image courtesy: luminous landscape

1) – luminous landscape (click here) posted the very first shots and impressions of the 55-200 (in hand, bokeh, stabilization).  Here is his what they say about the image posted above (bokeh):

“This shot surprised me. I normally don’t think too much about bokeh when it comes to long zooms. I’m not sure why; maybe because I’m often disappointed. But in this case when the lens is focused as close as possible and the background is at infinity, I was very pleased with the shape of the diaphragm blades as well as the smoothness of the OOF areas.”

2) – thephoblographer posted his 32mm first impressions here. Fantastic build quality, very sharp, superb bokeh! He also says that:

“This was the first ime that I ever used a lens made by Zeiss that had autofocus. It was decent. It works quickly in well-lit situations but in low light, it was lacking at times. The Zeiss 32mm f1.8 occasionally focus-hunted. When I used the focus assist light of the Fujifilm X Pro 1, it made things better. It was easier to focus the lens manually when in low light. When working with the Touit 32mm f1.8, outside on the terrace of our meeting space and on the High Line, the auto focus was fantastic and precise.”

–  diglloyd posted an portrait shot with the 32mm here and if you want to see the bokeh click here.

3) lifeispixels posted his SLR Magic Noktor 23mm (Adorama) f1.7 review here. For the complete specs click here. From the conclusions:

“I’m surprised to see how well it controls CA and flare. Do NOT expect the same resolving power at wide open like the Fujinon lenses. Wide open, it’s a soft, less contrasty lens. At f1.7, it’s only good for close to medium, while poor to resolve details at far to infinity range. […] For the price at 399 USD including shipping, this is a viable option for any Fuji X user looking for a fast 35mm equivalent MF prime, since Fuji hasn’t released the 23mm f1.4 yet and I expect the price to be at least 2 times more than Noktor 23mm f1.7. There aren’t any alternative for a 23mm lens this fast for the Fuji X users at this point, as far as I know and that will require an adapter. Everyone would agree that the new Fujinon is going to be optically better and I’m eager to see how much better it can be. Until that time comes, I’m having fun with Noktor and will spend more time learning to squeeze the best out of this lens, despite some quirks paring with Fuji X-E1 camera.”

XF 55-200 pre-order: USA: BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / DigitalRev / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonUK / AmazonDE / PCHstore Brussel

Zeiss Touit 32mm pre-order: USA: Adorama / BHphoto / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonDE / ebayUK / PCHstore Brussel

Zeiss Touit 12mm pre-order: USA: Adorama / BHphoto / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonDE / ebayUK / PCHstore Brussel

SLR Magic Noktor 23mm f1.7: Adorama

image courtesy: thenewcamera (via focus-numerique)

Which is the best camera for low light photography between the Ricoh GR, [shoplink 12203]Nikon A[/shoplink], [shoplink 11808 ebay]X100S[/shoplink] and [shoplink 11024]Canon G1 X[/shoplink]? According to thenewcamera you should go for the X100S to get the best results at high ISO. But click here and check this comparison out by yourself. (look for the full size high-ISO samples of these cameras at focus-numerique)

1) Photographyblog posted 64 images taken with the X-PRO1 + 32mm Touit lens. See the preview here. For the 46 12mm shots click here.

2) photo.yodobashi posted his shots taken with the X-E1 + 32mm Touit lens. See them here and for the 12mm shot click here.

Zeiss Touit 32mm pre-order: USA: Adorama / BHphoto / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonDE / ebayUK / PCHstore Brussel

Zeiss Touit 12mm pre-order: USA: Adorama / BHphoto / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonDE / ebayUK / PCHstore Brussel

image courtesy: photo.yodobashu

image courtesy: riflessifotografici (English version)

How good is the X20 really? Donato Chirulli posted his complete X20 review here (English version). Well, it’s not a revolutionary camera, but Fuji won the challenge to improve an already very good camera ([shoplink 12075 ebay]the X10[/shoplink]). There are some things that could still be better (for example the colour of the focus peaking), but Fuji put into the X20 all the technology necessary to deliver a great image quality… for a compact camera with 2/3 sensor.

Technology alone can help to produce clinically excellent shots, but it’s up to you, X20-photographers, to give your images also a “soul”. And, to me, that’s what this review didn’t forget to show: beautiful images capturing the soul of the “old lady” Venice.

have great start in your new week
Patrick

Fuji X20: [shopcountry 11890]

image courtesy: riflessifotografici (English version)

image courtesy: dslrmagazine (32mm distortion)

The Spanish dslrmagazine posted his technical test of the Touit 12mm and 32mm. In this review (part 1) they focus on aspects like vignetting and distortion. Read it here (translated version). For the bokeh, flare-resistance and more we have to wait the second part of this review (which will soon come).

[UPDATE]: dslrmagazine posted part II of his review here (translated version). You can download some RAW sample images.

Zeiss Touit 32mm pre-order: USA: Adorama / BHphoto / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonDE / PCHstore Brussel

Zeiss Touit 12mm pre-order: USA: Adorama / BHphoto / Uniquephoto / Pictureline / Europe: AmazonDE / PCHstore Brussel