Blend is Beautiful

I agree with the above coffee advert - blend is beautiful. This sentiment is valid for certain aspects of photography, too. Often, it is desirable to have a very smooth blend of background blur, or bokeh (the Japanese word for blur). 

Making sure that the building site isn't too loud

In the pursuit of the perfect blend, I've acquired Sony's latest FE-mount lens, the SEL55F18Z. As pointed out by friend and fellow photoblographer Björn Utpott (his blog is a source of daily inspiration), I have a lens with a similar focal length and aperture already - the Canon nFD 50mm F1.4.

Even though the weather today was completely overcast, I took both lenses with me on the way to the shops and performed something of a comparison.

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This isn't a scientific test by any interpretation, but one thing is clear - the new FE 55/1,8 is very sharp wide open, and does not have any purple fringing, or suffer from chromatic aberration (CA). When the nFD lens is stopped down to f/4, the image is very sharp. The new Sony FE lens is sharper, but this may not matter to some. I would still recommend the nFD lens to those on a budget, or wanting to use manual focus glass... but I would recommend the new Sony FE 55/1,8 Zeiss lens over it... every time.

Incidentally, you may (or more likely, may not) have noticed a change to the homepage of this site. I hope you like it! I've also changed the "reviews and gear"  section, listing my ramblings in reverse chronological order.

I hope that you enjoyed the photos, and found the (non-scientific) comparison interesting. 

I made it just 2 days...

Well, I made it 2 whole days (though just 1 shopping day) into 2014 without buying a new lens... though this lens was no impulse buy. It's the new Sony FE (full-frame image circle E-mount) Zeiss Sonnar 55/1,8 lens  (model name: SEL55F18Z ). This lens has an MTF curve out of this world (stellar light transmittance, essentially - Zeiss have a white paper on the topic). In practice, this means that the lens has extremely high resolution and contrast "wide open" at its maximum aperture (opening). Designing a lens like this is no mean feat - I've never seen a curve like it. The lens outputs an image circle covering the size of a full-frame sensor, like my RX1, but I am currently using the lens on my trusty NEX-7.

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Is this my next camera? There's a full-frame sensor squeezed inside the miniscule Sony A7R.

After purchasing the lens in Akihabara, we decided to go for a walk and test out the new lens. What better way to test a lens and camera than at night? :)

It's probably a little early for a verdict, but overall, I'm very impressed. The high pixel density, cropped sensor (APS-C size) of the NEX-7 really tests the central zone of any lens.

Sometimes it's easy to forget we're in Tokyo

There is a 50/1.8 lens, with optical stabilisation, already available for Sony E-mount cameras. It's been around a couple of years. It's maybe 1/3rd the price of this lens, but only covers the APS-C image circle, and thus would not be useful on any future full-frame camera. Rather than sink my money into a lens I'll use (happily) until I "go full frame", I decided to spend that little bit more, and "future-proof" myself with a world-class lens. 

And I have no regrets.

Rain, a few drinks, DSC-RX1

Rainy season is truly upon us. It's been raining solid since the weekend, with barely a break. The relentless humidity renders everything moist. Condensation pours down almost everything, made all the more noticeable with a nice cold beer.

DSC-RX1

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend after work this evening, who happens to own a Sony DSC-RX1 full-frame camera. Just before heading home, I remembered that I wanted to take a quick shot of similar subjects with my NEX-7 & Zeiss and compare it to the RX1. I know from online tests that the RX1 has fantastic low-light capability and immense depth of field, but I'm very pleased with my NEX-7's performance, which is made better when coupled with the Zeiss SEL24F18Z.

Please excuse the changing perspective; I'd had a couple of beers by this point. For a more in-depth review, please visit dpreview.com or something. There's not really much in it, to be honest. The NEX-7 holds up at 1600 in my experience, but not for pixel peeping. I tend not to bother pixel peeping unless I'm very bored, anyway. The RX1 is arguably just as good at ISO 3200, possibly higher. There's also noticeably more bokeh with the RX1, which is to be expected "wide open" due to its full frame sensor. The bokeh on both is extremely pleasing, and though I still want an RX1, I wholeheartedly recommend the SEL24F18Z to anyone sitting on the fence. Get it. It's great. The new Touits are sure to impress too... photos by the end of the week, I promise!

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I'll finish by saying that after quickly analysing the RX1 files, that the shadow-recovery is excellent, and perhaps more noticeable still, is the high level of detail. ISO 100 picked out flecks and dirt beyond what I could see in the bar. Look around the "SPA" lettering and you'll see what I mean. Very high levels of detail indeed - wide open. Stopped down, I think this camera is unrivalled [for its size], and has a very particular niche which it fills well. There is no one camera which can satisfy all of our demands, but the RX1 meets quite a few of mine.