Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

A few days ago, Nikon accidentally leaked a new 50mm 1.8G AF-S lens. That's fine, and I love my 35mm f/1.8g, but what I'd really like to see is a full line of DX lenses. I've seen Thom Hogan speculate about this before, and I like some of his suggestions, but here's what I'd like to see.

AF-S DX NIKKOR 15mm f/4G
AF-S DX NIKKOR 24mm f/2G
AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
AF-S DX NIKKOR 58mm f/1.8G
AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4G ED

That would really do it for me. There's a real wide angle prime, a wide-normal to complement the 35mm we already have, a portrait lens and a prosumer zoom.

Seen at Nikon Rumors.

Update: The day after I wrote this, Thom Hogan touched on this same topic again. It's on his front page currently, but his content moves around. Here's the relevant part.

At the risk of repeating myself: 16-50mm f/2.8, 50-135mm f/2.8, 16mm f/2.8 (preferably faster, but needs to be small), 20mm f/1.8, and 50mm f/1.8 at a minimum.

Not exactly what he asked for before, but any new DX lenses would be nice.

RE-35 Digital Cartridge Hoax

RE-35 mockup by re35.net.

This recently revealed April Fool's Day hoax has been making the rounds. Lots of people bought into it, even PopSci. Not many people seem to remember that this was almost a reality 10 years ago. I'm getting old.

I remember being pretty excited about the Silicon Film EFS-1 e-film cartridge back then. It was pretty hot vaporware for a couple of years, and I think there were even semi-working prototypes. It never came to fruition however, which was probably for the best with it's 1.3 megapixels and a terrible crop factor.

You can still read about it over at DPReview.

Seen at B, and Photo Rumors.

Lensbaby Composer Pro

the_bill, originally uploaded by infrar3d.

I've owned a Lensbaby 2.0 for a long time, and it's never turned out to be as cool or as useful as I thought it would be. It's fun, but I find that I just don't use it that often. I figured that would probably be the last Lensbaby product I'd ever want, but some of their recent products might change that.

First with the recently introduced Sweet 35 optic, and now with the new Composer Pro that I just read about today, I'm thinking about upgrading. With every new iteration the Lensbaby products seem get closer to actually being useful, and this new combo looks really interesting.

Seen at Photo Rumors.

Polaroid Collection Saved

004_1172591, originally uploaded by infrar3d.

The British Journal of Photography is reporting that Vienna's Westlicht Museum of Photography, along with the Impossible Project, was able to acquire the Polaroid Collection from liquidators, saving it from auction. The BJP says "A selection of the 4400 images contained in the International Polaroid Collection will go on show from 17 June."

Ricoh GR Digital IV coming soon?

004_1172705, originally uploaded by infrar3d.

I recently read over at the Ricoh GR-Diary that the GRD4 is coming the second half of this year. I later found out there was a long discussion about it over at DPReview. Everyone is listing what they'd like to see in the GRD4, so here's my wish list.

• 12 megapixels at 3:2
• faster AF
• usable ISO to 3200
• two distinct models - 28mm f/1.7 and 40mm f/1.7
• black and white sensor
• ability to use the GXR EVF, or even better...
• a hot shoe mounted hybrid OVF

Mostly wishful thinking, but I bet we'll get the EVF and maybe image stabilization.

Thom Hogan reviews the Ricoh GXR

Photo: Ricoh

Well known mostly-Nikon reviewer Thom Hogan has reviewed the Ricoh GXR, along with the P10 module, both the 28mm and 50mm macro A12 modules, and the VF-2 Electronic Viewfinder. I won't spoil it, but he says he's come to prefer the GXR to his Nikon D3100 for times that call for a lightweight kit.

I enjoy Thom's reviews, probably because his ideas about the ways cameras should work mostly line up with my own.

In the early days of digital photography, many people bemoaned the fact that you had to buy a new body to get a new sensor, Ricoh has solved that problem with the GXR. Although a lot of the complaints I've seen in various forums seem to see the this as a limiting factor. I don't. I see the body-sensor interface as the heart of the GXR system.

Already Ricoh is working on an APS-C M-mount module, and I can imagine other possibilities. How about a full-frame M-mount module? Or an APS-C Sony Nex module? And I'm sure we'll see other bodies for the GXR system eventually as well. Perhaps an improved version of the current body, hopefully with the hot shoe centered over the lens this time. Another idea is a body with a built-in EVF and swivel LCD, something like the Panasonic GH2. Or perhaps a body with a built-in OVF or Hybrid viewfinder similar to the Fuji X100? So, you could have your X100 style body for photowalks and traveling, your GH2 style body for more considered studio work or perhaps for video, an M module, a Nex module and a couple of native Ricoh lens modules. That sounds pretty good to me.

My recent purchase of a GRD2 has made a believer out of me about the Ricoh way, and I'm definitely keeping an eye on the GXR system.

Should I Post This Image?

Image: Pia Jane Bijerk and Erin Loechner, fonts by Yvette Van Boven

Chelsea Fuss over at Frolic! wrote a post a few weeks ago about crediting photos in blog posts. And now there's fun flow chart to illustrate the point.

This is a topic that deserves more discussion. It's something I've thought about a lot myself, and I suspect there's a lot of wrong-headed ideas out there. There was also a post about this subject recently at Fashion Copious, which is a blog I enjoy, but I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment in that particular post. I'd love to hear someone like Kirk Tuck or Rob Haggart from A Photo Editor, or maybe even Mike Johnston, chime in on this subject. I bet they have a different take on things.

Seen at Austin Kleon.