Category Archives: reviews

Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct Lens review


Nikon recently released a beast of a lens at CEIF 2020, the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens and we (Asian Photography) were the first in India to receive and review this lens. What makes this lens special is not only its aperture value of 0.95 but also a whopping price tag of Rs. 7,29,995


And there are no prizes for guessing that with a price tag as fancy as this, it is naturally targeted towards professionals who are looking for nothing short of the best performance. So let us see how the lens performed in all the test.



Build Quality

At first glance the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens looks very huge on the tiny Nikon Z7 body and weighs a lot, a full 2 kgs to be precise. But a lot of that weight is also because it is built like a tank, which is very impressive and also offers weather resistance. And the fact that it the lens only offers manual focus further reaffirms its target audience. But the focus peeking function in the Nikon Z7 makes using the lens really easy. The lens has one control ring and one focus ring and a lens information display panel with a display button to change the info according to your needs. It also consists of lens function button right next to display button. The L-Fn button is helpful for focusing aids such as, Magnify, Peaking or the Digital Teleconverter. So while you are using the lens a simple push with your thumb and you activate the function without moving your hand or eyes off the EVF.


Chromatic Aberration

We conducted the MTF tests and found out that the chromatic aberration values for lens. The Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens showed a CA value of 0.22 pix which is decent. Its not the best performance under this category, but it surely isn’t bad.



Distortion

We shot the image of building from the lens of a building to check the distortion. The Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens captured the image of the building in which the building seems slightly tilted towards right side.


Distortion



Lens Flare and Ghosting

In terms of Lens Flare and Ghosting we shot images from the lens of a street light to check the flaring and ghosting and the lens displayed a great amount of flaring and ghosting. Which honestly to us was a surprise. But we knew these aren’t the things that lenses like these are used for.


Lens Flaring & Ghosting



Image Quality

The most important point when it comes to using a lens like this is its image quality and performance. The images from the lens displayed good sharpness and that verifies that the lens is very capable optically. The overall quality of the images were fantastic. The images were sharp and crisp, the bokeh was smooth when used on Nikon Z7 body. Well with such wide aperture, you can always expect good and sharp images even in low light conditions.



SAMPLE IMAGE


Low Light Image


Depth of Field and Bokehs

Coming to the depth of field, well a lens with f/0.95 will never let you down with that wide aperture, same goes with Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens. The bokehs were smooth and circular. The images were pleasing to the eye as the subjects pops out very well from the background.


Depth of Field


Verdict

Well the only words that can describe this lens is ‘What a beauty’. Nikon never disappoints with their products and with the Noct lens as well Nikon has managed to deliver high quality. The images are sharp and crisp with smooth and rounded bokehs. The lens has great performance and is also well built.


The only down part is that such quality comes at a great price. With a price tag of Rs. Rs. 7,29,995 and fact that lens we had for our exclusive review is the only lens in the country currently exemplifies the point further. Apart from the price, weight of the lens is another issue that might not work in its advantage.


So if you can circumvent around the price and the weight of the lens then the Noct lens can open a doorway to heaven in terms of the image quality it can deliver. And for photographers that are looking to do Astro Photography, Portrait Photography or ones who are looking for those jaw-dropping bokehs, then this might be the best lens you are looking for.

Nikon D780 Review

We have been using the Nikon D780 for over a month now to check what exactly does the new full-frame DSLR offer. We put it through a detailed review and see what we found about this Rs. 1.99 lac body only camera?⁣


Check out the full review of Nikon D780 on our YouTube Channel.⁣



Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM Review

Canon released their ‘all-in-one’ lens a few months back. This was highly awaited by the photographers and we review the lens to check whether is it truly a Versatile lens or not? See what we thought about the lens in our complete review on our YouTube Channel.


Fujifilm X-A7 Review

In our first video of 2020 we review the Fujifilm X-A7 and give you the idea if this Rs. 59,999 mirrorless camera is worthy of your purchase. See what we thought about it.
Check out our YouTube channel for the full review.


GoPro Hero 8 Review

Check out our new video on the GoPro Hero 8 review. We’ve tested it so that you don’t have to and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Find it in our review. 

Check out our YouTube channel for the full review.


OnePlus 7T or OnePlus 7 Pro: Which should you Buy?

The 7T was launched recently and with the updated specs the phone is almost similar in comparison to the OnePlus 7 Pro. With these similar specs and a lower price point a compelling question comes to mind. If you are upgrading from an older phone or are looking for a new phone then should you buy the new 7t or the 7 Pro especially with the price of the Oneplus 7T starting at Rs. 37,999, with the higher priced model at Rs. 39,999 instead of the 7 Pro starting at Rs. 48,999 (6GB and 128GB capacity) variant.

See the answer


Fujifilm X-T30 Full Review

Fujifilm has dubbed the X-T30 the “Little Giant” – a small camera with big performance. It’s the successor to the X-T20, and it’s a kind of cut-down version of the company’s flagship X-T3 model which shares a lot of that camera’s technological advances. You’d still pick the X-T3 for speed, handling with bigger lenses and high-end 4K video, but the X-T30 is ideal if you want a sophisticated, high-performance mirrorless camera that’s also small and not too expensive.  This makes the X-T30 a great little all-round camera that’s right at the cutting edge of APS-C mirrorless camera technology, but well under the Rs 1,00,000 price barrier. If you’re a first-time Fujifilm user and you need a kit lens to go with it, that will probably push it over that figure.


Canon EOS RP Full Review


Canon EOS RP is the Canon’s latest offering in the full-frame mirrorless segment. A smaller version of Canon EOS R with a compact and light-weight body, Canon has launch EOS RP for the users looking for some budget friendly full frame mirrorless camera. In terms of dimensions, Canon EOS RP is nearly 30% smaller and almost 200 grams lighter than Canon EOS R. The EOS RP really is impressively smaller than many of Canon’s DSLRs that have smaller APS-C sensors. Despite this, Canon has made sure the controls aren’t constricted, the grip is comfortable, and both the viewfinder and screen are nice and big.




Canon EOS RP Key Specifications

 

  • 26.2MP Dual Pixel CMOS sensor

  • 4K/24p (from 1.7x crop region)

  • 4 fps continuous shooting with continuous AF (5 without)

  • Pupil detection AF in continous/Servo AF mode

  • AF rated to -5EV

  • Digic 8 processor

  • 2.36M dot OLED viewfinder

  • Fully-articulated 1.04M dot touchscreen

  • Twin command dials



Look, Body and Feel

The Canon EOS RP comes with a 7.62-cm Vari-angle OLED touch panel and DIGIC 8 image processor with Dual Pixel CMOS AF. The offering weighs 485grams with dimensions 132.5 x 85.3 x 70.0mm. It carries a special Feature Assistant which helps users with navigation. The offering also has an RF lens mount which was introduced in the EOS R and it has a short focal length of 20mm. Users can also use their existing collection of EF and EF-S lenses via an optional mount adapter. The Canon EOS RP is kitted with a 26.2MP Full-Frame CMOS sensor with an ISO range of 100-40,000 and it can be expanded to the range of 50-1,02,400. The Auto Lighting Optimizer feature of the camera helps in balancing the darkest and brightest parts of a picture for better low-light results. The Digital Lens Optimizer corrects distortions, and the CMOS sensor provides Optical Image Stabilisation. Additionally, the Dual Pixel CMOS AF provides autofocus speed of up to 0.05 seconds. There are 4,779 selectable AF positions and the Eye Detection AF which works in Servo AF mode focuses on the subject’s eyes even when it is in motion. The camera is also capable of shooting videos with 4K resolution at 24p/25p and the Combination IS provides stable footage even without a tripod. It has an LP-E17 battery and along with that, the camera can be charged by the optional USB Power Adapter PD-E1 through its Hi-Speed USB 2.0/ Type C Interface. One can also transfer data via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy technology. The product also performs network-related functions using Canon Camera Connect app for mobile devices. The continuous shooting speed of the camera is 5fps in One-Shot AF and 4ps in Servo AF.

Compared to the existing EOS R, the RP is a bit more ‘compact’ and significantly slimmed down, against other full-frame interchangeable lens cameras, only Sony’s original A7 is lighter. Despite its light weight, the RP’s all-plastic body feels reassuringly solid, with little in the way of creaks or obvious signs of cost-cutting in its build. It’s at a price point where we can’t really complain about the lack of weather-sealing, but at least the RF lenses so far have a covering to keep dust and moisture entering around the mount. The grip on the RP is quite comfortable, and it may not be comfortable for use with larger lenses, the optional grip extender will help here. Though a fractionally larger grip that could have also accommodated a larger battery was much needed in EOS RP. The RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM which came with the camera works good, but is not up to mark as the lens is bit heavy which makes the hold uncomfortable. The control on the EOS RP are well implemented than Canon EOS R. The touch bar form EOS R is missing in EOS RP, which is a good point. Customization buttons are provided by Canon, giving you plenty of flexibility with some buttons. If you want to use the four-way controller for AF point placement instead of the touchscreen, there’s still no option to make your chosen AF area move faster, which we would really like to see on EOS RP and the EOS R. The rear screen provides and excellent and responsive touchscreen experience. The electronic viewfinder has loer resolution than Canon EOS R but it still provides good colours and contrast.



Image Quality

The Canon EOS RP has a 26.2 megapixel full-frame sensor. The images look nice and colourful. The exposures were correctly exposed and had a good result in terms of sharpness. The Canon EOS RP does not have an in-body stabilisation system built in which is a major miss on the Canon EOS RP. The depth of field in the images are quite good and smooth as the ditance between the lens the sensor is less, which is a plus point for Canon EOS RP. Looking at the low light images, Canon EOS RP performed pretty good with colours, though it had a liitle reddish tinge in the images. The low light portrait captured on EOS RP resulted with good colours and sharpness.




ISO Performance

The ISO performance of this camera isn’t bad. We really liked how the camera handled ISOs upto 6400 well. While other mirrorless cameras in this category might be a better perfomer or the same, this camera is by no means any less competent. The camera faulters a bit at ISO 12800 and shows signs of grains and becomes almost unusable at ISO 12800 as the picture loses edge sharpness.



Video Quality

The video quality of Canon EOS RP isn’t bad, but there are few points which needs to be noticed. The Eye Auto Focus Tracking in EOS RP is ok in comparison with other full-frame mirrorless camera, though it had lag in focusing the eye when the subject is moving. While the focusing speed is fast and smooth in the videos. Canon EOS RP is missing in-body stabilisation system and the stability is totally dependent on the lens. While shooting the video with turning off the stabilisation on lens, the camera performed the same as other full-frame mirrorless camera do. The major part to notice in video section of Canon EOS RP is that it shoots Full HD on 60fps which link to the missing of slow mo in the camera as there is no 120fps available and it also shoots 4k with 1.7x crop frame of the sensor at 25fps only.


Conclusion

 

The Canon EOS RP is priced at Rs 1,10,495 for the body only, which is much more lower than the other full frame mirrorless camera. However, The Canon EOS RP misses out on a few things than the other full frame mirrorless camera like in-built stabilisation system and joystick. However, the images from the Canon do not dissapoint when it come to quality and colour reproduction. The images along with he ISO performance is definiltly something you can look forward to if you have a lower budget for a full-frame mirrorless.