Minolta AF Reflex 500 Review – Letting the Cat Out of the Bag – By Bob Janes

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Cosina Launches Voigtlander APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 for Nikon F-Mount

Cosina has launched the Voigtlander APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 for Nikon's DSLR F-mount. Cosina says that the lens has been designed to bring the appearance of chromatic aberration to as close to zero as possible.

The APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 follows the Color-Skopar 28mm f/2.8 SL II S that Cosina launched in September, also for F-mount. It, like the 28mm, is a tribute to classic SLR lenses. The 90mm f/2.8, in particular, is described as a tribute to the lenses produced between 1965 and 1974 and features a silver rim (which Cosina is nicknamed Sakijiro among colelctors) or a black one (called Sakiguro). Both color options will be available when the lens comes to market.

The company says that the newly designed optical system uses "anomalous partially dispersed glass" in five out of the seven elements that are arranged in the seven-group construction. It has a 27.5-degree angle of view, a maximum magnification of 1:8.1, a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm, and a 52mm front element filter size. The lens features an aperture range of f/2.8 through f/22.

Cosina says that it uses an apochromat design that "makes the on-axis chromatic aberration of RGB, which constitutes the three primary colors of light, as close to zero as possible."

Cosina adopted an all-metal helicoid unit that it processed and adjusted with what it describes as high precision and high-quality grease that produces appropriate torque and allows for smooth as well as precise and delicate focusing operation. Given that the lens is entirely manual focus, this kind of attention to detail in the focusing is likely to be appreciated. The company described similar attention to detail in its 28mm f/2.8.

Also like the 28mm f/2.8, the APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 is compatible with a variety of Nikon bodies, including Nikon's that feature Ai-S with built-in CPU, but it also has an Ai coupler that Cosina says makes it possible to use with a variety of cameras from classic SLRs from the era the lens celebrates through the latest DSLRs.

The lens is designed specifically to be compact, and Cosina says that despite its high performance, the lens is just 40mm long.

Cosina says that the Voigtlander APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 will be available in November in both black and silver iterations for 68,000 yen, or about $596.

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Unusual Adapter Places a Polarizing Filter Between Lens and Sensor

While originally launched in 2017, Fotodiox created a line of lens adapters for modern and vintage SLR lenses it calls Polar Throttle adapters that have a built-in polarizing filter. The design allows multiple lenses to be adapted to a single mirrorless camera without needing different sized filters.

The adapters have largely flown under the radar, but YouTuber Mathieu Stern recently featured one of the Polar Throttle adapters -- the Canon FD to E-mount version -- on his YouTube Channel. He demonstrates that the filters work exactly as a polarizing filter is expected to -- it removes reflections from bodies of water and when shooting through glass -- but allows him to use multiple Canon FD lenses on his Sony camera without having to use different sized polarizing filters. It also reduces his kit significantly as it compresses all the circular polarizers he might need to carry with him into just one adapter, which is necessary for using the vintage lenses on his Sony camera anyway.

"Since mirrorless cameras hit the scene, our mission has been to vastly expand customer's lens choices. With the Polar Throttle, we’ve found yet another way to deliver an important level of image control to the mix," Bohus Blahut, the marketing director for Fotodiox Pro, said when the adapters were launched in 2017. "You can't adjust light polarization in post, and fixing issues on-location used to mean lugging around many different-sized CPL filters. With the Polar Throttle, you get easy, reliable, built-in fingertip polarization control for any lens you attach. Cut down haze, manage reflections, create evocative long exposures in full daylight, and dial in richer, bolder colors whether you're shooting photo or video."

Stern shows multiple examples of how the circular polarizer works wonders on bodies of water, which can dramatically reduce reflections and reveal what is going on under the surface.

Before After

The adapter is available in a number of options for Sony E-mount cameras including Canon EOS, Canon FD, Nikon G, and Minolta MD and the polarizing adjustment ring is geared to allow for use on follow focus rigs in video production. Nine of the adapters are priced at $100, but one smart version that includes the circular polarizer and also features "Smart" adaptation between Canon EF and Sony E-mount is priced at $190. All options can be found on Fotodiox's website.

#equipment #news #adapter #circularpolarizer #circularpolarizingfilter #dslrlens #emount #filter #fotodiox #mathieustern #mirrorless #slrlens #sonyemount