Macro Extension AF Tubes for Samsung NX Review

It’s quite a long time since I started to look for some macro extension tubes for my Samsung NX system. I couldn’t find anything but people should never give up their desires :) I finally found some few weeks ago so I bought it immediately. Here I come with my test and some sample pictures.

Link for the review: http://www.nxcamera.com/fotga-macro-af-extension-tubes-samsung-nx-review/

You can find some fresh sample photos in the gallery on the site with the review.

Official Leica event invitiation says new stuff will be unveiled at 7 pm CEST from April 24!

Image courtesy: Leica Camera Forum

The site Leica Camera Forum (Click here) posted the invitation they got from Leica. The original Leica text is in German but they kindly provided us with an english translation:

Nothing compares to and is more inspiring than the first touch.
We invite you to experience the haptic fascination of German engineering. Join us and celebrate with us the latest Leica innovation!

Sounds like something big has to come!

Fuji 18-135mm superzoom shipping in June!

Fujirumors reports that the weather sealed XF 18-135 has been delayed to early June at best (a previous rumor said April/May).

The two other WR zooms (16-55 and 50-140 f2.8) are not going to show up too fast… probably early September.

The TCL converter for the X100S should be available by end of April in Japan.

Panasonic unveils pricing of the new Leica 15mm f/1.7 Lens: 549 pounds and shipment in June!

UPDATE: BHphoto is the first worldwide store accepting preorder of the new Panasonic-Leica 15mm f/1.7 in Black (Click here) or Silver (Click here).

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For six months lens was shown on various photographic events (from Photokina to CP+) but Panasonic never really gave the lens any pricing of shipment info. But finally today Panasonic disclosed the full details that can be read on the following press release:

Panasonic Announce New F1.7 High Speed Leica Summilux 15mm Lens to Allow Photographers to Capture Fashionable Defocused Reportage Pictures

24th March 2014 – Panasonic has unveiled a new digital interchangeable lens, the H-X015 LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm / F1.7 ASPH. (35 mm camera equivalent: 30 mm) for the LUMIX G range, based on the Micro Four Thirds standard, which is both compact and lightweight.

The new LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm / F1.7 ASPH. allows photographers to capture supreme daily life pictures with beautiful bokeh.  Exceptional optical performance is assured with certification granted from the world-renowned LEICA.

The new lens system comprising of 9 elements in 7 groups uses 3 aspherical lenses. The aspherical lenses suppress spherical aberration and distortion effectively while enabling the lens unit to be made smaller.

Panasonic’s Nano Surface Coating technology is adopted to minimize the reflection at entire visual light range (380nm-780nm) resulting in the super clear picture quality by avoiding ghost and flare.

The lens incorporates a superior inner focus system, which enables excellent resolution and contrast from close-up to infinity. The inclusion of a newly developed stepping motor makes the focusing action smooth, silent and quicker for use in both photo and video recording.

Notably the performance of AF is by far superior to the phase-difference AF when fast lenses with a smaller F value are used. It is also compatible with the sensor drive at max.240 fps to take maximum advantage of the high-speed AF of LUMIX G cameras.

The LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm / F1.7 ASPH. comes equipped with aperture ring and AF/MF switch for direct, intuitive operation.  Furthermore, the robust metal design of LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm / F1.7 ASPH., including the hood, is highly reliable and durable for repeated exchange of the lens.

New GM1 kit, DMC-GM1L

The LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm / F1.7 ASPH. is the perfect companion for Panasonic’s recently released LUMIX DMC-GM1 and will be available with this camera in a new kit (DMC-GM1L) giving the photographer a sophisticated style with the ‘Got To have It’ camera enabling creative high quality photography.

The GM1 kit will be available in black from mid June priced £999.99 while the lens only will be £549.99 arriving early June. The lens will be available in black and silver.

Internal battery of the Blackmagic may have caused the camera to explode!

Mirrorless cameras are getting more and more powerful and batteries have to deliver more and more performance. Well, it just happened that the 2.5K Blackmagic Cinema Camera exploded during a shooting! The cause is likely the battery of the camera.

Just watch the video on top if you don’t believe such a thing can happen for real!

And this is the official Blackmagic response on that mater:

“There have been a small number of isolated incidents where it has been reported the battery had exploded. This is not a common occurrence, and we would like to gather as much information about the situation as possible to ensure that it does not become common. We do apologize for the issue you’ve encountered and would like to assist in getting an RMA set up to sort this out. Do let me know if you have any additional questions.”

Sony A3500 images leaked!

The DSLR styled A3000 E-mount camera will get a replacement soon! What you see here are the first images of the A3500 and the specs have been leaked too:

 
System

Camera Type Interchangeable lens digital camera with built-in flash

Lens Compatibility Sony E-mount lenses

 
Image Sensor

Type APS-C type (23.2 x 15.4mm), “Exmor” APS HD CMOS sensor

Effective no. of Pixels Approx. 20.1 mega pixels

Total no. of Pixels Approx. 20.4 mega pixels

Anti-Dust System Charge protection coating on, Optical Filter

 
Recording System (Still Image)

Recording Format JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver.2.3, MPF Baseline compliant), RAW (Sony ARW 2.3 format)

Image Size (Aspect Ratio 3:2) L: 5456 x 3632(20M), M: 3872×2576(10M), S: 2736×1824(5M)

Image Size (Aspect Ratio 16:9) L: 5456×3064(17M), M: 3872×2176(8.4M), S:2736×1536(4.2M)

Image Quality Modes RAW & JPEG, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard

Picture Effects Posterization (Color, B/W), Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color (R,G,B,Y), High Contrast Mono, Toy Camera, Soft High-key, Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Rich-tone Mono, Miniature

Creative Style Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, B/W (Contrast (-3 to +3steps), Saturation(-3 to +3steps), Sharpness(-3 to +3steps))

Dynamic Range Off, Dynamic Range Optimizer (Auto/Level), Auto High Dynamic Range: Off, Auto Exposure Difference, Exposure difference Level (1.0-6.0EV, 1.0EV step)

Color Space sRGB standard (with sYCC gamut) and Adobe RGB standard compatible with TRILUMINOS™ Color

 
Recording System (Movie)

Recording Format AVCHD format Ver. 2.0 compliant, MP4

Video Compression MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264

Audio Recording Format Dolby Digital (AC-3) 2ch, MPEG-4 AAC-LC 2ch

 
Recording Media

Memory Stick Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick XC-HG Duo

SD Memory Card SD memory card, SDHC memory card, SDXC memory card

 
Noise Reduction

Long exposure NR Available of shutter speeds longer than 1 sec.

High ISO NR Normal/Low

 
White Balance

Modes Auto WB, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, C.Tem , C.Filter , Custom

 
Focus System

Type Contrast-detection AF*1

Sensitivity Range EV0 to EV20 (ISO100 equivalent with F2.8 lens attached)

Focus Modes Autofocus, DMF (Direct Manual Focus)*2 , Manual Focus*2 

Autofocus Mode AF-S: Single-shot AF, AF-C: Continuous AF

Focus Area Multi Point (25 points) / Center-weighted / Flexible Spot

Other Features Tracking Focus, Focus lock, Built-in AF illuminator (Distance: approx. 0.5-3.0m (with E 18-50mm F4-5.6 lens attached))

 
Exposure Control

Metering System Type 1200-zone evaluative metering

Sensitivity Range EV0 to EV20 (at ISO100 equivalent with F2.8 lens attached)

Metering Modes Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure Modes iAUTO, Superior Auto, Programmed AE (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter-speed priority (S), Manual (M), Sweep Panorama, Scene Selection

Scene Selection Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports action, Sunset, Night portrait, Night view, Hand-held Twilight, Anti Motion Blur

Exposure Compensation Still images: +/- 3.0EV (1/3EV steps), Movies: +/- 2.0EV (1/3EV steps)

Exposure Bracketing With 1/3, 2/3, 1, 2, 3EV increments, 3frames

AE Lock AE is locked when the shutter button is half pressed (ON/OFF is available in MENU)

ISO Sensitivity Still images: ISO100 to 16000, AUTO (ISO100 to 3200), Movies:ISO100 to 3200 equivalent, AUTO(ISO100 to 3200 equivalent)

 
LCD

LCD Monitor Type 7.5cm (3.0-type) wide type TFT

Total no. of Dots 230,400 dots

Brightness Control Manual (5 steps between -2 and +2), Sunny Weather mode

 
Display

Histogram Yes

Real-time Image Adjustment On/Off

 
Other Features

Face Detection Up to 8 faces detectable automatically

Smile Shutter Selectable from 3 steps

MF Assist Yes

Shooting Tips Yes

Help Guide Yes

 
Shutter

Type Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type

Shutter Speeds Still images:1/4000 to 30 sec, Bulb, Movies: 1/4000 to 1/4(1/3 steps), up to 1/30 in AUTO mode

Flash Sync. Speed 1/160 sec.*3

 
Viewfinder

Type 0.5cm (0.2type) electronic viewfinder(color)

Field of View 100%

Magnification Approx. 0.70x with 50mm lens at infinity, -1m

Eye Relief Approx. 21mm from the eyepiece, 15mm from the eyepiece frame at -1m

Diopter Control -4m to +3.5m

 
Drive

Shooting Modes Single Shooting, Continuous shooting, Speed Priority Continuous shooting, Self-timer (10/2 sec delay selectable), Self-timer (Cont.)(with 10 sec delay 3 exposures), Bracketing

Self-Timer 10/2 sec delay selectable, 10 sec delay 3 exposures

Continuous Shooting (Approx.) Continuous mode:max. 2.5 fps*5, Speed Priority Continuous shooting: max. 3.5 fps*5

No. of Frame Recordable (Approx.) Fine: 6 frames*5 *6, Standard: 6 frames*5*6, RAW&JPG: 4 frames *5 *6

 
Playback

Single Yes (with or without shooting information RGB histogram & highlight/shadow warning)

6/12-frame Index View Yes

Enlarged Display Mode L: 15.1x, M: 10.7x, S: 7.6x, Panorama (Standard): 19x, Panorama (Wide): 29x

Image Orientation On/Off selectable

Slideshow Yes

 
Interface

PC Interface Multi/Micro USB Terminal, Hi-speed USB (USB2.0): Mass-storage, MTP

Compatible OS (USB Connection) Windows Vista*7  SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Mac OS X (v10.6-v10.9)

 
Audio

Microphone Built-in stereo microphone

Speaker Built-in, monaural, Volume settings in 8 steps between 0 and 7

 
Flash

Type Built-in flash

Guide No. 4 (in meters at ISO 100)

Flash Coverage 16mm (focal-length printed on the lens body)

Control Pre-flash TTL

Flash Compensation +/- 2.0EV (1/3EV steps)

Flash Modes Flash off, Auto flash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync., Rear Sync., Red-eye reduction (on/off selectable), Hi-speed sync.*4 

Red-eye Reduction On/Off selectable

Recycling Time Approx. 4 sec.

 
Print

Compatible Standards Exif Prin, Print Image Matching III, DPOF setting

 
Power

Battery One rechargeable battery pack NP-FW50

Battery Performance Still Image: (Approx. 470 images(Viewfinder), Approx. 480 images(LCD screen)(CIPA standard))*8

Movies(actual recording): (Approx. 90 minutes(Viewfinder), Approx 90 minutes(LCD screen) (CIPA standard) )*9 *10, Movies(continuous recording): (Approx. 160 minutes(Viewfinder), Approx 160 minutes(LCD screen)(CIPA standard))*9 *11

External Power AC Adaptor AC-PW20 (sold separately)

 
Size

Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 128 x 90.9 x 84.5 mm

Weight (Body Only) Approx. 353 g

Weight (With Battery & Memory Stick PRO Duo) Approx. 411 g

Features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
*1 When using phase-detection AF, limited lenses will be compatible initially. Expansion is planned by body firmware update.
*2 Only with lens sold separately
*3 With compatible Sony external flash
*4 With compatible external flash
*5 Varies according to shooting conditions or memory card used
*6 Continuous drive (Hi) in Drive mode
*7 Starter Edition is not supported.
*8 The LCD screen is turned on, shot once every 30 seconds, operate zoom alternately between W and T ends, flash strobe once every two times, turn power off and on once every ten times.
*9 Continuous movie recording is possible for approximately 29 minutes (limited by product specifications).
*10 Indication recording time, which is defined by repeating the cycle: Power on, start recording, zoom , stand-by and power off.
*11 The total movie recording time. When the limit of the continuous movie recording time (29 minutes) is reached, let the camera continue movie recording by pressing the MOVIE button again. No other operation such as zoom are performed.