Congratulations to CalBoy87 for winning WA 857, based on the theme: In the workplace.

The top five photos displayed below, will also be showcased on our Winners Gallery.

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Weekly Assignment 859 just started with theme: "Banana"
Deadline: March 27th noon - Participate!

Pre-orders are now available!

B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama ($1,900.00)

When I found out that one of the highly anticipated FE 135/1.8 GM lenses was about to land on my doorsteps for testing, I literally had butterflies in my stomach. We already have great 135mm natives like the Batis 135/2.8 APO but many find the f/2.8 aperture limiting for portraits, especially when shooting at mid-distance. There is also the Sigma 135/1.8 Art, an SLR design adapted to the Sony E-mount, that is outstanding and priced right. So, what could the new FE135/1.8 GM offer to compel shooters to spend $1,900 of their hard earned cash?
Sure, there’s lots of hype surrounding the 4 linear motors for super-duper fast AF, aspherical glass production that does not cause onion ring bokeh and just recently @RCicala dropped the bomb with the details of lensrentals' optical bench test, concluding that "This is the sharpest lens we’ve tested. Period."

Everyone knows that this is mostly a portrait lens, and I’m sure having sharp eyebrows is definitely a plus but what about everything else? How’s the rendering, flare resistance, CA control, MFD performance? So many questions, so many test shots, so much to analyze…here’s what I found so far.

Here are the Feature Thread Winners based on your votes:

• Landscape Photographer:
Aurora in the true north by pizdets17

• Nature & Wildlife:
The Northern Hawk Owl by Colin F

• People Photography:
Girl in India by Colin F

Samyang officially announced the new 85mm f/1.4 FE lens.
The lens is priced at 699€. (US pricing and pre-order schedule not yet released)

Main specs:

1. Elements/groups 11/8
   
2. Special lens: HR (4), ED (1)
   
3. Close focus (MFD) 0.90m (2.95ft)
   
4. Magnification ratio: 0.11x
   
5. Weight 568 grams
   
6. Length 99.5mm
   
7. Diameter 88mm
   
8. Weather sealed: yes
   
9. Filter size 77mm
   
10. Aperture blades 9

Here is the press text:

The AF 85mm F1.4 FE is inspired by the optical vision of the MF 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC, which has been loved for its beautiful out-of-focus images since its launch in 2008: however, this new lens develops the original’s existing strengths with a much more advanced optical design, newly optimized for mirrorless cameras. This lens of great value and charm with high resolution encapsulates Samyang’s universally respected 40-year optical technology in your photographs.

Congratulations to T_Gordon for winning WA 856, based on the theme: Children.

The top five photos displayed below, will also be showcased on our Winners Gallery.

Voting is now open for the WA 857 winners.
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Weekly Assignment 858 just started with theme: "City hall"
Deadline: March 20th noon - Participate!

@RCicala at LensRentals just posted MTF Tests for the new Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM lens.

Here are some excepts from Roger's test:

"Let’s make this simple and straightforward. In the center, that’s the highest MTF I’ve seen on a non-supertelephoto lens. The highest. Let’s put particular emphasis on the purple line, which is 50 lp/mm. That’s a higher frequency than any manufacturer tests (that we know of), appropriate for fine detail on the highest resolution cameras. We would consider an MTF of 0.5 at 50 lp/mm to be very acceptable. This is hugely better, nearly 0.8 in the center. We’ve never seen that kind of resolution before."

"But as far as the test goes, the results are pretty simple. This is the sharpest lens we’ve tested. Period. (At last count, that’s out of 300+ lenses tested.)"

Read entire review

_____________________

Pre-orders are now available!

B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama

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Here are the Feature Thread Winners based on your votes:

• Landscape Photographer:
Desert snow by xterra07

• Nature & Wildlife:
Mirrorless did Bosque by AGeoJO

• People Photography:
Cross lighting with two dancers by friscoron

The Leica Q2 camera is now officially announced and it's available for pre-order for $4,995.

B&H Photo | Adorama

The main specifications are:

1. 47.3MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
   
2. Maestro II Image Processor
   
3. Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH. Lens
   
4. 3.68MP OLED Electronic Viewfinder
   
5. 3.0" 1.04m-Dot Touchscreen LCD
   
6. DCI 4K24p, UHD 4K30p, Full HD 120p Video
   
7. ISO 50-50000, up to 10-fps Shooting
   
8. 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm Crop Modes
   
9. Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi
   
10. Weather-Sealed Construction
    
11. Weight: 718 grams (with battery)

Congratulations to RbrtPtikLeoSen for winning WA 855, based on the theme: Urban macro.

The top five photos displayed below, will also be showcased on our Winners Gallery.

Voting is now open for the WA 856 winners.
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Weekly Assignment 857 just started with theme: "In the workplace"
Deadline: March 13th noon - Participate!

Here are the Feature Thread Winners based on your votes:

• Landscape Photographer:
Division of Time and Light - White Sands, NM by Klaus Priebe

• Nature & Wildlife:
Sea Ducks of New Jersey by aboutthelight

• People Photography:
The faces of the Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 by chez