<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> 
		    <rss version="2.0"> 
			<channel> 
			    <title>Nikon | Personal View news aggregator</title> 
				<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/nikon</link> 
				<description></description><item>
			<title>Nikon released firmware updates for the Nikon D300, D300s, D700 and P7700 cameras</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/nikon-released-firmware-updates-for-the-nikon-d300-d300s-d700-and-p7700-cameras</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Nikon released firmware updates for the Nikon D300, D300s and D700 DSLR cameras with added support the Nikkor 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lenes:

Firmware update A 1.11, B 1.11 for Nikon D300
Firmware update A 1.02, B 1.02 for Nikon D300s
Firmware update A 1.04, B 1.03 for Nikon D700

A new firmware update for the Nikon Coolpix P7700 has also been published with a fix for an ISO problem in manual mode:

&quot;When shooting with shooting mode set to M (manual), ISO sensitivity set to Auto, ISO 80-200, ISO 80-400, or ISO 80-800 and the flash used, ISO sensitivity was sometimes not locked at ISO 80 and a different ISO sensitivity was sometimes applied. This issue has been resolved.&quot;
All firmware updates can also be downloaded on Nikon USA support site.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

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Related posts:
Four firmware updates from Nikon for D300s, D700, D3, D3x
Also released: firmware updates for Nikon D4, D3S, D3X, D3, D7000 and D3200
Nikon Coolpix P7700 firmware update 1.1 released



 
]]></description>
			<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 06:30:28 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>Alternative GPS module solution for Nikon cameras: di-GPS Eco Pro-S and Pro-F</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/alternative-gps-module-solution-for-nikon-cameras-digps-eco-pros-and-prof</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

The Hong Kong based company di-GPS introduced two new GPS modules for Nikon cameras - di-GPS Eco Pro-S and Pro-F:


di-GPS Eco ProFessional (Pro-F) specifications

Support Nikon D4, D3, D3S, D3X, D700, D800, D800E, D300, D300S, D2XS, D2X, D2HS, D200 &amp; Fujifilm S5 Pro
Direct replace GP-1
Extremely low power consumption : 19mA, it is less than 1/3 of current consumption of GP-1.
Extremely light in weight : 14g
Extremely small in size
Extreme weather condition (moisture and dust sealed)
Extremely fast TTFF (Time To First Fix) and fast TTFF at low signal levels.
Extremely high sensitivity (Tracking Sensitivity: -165 dBm), provide superior positing information in environments, through urban canyons, and under dense foliage.
Ultra high performance MTK MT3339 GPS chip.
66-Channels GPS Receiver for fast acquisition and reacquisition
SBAS, WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN Demodulator
Built-in 10 pin connector for remote shutter release
Direct attached to the 10pin socket
NMEA 0183 data protocol.
Built-in patch antenna, no external antenna required
No Setup Required
Check availability and pricing on Amazon


di-GPS Eco ProSumer (Pro-S) specifications

Support Nikon D600, D7000, D7100, D5000, D5100, D5200 D3100, D3200 and Coolpix P7700
Extremely low power consumption : 19mA, it is less than 1/3 of current consumption of GP-1.
Extremely light in weight : 16g
Extremely small in size
Extremely fast TTFF (Time To First Fix) and fast TTFF at low signal levels.
Extremely high sensitivity (Tracking Sensitivity: -165 dBm), provide superior positing information in environments, through urban canyons, and under dense foliage.
Ultra high performance MTK MT3339 GPS chip.
66-Channels GPS Receiver for fast acquisition and reacquisition
SBAS, WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN Demodulator
2.5mm jack for remote shutter release
Direct attached to the 10pin terminal
NMEA 0183 data protocol.
Built-in patch antenna, no external antenna required.
No Setup Required
Check availability and pricing on Amazon

Additional images:



In addition to the updated Nikon GP-1A unit, here are few other third party GPS alternatives:

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Posted by NikonRumors.com
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Related posts:
Another alternative $44 Wi-Fi solution for Nikon D4
Revisiting the alternative Wi-Fi solution for Nikon D4
New Aokatec AK-G GPS units for Nikon cameras



 
]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 18:24:25 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>2.5k CinemaScope anamorphic raw on the 5D Mark III</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/25k-cinemascope-anamorphic-raw-on-the-5d-mark-iii</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Click here to view the embedded video.
Download the 2.5k 2560×1280 Vimeo file and playback on a 2.5K or 4K display for best results
Download a pack of DNG frames from the original raw files to judge quality

The spec sheet is impressive. 14bit linear bayer raw is sub-sampled from a 6K sensor, giving 1280 lines of extremely clean resolution with an anamorphic compliant 4:3 aspect ratio.
This is in a similar league to the image quality of the Sony F35 (Superman Returns, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland) which cost $250,000 just 5 years ago.
With 2560 x 1280 anamorphic in raw on the 5D Mark III it feels like a completely new camera.
I prefer the image and the creativity in post offered by raw over 4K MJPEG on the Canon 1D C. The 5D Mark III is capable of using all of the full frame sensor if shooting 1920×1280 (3:2), it isn’t a crop to APS-H like the 1D C in 4K.
Why anamorphic? It gets me away from 16:9. The cinema aspect ratio is wider. In the old days of Super 35mm film (remember that!?) the imaging area was approximately 4:3 and part of the audio track was on the film negative. To get CinemaScope, filmmakers used anamorphic lenses to compress more width into the frame. As the anamorphic only makes the FOV wider horizontally, it doesn’t reduce your ability to get a shallow DOF and a close up like a normal wide angle lens does. Furthermore when you are panning to track an actor with an anamorphic, you have far more leeway either side of the subject making for more graceful sweeping pans.
You can crop of course in post but it isn’t the same. You lose vertical resolution and you lose the cinematic character and flare of the anamorphic lens.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Above is a very wide aspect ratio I shot with recently with the Nikon V1 at 400fps, and I was forced to shoot in this aspect ratio due to the slow-mo mode being such low resolution. With the 5D Mark III in raw, you can choose not to crop and use all 1280 lines of resolution, almost at the 1350 mark of the Blackmagic in 2.5K!
What is more it allows you to upscale horizontally to achieve 2.5K without also needing to upscale the vertical res. As a result it really does look like 2.5K and that is the resolution gain anamorphic lenses were designed for, back in the day. Of course anamorphic lenses are still in widespread use today, with Quentin Tarantino shooting Django Unchained with Panavision glass as covered at EOSHD here. There’s more on what lens I used for this shoot further down the article.
Workflow
Raw makes the actual shoot more straight forward as all you really have to control is the lens – aperture, focus – and forget about the picture making box. You cannot really get the full scope of the image from H.264 on Vimeo, so please do download the original DNG files here and open them in Photoshop. You can do most of your exposure in post like you can with a 35mm film negative in a dark room. Bear in mind these are in 4:3 format and shot with the Iscorama 1.5x anamorphic so you should scale them to 2560 x 1280 or 1920 x 953 for the correct aspect ratio.
In-camera with Magic Lantern I used the 4:3 aspect ratio of 1720 x 1280, then a stretch in post to 2:1 anamorphic 2.5K.
UPDATE: With the Iscorama 1.5x lens 4:3 actually becomes 2:1 anamorphic not 2.39:1 3K as originally stated. With a 2x lens in 4:3 or with a 1.5x lens in 3:2 (1920×1280) you will get the slightly wider 2.35:1. I have corrected the video and re-uploaded it in the correct 2560 x 1280 resolution instead of the original 2:39: 1 (3000 x 1280).
This way I get pin sharp and detailed 2.5K footage. This is a formality with an anamorphic lens and great to finally get away from 16:9 thanks to the custom resolutions offered by Magic Lantern. That 14bit 12 stop dynamic range raw workflow is a beautiful thing indeed.
The camera can go as high as 1920×1280 for a still anamorphic friendly 3:2 aspect ratio giving 2.39: from a 1.5x lens and 2.66:1 from a 2x lens – this will be lovely but at this early stage it isn’t quite reliable on my fastest 1000x speed compact flash card, dropping frames after around the 20 second mark. 1770×1280 maintains the same number of lines of resolution but makes continuous takes reliable and gives you true 2.39:1 with the more common 2x anamorphic lenses making for a less extremely wide image than a 16:9 sensor delivers from anamorphic.
I’m really glad I have found my paintbrush. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera EF mount much as I love it is not full frame and there’s no other aspect ratio apart from 16:9 which doesn’t help my anamorphic work at all. The Sony FS100′s image just doesn’t match raw and again no anamorphic concessions to aspect ratios are present. I am going to sell the FS100 and replace the BMCC EF with the Micro Four Thirds mount version to use as a B-camera.
Initially I had concerns about losing the stella low light performance of the FS100 but the 5D Mark III is utterly amazing in low light with raw. My initial low light test it turns out did not exploit the full performance as I was handling it the same as the Blackmagic footage by changing the exposure in post from the native ISO of the sensor (800). What I later found was that if I shot at the desired ISO in-camera the image is cleaner than shooting at what I assumed to be the native ISO and adjusting the exposure in post, so it is likely the native ISO is more like 2500 than 800!
The raw workflow doesn’t phase me as I can efficiently work to deadlines armed with the right knowledge of raw in post, the right software and the right hardware. Admittedly when you don’t have this experience and the right tools, raw becomes very frustrating and time consuming in post.
When not on a quick turn-around and just painting with light, even going slowly isn’t a concern to me, because I enjoy spending a lot of time working through these challenges and certainly a lot of time grading, whilst with DSLRs prior I never really graded at all – I felt it hurt the image too much.

I think the anti-raw arguments are exactly the same as when DSLRs and 1080p first came onto the market. People complained 1080p was too slow to edit and demanding on their time – but mainly that they just didn’t need it at that point.
1080p became the standard very quickly though and some were ill prepared at that point as they hadn’t embraced it earlier! Don’t lose valuable time listening to the negative nellys telling you how much of a pain raw is. A gigabyte is the new megabyte and tomorrow terabytes will be the new megabytes. You have to move with it as the IT side just gets better and better, cheaper and cheaper with every passing day. Technical knowledge has never been more important in the armoury of a filmmaker. In the film days you had to have technical knowledge but it was of a different kind and it served you for longer. Today it is easy with digital to get quick and easy results but to really push you need that IT ability in spades and to not be intimidated by the fast pace of digital technology.
Raw2DNG from Magic Lantern even in such a rudimentary early stage crunches through Canon DSLR raw files faster than real-time (24fps) on my €1000 Hackintosh with RAID 0 array of 3 standard hard disk drives. The main operating system is on an SSD. There’s no recording limit as the 4GB file size limit of FAT has been broken and the camera uses ExFat formatted cards. You can also record ProRes via HDMI whilst simultaneously recording raw internally to compact flash card, which is handy for generating on the fly proxy files and playback. During this shoot I had no problems using my SmallHD DP6 for monitoring in the correct anamorphic aspect ratio via HDMI whilst recording raw, quite an incredible feat for a $3000 DSLR. Despite this being dev code I had no crashes or corruptions either! Quite incredible progress in just a week.
Partly thanks to Red, raw (at-least compressed raw) is already a cinema standard and I think we will be seeing more of it in other realms of production where image quality is a priority too. People complained there were a lot of amateurish hacks and workarounds with DSLRs when they first appeared but that didn’t stop a lot of very high end professional productions being shot on them because the image was lovely at the time.
Now it is again and you just need to rig them properly for them to be usable professionally. I don’t like overly complex and spidery rigs so I’m very happy with the rig which I came up for with the anamorphic shoot which is simply a Wooden Camera cage, Lanparte quick release with carbon rods and a SmallHD DP6…


Because I wanted a top handle as well I put the 5D Mark III into the Wooden Camera Blackmagic Cinema Camera cage – yes it fits! Though I had to use a very thin secondary adapter plate designed for something else. As you can see the monitor is mounted on the back of the rails for tripod use, but what is great is that it is on an articulated Sony hinge mounted directly on the rails and not one of those annoying spidery arms up high which puts the whole rig off balance.
The monitor is very light and takes the same batteries as the camera but also acts as a good counterweight for the weight of the lens. I can look down at the screen when shooting on a tripod at waist or chest height. This is much better than having to hunch over constantly to see the tiny non-articulated LCD on the back of the camera.
I found battery life to be excellent on the camera whilst shooting raw, better than Blackmagic’s internal battery by far – though an external battery is still preferable for longer shoots than a few hours.

I have a love affair with anamorphic glass especially Iscoramas, and currently have the 36, 54 and smaller 30. I’ve dubbed it the ’30′ because the rear element is 30mm compared to 36mm on the later Iscorama 36. If you are considering an anamorphic lens yourself or just interested in the advantages of using one you should grab my book on the subject here.
The ’30′ is the first generation Iscorama from the late 1960′s which was bundled with a SLR mount prime set to infinity. Focus is on the anamorphic. It flares more thanks to being single coated instead of multicoated and the smaller rear element helps introduce a more characterful vignette. When I want to tone these properties down (sometimes I do) and not go all out for J.J. Abrams flare, I use the multicoated Iscorama 36, which is even a bit sharper.
My favourite lenses to use with the Iscorama 30 are the Helios 44M and the Helios 44M   OK better explain that the original Helios 44M is a single coated 58mm F2.0 lens from Russia, very sharp wide open with an Iscorama. Though not as sharp or as contrasty as my Contax Zeiss 50mm F1.4 or Leica R 50mm F2.0 with the Iscorama, it does have heaps of character. It also goes well with my very rare Iscorama CentaVision 2x single focussing anamorphic and is the prime lens I used to shoot Zen in Shanghai shot on the GH2. With the GH2 you get much sharper corners especially stopped down. On the 5D Mark III the corners are shall we say ‘characterful’!
Click here to view the embedded video.
The second Helios 44M I have is of course the amazing modded Flare Factory 58 from Richard Gale’s Dog Schidt Optiks. Richard is an engineering genius as well as someone with a wonderful eye who I can trust to come up with character by the bucketload. The reason I used my bog standard Helios for this shoot is that I had the faux-anamorphic aperture insert in the FF58 and no time to disassemble the lens to take it out. I will be shooting with the Flare Factory 58 as the orange tint compliments the single coating flare on the Iscorama making it even more dramatic and even adding a hazy, glowing vignette which fully utilises the smooth gradation of 14bit raw. None of the flare or vignetting you can add in post digitally is this organic or dynamically shifting due to real ambient light sources.

Conclusion
Am I over the moon about the image quality of raw on the 5D Mark III?
Well before we were shooting 8bit, with all that banding and lack of flexibility in post. Now we have 14bit colour and can debayer the raw to 4:4:4 EXR using the full power and sophistication of an ILM workstation. That’s a bit of a step up from DIGIC 5. Effectively the image processor of the camera has been moved out of the DSLR and into the realm of Resolve, Intel and NVidia. That is a big thing. No more DIGIC debayer or mushy H.264 encoder.
Dynamic range and overall quality is pretty much identical to the 22MP raw stills on the 5D Mark III so you can imagine what a step up this is for any league of video camera, let alone one costing $3000. That Canon sensor is doing a very good job indeed and I am amazed.
One of the biggest improvements I’ve noticed, especially when watching the footage on my Dell 27″ 2.5K display which rivals the Apple Cinema Display for colour and contrast is the HUGE improvement to the look of colour on the 5D Mark III. All I can say is hello colour, hello blue skies, hello subtle shades where have you been all this time!? I’m amazed we put up with not having this kind of colour and tonal precision for so long.
Resolution in 1080p is very close to the full 1080 lines so clearly the sensor is doing a superb job of sampling the full 6K chip. The exact method is proprietary Canon knowledge but I’d be very surprised if there’s any line-skipping at all like there is on the 5D Mark II. I’ve not had a single incident of moire or aliasing yet. The only artefacts I’ve seen are when I’ve done something in post I shouldn’t have like pushing highlight recovery all the way to the right, which hurts the roll off. Better to let some highlights go to super-white than to hurt highlight roll off in my view.
Resolution in 1280p for anamorphic is of course even better and exceeds what the best 1080p broadcast cameras do, such as the Canon C300. It is a moving 14bit raw photo oversampled from a 6K sensor and stored in raw format ready for 4:4:4 sampling whilst the C300 is a moving 8bit JPEG image oversampled from 4K and heavily compressed in 4:2:2 MPEG, so I am not very surprised that the 5D Mark III looks a lot nicer.
The post 2.5k CinemaScope anamorphic raw on the 5D Mark III appeared first on EOSHD.com.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 14:33:56 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>3K CinemaScope anamorphic raw on the 5D Mark III</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/3k-cinemascope-anamorphic-raw-on-the-5d-mark-iii</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Click here to view the embedded video.
Download the 3K Vimeo file and playback on a 2.5K or 4K display for best results
Download a pack of DNG frames from the original raw files to judge quality

The spec sheet is impressive. 4:4:4 colour sampling from 14bit linear raw and 1280 lines of resolution with an anamorphic compliant 4:3 aspect ratio.
This compares to the image quality of the Sony F35 (Superman Returns, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland) which cost $250,000 just 5 years ago.
With 3000 x 1280 anamorphic in raw on the 5D Mark III it feels like a completely new camera. I prefer the image and the creativity in post offered by raw over 4K MJPEG on the Canon 1D C, and it uses ALL of the 3:2 full frame sensor if shooting 1920×1280, it isn’t a crop to APS-H.
Why anamorphic? Well first of all I like the wider aspect ratio. 16:9 just reminds me of TV. The cinema aspect ratio is wider. In the old days of Super 35mm film (remember that!?) the imaging area was approximately 4:3 and part of the audio track was on the film negative. To get CinemaScope, filmmakers used anamorphic lenses to compress more width into the frame. As the anamorphic only makes the lens wide horizontally, it doesn’t reduce your ability to get a shallow DOF and a close up like a normal wide angle lens does. Furthermore when you are panning to track an actor with an anamorphic, you have far more leeway either side of the subject making for more graceful sweeping pans.
You can crop of course in post but it isn’t the same. You lose vertical resolution and you lose the cinematic character and flare of the anamorphic lens.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Above is a very wide aspect ratio I shot with recently with the Nikon V1 at 400fps, and I was forced to shoot in this aspect ratio due to the slow-mo mode being such low resolution. With the 5D Mark III in raw, you can choose not to crop and use all 1280 lines of resolution, almost at the 1350 mark of the Blackmagic in 2.5K!
What is more it allows you to upscale horizontally to achieve 3K without also needing to upscale the vertical res. As a result it really does look like 3K and that is the resolution gain anamorphic lenses were designed for, back in the day. Of course anamorphic lenses are still in widespread use today, with Quentin Tarantino shooting Django Unchained with Panavision glass as covered at EOSHD here. There’s more on what lens I used for this shoot further down the article.
Workflow
Raw makes the actual shoot more straight forward as all you really have to control is the lens – aperture, focus – and forget about the picture making box. You cannot really get the full scope of the image from H.264 on Vimeo, so please do download the original DNG files here and open them in Photoshop. You can do most of your exposure in post like you can with a 35mm film negative in a dark room. Bear in mind these are in 4:3 format and shot with the Iscorama 1.5x anamorphic so you should scale them to 3000 x 1280 or 1920 x 820 for the correct aspect ratio.
In-camera with Magic Lantern I used the 4:3 aspect ratio of 1720 x 1280, then a stretch in post to 2.39:1 anamorphic 3K.
This way I get pin sharp and detailed 3K CinemScope footage. This is a formality with an anamorphic lens and great to finally get away from 16:9 thanks to the custom resolutions offered by Magic Lantern. That 14bit 12 stop dynamic range raw workflow is a beautiful thing indeed.
The camera can go as high as 1920×1280 for a still anamorphic friendly 3:2 aspect ratio – this will be lovely but at this early stage it isn’t quite reliable on my fastest 1000x speed compact flash card, dropping frames after around the 20 second mark. 1770×1280 maintains the same number of lines of resolution but makes continuous takes reliable and gives you true CinemScope 2.39:1 with the 1.5x Iscorama 36 rather than the approximately 2.66:1 you get from 3:2. 4:3 is also suited for 2x anamorphic, making for a less extremely wide image.
I’m really glad I have found my paintbrush. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera EF mount much as I love it is not full frame and there’s no other aspect ratio apart from 16:9 which doesn’t help my anamorphic work at all. The Sony FS100′s image just doesn’t match raw and again no anamorphic concessions to aspect ratios are present. I am going to sell the FS100 and replace the BMCC EF with the Micro Four Thirds mount version to use as a B-camera.
Initially I had concerns about losing the stella low light performance of the FS100 but the 5D Mark III is utterly amazing in low light with raw. My initial low light test it turns out did not exploit the full performance as I was handling it the same as the Blackmagic footage by changing the exposure in post from the native ISO of the sensor (800). What I later found was that if I shot at the desired ISO in-camera the image is cleaner than shooting at what I assumed to be the native ISO and adjusting the exposure in post, so it is likely the native ISO is more like 2500 than 800!
The raw workflow doesn’t phase me as I can efficiently work to deadlines armed with the right knowledge of raw in post, the right software and the right hardware. Admittedly when you don’t have this experience and the right tools, raw becomes very frustrating and time consuming in post.
When not on a quick turn-around and just painting with light, even going slowly isn’t a concern to me, because I enjoy spending a lot of time working through these challenges and certainly a lot of time grading, whilst with DSLRs prior I never really graded at all – I felt it hurt the image too much.

I think the anti-raw arguments are exactly the same as when DSLRs and 1080p first came onto the market. People complained 1080p was too slow to edit and demanding on their time – but mainly that they just didn’t need it at that point.
1080p became the standard very quickly though and some were ill prepared at that point as they hadn’t embraced it earlier! Don’t lose valuable time listening to the negative nellys telling you how much of a pain raw is. A gigabyte is the new megabyte and tomorrow terabytes will be the new megabytes. You have to move with it as the IT side just gets better and better, cheaper and cheaper with every passing day. Technical knowledge has never been more important in the armoury of a filmmaker. In the film days you had to have technical knowledge but it was of a different kind and it served you for longer. Today it is easy with digital to get quick and easy results but to really push you need that IT ability in spades and to not be intimidated by the fast pace of digital technology.
Raw2DNG from Magic Lantern even in such a rudimentary early stage crunches through Canon DSLR raw files faster than real-time (24fps) on my €1000 Hackintosh with RAID 0 array of 3 standard hard disk drives. The main operating system is on an SSD. There’s no recording limit as the 4GB file size limit of FAT has been broken and the camera uses ExFat formatted cards. You can also record ProRes via HDMI whilst simultaneously recording raw internally to compact flash card, which is handy for generating on the fly proxy files and playback. During this shoot I had no problems using my SmallHD DP6 for monitoring in the correct anamorphic aspect ratio via HDMI whilst recording raw, quite an incredible feat for a $3000 DSLR. Despite this being dev code I had no crashes or corruptions either! Quite incredible progress in just a week.
Partly thanks to Red, raw (at-least compressed raw) is already a cinema standard and I think we will be seeing more of it in other realms of production where image quality is a priority too. People complained there were a lot of amateurish hacks and workarounds with DSLRs when they first appeared but that didn’t stop a lot of very high end professional productions being shot on them because the image was lovely at the time.
Now it is again and you just need to rig them properly for them to be usable professionally. I don’t like overly complex and spidery rigs so I’m very happy with the rig which I came up for with the anamorphic shoot which is simply a Wooden Camera cage, Lanparte quick release with carbon rods and a SmallHD DP6…


Because I wanted a top handle as well I put the 5D Mark III into the Wooden Camera Blackmagic Cinema Camera cage – yes it fits! Though I had to use a very thin secondary adapter plate designed for something else. As you can see the monitor is mounted on the back of the rails for tripod use, but what is great is that it is on an articulated Sony hinge mounted directly on the rails and not one of those annoying spidery arms up high which puts the whole rig off balance.
The monitor is very light and takes the same batteries as the camera but also acts as a good counterweight for the weight of the lens. I can look down at the screen when shooting on a tripod at waist or chest height. This is much better than having to hunch over constantly to see the tiny non-articulated LCD on the back of the camera.
I found battery life to be excellent on the camera whilst shooting raw, better than Blackmagic’s internal battery by far – though an external battery is still preferable for longer shoots than a few hours.

I have a love affair with anamorphic glass especially Iscoramas, and currently have the 36, 54 and smaller 30. I’ve dubbed it the ’30′ because the rear element is 30mm compared to 36mm on the later Iscorama 36. If you are considering an anamorphic lens yourself or just interested in the advantages of using one you should grab my book on the subject here.
The ’30′ is the first generation Iscorama from the late 1960′s which was bundled with a SLR mount prime set to infinity. Focus is on the anamorphic. It flares more thanks to being single coated instead of multicoated and the smaller rear element helps introduce a more characterful vignette. When I want to tone these properties down (sometimes I do) and not go all out for J.J. Abrams flare, I use the multicoated Iscorama 36, which is even a bit sharper.
My favourite lenses to use with the Iscorama 30 are the Helios 44M and the Helios 44M   OK better explain that the original Helios 44M is a single coated 58mm F2.0 lens from Russia, very sharp wide open with an Iscorama. Though not as sharp or as contrasty as my Contax Zeiss 50mm F1.4 or Leica R 50mm F2.0 with the Iscorama, it does have heaps of character. It also goes well with my very rare Iscorama CentaVision 2x single focussing anamorphic and is the prime lens I used to shoot Zen in Shanghai shot on the GH2. With the GH2 you get much sharper corners especially stopped down. On the 5D Mark III the corners are shall we say ‘characterful’!
Click here to view the embedded video.
The second Helios 44M I have is of course the amazing modded Flare Factory 58 from Richard Gale’s Dog Schidt Optiks. Richard is an engineering genius as well as someone with a wonderful eye who I can trust to come up with character by the bucketload. The reason I used my bog standard Helios for this shoot is that I had the faux-anamorphic aperture insert in the FF58 and no time to disassemble the lens to take it out. I will be shooting with the Flare Factory 58 as the orange tint compliments the single coating flare on the Iscorama making it even more dramatic and even adding a hazy, glowing vignette which fully utilises the smooth gradation of 14bit raw. None of the flare or vignetting you can add in post digitally is this organic or dynamically shifting due to real ambient light sources.

Conclusion
Am I over the moon about the image quality of raw on the 5D Mark III?
Well before we were shooting 8bit, with all that banding and lack of flexibility in post. Now we have 14bit colour and can debayer the raw to 4:4:4 EXR using the full power and sophistication of an ILM workstation. That’s a bit of a step up from DIGIC 5. Effectively the image processor of the camera has been moved out of the DSLR and into the realm of Resolve, Intel and NVidia. That is a big thing. No more DIGIC debayer or mushy H.264 encoder.
Dynamic range and overall quality is pretty much identical to the 22MP raw stills on the 5D Mark III so you can imagine what a step up this is for any league of video camera, let alone one costing $3000. That Canon sensor is doing a very good job indeed and I am amazed.
One of the biggest improvements I’ve noticed, especially when watching the footage on my Dell 27″ 2.5K display which rivals the Apple Cinema Display for colour and contrast is the HUGE improvement to the look of colour on the 5D Mark III. All I can say is hello colour, hello blue skies, hello subtle shades where have you been all this time!? I’m amazed we put up with not having this kind of colour and tonal precision for so long.
Resolution in 1080p is very close to the full 1080 lines so clearly the sensor is doing a superb job of sampling the full 6K chip. The exact method is proprietary Canon knowledge but I’d be very surprised if there’s any line-skipping at all like there is on the 5D Mark II. I’ve not had a single incident of moire or aliasing yet. The only artefacts I’ve seen are when I’ve done something in post I shouldn’t have like pushing highlight recovery all the way to the right, which hurts the roll off. Better to let some highlights go to super-white than to hurt highlight roll off in my view.
Resolution in 1280p for anamorphic is of course even better and exceeds what the best 1080p broadcast cameras do, such as the Canon C300. It is a moving 14bit raw photo oversampled from a 6K sensor and stored in raw format ready for 4:4:4 sampling whilst the C300 is a moving 8bit JPEG image oversampled from 4K and heavily compressed in 4:2:2 MPEG, so I am not very surprised that the 5D Mark III looks a lot nicer.
The post 3K CinemaScope anamorphic raw on the 5D Mark III appeared first on EOSHD.com.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 14:33:56 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>(FT4) First Olympus-Sony partnership tech exchange (PDAF sensors for OMD).</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/ft4-first-olympussony-partnership-tech-exchange-pdaf-sensors-for-omd</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Sony’s United States Patent Application 20130113982) describes a sensor with PDAF
-
Last year Olympus and Sony signed a partnership that will soon show his first developments in the camera industry. According to trusted sources Olympus will get the new generations of Sony sensors with on sensor phase detection AF for a future high end OMD model. And Sony will use some of the knowledge from Olympus to design a couple of A-mount lenses that will be released in 2014. I think that’s a pretty good news for both companies. Sony sensors are the best on the market and the partnership allows Olympus to get the best from the best without having to stay in line (Nikon and Pentax use Sony sensors too). I am working on the specs of the next generation OMD and from the early bits I got (still unconfirmed) there may be some small surprise and new tech we never had before in Olympus cameras.
Stay tuned on 43rumors!
—
For sources: Sources can send me anonymous info at 43rumors@gmail.com (create a fake gmail account) or via contact form you see on the right sidebar. Thanks!
For readers: Don’t miss any news. Join our group on facebook and follow our tweets.
Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 04:19:07 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>How to “sort of” give your Blackmagic Cinema Camera a Super 35mm sensor!</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/how-to-“sort-of”-give-your-blackmagic-cinema-camera-a-super-35mm-sensor</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Ethics statement: I have no affiliation or financial arrangement with either Metabones or Conorus. I was loaned these adaptors to test in fact it cost me a few hundred pounds as I had to buy two lenses to actually test them as I own no Leica R or Contax C/Y glass (tip jar donations on the Vimeo page are always appreciated!   )
I have site sponsors/ affiliates and they are detailed in my main ethics statement which is linked at the top of the menu. These correspond with the banners within this post which are there to help keep this one man band site running which is quite a task so any click through a are enormously appreciated. 
  I am trying to have a more attractive Zen outlook on life. So I am selling a load of my gear. Nowhere near most of it. Just a tiny fraction, but it’s time to do it and de-clutter my life, and that means regaining my house and avoiding being on hoarders.
There is nothing wrong with gear. Far from it. It’s all superb. I just never use a lot of it. So why take up space in a cupboard when I can give it to a good home and at same time help in my quest for a better life/ work balance? (You can read my incredibly important post about that )
 If there are any bits of gear you need…whether it’s cameras, lenses, monitors (tripods coming soon) and so much more to come, do check out my ebay store. Everything is an auction with no reserve. There are going to be some awesome bargains there!
Check it out here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/PBs-Blooming-Bargains
One of my biggest issues with the Blackmagic Cinema camera is it’s bloody awkward “in-between” sensor size. It’s not micro four thirds…it’s not super 16…just somewhere in between. This is a pain as no glass is specifically made for this size. Super 16 glass vignettes, micro four thirds glass (both only possible on the MFT version) you waste some of it and with the lack of active MFT mount on this version of the camera you MFT glass choice is damn limited anyway. The EF version gives you little options when it comes to glass choice. With a fixed EF mount you are limited to Canon glass, Nikon glass, Contax M43 and a few othes…basically anything that has a flange distance the same or greater than the EF flange distance. 
That is why I mostly prefer the MFT version. We lose that flange issue but also also lose the ability to use Canon glass or any powered glass due to the passive mount. We can still use Canon glass but we need a self powered adopter like the (non Is using) redrockmicro one which is quite old now and the expensive but IS supporting MTF services ones. My two reviews of the cameras are the bottom of this post.

Metabones, who in association with Conorus have brought us an excellent EF lens adaptor for Sony E-mount cameras like the FS100, 700 and many stills cameras under the NEX umbrella. It’s powered by the camera, supports IS and lets us change th iris. Then they brought us the “Speed Booster” for these cameras. An astonishing piece of kit that I cover fully here….in essence it focuses the light from the lens projecting a larger image that is almost a stop brighter and somewhat sharper. Yes voodoo or almost Blackmagic (come on…I had to!)
I bought the Speedbooster for my FS700 after testing the preproduction one. Like many I have eagerly been awaiting the one for the MFT mount. They are apparently still working on it but in the meantime they have sent me the CONTAX C/Y M43 and Leica R version to test out. Unfortunately as the flange distance on both of these is greater than a Canon and Nikon lens there is no adaptor to use my existing glass on these pre-production ones. I don’t own any Contax M43 or Leica R mount glass (I do have a few Leica M ones but they are even worse!) so I bought a lens for each on eBay purely to test these mounts out. 
The MFT Blackmagic ready to get “SpeedBoosted!” 
Carl Zeiss 50mm and the “Speedbooster”
The passive adaptor
I have only had a brief chance to test out the adaptor as I am actually on holiday right now (I really shouldn’t be writing this to be honest so I had better make it quick!) as its almost yet another birthday (Monday) and a step closer to a half a century.   Grim! So do take this on board when checking out the video. I need to do way more tests in different lighting situations, F-stops and lenses. For now all I have done is use the second hand Carl Zeiss Planar C/Y F1.7 T lens at F1.7. Not the sharpest aperture by far but as I said this was done quickly before we left for the airport and I didn’t want to bring it all with me on holiday! The lens is fine, just not exactly super sharp wide open or sharp edge to edge so do remember that and do check back in a week and a half once I have updated this with a couple more examples.
So does it work? Absolutely. You can see clearly from the image below. Is the same shot. Same camera, same light, same position just one is a passive flange distance adaptor the other the speedbooster. The full image is the speedbooster one which is clearly brighter, guesstimating it as about a stop brighter. I shrank non speedbooster shot to 71% to perfectly line up with the speed booster shot. That means, unscientifically the adaptor is giving almost a 1/3rd increase in the field of view. I couldn’t work out the exact fraction so to be more precise it’s 29%   

We are getting damn close to a field of view of a super 35mm sensor with this increase! Is the aesthetic similar? Possibly. I didn’t do anywhere near enough comparisons to see this but as the NEX speed booster gives us a very similar aesthetic on a S35 sensor of a full frame camera so it’s entirely possible. I did a simple comparison with my 1dc in super 35mm HD mode to show how damn close it is. The shot isn’t exactly matched position wise as the 1DC is taller than the Blackmagic. Remember this is a simple field of view test only. No colour matching was done and any S35mm camera could have been used! This was just easiest as was ready to go with me to Crete!

Also if we out this adaptor on a camera with an MFT sensor like a GH3 or GH2 or AF100 (I am selling both a GH2 and AF100 in my above mentioned eBay sale!) then we are getting a larger image than Super 35mm! Crazy stuff.
Now remember this adaptor will not work on a canon mount Blackmagic camera, whether the cinema camera or 4k Production camera. The flange distance precludes this. If you don’t get it then please read up on flange distances and understand all lenses are designed to focus at a specific distance from a sensor. An EF mount naturally means Canon glass hits the sensor exactly the right point giving us perfect back focus and infinity. Nikon glass can go on an EF mount as it is designed to the sensor at a slightest bigger distance than a Canon lens, that’s why the adaptor for Nikon to EF is a simple bit of metal that does two things, change the mechanical fitting of glass and put the lens the right distance to the sensor. You can’t get an adaptor to make a lens sit closer to the sensor than the camera mount on it. The fitted mount gets in the way!

Anyway enough technobabble. Check out simple test. Remember what i said about things to take into consideration. Enjoy one of the greatest English composers ever (alongside Gustavison Holst) Edward Elgar and his beautiful Cello Concerto. Appropriate music? I don’t care. It’s a lovely piece of music that far too many people will never have heard and yes I cut out just as it gets to best bit! 
 
 
 
Metabones Micro Four Thirds Speed Booster test with Blackmagic camera from Philip Bloom Reviews &amp; Tutorials on Vimeo.
 
Edited with BlogPad Pro
 ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 19 May 2013 11:06:00 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>CIPA report on 2012 sales in Japan: Fewer Mirrorless cameras produced.</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/cipa-report-on-2012-sales-in-japan-fewer-mirrorless-cameras-produced</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The detailed Cipa report has been published and there are some interesting news:
- Japanese companies produced 44% less cameras (50% less compact cameras and 24% less DSLR and Mirrorless).- The only segment with growth was the High End Camera and Lens market. For example +14,1% Full Frame Lenses have been produced.
This is clearly a sign that 1) the compact camera market is dying 2) The pro market is the only market still generating sales and money. For Panasonic and Olympus this means that they have to think on competing with Nikon and Canon in the high end market. But the MFT sensor size may be the major limitation. A larger Full Frame mirrorless system may be required to go into that direction!
 

P.S.: Current Amazon mirrorless rankings:
US ranking (Click here).
DE ranking (Click here).
UK ranking (Click here).
FR ranking (Click here).
 
 ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 19 May 2013 00:59:48 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>CIPA report on 2012 sales in Japan: Less Mirrorless cameras produced.</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/cipa-report-on-2012-sales-in-japan-less-mirrorless-cameras-produced</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The detailed Cipa report has been published and there are some interesting news:
- Japanese companies produced 44% less cameras (50% less compact cameras and 24% less DSLR and Mirrorless).- The only segment with growth was the High End Camera and Lens market. For example +14,1% Full Frame Lenses have been produced.
This is clearly a sign that 1) the compact camera market is dying 2) The pro market is the only market still generating sales and money. For Panasonic and Olympus this means that they have to think on competing with Nikon and Canon in the high end market. But the MFT sensor size may be the major limitation. A larger Full Frame mirrorless system may be required to go into that direction!
 

P.S.: Current Amazon mirrorless rankings:
US ranking (Click here).
DE ranking (Click here).
UK ranking (Click here).
FR ranking (Click here).
 
 ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sun, 19 May 2013 00:59:48 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>Weekly Nikon news flash #214</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/weekly-nikon-news-flash-214</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

How to make a custom grip for your Nikon DSLR camera.



BorrowLenses reviews the Nikon 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lens.



Rare Nikkor 13mm f/5.6 ultra wide angle lens for sale on eBay.



The Bower 24mm f/1.4 lens for Nikon is currently $200 off with free shipping (offer ends May 31, 2013).










A reader purchased this rare Nikkor lens from Craigslist and is trying to identify it. If you know what this is used for, contact Adam Mullins on his blog.



Nikon is now in Nigeria - Nikon products are officially distributed and marketed by New Creation Worldwide Link Nigeria Ltd. offering twelve (12) months warranty on cameras and accessories. More images available on Facebook.



The Nikon D800E DSLR camera won the Camera GP 2013 Readers Award.



For 2013 Nikon received four TIPA awards for the 1 Nikkor 11-27.5 f/3.5-5.6 lens and D7100, D520 and S01 cameras.



DxO Optics Pro 8.1.6 released with Nikon Coolpix A and P330 support.



Adobe Camera Raw 8.1 release candidate for Photoshop CS6 is now available with support for the latest Nikon camera and lenses.



DigitalRev $10 coupon code: 9JVCLIX4 valid till May 19 with minimum purchase of $100 (any currency).
Nikon released Q&amp;A of financial results for the year ended March 31, 2013


Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.





Related posts:
Weekly Nikon news flash #159
Weekly Nikon news flash #201
Weekly Nikon news flash #209



 
]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 21:19:03 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>Hedge Fund leader makes pressure on Sony…</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/hedge-fund-leader-makes-pressure-on-sony…</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
As you know there is a very deep restructuring ongoing within the Sony company. This also affected the A-mount camera roadmap. There will be no new A-mount cameras this year because the new Sony strategy is to release a camera only when it’s really ready to challenge the big ones (Canon and Nikon). This means new A-mount cameras will be due in early 2014 and we are looking forward to get some specs of the new stuff.
In the meantime Daniel Loeb, CEO of Third Point LLC, the largest owner of Sony Corp. stock, published an open letter asking Sony to focus on few profitable areas, image sensors among them (Source: Image Sensor World). Loeb is that guy that made big profits on his bets on Greek bonds, mortgages, website operator Yahoo Inc and a fall in the Japanese yen. A real hardcore speculator! The investor believes that spinning off a portion of the entertainment business to Sony shareholders could sharpen the company’s focus and lead to higher profit margins, while helping to revive the core electronics business (Source NYT via The.me).
How could he influence Sony’s digital camera business? If Loeb pressure succeeds this will force Sony to cut unprofitable business even more than they did until now. This could mean for example, drop the compact camera business and focus on high quality RX cameras. But that’s just speculation for now. I don’t think Loeb will influence the new RX-NEX and A-mount roamdap.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 10:40:16 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>First Lens Turbo shipping from UK! New Speed Boosters for Nikon G coming too.</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/first-lens-turbo-shipping-from-uk-new-speed-boosters-for-nikon-g-coming-too</link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Sorry to bother you again with Lens Turbo and Speed Booster news. But quite many SAR readers and NEX owners are interested to grab one of these. And since today they are now available in UK stores too:
Canon FD to NEX (Click here).
Nikon Ai to NEX (Click here).
Pentax K to NEX (Click here).
There is also a news on the original (and probably more high quality) Speed Booster from metabones. A new New Speed Booster Nikon G electronic adapter to be released by end of May. And Philip Bloom is right now testing the adapter on his Blackmagic Cinema Camera. We should see his reviews soon on his website.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 01:29:56 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>Best lenses for Nikon D600</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/best-lenses-for-nikon-d600</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
After the best lenses for D800 series, DxOMark published several new articles covering the best lenses for the Nikon D600 DSLR camera:

Best ultra-wide angle prime lenses for Nikon D600



Lens Model
 DxOMark Score


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 21mm f/2.8 ZF2
25


Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical
25


Sigma 20mm f/1.8 EX DG ASP RF
25


Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/15 ZF.2
25


Nikon AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D
24


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 18mm f/3.5 ZF2
22


Sigma 14mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical HSM
19



Best wide angle prime lenses for Nikon D600



Lens Model
 DxOMark Score


Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM A
37


Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC
34


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/1.4 ZF2
34


Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED
33


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/2 ZF2
33


Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G
33


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 25mm f/2 ZF.2
33


Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G
32


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 28mm f/2 ZF2
29


Nikon AF Nikkor 28mm f/2.8D
26


Nikon AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D
25


Carl Zeiss Distagon T 25mm f/2.8 ZF2
22



Best 50mm lenses for Nikon D600



Lens Model
 DxOMark Score


Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
32


Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G
32


Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
32


Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 50mm f/2 ZF2
31


Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G
31


Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
28


Carl Zeiss Planar T 50mm f/1.4 ZF2
25



Best moderate telephoto lenses for Nikon D600



Lens Model
 DxOMark Score


Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G
40


Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G
40


Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 100mm f/2 ZF2
36


Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical IF
36


Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
34


Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF
32


Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
32


Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D
31


Nikon AF DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2D
31


Carl Zeiss Planar T 85mm f/1.4 ZF2
29


Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
29


Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM
28


Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di MACRO
28


Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
28



Wide angle zoom lenses for Nikon D600



Lens Model
 DxOMark Score


Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
28


Tokina AT-X 16-28 f/2.8 PRO FX
24


Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR
23


Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
21


Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D IF-ED
20


Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM II
17


Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG
17



Best standard zoom lenses for Nikon D600



Lens Model
 DxOMark Score


Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
27


Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD
27


Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF
23


Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 IF EX DG HSM
23


Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED
22


Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF]
22


Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR
22


Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
21


Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
18



The listed lens test scores were measured with a D600, but the results are still very close to the list of best lenses for the D800.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.




Related posts:
DxOMark test results for the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens are out
New for Photokina: Zeiss Distagon T* 55mm f/1.4 ZF.2 lens
Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 1.4/55 lens: “the best fast 50mm ever”



 
]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 16:24:47 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>Three SAR readers Lens Turbo tests…</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/three-sar-readers-lens-turbo-tests…</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
We have the first three “Lens Turbo” feedbacks from SAR readers (eBay auctions here):
1) SAR reader Gary (Click here) tested the Pentax to NEX Lens Turbo and you can see plenty of images on his blog. Some of his early findings:
- The build quality on the unit is fantastic,
- The field-of-view is actually a bit narrower than I expected,
- There is also a hint of vignetting wide open, and the adapter seems to add a slight green tint to the image, as well as a hint of distortion,
- it does seem to smudge and swirl the bokeh a bit.
 
2) Southerns: I’m returning my Lens Turbo. There is a large bluish dot in the center. Shot with a FS700 – http://youtu.be/zYB0lesJaxo I used the Samyang 14mm and Samyang 24mm. I also tested at the same time with the MTF adapter and that was ok. No filters were used at all. The camera was in the shade and I get the blue dot facing the opposite direction away from the sun too.
 
3) SAR reader Donny shared his Len Turbo image samples. Click on them to enlarge. The George Takai magazine, 2 Flower Shots, and Payphone were all shot with the Nex 5n plus, Lens Turbo Nikon-NEX adapter, and Nikkor 50 1.4 AIS.The rest were shot with the Samyang 35 1.4. All with an aperture of /f1.4 on lens (which becomes f/1.0 witht he Lens Turbi).

 
Current Lens Turbo auctions:
1) Hong Kong store Roxens sells the Pentax K to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here), Canon FD to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here) and Nikon F to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here) and Minolta MD to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here)
2) Shanghai store Jinfinance has three adapters:  Pentax K to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here),  Canon FD to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here) and Nikon F to NEX adapter on eBay (Click here).]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 11:57:15 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>Sony goes full mirrorless! A and E-mount!</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/sony-goes-full-mirrorless-a-and-emount</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Matrix agent’s would say…It was inevitable MR-Anderson! Panasonic and Samsung dropped the DSLR world, Olympus will do it soon. So, what is Sony going to do? According to very reliable sources Sony is going to transform their A-mount cameras in pure mirrorless by getting rid of both the classic mirror and their unique semitransparent (or translucent) mirror tech. Some of you may wonder why at that point Sony is not going the E-mount route only. Apparently the A-mount mirrorless will keep the DSLR form size while E-mount cameras will focus on compact size. Plus, A-mount camera have on sensor stabilization while the E-mount has not.
The first A-mount mirrorless cameras will come in early 2014. Now let’s see how long it takes until Canon and Nikon will get “serious” with mirrorless too!]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 04:21:34 CDT</pubDate>
			</item><item>
			<title>New Nikon 58mm f/1.2 lens patent</title>
			<link>http://www.personal-view.com/news/articles/new-nikon-58mm-f12-lens-patent</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
Nikon filed two more patents (2013-019992, 2013-011831) in Japan for a new 58mm f/1.2 lens. In the past there have been similar patents for a 50mm f/1.2, 58mm f/1.4 and 58mm f/1.2 lenses. Here are the technical details:


Focal length: 58.0216
Aperture: 1.229
Half angle of view: 20.82 &quot;
Image height: 21.6
Lens length: 122.05004
Backfocus: 38.01861
Lens design: 9 elements in 7 groups with three aspherical surfaces and possibly two ED elements (2 &amp; 4)

Maybe Nikon is really serious about recreating the legendary Ai Noct Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 lens (read more about it here).

Related posts:
New Nikon 58mm f/1.2 lens patent
Nikon 58mm f/1.4 lens patent
Nikon files patent for a 35mm f/2.8 VR full frame lens



 
]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 19:56:24 CDT</pubDate>
			</item></channel> 
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