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Video: Reviewing the 3MP Sony Cyber-shot P1, 22 years after its launch
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In 2000, Sony launched the Cyber-shot DSC-P1. At that time, it was Sony's smallest digital camera ever. As part of his popular Retro Review series, Gordon Laing, the founder of CameraLabs, went hands-on with the Sony Cyber-shot P1. As Laing writes, the P1 was an exciting camera when it launched 22 years ago, but how about now?
The Cyber-shot P1 sports a 3MP CCD image sensor with a surprisingly compact 3x optical zoom lens. 'The P1 sported a unique shape and style, like a chunky candy bar with a distinctive curved edge around the lens housing that became the signature of the series going forward,' writes Laing. The P1 set off a string of successors before Sony ended the series in 2005. As noted in our P1 review, the P1 borrowed a lot from the Sony DSC-S70, including its image sensor and general aesthetic. However, the P1 was more compact and weighed only 250g, compared to the 420g S70.
Even by 2000 standards, the P1's 1.5" display was somewhat small, especially compared to the 2" screen on the S70. However, the displays offered the same 123k dot resolution. The camera wrote its 3MP images to a Memory Stick, a proprietary Sony storage solution. The P1 was bundled with an 8MB stick, which was small even for 3MP images. You could only fit around five best-quality JPEG files on the bundled memory card. The included NP-FS11 battery charged in-camera via a proprietary AC adapter. While Sony maintains its reputation for using proprietary storage and accessories, the situation was worse more than two decades ago.
Coming to the lens, which is a major differentiator between the P1 and the S70, despite both including 3x optical zooms. The P1 has a 39-117mm equivalent lens with a max aperture of F2.8-5.6. The S70 instead included a 34-102mm lens with a brighter F2-2.5 aperture range. Laing notes that the S70 also included closer focusing and full aperture and shutter priority, features notably lacking from the smaller, cheaper P1. The P1 also lacked the S70's Carl Zeiss branding. That said, the P1 has an automatic lens cover, and the lens is much smaller when the camera is powered off.
Below is a sample gallery of images captured by Gordan Laing and used with permission:
When it's all said and done, how does the Sony Cyber-shot P1 fare in 2022? Despite some shortcomings, Laing would have opted for the P1 back when he purchased a Sony S70, had the P1 been available then. To read Laing's full thoughts on the Sony Cyber-shot P1, head over to CameraLabs. You can also check out the video review above. To see more of Laing's excellent Retro Review videos, visit his YouTube channel.
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MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 review: Get Eye AF with your Pentax lenses on Sony E-mount!
MonsterAdapter LA-KE1
$439
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With Ricoh's Pentax brand now firmly and irrevocably committed to DSLR cameras, Pentaxians who would prefer to shoot with a mirrorless body have been left with no choice but to consider the move to another brand.
That's a difficult and painful decision to make, though, because it typically accompanies another, no less gut-wrenching choice: either you ditch all of your existing beloved lenses or you continue to use them via a dumb adapter. Do the latter and in the process you'll lose autofocus capability and possibly aperture control, too.
But what if all of that wasn't the case? That's where MonsterAdapter and its new LA-KE1 adapter come in. MonsterAdapter has a fair bit of experience with lens adaptation, as it has previously created four electronically-equipped, E-mount MonsterAdapters for Contax N, Nikon F, Minolta Vectis and Sony A-mount lenses. This new K-to-E-mount adapter is more or less the same tech in a different form factor.
The LA-KE1 lets you shoot your K-mount lenses on crop or full-frame Sony E-mount bodies and allows you to either switch back and forth between K-mount and E-mount bodies while sharing lenses, or move to Sony entirely while taking many of your Pentax lenses along for the ride. It's essentially a KAF2 mount, meaning it supports both screw-drive AF and electronic control for in-lens AF, and also has an aperture actuation lever.
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| The MonsterAdapter has two motors built into its exterior protrusions which provide for both screw-drive autofocus and aperture actuation. |
If you've chosen the latter path, it could also potentially ease the transition to mirrorless, letting you defer some of the upgrade cost by holding off on replacing your entire lens collection at once.
It's equally important to note what this adapter can't do though. It won't allow autofocus during video capture at all, and nor will it fully work with every AF-capable K-mount lens or E-mount camera body. But, if your lenses are fully supported, it'll give you the access to autofocus and electronic aperture control that other adapters lack. And in most cases, it will also let you access Sony's excellent AF tracking, face recognition and human/animal eye detection with your Pentax glass.
Available immediately, the MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 is priced at $439 in the US market.
Jump to:
Tablet overview| How it compares| Pens | Software | Battery | Compatibility | Odds and ends | Conclusion
Key Takeaways
- Adapts many Pentax K-mount lenses to Sony E-mount
- Supports in-lens and in-body autofocus / aperture drive
- Allows both single and continuous AF
- Compatible with in-body stabilization
- Lets Pentaxians use Sony features including Eye AF
- Solid build, but not weather-sealed
- Won't support video capture with AF or aperture control
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| ISO 50 | 1/80 sec | F2.8 | 40mm | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with HD PENTAX-DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited |
Mount adapters add back the bulk mirrorless pared away
Since it sits in between the camera body and lens with which you're shooting, the MonsterAdapter adds 46mm (1.8") to the depth of their combination. That, along with the fact that SLR lenses tend to be bulkier in the first place, effectively negates the size and weight advantage of the mirrorless body.
Hence, you'll still get a better shooting experience with designed-for-mirrorless lenses, unless size and weight aren't a concern as in, say, studio shooting. Save for a couple of protrusions to allow space for motors, the barrel of the adapter is about 66mm (2.6") diameter. That's about the same diameter as Pentax's 100mm F2.8 WR Macro lens, by way of comparison.
As seen from behind when mounted, a big bulge at the bottom left of the adapter houses an autofocus motor for screw-drive AF. A switch on the base of this bulge allows autofocus to be switched on or off at the adapter and will override that on the lens itself if set to the off position. (It also takes over from the software setting in Sony's menu system, which won't let you disable AF using that option if the adapter is mounted.)
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| Even a very compact lens like the Pentax 40mm F2.8 feels chunky when you add back the depth that mirrorless pared away from DSLR designs. |
Bring new life to a failing SDM lens with AF type selection
On the opposite side of the barrel you'll find a smaller bulge for the aperture control motor and a nice spring-loaded mount release switch. You'll also find one more tiny switch hidden beneath the top of the K-mount inside the adapter body, but chances are that you'll never need to use it. If you do, though, it could breathe new life into an otherwise-broken optic which might well have been beyond economical repair.
Flick this switch out of its default position and for lenses which offer a choice of either in-lens or screw-drive AF, operation will be locked into the screw-drive mode. If you own a lens with a failed internal motor that's potentially a big deal, breathing new life into an otherwise AF-less lens. Given that SDM motors have a questionable reputation, especially those which aren't used frequently, this switch could be a lifesaver for some Pentaxians.
A rugged metal body and mounts, but no weather sealing
The aforementioned AF/MF switch, meanwhile, works perfectly well but has a very strong click detent and a rather plastic-on-plastic feel in use. It's also a bit tricky to read the very faint, body-colored AF/MF markings adjacent to the switch, and these shortcomings do detract a little from the feeling of quality.
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| The MonsterAdapter LA-KE1's focus mode switch (left) feels a bit plasticky in use. Its hidden focus drive selector switch (right) is a potential lifesaver, though! | |
So too does the bundled Pentax K-mount body cap, which doesn't lock in position like Pentax's own bayonet-style caps would. (Although admittedly, many of Pentax cameras ship with cheaper push-fit caps instead.)
I found MonsterAdapter's chosen cap has a tendency to come loose quite easily, though, as it takes very little effort to turn and has a grippy, deeply-knurled periphery. I'd recommend switching it out for a better-quality cap to prevent accidental damage if the cover comes off while in your camera bag.
It's also worth noting that the MonsterAdapter isn't weather-sealed, so even if your chosen lens and body are, it will represent a weak link in that protective chain and prevent you shooting in adverse conditions without some external form of protection.
But with all of that said, the barrel of the adapter is molded as a single metal part with only the protrusion for the AF motor/switch made from plastic alone. That gives the MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 a nice feeling of solidity that reassures you of its strength, as does the 1kg (2.2lbs) upper limit for lens weight when when shooting without mounting the combination via a tripod collar.
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| The LA-KE1's body cap doesn't lock in place and its loose fit means it comes off a little too easily. |
Features and performance vary with your chosen camera body
The LA-KE1 supports a long list of bodies, but the degree of support does vary in one of three different tiers. The top tier support what the company calls its 'G Driver' algorithm, which promises 'full use' of the camera's performance for AF speed and focus tracking systems. There are then two lower degrees of AF performance: fully supported and 'limited' support, with some of the older models in each class losing the Eye-AF function.
| 'G Driver' compatible | ||
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| 'Fully compatible' | ||
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| Limited AF support (full aperture control) | ||
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Not every lens is supported either, but lots of great ones are
The list of supported lenses is even lengthier and made up almost entirely of primes, with only nine of 53 supported lenses being zooms. Of these, 21 are APS-C lenses and the remainder are full-frame types. APS-C lenses will be automatically detected by the attached camera and the crop applied, although you can override this if you prefer.
And not only are many beloved Limited and Star lenses included on the list, but also some quirkier models too. Don't expect support for low-end consumer glass any time soon, though. Not surprisingly, kit or travel zooms don't make the cut. In all, the list of supported lenses is as follows, sorted by focal length:
| Prime Lenses | Zoom Lenses |
|---|---|
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AF is slower than on Pentax, but fast enough for many subjects
The MonsterAdapter works for either single or continuous autofocus operation and allows access to the full AF point density and coverage of your Sony camera with Pentax glass. It also gives you access to features of Sony's cameras like eye autofocus for humans and animals.
To get a sense of autofocus performance, I compared AF speed side-by-side with the same lenses mounted either on a Sony a7r III with MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 or a Pentax K-1 II body.
Timings for the Pentax were taken for both phase-detection AF when shooting through the viewfinder, and contrast-detection AF in live-view mode. Both cameras were set to center AF and focused on a nearby subject in preparation. I then autofocused on a distant subject followed by the nearer one, and repeated this process ten times as quickly as possible.
Since the goal was to record the fastest time possible, if either camera showed difficulties in focusing – which happened several times with the MonsterAdapter and once or twice with the Pentax – the result was discarded and the test restarted.
| 20x refocus test time (seconds) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pentax K-1 II PDAF | Pentax K-1 II CDAF | Sony A7R III w/ adapter | |
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HD PENTAX-DA 15mm f/4 AL Limited |
23.2 | 24.1 | 32.1 |
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HD PENTAX-DA 21mm f/3.2 ED AL Limited |
20.7 | 23.1 | 33.1 |
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HD PENTAX-DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited |
22.8 | 25.4 | 50.2 |
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HD PENTAX-D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW |
19.1 | 27.9 | 37.9 |
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smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm f/2.8 WR |
27.4 | 33.8 | (no time set) |
| HD PENTAX-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW (wide) | 23.7 | 29.9 | 36.7 |
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HD PENTAX-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW (tele) |
25.2 | 36.4 | 47.2 |
The results were as above, and a few things stand out from them.
Firstly, note that a time couldn't be set for the 100mm macro lens. While it worked fine with the MonsterAdapter if it was already near to being focused, if it was significantly out of focus the lens would simply rack the focus back and forth without a lock. If the lens had a focus limiter this might have helped, but unfortunately it doesn't.
Secondly, we can see that even on a higher-end Sony body – the A7R III is of a similar vintage to the K-1 II but with a 50%-higher pricetag – performance with the adapter trails that of the Pentax camera by quite some way. We weren't able to compare the performance with one of the G Driver-compatible bodies.
Compared to Pentax's phase-detection autofocus, the adapted lenses focus around 40-60% more slowly, although this does vary significantly by lens model and AF technology. A fairer comparison is to Pentax's live view AF, perhaps, and here the MonsterAdapter comes closer, trailing by about 20-40%.
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| Sony's Eye Autofocus function – used on this quick portrait of my son – is probably the best argument for using the LA-KE1 adapter. ISO 4000 | 1/200 sec | F2.8 | 200mm | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with HD PENTAX-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW |
Shooting with in-lens AF is more satisfying than screw-drive
The best results are definitely to be found with in-lens AF, with the SDM motor of the 50mm F1.4 and the DC motor of the 70-200mm F2.8 proving the most satisfying to use in the real world. Screw-drive lenses are slower to focus, but still quite usable so long as AF is at least in the ballpark to start off with.
Also note that as you'd expect, the challenge rises along with the focal length. The 70-200mm zoom focuses more slowly at its telephoto end, !!!something that's also true when shooting on a Pentax body. It's also noticeable on the adapted primes, with the best performance coming from those with a wider-angle design.
Overall, I found performance to be pretty acceptable. The MonsterAdapter isn't going to be able to keep up with faster-moving subjects like sports, but for less active subjects like portraiture, street photography, landscapes and so on, it is able to deliver reasonable to good performance so long as your lens is moderately near to being in focus to start with.
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| Shooting sports isn't totally impossible with the MonsterAdapter LA-KE1, as these shots of an impromptu Frisbee game in downtown Knoxville show, but it's much more challenging than using a faster-focusing, native E-mount lens would be. | |
Accurate aperture control both mechanically and electronically
Just as it supports both in-lens and in-body focus control, the MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 is also compatible both with more modern KAF4 lenses with electronic aperture control, as well as older types with a mechanical aperture coupling.
Both means of controlling aperture are supported not just for stills but also for video capture. There is one slight quirk in the MonsterAdapter's aperture support, however. It's likely a limitation of Sony's bodies, more so than it is of the adapter itself.
A few of Pentax's lenses have non-standard maximum apertures such as the 21mm F3.2 or 43mm F1.9. If you mount these, they'll work for the most part, but their maximum aperture will be curtailed just slightly to the next standard value down the list. Effectively, the 21mm F3.2 becomes a 21mm F3.5, and the 43mm F1.9 acts as a 43mm F2.0 optic, for example.
With that limitation aside though, aperture control is quick, stable and repeatable for both mechanical and electronic variants. Focal length/aperture information is also otherwise recorded accurately in EXIF information.
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| ISO 3200 | 1/100 sec | F2.8 | 100mm | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm f/2.8 WR |
Video isn't supported due to Sony adapter limitations
So if all of Pentax's current AF and aperture drive mechanisms are supported and you can even use continuous autofocus, why no video support? The answer is down to Sony's adapters themselves.
When an adapter is mounted to a Sony E-mount camera, it switches into an adapted mode which disables autofocus for video capture. Sony likely made that decision both to ensure the best experience for its upgrading A-mount customers and to help drive lens sales. Since it emulates a Sony adapter, though, the MonsterAdapter has to play by the same rulebook.
That means no AF for video capture and no possibility of it being added in a future update either, sadly. That's a great shame and robs MonsterAdapter of a potential selling point – we're sure many Pentaxians would love to have a second body capable of decent video capture, an area Ricoh neglects – but only Sony can change this, and it has little to no incentive to do so.
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| ISO 50 | 1/50 sec | F4.0 | 15mm (35mm equiv. 22mm) | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with HD PENTAX-DA 15mm f/4 AL Limited |
Unsupported lenses probably won't work, even if similar lenses are on the list
If you have lenses that aren't on the officially supported list, you may be wondering what you can expect if you try them. I did too, and tested a fair few lenses that aren't on the officially supported list. None could consistently manage to focus, although the precise symptom varied.
Some lenses wouldn't even try to focus or would immediately (and incorrectly) report a focus lock when AF was requested. Others would attempt to focus, but repeatedly fail to detect a focus lock as they racked past the correct distance.
A few lenses would attempt to focus a single time, but then lock up until the camera was power-cycled or the lens reseated. And in some cases, I could manage to get usable shots occasionally as well, but these were relatively few and far between, and with no consistency from scene to scene. And all of this is true even where the lenses would seem, at least externally-speaking, to be near-identical to supported models.
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| ISO 50 | 0.8 sec | F4.5 | 100mm | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm f/2.8 WR |
During my review, I tried some lenses whose smc variants were on my beta firmware's supported list but whose HD-coated variants weren't. Per Pentax, they're basically the same lenses as before optically-speaking, save for their coatings. From the adapter's perspective though, the internal differences were sufficient to require new profiles to be made and the lenses thus couldn't be used in the interim.
Of course, you can still use unsupported lenses by focusing manually just like you might with a dumb adapter. But I suggest buying this adapter only for the lenses it currently supports, not in the hope of using an unsupported lens. Should your lens be added to the officially supported list you may still be able to use it eventually, but until that point the experience will likely be poor to unusable.
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| ISO 2000 | 1/60 sec | F3.5 | 21mm (35mm equiv. 31mm) | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with HD PENTAX-DA 21mm f/3.2 ED AL Limited |
Pretty stable and upgradeable for future lens support
Overall, I found stability to be pretty good. I did once experience a camera lockup that required me to reseat the battery, but other than that one-off, I experienced no real stability issues.
If any issues do arise though, there's the potential for new firmware to be released addressing these. It's also possible for new lenses to be supported at the same time.
The update process is pretty quick and easy, but unfortunately does require access to a Windows PC. That's because updates can only be installed using a USB cable tethered to your Sony camera body. There's no facility for upgrading from a file on your SD card, nor for connecting the adapter directly to your computer.
Conclusion
If you want to use your Pentax lenses on Sony E-mount bodies without losing autofocus, the MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 is basically the only game in town. All of its rivals lack electronic connectivity, and so effectively make your Pentax glass manual-focus only. With its supported lenses and bodies, the MonsterAdapter is freed from this limitation.
While its performance will vary depending upon your chosen lenses and camera bodies, we found the LA-KE1 adapter to yield rather lesser AF performance than is natively available from Pentax bodies, even when they're using their slower contrast-detection AF in live view mode.
But we also found that getting focus in the ballpark first helps significantly with performance, especially for screw-drive lenses or those with long focus throws. And while it wasn't as peppy as the native AF, we found the LA-KE1's AF speed pretty acceptable for all but very active subjects like sports.
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And that tradeoff in performance brings more potential than the obvious advantage of being able to use your Pentax glass with a mirrorless body. For one thing, it means access to resolutions beyond the K-1 II's 36 megapixels, and multi-shot high-res imagery that (unlike Ricoh's) increases the pixel count still further.
For another thing, it gains you access to Sony's eye-detection autofocus algorithms, which can be hugely helpful for portraits of people and pets alike. And you'll have dense AF coverage across the frame, unlike Pentax's phase-detection AF which has relatively few points and is centrally-focused.
The focus drive delivers sufficient accuracy not just for Sony's cameras to nail focus in a precise area of the image, but also to allow for things like fine adjustments to focus when tethering. In fact, I even successfully used it for focus bracketing with Sony's Imaging Edge Remote and the open-source B8Stack application.
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| ISO 100 | 1/500 sec | F2.8 | 200mm | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with HD PENTAX-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW |
It's a great pity that support for video capture isn't possible, as that's long been a weakness of the Pentax K-mount which, if solvable, could've been a huge deal for Pentaxians. But MonsterAdapter has to work within the boundaries of what Sony's lens adapter support allows, and so for now decent K-mount video must remain a pipe dream.
Really, the only sticking point is the pricetag. There's no getting around the fact that this is quite an expensive adapter even when compared to similar products from much better-known names. For example, Sony's own LA-EA5 adapter comes in at around $250, as do both Sigma's MC-11 adapters for EF and SA-mount lenses.
But Sony and Sigma can subsidize its costs with body or lens sales, whereas the MonsterAdapter's fortunes must stand on its own sales alone. The high pricetag isn't completely unprecedented, either, as Metabones' EF-mount adapters also come in at around $400.
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| ISO 125 | 1/200 sec | F2.8 | 200mm | Sony A7R III Photo taken by Mike Tomkins with HD PENTAX-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW |
Bearing in mind that the Pentax K-mount is already a pretty small niche in the overall market, and that the LA-KE1 inhabits an even tinier niche within, its pricetag doesn't seem unreasonable. For the price of a single consumer-grade lens, you could potentially extend the life of many Pentax lenses into the mirrorless age while still retaining usable autofocus.
Whether you're hooked on the look those lenses provide or just want to delay buying their replacements for as long as possible, the MonsterAdapter LA-KE1 is definitely worthy of consideration.
What we like:
- Pentax glass on Sony E-mount without losing AF and aperture control
- Relatively small and compact
- Solid, durable build
- Works with both single and continuous AF
- Works with screw-drive and in-lens AF motors, even for precision operations like remote-controlled focus stacking
- Works with mechanical and electronic aperture control
- Works with in-body image stabilization
What we don't:
- Quite pricey
- No weather sealing
- Control feel isn't very premium
- Negates the size advantage of mirrorless cameras
- Slower AF than with a Pentax body
- No video autofocus
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Japan Camera Hunter announces FuguFilm 400 slide film, an all new color reversal emulsion
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Japan Camera Hunter (JCH) has announced FuguFilm 400, an all-new 400 ISO positive film set to ship later this year. According to Bellamy Hunt, founder of JCH, FuguFilm 400 is the first entirely new reversal film emulsion to be released ‘in nearly two decades’
FuguFilm 400 has been three years in the making. Since 2019, JCH has been working with Horatio Tan at Street Silhouettes to create a new ISO 400 positive film. ‘We went through many test versions trying to get the right balance, the right saturation and the right ISO,’ says Hunt, which was no easy feat considering ‘Many of the chemicals that were used in the earlier slide films are simply banned by many regions.’ So, various changes were made to abide by various local and federal guidelines in an effort to better protect the environment.
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| A photograph of a pre-production roll of FuguFilm 400. |
Hunt says FuguFilm 400 ‘has been conceived and made completely from scratch, and has taken a great deal of time to reach a level we are happy with.’ As with so many projects over the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on progress, but Tan and Hunt eventually pulled through and are now at a stage where they are comfortable sharing their creation with the world.
As for why they chose a slide film, Hunt says:
‘Horatio and I decided that we wanted to make a slide film, since we believe better results are easier to get when digitising colour positive film than digitising colour negative film. You only need a digital camera to digitise film. With colour negatives, you need a scanner (made to digitise positives) and a method of inverting the colour to convert the negative to a positive. It’s one less step and also does away with the explicit need for dedicated software to perform the inversion.’
Below is a sample gallery of images captured by Michel Nguyen on pre-production rolls of FuguFilm 400:
A notable detail of the entire project is that both Tan and Hunt eschewed crowdfunding during the research and development stages, using money out of their own pockets to bring this film to life. Hunt says ‘It was an expensive direction to take’ both fiscally and mentally, with ‘many headaches, frustrations and almost laughable misfortune’ along the way. ‘But that is the nature of the beast and we are finally in a position to say we are happy with the results,’ says Hunt.
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HUnt doesn’t provide any concrete release date, saying ‘FuguFilm will be ready when it is ready,’ but does specify that it will be released ‘this year’ and says that it ‘will be sold at a price that is competitive and available in all major retailers.’ Following the final stages of beta testing and final analysis, a data sheet will be released, but it’s not available at this time. You can keep up with FuguFilm 400 announcements on dedicated FuguFilm Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
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Jared Polin gets an exclusive hands-on with Nikon's new Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR PF S lens
Editor's note: The DPReview TV team has also spent some time with the lens, and will post their initial impressions when the lens is officially announced (it's unclear at this time whether Polin was granted permission to publish this now or whether it was accidentally published ahead of an embargo).
Back in 2021, Nikon announced it was working on the development of a Nikkor Z 800mm F6.3 PF VR S lens for the company’s Nikon Z-mount system. Since then, no substantial updates has been provided on this lens, but in a new video from Jared Polin, of FroKnowsPhoto, we get our first look at the lens through what appears to be an exclusive hands-on preview of the Nikkor Z 800mm F6.3 VR PF S lens.
As Polin explains in the introduction to his video, there is very little information he could share about the lens. Aside from sharing a basic hands-on overview and detailing a collection of pre-production images captured with the lens, many of the technical details remain under wraps. So much so that Nikon USA had a representative sitting outside of the room while Polin filmed this 18-minute video.
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Still, Polin was able to spends the first half of the video going over the external features of the lens. It has the usual array of customizable buttons (four in-between the control ring and focus ring) and switches for controlling the various autofocus and image stabilization modes. Since Polin wasn’t allowed to share the exact dimensions or weight of the lens, he compared it to the NIkkor Z 400mm F2.8 TC VR lens, which actually weighs a bit more than the 800mm F6.3 lens and comes in only marginally shorter when both lenses have their lens hoods on. Speaking of lens hoods, the new 800mm F6.3 lens has a new lens hood release system that uses a locking lever to secure it in place when extended and reversed for traveling.
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To test out the performance of the pre-production lens, Polin took it to the Philadelphia Zoo to photograph bald eagles, bears and gorillas. He spends the last half of the video going over a few of the images he captured and sharing his overall experience using the lens attached to a Nikon Z9. Since the lens is pre-production, we don’t have any full-resolution files to take a peek at, but Polin does highlight the image quality of the lens in various shooting environments at the zoo.
It remains to be seen when we’ll know more about this lens, but we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer considering Nikon is clearly working on getting pre-production units into the hands of reviewers.
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Panasonic GH6 looks good for most shooting, but low ISO DR falls behind
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The Panasonic GH6 uses a new 25MP Four Thirds sensor we've not seen before. It offers a Dual Output Gain mode that implies it's using a different physical design compared with most of the chips we encounter. This, combined with Panasonic's briefing, points to the use of a different sensor maker, for what we have reason to believe is a non-stacked BSI chip.
It's this move to a different design and supplier that is likely to have the biggest impact (positive or negative) on its performance, relative to its peers, rather than the increase in pixel count. We've seen it does a great job of reading out quickly, and we've seen its additional highlight capture at higher ISOs in video mode, but how does it perform for stills, and should we be hoping to see this same chip in a hypothetical G9 successor?
Studio Scene
Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes to see the effect of different lighting conditions.
Looking at the GH6's detail levels, they're essentially impossible to distinguish from its 20MP peers (which is to be expected, given the move to 25MP is an increase of just 11% in linear resolution). Even this small increase in resolution is risked because the rather disappointing magnified live view on the GH6 makes fine focus extremely difficult.
In terms of noise , the new sensor performs comparably with the one in the G9. This means it falls a little behind the chip in the OM-1 at very high ISOs , but there's no obvious downside for the change in sensor maker or design.
JPEG detail is very good , with subtle sharpening bringing out, but not over-emphasizing, fine detail, meaning that fine natural textures are convincingly represented.
Default JPEG color looks good . There's a hint of magenta to the central pink patch and a hint of green to the yellow, but both are subtle enough that we'd want to check whether they have any impact on real-world images.
Noise levels are well controlled at higher ISOs but that comes at the cost of detail and texture being lost to noise reduction. Overall, it performs very similarly to its immediate peers.
The 100MP pixel shift high resolution mode looks very good, even when downsized back to a lower resolution . The multi-shot nature brings the expected improvement in noise and tonal quality you'd expect of multiple sampling. Sadly the stills mode we're most excited by (the first hand-held high res mode with motion correction) can't be shot using our studio tripod setup, so will need to wait for additional outdoor testing.
Dynamic Range
Our Exposure Latitude test delves into the deep shadows of base ISO images to test the degree to which you can underexpose to protect highlights, then exploit the camera's full dynamic range. The GH6 is showing significantly more noise when given the same exposure as the OM-1. In principle this represents deeper shadows because of the difference in their respective base ISOs, but the difference is pronounced enough that you can comfortably conclude that the GH6 has less usable dynamic range than the OM-1.
The ISO invariance tells a similar story: above ISO 800, where the GH6's Dual Output Gain system kicks in, the two camera look very similar, but push the lower ISOs and the Panasonic shows increasing noise levels in the very deep shadows. This suggests you should probably raise the ISO on the Panasonic, when shooting in low light, at least until you get to ISO 800. Above that point, you can keep ISO pinned at 800, underexpose and brighten in post, if you want to include extra highlights in your image.
Exposure Latitude | ISO Invariance
The GH6's dual output gain is one of the few times where there might be a significant change in dynamic range in the highlights. However, unlike in video mode, we're not seeing an extra stop of highlight capture in the stills we've shot, so it could be that stills mode is set up differently, to give a shadow benefit instead of additional highlights. We'll look more closely at this as we shoot more with the camera.
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Rare 0-Series Leica camera owned by Oskar Barnack expected to fetch over $2.6M at auction
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The 40th Leitz Photographica Auction is just around the corner and to celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary, Leica is auctioning off an extremely rare unit, a Leica 0-Series camera owned and used by Oskar Barnack, the man who more or less invented 35mm still photography.
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This year’s auction will be held at Leitz Park in Wetzlar, Germany, on June 11, 2022. While other cameras, lenses and accessories are expected to be auctioned off, the stand-out offering is a 1923 Leica 0-Series (unit No. 105) camera with a 50mm F3.5 lens attached. This unique model is one of 23 0-Series cameras that were used to gauge interest in Leitz cameras ahead of the launch of the Leica A two years later.
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Of the nearly two dozen 0-Series cameras produced, only a dozen are believed to have survived over the years. This particular unit carries an even more unique history, considering it was owned by Oskar Barnack, whose name is engraved atop the viewfinder of the camera. Leica says Barnack used this camera to help better understand how he could improve future models as he photographed the world around him before eventually giving it to his son, Conrad, when he made the jump to the Leica I Model C, which offered interchangeable lenses. It remained in the family until 1960, when it was sold to an American collector.
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The unit and the included accessories are described as follows by Leitz Photographica Auction:
‘The lot includes an original leather lens cap on a string, later aluminium cap, engraved with initials ‘O.B.’ and heavily-modified Nettel camera that Barnack used for his photographic research studies, as well as numerous documents and letters concerning the Barnack’s camera. The Leica 0-Series no.105 we have a pleasure to offer for sale is not only the most distinguished Leica existing but also one of the major historical milestones from the history of photography.’
The organizers of the Leitz Photographica Auction estimates this camera, whose bidding will start at €1,000,000, will go for around €2,000,000 ($2.2M) to €3,000,000 ($3.3M), which is within the range of a previous 0-Series model that sold for a record-breaking €2,400,000 ($2.6M) back in 2018.
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If you’re interested in learning more about the 40th Leitz Photographica Auction, head on over to the Leitz Auction website.
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DPReview TV: Laowa 20mm F4 'Zero -D' Shift lens review
The new Laowa 20mm F4 Zero-D Shift lens is an affordable option for architecture photography. It's available for eight full-frame and 44x33 medium format mounts, and we got hold of the version for the Nikon F mount.
How does it do in the real world? DPReview TV's Chris Niccolls take it for a stroll.
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- Introduction
- Sample images
- Build quality and design
- Flare and ghosting
- Shift usage
- CA and sunstars
- Close up performance
- Bokeh
- Sharpness
- Price
Laowa 20mm F4 Zero-D Shift sample images from this episode
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Laowa 20mm F4 'Zero-D' Shift sample gallery
Venus Optics' new Laowa 20mm F4 Zero-D Shift could be the perfect lens for architecture photographers on a budget. Check out Chris Niccolls' images captured on a Nikon D850 around downtown Calgary to see if this lens would work for you.
Want to learn more about this lens? Watch our hands-on review from DPReview TV.
View our Laowa 20mm F4 Zero-D Shift sample gallery
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Hubble captures a beautiful image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4571
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NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a fantastic image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4571 using its Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The WFC3 captured separate exposures in the visible and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum and utilized several specialized filters. The monochromatic images captured with different filters were assigned hues and then combined to create the beautiful, colorful image seen below. If you'd like to learn more about how scientists colorize images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, check out this video we covered in 2019.
The spiral galaxy NGC 4571, also known as IC 3588, LEDA 42100 or UGC 7788, is located approximately 60 million light-years away in the Coma Berenices constellation. The constellation is named after an Egyptian queen who lived more than two millennia ago. NGC 4571 is part of the Virgo cluster, containing more than a thousand galaxies. That cluster is part of the larger Virgo supercluster, which includes the Local Group containing our galaxy.
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| Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team |
The European Space Agency (ESA) writes, 'This image comes from a large program of observations designed to produce a treasure trove of combined observations from two great observatories: Hubble and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).' ALMA is a large radio telescope comprising 66 high-precision antennas in the Chilean Andes. Combined, the observations from Hubble and ALMA observe at wavelengths between infrared and radio waves. ALMA detects the clouds of interstellar dust that birth new stars. Hubble performs observations at UV wavelengths, allowing astronomers to locate hot, newly-formed stars. NASA continues, 'Together, the ALMA and Hubble observations provide a vital repository of data to astronomers studying star formation, as well as laying the groundwork for future science with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.'
Speaking of the James Webb Space Telescope, in case you missed it, about two weeks ago, NASA announced that the new space telescope's optics are working correctly. Webb is in space and successfully undergoing its mission-critical mirror and optical alignment processes. NASA anticipates that the telescope will commence scientific observations on schedule, and we should see its first deep space photos this summer. It's going to be a great year for deep space photography.
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