Photokina 2016Photokina 2016 My Experience...Photokina is the worlds largest trade show on imaging. As you may expect: I had to visit it. The main purpose of my visit was, to get more information about gear I have and I want to get. And of course to find new things which are interesting... Some facts: The Photokina has more than 1.000 Exhibitors spread out over > 200.000 sqm. With More than 180.000 Visitors it is a pretty large event.
I visited Photokina 2016 on September 22nd for a simple reasons: 2 of the main Youtube reviewers organized a Photokina 2016 Meetup @6pm in front of the cathedral. Maybe an interesting event to participate. What I was looking for
CamerasCanonOff Course: Canon is the #1 brand. When you entered Photokina you could not oversea this! I was not looking for the "normal" cameras even not the 5DMkIV - I had it with me. EOS M5They announced their new mirrorless camera, the EOS M5. The interest in this camera was huge, also during the day... I got it in my hands and i must say "Chapeau!" This is a mirrorless camera really competing with the best in class mirrorless APS-C as well as µ43 cameras. It is fast, reactive and pretty small. Therefore an interesting addition to a full frame adding the format which allows you to reduce the numbers of lenses if you are a prime lens shooter like I am....
There is a lack of lenses right now. But there is one very interesting one out: The EF-M 28mm f3.5 macro with build in ring light... This little lens with 45mm full frame equivalent focal length is a very very interesting choice.
If yo see this little camera it is easy to see that it has all dials needed. Ergonomically it is pretty close to the best in class Lumix cameras!!! I hope that also the 3rd party lens manufacturers are going to support the EOS-M-mount soon, especially Sigma with their 19/30/60mm Art lenses or Zeiss with their Touit lenses.... I hope I get one of these M5 bodies for testing soon... PanasonicThis time I learned that Panasonic has High Speed Flash Sync, too. But unfortunately this is reserved to the GH4 as well as GX8... There is no obvious reason why f.i. A GX80 or a G80 is not allowed to have it.... And there is a pocket wizard transmitter for Panasonic available, too.... The GH5 was announced, but they only showed empty boxes... To the public. Lumix G80/G81/G85 or however they will name it...Panasonic has a bit weird strategy in naming their cameras. I do not believe that this makes any sense, but for panasonic it seems to be different. They say it has to do with grey imports and different warranty conditions in different parts of the world depending on the legal environment. This Camera is the successor of the G7/G70. If you have read my review about this camera (http://delightphoto.zenfolio.com/blog/2015/7/panasonic-lumix-g7-in-germany-called-g70-a-really-interesting-package) this camera has the best ergonomics of all cameras I know. Period. But it the built quality was a bit flimsy. The new one is a totally different story. They have introduced a magnesium alloy body. And they introduced weather sealing!!! First time in the Lumix G-Series. So fare this feature was reserved for the GH-cameras as well as for the GX8. Another feature is the battery grip. Yes: this little beast is getting a battery grip. In combination with the newly introduced "power save" mode I would guess that battery change during a shoooting day is not necessary anymore... FujiFuji is going a very interesting way. They do have top notch APS-C Cameras. With all the experience I do have today: I guess I would start with Fuji. And on Photokina they added a Big Brother. But not in Full Format but in Medium Format with a sensor size of 43,9mmx 32.9mm. This is a bigger step - similar to the step between µ43 to Full Frame - and therefore a huge step. Even if the sensor has a similar size and the Pixel Count seems to be the same: Fuji flames that there sensor is their own development and different from the Hasselblad. HasselbladHasselblad is developing in a very interesting direction. With the X1D they introduced the first available mirrorless medium format camera. The bodies are really tiny, smaller than the high end DSLR's like the Canon 5DMkIV or the Nikon D810 but also as the Sony a7 or even Panasonics GX8. On Photokina they showed the 3rd lens, a 30mm wide angle lens with a very good optical performance. Unfortunately I could view the shots only at the camera back. But as I could see there it seems to perform really excellent Also here I hope to get a copy for testing soon.... LensesPhotokina is a great place to test lenses. Nearly all Manufactureres have suitable numbers of lenses there which you can mount on your camera and you can make test shots with your own equipment. This is nice and very interesting. I had my Canon EOS 5DMkIV as well as my LUMIX GX 80 with me. And I tested a lot. I saw many great lenses, I had some interesting experience but also one disappointment... Totally I had 25 lenses on my cameras... 18 with the Canon and the rest on my Lumix.... There had been lenses which are just awesome. Some had been with some mixed feelings and others... "ok..." I will not show the photos of the lenses but images I have taken with it. For me this is more informative than making product shots on a trade show. You will find better ones on the manufacturers web page I guess... The Mind-blowing ones...Let´s start with some lenses which had been astonishing - because they are coming from relatively new brands. These are the Laowa´s from Venus lens, but also one Meike or the Samyang´s which I would not count among the "newcomers" but there glas is performing excellent as well. Venuslens aka Laowa
The first sample image is shot with the Laowa 105mm f2.0 "transfocus" lens. It is unbelievable sharp with a very nice Bokehrendering...
This photo is taken with the 12mm f2.8 ZD: ZD stands for Zero distortion. The left image is taken @ 100% while the right side shows the complete view angel of very impressive 120º... What is impressive as well: This lens is relatively small....
This photo is not really nice. But it is impressive: It is taken with the 7,5mm f2.0 µ43-Prototype lens. The prototype was not able to focus until infinity properly. But it shows an excellent optical performance. And I was allowed to take the not released lens on my camera to make test shots. Like the 12mm f28. For good reason: these lenses are showing their excellence even in the prototype phase.... The other remarkable lenses from Laowa are their Macro Lenses: a 15mm f4.0 with 1:1 magnification as well as the 60mm f2.8 with a 2:1 magnification... very impressive: Here comes the scene:
This is the eye of the frog on the left with maximum magnification
An this is the net of the frog with the net....
This is the net with the 15mm wide angle view...
And this the frog with the flower.... These macro lenses are definitely not for everybody. but for macro shooters they offers really new possibilities.... Samyang2 years back my experience with Samyang was a bit mixed feelings. This time it was very impressed. Even if the newest stuff was not shown to public, but the 35mm f1.4 was really impressive:
This shot was taken in live view. The lens does not have a proper focus confirmation chip - focusing through the lens is hard to perform. But in live few it works. The lens stood at f1.4. The photos above are showing 100% crops. On the left is the Upper Right Corner while the right image shows the center of the image.... As long as you are able to manage manual focus lenses: Samyang has really great glass especially with the newly released lenses. MeikeAlso Meike had 2 interesting lenses. One was a fish eye...
Yes: this is Mathieu Casquet from Mirrorlessons....
These images were taken with the Meike 50mm f2.0. A lens which they sell @ 80€ on the show.
This lens has a close to perfect performance to costs ratio, especially in the µ43 world... But again, it´s fully manual... Carl ZeissOk.. now we come to the established brands. But their glass is mind-blowing, too. I made some shots with different lenses... Let us start with the newly announced Milvus 15mm f2.8...
This shot shows the shortest focal distance....
And this the crowd around (Yes this is Heather Broster and Mattieu Casquet of http://www.mirrorlessons.com ...)
These shot were made with f2.8 - and without any CA.... just perfect!!!! Another near to perfect lens: The Otus 28mm f1.4:
Another lens gave me mixed feelings on my own investment into the Milvus 85mm f1.4 or a bit of disappointment:
But the real world comparison side by side were showing: well, the Milvus is an excellent lens... too, but the Otus remains a class of its own...
Here the rendering @ f 2.0... both lenses are showing an excellent image quality....
The same @ f1.4.... As long as there aren´t to hard contests both lenses are delivering excellent results... but with the better end for the Otus.... # OlympusOlympus introduced the 300mm f4.0. This spec would not expect a hefty price tag like 2.600 €. But the photos I have taken I shot with 1/100s... This is 1/6 or 2.5 f stops less... And the results are mind-blowing....
This is another advantage of this lens: the closest distance of 1.4m allows you a magnification of 0,24x... which is not that bad. And again: free of CA with a great contrast....
Panasonic LeicaYes: I do have most of the Panasonic Leica lenses. But one lens I had not the chance to test. unfortunately the light conditions at the panasonic stand had not been excellent. Therefore I was testing more the Dual IS capabilities.
100mm... No CA...
100mm; 1/50s
400mm; 1/20s.... Yes!!! 800mm free hand with 1/20s..... These are 5 f-stops!!!
100mm, 1/30s.... This lens is very interesting, too. I would like to get the opportunity to test both µ43 lenses side by side: the Olympus 300mm f4 as well as the Leica 100-400mm.... CanonYes. Canon. The biggest player in the business has remarkable lenses, too. First the lens which I never had on my camera before: The 200mm f2.0L lens. Very heavy. And very great... here are some samples...
These are 100% crops @ f.2.0 Yes! Another very interesting while versatile lens is the 100-400mm Tele Zoom in the Mark II Version. I do own the Mark I. This lens is really perfect when you go for a safari or you want to shoot sports like ski racing. here it becomes even more interesting to use the lens on a camera like the 7dMkII...
Both shots show, that the lens has an excellent performance even wide open. And you should note that the photo on the right is taken with 1/125s... 2 stops longer: IS is working.... Another topic of course is my favorite focal length of 85mm.
Yes, the EF 85mm f1.2 has CA. But it delivers sharp and crisp images. And it has an autofocus which works excellent - and in combination with the 5DMk IV at a remarkable speed... By the way: the young gentleman from Canon on the image above is the same one you see above with the 100-400mm @ 400mm focal length.... But Canon has another lens I am pretty interested in: the 35mm f1.4, Unfortunately I took the images
The left image is on the low side of the image, the right one in the center: The lens is just excellent... And it shows no CA... In the combination with weather sealing and an excellent autofocus a very interesting lens... There is another lens which has attracted me. And this is a general purpose lens. The swiss army knife in the Canon lens line up: the 24-105 f4 Mk II. Dies it delivers: Yes.
Here you see 100% crops close by. Not as sharp maybe as the Zeiss lenses or the primes above but very very useable... Miscelleanous.I have taken all photos in public. I hope that nobody who might find his personality rights not suitably respected: please send me a male and i will take your images out of my blog as well as out of the related image gallery. For the moment this blog post is a bit work in progress. But I wanted to start with the highlights. During the next couple of days I will add some more content, especially about the lenses which left a bit of mixed feelings with me... Like the Tamrons. Or about the experience @ Sigma: which was kind of disappointing again... The images were taken with the following cameras:
The full size images are available here: http://delightphoto.zenfolio.com/p332869534 
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