The Legendary Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 Lens – Now on Indiegogo

The Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 Lens is now on Indiegogo.

The Legendary Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 Lens – Now on Indiegogo

After successfully funding the reinvented 1910 Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 Anastigmat Lens on Kickstarter, the two renowned German photographers Benedikt Ernst and Firat Bagdu are ready to start production and are bringing the lens onto Indiegogo giving those photographers who missed the previous crowdfunding campaign a second chance.

Now that the production is planned and is beginning to start with a “0 series,” the pair decided to make the masterpiece in portrait photography available to anybody who didn’t hear about the lens in the first run. Like on Kickstarter, the lens will be available in a classic bronze colored version as wall as in a classy Titanium look. Additionally, add-Ons such as a sun shade or creative filter set consisting of five different effect filters will enrich every photographers’ portrait photography. The two founders point out that both sun shade and filter set will be available as well for their previous Kickstarter backers since the items were not included in their former campaign.

The original Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 is a more than 100 years old lens and at that time was introduced as one of the most important lenses in portrait photography. Stunned by the beauty of pictures from 1910, the two photographers Benedikt Ernst (fashion) and Firat Bagdu (portrait/wedding) have reinvented this classic as a modern portrait lens. The pair has partnered with well-known optical engineer Dr. Wolf-Dieter Prenzel for the optical construction. Production will mostly take place in Wetzlar, Germany, to ensure the highest quality of materials and manufacture. The Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 will be in supporters’ hands already in June 2018.

The new Glaukar 3.1 will have the same brass appearance and silhouette as the original but will be constructed from high-end aluminum with a brass-like oxidation, which ensures the durability and mechanical precision of a modern lens. But while the new lens will look very much like the classic, the inside has been redesigned by Dr. Prenzel, completely from scratch to work with today’s high-tech gear.

Due to its specially coated lenses the new Glaukar produces a fascinating mixture of sharpness, strong colors and, along with 12 aperture blades, wonderful bokeh effects.

Ernst and Bagdu, whose clients have included some of the world’s most renowned companies such as Rolls Royce, Redken, Chopard, to name a few, knew what qualities they wanted in a lens – it was just a matter of getting a lens designer to translate their concept into a serial production. In fact, it was the success of one of their clients, German lens maker Meyer Optik Görlitz, that inspired them to start their own project. Meyer Optik has even put the pair together with key German camera contacts in Wetzlar, Germany, to help support the founders.

Manufacturing will be done to a large extent by Uwe Weller Feinwerktechnik in Wetzlar. Schott and O’Hara glass will be used in the lens. The partnership with Uwe Weller GmbH will ensure that the high-precision elements of the lens will be produced precisely to Prenzel’s design. Uwe Weller is the result of the merger of several firms, including the mechanical divisions of Leica Camera and Zeiss-Hensoldt.

The exclusive use of Schott and Ohara glass ensures that the goal of creating the perfect portrait lens is put into practice exactly intended.

Part of their inspiration came from the legendary Glaukar 3.1 that pioneer German lens maker Emil Busch introduced in 1910. The original Glaukar was a groundbreaking lens because it corrected for spherical aberration, coma and astigmatism – something that no other lens in daily use could do at the time. Not even Zeiss and its famed lens maker Paul Rudolph had been able to match the Glaukar since their designs required coatings not available at the time.

The modern Glaukar will come in all the major mounts.

Thom Hogan bets Nikon will release their Full Frame mirrorless at CP+ in February

Little (or better said nothing) is known about the future Nikon Full Frame mirrorless system camera. All we know for sure is that Nikon promised to launch a new professional mirrorless system camera in 2018.

Thom Hogan best that this could happen in late February at the CP+ show:

“I expect Nikon to announce their new mirrorless system at CP+, which for 2018 begins with the month of March. I expect Nikon to have both DX and FX mirrorless options by the time Photokina rolls around next fall.”

But what should we expect? Thom writes:

The optimist says that Nikon will realize their failures and add DX lenses, fix the consumer DX DSLRs, add DX mirrorless, add FX mirrorless (as a Df replacement, with a nod to retro), announce lens roadmaps, update the D5/D500, replace the D750, and Holy Sensor Batman add a higher pixel count D5x and at least one pro-level compact! Yeah, that’s some optimist.

The problem is that the cynical me is likely more correct than the optimist. And the reason is management. In retrospect, management has been making wrong calls for some time. Really bad calls.

More rendered images of Nikon Full Frame mirrorless camera on Facebook and Instagram.

Imaginary A7 vs Nikon FF :

Sony A7 vs imaginary Nikon FF mirrorless. #nikonmirrorless #sony #sonyalpha

Ein Beitrag geteilt von NikonMirrorless (@nikon_ff_mirrorless) am

New version of the Nik Collection to be released in 2018!

DxO announced that it will release a new version of the Nik Collection to be released in 2018:

Like you, we are passionate about photography and image quality. That’s why we view this opportunity with Nik as a commitment to ensure that you — that all of us who enjoy taking photos — are guaranteed to have the very best solutions at our disposal.
You’ll be happy to know that our developers are enthusiastically working on a new version of the Nik Collection to be released in 2018!

 

Luminar 2018 update adds Sony A7rIII, Panasonic G9, Canon M100 and Leica CL support

Macphun releases a new update for Luminar 2018 (Click here). All latest camera models are now supported and this is the improvements list:

WINDOWS USERS

  • Work faster. Luminar can now launch more quickly.  Plus you’ll see a faster-editing performance and better RAM usage.
  • Save Native files. Be sure to save your editing projects in the new native Luminar format.  This makes it easy to come back and edit later.
  • Clone & Stamp released. Remove objects and blemishes with ease!
  • LUT Mapping. Any LUT you’ve chosen can now be stored to a preset with no need to link to the original .cube file.
  • More export control. You can choose to export to the Adobe RGB wide color profile or the ProPhoto RGB color space on export. You can also sharpen an exported file which is great for printing.
  • Better masking controls. Users can adjust both the feather and density controls on a mask to refine the blending of layers. When editing a mask, a user can also press the X hotkey to toggle between Paint/Erase brush mode.
  • More editing control. Now even more raw formats can be edited natively with our RAW Develop filter.  All filters also support advanced blending mode options as well.

MAC USERS

  • Work faster. We’ve improved compatibility with OS X 10.10, 10.11 support. The Histogram also updates in real-time. Users will also enjoy Performance and RAM usage improvements. When editing press Cmd+L to quickly access the Filters list as well.
  • RAW image improvements. Luminar does a better job of detecting noise in a raw file and automatically fixing it when you open to a photo.  DNG file support is also improved for easier editing. Plus even more raw formats can be edited natively with our RAW Develop filter.
  • Improved workflow with other applications. We’ve addressed several small bugs reported when working with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Lightroom, and Photos for Mac.
  • Better batch processing. A streamlined user interface makes batch processing even easier to fix multiple photos at once. Additional improvements also made to address user-reported issues.
  • Improved Native files. Save your editing projects in the native Luminar format which makes it easy to come back and edit in the future. Plus files can be shared between Mac and Windows users.
  • LUT Mapping. Any LUT you’ve chosen can now be stored to a preset with no need to link to the original .cube file.
  • More plugin support. Luminar can also use Topaz plugins within the Luminar editing workflow.
  • Improved exports. Photos can now be exported to SmugMug for online sharing.  The Sharpen on Export filter is also improved for crisper images.
  • Better masking controls. Users can adjust the density controls on a mask to refine the blending of layers. When editing a mask, a user can also press the Backspace hotkey to reset gradient/radial mask drawing.

Don’t forget you get $10 off using our code “MIRROR” when buying Luminar 2018.

Hasselblad Launches XPan Lens Adapter for the X System

And today we have another Hasselblad news :) They announced a new XPan Lens Adapter.

Press text:

Hasselblad Launches XPan Lens Adapter for the X System

Hasselblad expands its range of accessories for the X System with the new XPan Lens Adapter, allowing photographers to use their legacy XPan lenses on the award-winning X System

The Hasselblad XPan lens series was released in 1998 and the new adapter bridges the iconic optics with the latest imaging capabilities from the mirrorless X1D system, just recently benchmarking the highest score by DxO Mark. The sleek new adapter is lightweight, compact, and works seamlessly into the setup.

“The original XPan lenses inspired us when we introduced the current X1D lenses,” said Ove Bengtsson – Product Manager. “The new XPan Lens Adapter speaks to two major aspects of Hasselblad, our drive to innovate and push medium format technology such as the X1D and also to our respect for the legacy equipment that many photographers still rely on to this day. This adapter is the merger of those ideas and that’s what makes this announcement so exciting.”

Customers utilizing the new XPan Lens Adapter first are advised to update their X1D to Firmware 1.20, launched on December 19, 2017. This update also includes a new Selectable Crop Mode that features the classic proportions of the XPan system. Hasselblad will continue to support its legacy and new products alike with plans to create a V to X system adapter and a dual battery charger for the X1D.

The XPan Adapter will be available in mid-January and will retail at €179 / US $179 / £159 / RMB ¥ 1,580 / JPY ¥ 21,999 incl. VAT.

Supported XPan lenses:
30mm f5.6
45mm f4
90mm f4

XPan Lens Adapter:
Diameter: 73mm
Height: 21.4mm
Weight: 112g

*XPan lenses are no longer manufactured nor sold by Hasselblad.