Sirui has announced its new budget-friendly trio of autofocus f/1.2 prime lenses for APS-C systems. The new Sniper Series 23mm, 33mm, and 56mm prime lenses are available for $299 each or $849 for the whole set.
When it was first introduced, many people sharply believed that autofocus would never have a clear place in the photography industry, puns intended. Why have a machine guess where to focus when you can just turn the focusing ring yourself? Today, autofocus systems are among the primary selling points for new camera and lens technology.
AstrHori has announced an 85mm f/1.8 portrait lens for Sony E-mount full-frame cameras that promises high-end results for an extremely low cost of entry.
The $250 Megadap ETZ21 Sony E to Nikon Z mount adapter allows Sony lenses to work on Nikon mirrorless cameras with full autofocus, aperture control, and in-body image stabilization in a design that is remarkably thin.
The Z9 takes a massive leap forward in technology and levels the playing field between Canon and Sony both in its construction and capabilities. While Nikon may have been late delivering a professional mirrorless system, the 120 frames per second (FPS) burst, 8K video, impressive battery life, and "always-on" EVF more than make the wait worth it.
ArduCam, a Chinese company known for making open-sourced hardware and software for Arduino and Raspberry Pi systems, has launched a $25 Autofocus Camera for Raspberry Pi boards that offers a resolution 40% higher than the standard 12-megapixel Raspberry Pi HQ camera while maintaining the compact form factor of the 8-megapixel Raspberry Pi V2.
Sony is working hard to keep its image sensor supremacy. The company is planning to show off two new image sensors at the 2019 International Electronic Devices Meeting (IEDM) that should have photographers excited: a 3-layer organic image sensor that will require no demosaicing, and "the world’s first all PDAF CMOS image sensor."
If you own Canon's EOS R or EOS RP, download the latest firmware for your camera ASAP. As of last night, Firmware Ver 1.4 and 1.3 for the Canon EOS R and Canon EOS RP, respectively, have been released, boasting improved overall autofocus performance, enhanced Eye and Face Detection AF, and more.
Have you ever been disappointed to find the eyeballs of your subject to be not as sharp as you had expected even though your camera confirmed that autofocus had locked onto them? Photographer Steve Perry of Backcountry Gallery made this 9.5-minute video explaining how he avoids this "false positive autofocus trap" when focusing in tricky situations or on tricky subjects.
Canon may be developing a Quad Pixel Autofocus sensor as the followup to its highly-regarding Dual Pixel AF. A newly-surfaced patent shows a sensor in which each pixel is split into not two, but four areas.
Camera manufacturers have been utilizing different types of autofocus systems in modern digital cameras. If you'd like a primer on how each one works, here's a fantastic 18-minute video by tech tester Gerald Undone that will bring you up to speed.
The Sony A7R III boasts some impressive and improved autofocus features. The Eye Autofocus mode is great for locking onto your target, but The Brotographer found that it didn't work perfectly in the previous a7R II with adapted lenses. In this 12-minute video, however, he reveals major improvements for adapted Canon glass on the latest Sony camera.
Most photographers rely heavily on the capabilities of autofocus systems in DSLR cameras, but knowing how they actually work is something that even experienced photographers may not have learned. Here's a 4-minute video by ZY Productions that helps decode the mystery of DSLR autofocus by explaining the technical details behind it.
Nikon's marketing says the $3,300 D850's autofocus components are the same as the $6,500 D5, but how do the two cameras stack up in real-world autofocusing? Photographer Matt Granger decided to put the systems to the test, doing a shootout to see how the two cameras' focus and tracking abilities compare.
Here's a 12-minute video in which photographer Steve Perry shows how to use the relatively new "Auto AF Fine Tune" feature from Nikon.
Apple is reportedly adding a rear-facing 3D laser system to coming iPhones as part of the hardware improvements necessary for full utilization of its recently announced augmented reality development kit (ARKit). As well as depth-sensing for augmented reality application, the laser system will improve autofocus for iPhone photographers.
Sony is touting its new a9 camera as a sports camera with blazing fast autofocus and shooting speeds. If you weren't impressed with the camera tracking a pole vaulter at 20fps, check out the demo in the video above: the camera accurately keeps its focus locked on a basketball being tossed back and forth near it.
The news that Samyang was finally making autofocus lenses was a big deal, but for some reason the company decided to launch the first two lenses in only Sony FE mount. That, it seems, will soon change.
Ever since they were first announced in May, people have been dying to get their hands on Samyang's new Autofocus lenses. Well... you don't have to wait long. Samyang announced both price and ship date for their AF 14mm f/2.8 FE lens earlier today.
After a month plagued by leaked photos, specs and even a video at one point, Fujifilm finally got to officially unveil the exciting new Fuji X-T2 today. A speedy upgrade to the X-T1 that Fuji is calling "the ultimate mirrorless camera."
SLR shooters have been dealing with autofocus misalignment issues for as long as autofocus itself has existed, but thanks to Nikon's new AF Fine Tune feature, what used to be a very annoying and difficult problem can now be fixed with a few button clicks.
Having trouble nailing tack-sharp autofocus with your camera? Aside from technical proficiency, there are a number of other issues that could be causing you AF grief. Here's a 14-minute video on 8 common AF problems and their solutions.
The Canon 70D DSLR and the new Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone camera both feature "dual pixel" autofocus, which uses most or all of the sensor's pixels for phase detection AF. But how do the two devices compare head-to-head?
One of the highly touted features in Canon's new 80D DSLR is the Dual Pixel autofocus system, which uses ever pixel on the CMOS sensor for phase-detect AF.
Guess which other camera has Dual Pixel AF? The one on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones. It's the first time the technology has appeared in a smartphone.
Traditional SLR cameras do phase detection autofocus by directing light onto AF sensors in the camera’s mirror box. Some …
If you’re a Nikon shooter who wants a better grasp of how your camera’s autofocus settings work, check out …
The Canon 7D Mark II is an enigma. One day we're hearing about how its weather sealing is second to none, the next about how the sensor's performance at base and low ISO is on par with Nikon... 5 years ago, and now we swing back to the other side of the spectrum with this impressive demonstration of the camera's lightning quick AF system.
If you've been following the torrent of rumors surrounding the upcoming Canon 7D replacement, you know that one of the major pieces of info floating around is that the Mark II will sport 'revolutionary' sensor technology.
What that is, however, is still a mystery -- for most of us, anyway.
Since the last A-Mount Sony came out with, we've seen the a7, the a7R, the a7S, the a3000, the a5000, the a6000 and the a3500. But don't let the names fool you, not a single one of those was actually an A-Mount. This has led many to wonder if Sony had given up on the A-Mount.
Well, today those people have their answer in the form of the a77 II -- in other words, a resounding "No."
Yesterday, Samyang told us to stay tuned for an announcement on March 21st (this Friday) that many expect will introduce a line of AF lenses. Today, the company's Korea branch has released yet another teaser, this one featuring the silhouettes of three new lenses.
Third-party lenses are on the rise, there's no denying that. Between Sigma kicking large amounts of booty with its impressive lineup and Tamron looking serious with the new 150-600mm lens it recently announced, competition for space in your camera bag is getting fierce.
And apparently it's about to get even fiercer, because rumor has it Samyang intends to step its game up as well.
DSLRs and Compact System Cameras are becoming increasingly capable video capture devices in addition to being solid still shooters. But when it comes time to focus or zoom using the lens' or camera's built-in motor, you're often left with glaringly obvious noise on your soundtrack.
So far manufacturers have tackled this problem by introducing silent focusing motor lenses, but one group of engineers is taking a firmware-based approach that seems to work just as well (if not better) and might someday soon do away with zoom and AF noise entirely.
At the beginning of the week, Canon introduced the latest and greatest addition to its APS-C lineup of DSLRs when it debuted the Canon EOS 70D. In addition to the standard specs you would expect to find in any of Canon's APS-C cameras (the company has gotten some grief lately regarding its lack of innovation) the 70D packed one very impressive improvement.
The 20.2-megapixel Canon-designed sensor inside features something called "Dual Pixel CMOS AF": a new autofocus system that promises to vastly improve the speed of Canon's live view and video AF capabilities. And now, we get to see it in action.
There was a great deal of excitement when Canon entered the mirrorless camera market with the EOS M last year, but much of the buzz evaporated when people began putting the camera through its paces. Although the camera features impressive image quality, one of the biggest issues is the sluggish autofocus that often gets in the way of capturing "decisive moments."
If you're the not-so-proud owner of a EOS M who constantly grumbles about the AF, here's some news that'll be music to your ears: your camera is set to receive a major AF speed boost by way of a firmware update.
Canon today officially launched a new firmware update (version 1.2.1) for the 5D Mark III that brings two notable improvements to the camera: uncompressed HDMI output and the ability to use cross-type autofocus at f/8.
It’s fairly well known that not all lenses are created equal. Put that in combination with manufacturing variables and lenses don’t always perfectly align with the camera mount. Generally the differences are minor and for the most part negligible, but I buy old Minolta lenses from eBay and I want to get the best bang for buck out of them.
I started making micro adjustments to my lens/camera combinations when I first got Sony’s a77, and have now micro adjusted all my lenses for the a99 and D3. After reading what the Internet had to offer regarding “micro adjustment” or the “fine tune” functions higher level DSLRs offer, I quickly printed off some charts similar to rulers and taped them to my wall to start making adjustments.
Want to focus your camera simply by looking at a particular area of the viewfinder? If you're a Sony shooter, you might be enjoying that feature as early as next year. The company is reportedly working on building Eye Tracking autofocus into its cameras, with the initial version arriving in a flagship camera sometime in 2014.
When Fujifilm announced the X100s last week, it made the bold claim that the camera had the world's fastest autofocus system among cameras of the same class. Sluggish autofocus was one of the big complaints owners of the X100 had, so for this latest refresh the company focused its attention on making the camera faster.
Want to see how fast the new AF is? We captured the short video above during a brief hands-on time we had with the camera. It doesn't show an in-depth test or much variety in subject matter, but should offer a taste of what "world's fastest AF" looks like in the flesh.
The Canon EOS M is quickly becoming the laughingstock of the mirrorless party due to its autofocus system, which leaves much to be desired in terms of speed. To show just how sluggish the system really is, Tomek Kulas over at M43.eu did this very simple yet informative "hands-on test" that pits the EOS M against one of its archrivals: the Olympus OM-D EM-5.
The Canon 1D X firmware update that Canon accidentally leaked yesterday is now official and available over on Canon's website. The upgrade adds two autofocus features that photographers have been asking for since the camera was released: illuminated AF points and the ability to use cross-type autofocus at f/8.