Interview With Optical Engineer That Made the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 and 18-35mm f/1.8 Lenses

35mm Comparison

Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG
B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Thanks Mark. lenstip published a long interview with the optical engineer that designed the outstanding Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM (price & specs) and Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM (price & specs) lenses. The interview comes with lots of b&w images that appear to represent Sigma’s laboratories. Some excerpts from the interview:

Q:What is more important today: intuition and experience or an access to new software and fast computers
A: We think that both are important. Although it is necessary to use machines perfectly, we cannot come up with creative ideas if we rely too much on technologies. Sometimes it is necessary to advance it with own judgment while considering about the purpose and results at all times.

[…]

Q:At what point do you start thinking about the usage of antireflection coatings? Does an optics specialist think of them already at the beginning of their work or do they just optimize the final product according to the elements used in the construction or their refraction coefficient?
A: We start thinking about the usage of antireflection coatings from the middle stage of the design.

[…]

Q:In the case of such a unique construction as the Sigma 18-35 mm f/1.8 which parameter was set as the first? The focal range? The aperture? Or perhaps the image quality was the main priority and you adjusted the rest of parameters accordingly?
A: The project had started with a lens incorporating a maximum aperture of F1.8 and 2x zoom-ratio lens with a focal length equivalent to 50mm in a 35mm format. After some speculation, we decided to produce the 18-35mm f/1.8 lens because it seemed to be able to achieve the highest performance with this spec.

 

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

US: Adorama | B&H | DigitalRev
Germany: hifishop24

Sigma

Zeiss Close To Announce New High End Lenses (first lens is a 55mm f/1.4)

Zeiss

Zeiss (nowadays without the “Carl”) revealed plans for those lenses some time ago. The first lens they are going to release – in Autumn 2013 – is a 55mm f/1.4. The new lenses will embrace a new design philosophy that Zeiss exposed in an article titled From brand personality definition to prize-winning design. Prototypes were shown at Photokina 2012. They write:

The project had been discussed internally at ZEISS for a long time. The first concepts were already discussed in 2008, but it was not until 2010 that things became concrete. Back then it was clear to the experts at ZEISS that the image sensors in the new generations of cameras would make such a big leap forward that there would already be a need for corresponding high-performance lenses in the medium term. […]  ZEISS wanted to offer photographers a range of high-end SLR lenses that would enable them to use the full potential of such cameras. Such a combination would achieve performance values that would be comparable to those of medium-format systems.

“When the 1,4/55 comes onto the market at the end of 2013 as the first in this family of lenses, it will be one of the best lenses in the world,” summarizes [the project manager]. “There will be nothing of comparable quality, and that not only applies to this specific focal length range.  With this product ZEISS has truly opened up a new dimension of digital full-frame photography.”

More on Zeiss blog. For a selection of Zeiss lenses for Canon cameras see here.

Zeiss
[via ephotozine]

A Bit Of Everything

Various:

  • Macro Photography without Macro Lens – thecustomizewindows
  • Infograph: Photo Finished? The Rise of Smartphones Over Digital Cameras – bestchoicereviews
  • This Baby Was Crying Until It Realized That it Was Taking Selfies – The Phoblographer
  • On trying to understand Canon and Blackmagic’s strategy on cameras… – EOSHD
  • Useful Photography Tip #63: How to Deal with Back Lighting – The Phoblographer
  • Top Ten Photographs That Changed The World – Hungertv

Videos:

A DIY Camera Stabilizer with Beautifully Filmed Build Instructions

Youtube user 朗 岩本 made a DIY camera stabilizer, and filmed everything in a beautiful manner. The stabilizer is made for a Canon EOS 7D but can easily be adapted to other DSLRs. The author of the video says:

I have made a Camera Stabilizer which is able to use for taking videos with small digital camera (about 300g) to Digital SLR (about 1,500g).
All parts can be separated for better portability.
This version (v7.4) is specially designed to achieve to be light for using with heavy digital SLR.
Even it is Lightweight (525g) but, it has enough rigidity and designed for easier and faster setting.
It is enable to operate in one hand and carry up to 2,300g total by changing the combination of ballasts.

[via diyphotography]