Feed aggregator

Hands-on with third party lenses at CP+

DP Review Latest news - Fri, 02/28/2025 - 16:50
Photo: Richard Butler

When we asked which CP+ announcements you wanted us to take a closer look at, we got several responses asking for more information on the many third-party lenses that have been announced at the show. So Richard Butler hit up five booths to get pictures and whatever extra snippets of information that 7Artisans, Laowa, Samyang, TTArtisan and Viltrox would give us.

7Artisans Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

At the 7Artisans booth, we got to see the several new lenses the company announced.

For full-frame there's a 24mm F1.8 for E, Z and L mounts. The company is also creating L-mount versions of its 50 and 85mm F1.8 lenses.

For APS-C, there are three F2.8 autofocus lenses coming out for E, X and Z mounts: a 25m, 35mm and 50mm. There's also a 35mm F1.4, initially releasing for X mount but coming to E and Z later, as well as a 27mm F2.8 lens for X mount by mid-March.

Laowa Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

Laowa had an interesting array of prototype lenses at its booth. There's the full-frame, manual focus 8-15mm F2.8 fisheye zoom, which will likely be released for E, Z, RF and L mounts, as well as the 15mm F4.5 0.5x wide-angle Macro, which will likely be available for the same mounts. Finally, there's the 35mm tilt-shift F2.8 0.5x Macro lens for Fujifilm's GFX mount.

Samyang Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

Much of what we saw at Samyang's booth has already been announced, such as the Remaster Slim modular lens and the APS-C AF 12mm F2 lens for Canon's RF mount. However, the company was also showing off its new 14-24mm F2.8 full-frame lens for Sony E mount and teasing some unspecified future lenses.

TTArtisan Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

TTArtisan's most interesting CP+ announcement wasn't a lens at all but a folding instant camera with manual controls, which you can read more about here. However, the company was also showing off an AF 23mm F1.8 lens for X mount and an AF 14mm F3.5 lens for E mount.

Viltrox Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

Viltrox had several new lenses at the show this year: there's a new flagship 35mm F1.2 LAB for E mount. Sony shooters will also be getting an 85mm F1.4 Pro lens, while Nikon shooters will finally be getting access to the company's existing 135mm 1.8 LAB lens next month.

The company also showed off its full-frame 50mm F2.0 Air lens, which it claims will have the "best IQ of the AIR series." It will be available in E, Z, and X mounts.

Categories: Photo News

Film Friday: Lomography's latest film tank makes a critical step even easier

DP Review Latest news - Fri, 02/28/2025 - 12:52
Photo: Lomography

Lomography has announced a new product aimed at making home film development more approachable. The Lomo Daylight Developing Tank 35mm is "an all-in-one developing system" for developing 35mm film without needing a darkroom or changing bag.

Transferring film from the canister to the development reel is one of the most common steps that gets messed up, with many opportunities for problems. After all, fumbling with a roll of film in complete darkness is no easy task, and it is the steepest learning curve of the whole process. It's very easy to end up with frames of film pressed against each other on the reel, fingerprints, creases, wrong cuts and more.

The Daylight Developing Tank eliminates much of that risk by skipping the bag or darkroom and taking the film directly from the canister to the reel. The kit includes a film retriever, developing tank and reel with a built-in film cutter and loading crank. It allows you to pop in a roll of film and load it with the crank system, which Lomography says takes about a minute. This is all done in the developing tank, so when it's loaded onto the reel, you are all set to develop. You can see the full process in the video above.

Lomography says you can process the film using either agitation or inversion development thanks to the included metal buckle that keeps the lid secure. Of course, as with any other development tank, it allows you to experiment with pushing and pulling film, create film soup and more.

Photo: Lomography

The main downside is that the tank only develops one roll of film at a time. If you're a prolific film shooter, this could be more time-consuming than doing the loading part by hand. It's also only compatible with 35mm. But, for new photographers or those who only shoot occasionally, this certainly seems like a handy product.

The Lomo Daylight Developing Tank 35mm Kit is available as of today for $79. You can also purchase a separate reel for $10 or the film retriever for $13.

Buy now: $79 at Lomography
Categories: Photo News

Pages