Phase One has announced a new specialized lens for the XT IQ4 camera system: the XT-Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 40mm f/4 Tilt. The optic is designed to support landscape photographers and will retail for $11,990.
Whether you are a working professional or a weekend hobbyist, the thrill of using truly exquisite gear is unmatched. We all work with what we have while salivating over what we cannot, and no matter how old we get, fancy toys never lose their luster. Do we need them? Probably not. Will we ever purchase them? Not likely. Will we spend hours staring at them? You bet. Nothing is as intoxicating to a photographer as good, outrageously expensive glass.
For years now, industrial super-fast lenses have been on the back of my mind. But one thing always held me back, and that was the fact that most images I could find were frankly uninspiring, boring, fuzzy macro shots at best. So I couldn’t justify spending hundreds of dollars on unpractical medical equipment.
Phase One has just unveiled the latest lens for the $57,000 XT camera system. The new XT-Rodenstock HR Digaron W/SW 90mm f/5.6 is the fifth lens for this system, weighing in at $13,000 and built with three priorities in mind: image quality, image quality, and image quality.
The Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm 0.75 lens is an old lens that was made for medical X-ray imaging by the German optics company Rodenstock. You can find them for sale on eBay these days for $50 and up.
Greek photographer Haris Antonopoulos and his buddy Thanasis Ioannidis recently decided to take one of these lenses and turn it into the world's fastest lens for Sony E-mount cameras through a physical conversion.