IBelux 40mm f/0.85 lens for X mount coming this summer for $1,000.

The Chinese-German partnership between Kipon and IBE Optics produced the fastest lens of any digital mirrorless system, the Ibelux 40mm f/0.85. This lens will be sold this summer for around $1,000. It will be available for all current digital mirrorless cameras and that includes of course the X-mount. Don’t know if a lens fast as this is really needed. I don’t expect a great image quality at full aperture. You will have to stop down to get a decent image. The 35mm f/1.4 Fuji lens is certainly the better deal. The German IBE is also known for their video lenses and that is likely the goal of this lens, to be a fast video lens.

 

 

XF18-55mm photozone review

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image courtesy: photozone

photozone published his technical review of the XF18-55 zoom lens (read it here).

“The Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS may be the hottest reason to enter the Fuji system. It is amazingly sharp throughout the zoom and relevant aperture range. The amount of lateral CAs is generally quite low with the exception of 55mm @ f/4. The Fujinon is not without flaws, of course. Technically it suffers from a high barrel distortion at 18mm and the vignetting is a bit too high at max. aperture. However, these aspects are taken care of either by the camera itself or external RAW converters so you don’t need to worry from a user perspective. The quality of the bokeh (out-of-focus) blur is pretty good for a standard zoom lens but it cannot rival the best prime lenses, of course… In a nutshell – you can’t go wrong with the Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS“

This was just a part of photozone’s verdict about the 18-55 zoom lens. Click here to read the whole review.

Some interesting Fuji news from the CP+ show.

The big show in Yokohama started but there is no really big news this year. No camera manufacturer really launched something extraordinary new (No FF DSLR, no new Mirrorless camera). So let’s see what happened around the Fuji world. On top you can see the image of the Kipon Tilt Shift adapter to use with Nikon or Hasselblad lenses on Fuji X cameras (Source: DC.watch).

And here are two of the three new Zeiss lenses that will be on market in April-May. As you know we will have the 12mm f/2.8, 32mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/2.8 with a price of around 1.000 Euro.

And let’s end with a new Fuji product that has nothing to do with cameras but it shows how innovative the company can be: Fujifilm’s flexible Beat speaker diaphragm lets us roll up the rhythm (Engadget).

6 great photographers shoot with the X-Series

William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Ryan McGinley, Martin Parr, Terry Richardson, and Stephen Shore shoot with the X-Series for a show at Aperture Gallery simply called “Photography”. Look at the images here. (thanks for the link Adam).

It was Eggleston’s first time ever shooting digital!

“The exhibition consists of approximately 25 new prints that are reflective of each photographer’s distinctive aesthetic, from William Eggleston’s iconic Americana; Stephen Shore’s intensive snapshot documentation; Nan Goldin’s poetic self-reflection; Martin Parr’s whimsical observations of contemporary living; Terry Richardson’s stark, blunt simplicity; and Ryan McGinley’s images of youth and beauty.”

Dean from Fujifilm X-series thoughts has already seen the shots and says that

“I could envisage several possibilities. Foremost in my mind was the possibility that it might simply be a cold and cynical ploy from a marketing department. Happily however, that was not the case. Clearly, all involved are benefiting from this. The photographers (presumably) get access to free equipment (and possibly more), and both sides of the party get exposure. But the whole deal had more of a mutual “this is exciting” feel to it, rather than cold calculation. I was quite taken by some of the photographs, and the whole day’s adventure was well worth the effort.”

 

XF14mm at ebayUS (Buy Now) and AmazonUS (preorder) + review

 

Slidoo notified me! The XF14mm is now available in the USA through ebay (direct link to ebay shop).

And now also Amazon US is listing the 14mm (not 3rd party). However quoting 1-3 months delivery. Click here to preorder.

“The XF 14mm seems essentially free from any sort of field curvature, there is virtually no detectable chromatic aberration and only the barest hint of purple fringing along extremely high-contrast boundaries, for example, with power lines or branches against a white, blown out sky. Even the edges of the frame are essentially tack sharp wide open at f/2.8, with the extreme corners following by f/4 already.” Read more and see a lot of test shots (X-E1 and XF14mm) on Mike Manders website here.

Some samples of this “very, very sharp and distortion free” lens can be seen here at sgoldswoblog.

You know the quality of riflessifotografici reviews. Now, Massimiliano Angeloni has the 14mm and is shooting with it. Let’s wait for the results. In the meantime you can read his very first considerations here (translated version).

XF14mm in stock status at AmazonUS/ B&H / Adorama / Amazon GERMANY / Amazon ITALY / or on ebay worldwide via slidoo