Reviews

Olympus ED 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro and MC-14 Teleconverter – First impressions, images and video samples

06/10/2014 By Mathieu 22 Comments

Update: check out our complete review about the 40-150mm Pro!

After two hands-on videos, we can finally share a first impressions from the field about the highly anticipated 40-150mm PRO zoom lens. We received a sample to test a few days ago and I used it the very same night for a contemporary dance show. Then, the day after we paid a visit to the Stork and Anatidae Wildlife Center in Racconigi near Turin. In between, some pictures taken for random jobs allowed me to gather together some thoughts about the new telephoto zoom.

Medium Format in a small package? – First impressions of the Sigma DP2 Quattro

04/10/2014 By Mathieu 2 Comments

During Photokina we paid an enjoyable visit to the Sigma booth to meet some managers from the UK office. One of them was kind enough to let me play around with the Sigma DP-2 Quattro inside the Koelnmesse. It was certainly a better way of quickly testing a camera than being confined to the booth area!

The DP2 Quattro is the latest generation in the Sigma DP series which consists of three different cameras with a Foveon APS-C sensor and fixed prime lens. The difference between the three all comes down to focal length. The DP2 has a 30mm f/2.8 which corresponds to a 45mm in full frame format.

Photokina 2014: Hands-On with the new Leica X and Leica X-E

27/09/2014 By Mathieu 6 Comments

Amongst the new products announced by Leica at the Cologne event, there were also three new cameras in the compact and X range. We already talked about the new D-Lux (Panasonic LX100 clone), so now let’s have a look at the new X and X-E cameras.

Photokina 2014: Hands-on with the Leica M-A, Leica M-60 and the missing “entry level” M

26/09/2014 By Mathieu 7 Comments

Leica announced plenty of new products at Photokina and its booth was also one of the most elegant including a very nice gallery featuring Leica photographers from all over the world. After our interview with Rachel Barker (Head of PR), we stopped at the various desks to try the new products.

Two of them were related to the history of the brand. After releasing a special edition of the Leica M for to celebrate 100 years of Leica photography, the German camera brand also announced another special edition to celebrate 60 years of the M system. There was also a new film M camera that pays tribute to and supports the use of film and analogue photography.

So, what are these two new Leica M cameras exactly?

Photokina 2014: Hands-on with the new Samsung NX1

20/09/2014 By Mathieu 6 Comments

The Samsung NX1 is certainly one of the most exciting camera announcements at Photokina this year. Samsung seems to have put the most advanced technology they possibly could in their flagship APS-C mirrorless model. We had a hands-on session at the Samsung booth but unfortunately, despite the presence of lots of samples in the area, they were all pre-production models and the SD card was actually sealed to make sure no one could insert his or her own card. But we were still able to try some other interesting features.