Plus, the ultimate telephoto lens
Nikon has announced two new full frame lenses – a high-powered telephoto zoom lens and a rare tilt-shift lens.
Nikon is calling its new PC 19mm f4E ED tilt-shift lens the widest-perspective control lens to date – though Canon is still technically ahead with its TS-E 17mm f4L.
Unlike most traditional lenses this tilt-shift allows you to slide the front element in four directions, which comes in handy for correcting the fishbowl-shaped distortion wide angle lenses often create.
The tilt function comes into play if you want to change which elements are in focus – you’ll see this effect most often with photos shot to mimic the look of a table-top model.
Nikon claims the 19mm lens can capture 97 degrees of coverage, which should make it ideal for shooting horizontal or vertical panoramas as well as for shooting video.
Internally, the lens is made up of three ED and two aspherical elements, which are designed to combat distortion and glare while virtually eliminating chromatic aberration and coma, even at the widest aperture settings. As ever there’s a Nano Crystal Coat on the front element to reduce ghosting and flare.
The Nikon PC 19mm f4 ED also features an electromagnetic diaphragm for fast auto-exposure control.
While there are plenty of telephoto, portrait, wide-angle and normal lenses out there, tilt-shift lenses are less common speciality lenses, but they’re extremely versatile for everything from architecture, interiors, fine art, product photography and landscapes.
That said, all this flexibility requires a significant amount of expertise to get the best out of it – and the $3,399 (about £2,770, AU$4,430) price is nothing to sneeze at either. The Nikon PC 19mm f4E ED will be released in November.
Enhance!
Nikon also introduced a new AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8E FL ED VR lens, and it should appeal to photographers who want reach and flexibility. The 70-200mm range gives you a wide choice of focal lengths, from a normal lens to extreme telephoto. Meanwhile, the constant f2.8 aperture should allow you to capture images with attractive bokeh, and make it better for low-light shooting.
The lens also claims to offer up to four stops of image stabilization, while a Silent Wave Motor system offers ultra-fast and quiet autofocus operation while still allowing users to override it with the manual ring.
Nikon has built its latest telephoto lens with six ED elements, one Fluorite element and a high refractive element. All the glass elements are wrapped inside a magnesium alloy barrel fitted with weatherproof seals to keep out dust and water.
The Nikon 70-200mm f2.8E FL ED VR will begin shipping in November as well, for $2,799 (about £2,280, AU$3,650).
Sourse: techradar.com
