi is also including the exceptional Natural Night filter in their Advanced and Professional kit, which is one of my favorite filters for making the night sky pop. It does a very good job at reducing or eliminating light pollution for those of us that do not have access to completely dark skies. You can use this filter with any 100 x 100mm or 150 x 150mm filters holder though so no need to switch filter systems unless you want to try something new.

V6 vs V5 Pro

The V6 features the following improvements over the V5 Pro:

  • New streamlined design – making it easier to insert and remove ND filters in any slot.
  • New Clip Design – Our unique clip system that holds the filter has been improved even further.  As well as the left to right pressed clips that hold the filter secure, filters are now easier to insert with guides along the clips.
  • Optimized design of the CPL – The C-PL is easier to insert and remove with a raised design, noticeably higher than the V5 Pro.
  • The holder rotates 360 degrees as well as features a lock to fix the filters in a single position.
  • New Soft Pouch – The new soft pouch to hold the V6 can be mounted on a tripod leg for easy access.
  • Upgraded Lens Cap – The lens cap is now even easier to fit and remove while protecting the CPL and Lens.

Starter Kit: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
・ Medium GND8 100x150mm
・ ND1000 100x100mm

Starter Kit+: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

・ Medium GND8 100x150mm
・ Reverse GND8 100x150mm
・ ND64 100x100mm
・ ND1000 100x100mm

Advanced Kit: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

・ Medium GND8 100x150mm
・ Reverse GND8 100x150mm
・ ND8 100x100mm
・ ND64 100x100mm
・ ND1000 100x100mm
・ Natural Night 100x100mm

Professional Kit: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

・ Soft GND8 100x150mm
・ Medium GND8 100x150mm
・ Reverse GND8 100x150mm
・ ND8 100x100mm
・ ND64 100x100mm
・ ND1000 100x100mm
・ ND32000 100x100mm
・ Natural Night 100x100mm

via FujiAddict

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Godox: V1 vs V860II: Do You See The Difference?

By Louis Ferreira | Published: August 12, 2019

Sony has become a large enough force in the world of photography that they have lots of flash options, but Godox is one of the few that offer good quality for a reasonable price. Their latest flash the Godox V1 was a little controversial because it copied the Profoto A1 to the point that Profoto threatened to sue to block its sale, but now that the V1 is on the market a new debate started. Are round flash head flashes better than square ones? Well, the above video from Godox tries to address the debate head-on with a decent demonstration of one difference between round and square-headed flashes. What are your thoughts?

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Godox V1: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

Godox AD200Pro Witstro: B&H Photo / Adorama
Godox AD200: B&H Photo / Amazon
Godox AD400Pro Witstro: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Godox AD600Pro Witstro: B&H Photo / Amazon

Godox X2T:Adorama
Godox XPro-S: B&H Photo / Amazon
Godox X1T-S: B&H Photo / Amazon
Godox TT350S: B&H Photo / Amazon
Godox V350S: B&H Photo / Amazon
Godox V860IIS: B&H Photo / Amazon
Godox TT685S: B&H Photo / Amazon

via FujiAddict

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Nitecore NFZ100 3rd Party Smart Z Battery

By Louis Ferreira | Published: August 11, 2019

 

NITECORE NFZ100 (Coming Soon): B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

The NITECORE NFZ100 is the first smart camera battery managed with a mobile app. Developed by NITECORE, it is specially designed for Sony camera users and compatible with Sony α7 III, α7R III, α9 (ILCE-9).

In NNERGY, an iOS/Android app in your smartphone, you can check the real-time information of the current working status of your smart batteries, including
Battery Health, Power Remaining, Battery Voltage, Charge Cycles, Estimated Time to FULL/EMPTY, and Activation Date.

The NFZ100 is available with the Storage Mode. After the Storage Mode is activated, your battery will be automatically discharged to 70% after it is left unused for 10 days as it is the ideal storage status to be kept for a prolonged time. The firmware of the battery can be OTA upgraded in NNERGY to gain compatibility withthe latest Sony camera models. The power balance circuit is able to balance the working status of each cell to maximize the lifespan of the battery.

The high capacity of 2,280mAh enables approx. 500 photos taken in each charge cycle. It is equipped with multiple battery safeguards including Overcharge
Protection, Over-discharge Protection, Overcurrent Protection, Overvoltage Protection and Short-circuit Protection. The proper size of the battery shell also fits the battery slot of Sony cameras perfectly.

via Photorumors

Posted in Accessories, Sony a7III, Sony a7RIII, Sony a7RIV, Sony a7SIII, Sony a9, Sony a9II| Tagged , , | Leave a comment

ECM-B1M Digital Audio Shotgun Microphone Review

By Louis Ferreira | Published: August 11, 2019

CameraLabs posted an interesting demo fo the ECM-B1M Digital Audio Shotgun Microphone and it has a lot of recording options that you can use to maximize your audio quality. The performance is actually pretty good for is size and price, but I would like to see some additional coverage. At this time the Sony a7RIV is the only camera with the necessary pinout to use the ECM-B1M.

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Sony a7RIV: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony VG-C4EM grip: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
XLR-K3M Mic Input: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
ECM-B1M Digital Audio Shotgun Microphone:
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

Posted in Accessories, Sony a7RIV| Tagged , , , | Leave a comment