Photography News: Sony a1 II Rumors, Early B&H Holiday Deals

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Some photographers see landscape photography as one of the more “static” genres. But it really isn’t that static – so much moves and changes in the natural world that I sometimes feel as frantic as a wildlife photographer! And I need to raise my ISO more often than you might think.

That’s what I had to do for this waterfall in Iceland, where I went for a blistering 1/2000-second shutter speed to freeze all the water droplets and maximize the chaotic feel of the scene:

What about this week in the photography world? Well, it was a little more subdued by comparison, but we did get a few interesting announcements. Here’s what you may have missed.

Recent Announcements

Nikon Z50 II: The big news of the week is, of course, the new Nikon Z50 II. Nikon has improved the autofocus and high-speed features of the camera significantly, and the video capabilities also get a nice boost. You can read my Nikon Z50 II announcement post or check out dozens of head-to-head comparisons between the Z50 II and other cameras in our Comparison Database.
Laowa 12-24mm f/5.6 Shift: The world’s first zoom lens with the ability to shift! Architectural photographers can use lens shift instead of keystone corrections when trying to keep the lines of an image straight. This lens is APS-C only and comes in almost every mirrorless lens mount that you can think of (even Canon EF-M). For $699, it’s not a bad deal – although note that it appears to use the same optical construction as the Laowa 12-24mm f/5.6 Dreamer, a full-frame lens with mixed reviews.
Hasselblad 75mm f/3.4 P: I already published my full review of this Portable-series lens from Hasselblad, and I was very impressed by its sharpness. What I didn’t mention is that Hasselblad also announced an extension tube alongside the lens – this 9mm extension tube for $299 that retains autofocus and auto exposure. I tend to think that 9mm is too short for an extension tube most of the time, unless you’re using it with a wide-angle lens. One of the more logical pairings is with the Hasselblad 28mm f/4 P, which would go from 0.17x to 0.49x magnification at the most.
Lowepro ProTactic III bags: A new line of backpacks and pouches from Lowepro with more customization options and improved comfort. The big announcement is the BP 450 AW III backpack, but there are also new sling bags, bottle pouches, accessory cases, and more. It’s a pretty complete refresh of Lowepro’s bag line, so give it a look if you were considering one of their existing bags.

The Rumor Mill

New details on the Sony a1 II

November 19th should be a big day in the Sony universe, with the likely announcement of a new flagship camera! We’re starting to see some more rumored specifications emerge for the a1 II, including that it will add a pre-capture release mode, 2.5 stops better image stabilization than the a1, and a larger 3.2″ screen. Also confirmed (at least according to Sony Alpha Rumors) is that it will have the same sensor, 8K/30p video, and 30 FPS maximum frame rate as its predecessor.

Via Sony Alpha Rumors

A leaked photo of the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2

If this photo is legit, I think we can move the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 from the “rumored” category to the “confirmed” category. This lens is expected to be in the high-end LAB series of lenses from Viltrox, alongside the (announced but delayed) 135mm f/1.8 and the (rumored) 50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/1.2 lenses. If the quality is anything like the Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 that I tested last month, we could be in for a treat! On the other hand, if the quality is more like the Viltrox 24mm f/1.8 or 35mm f/1.8 that I tested last year, it’s a lot less exciting. Hopefully we find out soon.

Via Reddit

New third-party lenses on their way soon

According to Photo Rumors, we can expect to see a trio of third-party lenses announced this week. Expected on November 11th are the 7Artisans 9mm f/5.6 (a full-frame with a rear ND filter) and the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.8 (a full-frame fisheye) and the Meike 85mm f/1.8 (which is expected to have autofocus).

Via Photo Rumors

Good Deals and New Sales

B&H is running a “holiday head start” sale if you’re trying to beat the rush. You may want to check their general holiday sale page since the deals refresh every 24 hours. But some specific deals that stood out to me were:

Apple 14″ MacBook Pro M3 – was $1999, now $1599
Samsung 4TB Portable SSD – was $430, now $280
Canon Rebel T100 DSLR with 18-55mm kit lens – was $379, now $339 (obviously not the most advanced DSLR, but as cheap as you’ll find if you know someone who wants to get into photography more seriously)
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 G2 for Sony E – was $899, now $699
Delkin Devices 512 GB Power CFExpress card – was $200, now $170 (note that Libor has gotten a very wide range of results from Delkin Power cards, from poor to excellent. This one has a faster claimed read/write speed than most, but we haven’t tested it yet, so don’t assume it’s blazing fast until proven otherwise.)
Pelican Vault 25L wheeled case – was $190, now $142
Nikon P7 8×42 binoculars – was $187, now $147

I also found some good deals on filters for you this week, including one unusually large sale on Haida’s 100x100mm solar filters – I guess they overstocked during the eclipse this year!

Haida Red Diamond 17-stop ND filter – was $152, now $39.50 (limited stock, but the 20-stop version is also on sale if they run out)
Hoya 62mm NXT Polarizing filter – was $65, now $30 (only the 62mm version is on sale though)
Haida 72mm glass ND filter trio – was $167, now $85 (only the 72mm set is on sale; includes 3-stop, 6-stop, and 10-stop filters)

Other Pages of Interest

If you were sad to hear about the demise of Outdoor Photographer magazine, you may be interested in the new publication Wild Eye from some of the same team. It’s obviously not an identical publication, but to me, it actually looks more enjoyable if anything. The first edition is digital-only and has already been published on the Wild Eye website. From one independent photography website to another, I’m wishing them the best of luck!

One of my favorite photography contests, the Nature’s Best Photography Awards, just announced the winners of this year’s competition. If you need some inspiration this week, look no further than the beautiful wildlife, landscape, and documentary photos that tell the story of our natural world. As a landscape photographer, I’m especially drawn to the winning landscape photo “Fireworks” by Marcio Cabral, but the many wildlife photos from the competition are stunning as well.

Finally, to end on a humorous note, apparently Nikon has accepted what we all decided was true about two minutes into the launch of the Z System – that it’s not the “Z 6” or “Z 7” but obviously the Z6 and Z7. Gone is the dreaded space! Unfortunately, Nikon took things a little too far and removed all the spaces in their camera names. Now they’re calling it the “Z50II” and “Z6III” instead of the Z50 II and Z6 III. Well, I guess it’s still an improvement :)

Photo Theme Challenge, Week #75

Last week’s theme was cities, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is droplets, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, November 16, 2024!

Week #74 Results

Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “cities” theme, starting with Tom Pazol’s photo:

Here, the running people provide an excellent contrast to the distant city background.

Next we have Tidiwinks’s shot:

Unlike Tom’s photo, here we see the city from the inside. It’s a busy photo filled with positive space, and that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of a crowded city!

Finally, let’s look at Bhoward’s photo:

We have a nice illustration of a city after it is no longer in use. What a difference between this and the previous photos!