Venus Optics has now officially announced their new Laowa 50mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO lens designed specifically for the Micro Four Thirds system. And, as says the manufacturer, this is the first lens in the MFT system with the 2:1 zoom. Now, is it one good reason to stay in the smaller matrix’ world?
We know that a lot of us, dental photographers, are fans of the MFT system and we totally understand it. This Laowa lens with record 2x magnification ratio and focal length can be used as a portrait lens as well, as it can focus to infinity.
Laowa 2x Macro Lens for MFT: Specs
Construction consists of 14 elements isn 10 groups, with three consisting of extra low dispersion glass. Aperture is controlled by the camera body with all lens data being recorded as EXIF information. An apochromatic optical design apparently eliminates both lateral chromatic aberration and longitudinal CA.
It is also compact, weighing in at 8.5oz (240g) and a length of 3.1” 979mm). Focus is internal so there is no change in length during operation.
Remember: this is a manual-focus lens, which is usually more useful in dental photography. And, as we can read in various opinions, the working distance is about 44.45mm from the tip of the lens.
Pros
Wide focusing range from 2x to infinity
Small size and lightweight
Decent working distance
Great image quality
Aperture coupling
Cons
No autofocus
Lower resolution compared to full-frame setups
The lens is priced at US$399 excluding taxes with shipping starting at the end of August.
What is the Micro Four Thirds System?
The size of the sensor is significantly smaller than for most DSLRs. This implies that lenses, especially telephoto lenses, can also be smaller. The crop factor here is around 2x, so a 300mm telephoto lens becomes an ultra 600mm.
This four-thirds system is used exclusively by Olympus and Panasonic, with a sensor size of 17.3 mm x 13 mm. The sensor’s area is about 30–40% smaller than APS-C sensors used in most other DSLRs.
The name comes from the sensors’ aspect ratio of 4:3, where APS-C would be 3:2. They chose this number as it better reflects the printing size of 8×10 better than the 3:2 ratio does.
Dr Kris Chmielewski has prepared a special lesson for you. Professional Studio Photography is a very wide topic, and we want to explore it thouroghly!
These are some of the topics explored by Kris in this lesson:
Types of backgrounds used in Studio Photography
Cyclorama – what is it? Why it works with light in a special way?
Who should use Cyclorama and when?
Dental Photography in Studio
Collapsible Backgrounds in Studio Photography
And it’s time to cut to the chase in this next lesson.
Kris will tell you more about collapsible backgrounds. You’re not sure if you’re interested? These are some of the topics explored by Kris in this lesson:
Who should and can use collapsible backgrounds and why?
What are the sizes and colours of collapsible backgrounds?
Which colours of collapsible backgrounds are best for dental photography and in what cases?
How to hang collapsible background?
We’re pretty sure you would like to watch it now and don’t hesitate any longer!
The very beginning of polarization, going back to ancient times
The way the light propagates
Key techniques of polarization
The way it is used in medicine and why it is important for us
Major categories of cross polarization
Why does Cross Polarized Light influences Dental Photography and how can it help
How to set up the Polar Eyes filter
Areas where Cross Polarized Light can be useful, like oral pathology and orthodontics
This is only a part of Panos Bazos’ online course prepared specially for you. He will also teach about Fluorescent Photography, Perioral Photography and others.
Remember: this course is for free! All you need to do is to register at dentalphotomaster.com!
And if you want to see it all and become a Postproduction ninja, don’t hesitate any longer to visit our online training Postproduction Essence Collection.
In Dental Photo Master we believe that the best quality comes from the best knowledge. That is why we are happy to invite worldwide known experts! One of them is Carlos Ayala Paz, who doesn’t even need to be introduced to our community.
If you’re still not sure if this lesson can give you benefits, let us tell you a little bit about our video.
Carlos Ayala shows his ways to achieve the best possible light in a darkroom – as he says, ambient light is not a good idea when it comes to macro. He also has his opinion on the distance from the object and the type of a tripod that should be used.
But the key factor in taking perfect macro photography is managing the shadows. They appear after moving your flash even for a millimeter or if you replace your standard, big flash with a little LED one. Once the great picture is done, with nice colours and good background, it’s time to play with it. How about showing some transparency or focusing on the texture of the teeth? Carlos knows really good tricks to make it happen.
The cheapest, but still professional way to diffuse the light
And if we are talking about the tricks, this one you will love. Illuminating the scene, positioning flashes – these are the game changers and Carlos knows how to use them. But obtaining some soft, diffused light with a sheet of paper is basically it. There are of course some loopholes and Carlos will show you how to avoid them, especially when it comes to the power of your flashes.
And most importantly, Carlos will leave you with specific information about the best brands and models of flashes he uses. You’ll be surprised with their price: in a good way, we mean.
If this doesn’t encourage you to watch this lesson, we guess you already know it all. But if Lab Photography is one of the parts of your dental photography practice, you shouldn’t skip our video!
Nikon has just registered a new camera overseas that could be the Nikon Z7S or Nikon Z6S, the refreshed versions of the existing Z7 and Z6 cameras. The new camera has some upgrades, including dual memory card slots, dual processors and 4K 60p video.
Rumors about the Nikon Z7S and Nikon Z6S are dating back to early July, when we first learned about the Nikon Z5.
And now, just a few days ago, the Japanese super sleuth Nokishita spotted an FCC certification for an unreleased Nikon camera with the product number N1932.
The tweet says: “Nikon’s unpublished digital camera “N1932” has passed FCC certification. Equipped with Wi-Fi (11a/b/g/n/ac) and Bluetooth 4.2. If the orientation of the antenna is the same as Z7 etc., the width of the main body is around 140.6 mm, the height is 68.5 mm or more (EVF part etc. are not included), the thickness is 36.6 mm or more (grip part and lens part etc. are included).”
Those dimensions are similar to those of the Z6 and Z7. Does it mean that we will be getting a Z7s pretty soon? Time will tell.
This might be a difficult news for the lovers of the Canon 5D Mark IV: rumor has it that it will not have a successor. Canon has reportedly decided to discontinue its popular and pioneering 5D line of cameras.
This is shocking, especially with the recent news about preparing the Canon 5D V that was supposed to be announced by the end of 2020. But as Canon Rumors reports, the COVID-19 and its economical repercussions made Canon change its plans.
“I have been told that the EOS 5D series is going the way of the EOS 7D series,” Craig Blair of Canon Rumors writes. “The source claims that the EOS 5D Mark V development wa
s stopped ‘some time ago’ […]”.
The ‘rumor‘ word is the key in that case. The 5D series has a huge fan base and loyal photographers. Would Canon abandon them with this risky decision? We doubt that.
About Canon 5D
The original Canon 5D was announced in 2005 and was the first full-frame DSLR with a standard DSLR size. In 2008, Canon announced the Canon 5D Mark II, which made a huge splash as the first Canon EOS camera to offer video recording capabilities.
After years of ignoring full-frame mirrorless cameras, Canon finally unveiled the EOS R in 2018. Since then, it has turned most of its attention toward winning the mirrorless market — Canon focused all of its lens efforts on RF instead of EF in 2019, and the company even said in January 2020 that it wa
s done developing new EF lenses unless the market demanded more.
In just 15 years and 4 generations, the 5D line has already made a huge mark on the history and evolution of camera. Will this be it?
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The original Canon 5D was announced in 2005 and was the first full-frame DSLR with a standard DSLR size. In 2008, Canon announced the Canon 5D Mark II, which made a huge splash as the first Canon EOS camera to offer video recording capabilities.