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Viltrox expands Z-mount offerings with the impressive AF 135mm F1.8 Lab lens

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When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Photo: Viltrox

Viltrox has announced that its highly regarded AF 135mm F1.8 Lab lens is now available for Nikon Z-mount. The lens was initially released last fall for E-mount, offering a much more affordable prime portrait lens alternative to Sony's FE 135mm F1.8 GM lens. Now, Nikon users will have a budget-friendly version of Nikon's 135mm F1.8 S Plena.

The Viltrox Lab lineup is the third-party lens maker's high-end series, offering flagship quality and more premium features than its other series of lenses. As a result, Viltrox promises edge-to-edge sharpness in the 135mm F1.8 Lab. The E-mount version has received excellent reviews for the quality it provides, especially for the price, and the Z-mount model should be the same, given that the mount is the only difference between the two.

The lens uses the Viltrox HyperVCM motor for autofocus, which Viltrox claims offers 150% faster autofocus than traditional STM motors. It says the lens will provide 100ms near to far focus point switching for fast yet smooth transitions. It also promises silent autofocus with minimal focus breathing, making it a worthy lens for video purposes. It offers a 0.72m (2.4') minimum focusing distance with 0.25x maximum magnification, roughly the same as Sony's 135mm and slightly closer than Nikon's Plena lens.

Image: Viltrox

The AF 135mm F1.8 Lab features an 11-blade aperture diaphragm for attractive bokeh. The optical design is comprised of 14 elements in 9 groups, which include four ED low-dispersion lenses and two high-refractive-index elements. It's made to be durable, with a dustproof and splash-resistant design and magnesium alloy barrel.

Like the E-mount version, it features a small screen on the top of the lens that can be customized to show relevant information. The lens also offers an AF/MF switch and an aperture de-click switch. A multifunction ring enables adjustable function modes such as aperture adjustment, exposure compensation or ISO control on Nikon cameras. Finally, a USB-C port allows for firmware updates.

One of the tradeoffs for the budget price is more weight. 135mm prime lenses aren't known for being very lightweight, but the Viltrox lens is an especially hefty offering. At 1265g (2.8lbs), it is a bit heavier than the Nikon 135mm F1.8 S Plena, which weighs 995g (2.2lbs). Saving money, in this case, means added weight.

The Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 Lab lens for Nikon Z-mount is available now on the Viltrox website for $854, which is a temporary discount from its $899 price.

Buy now: $854 at Viltrox

Google Pixel 9a: Enhanced AI meets camera compromises

Digital Photography Review news -

Photo: Google

Google has announced its latest budget smartphone, the Pixel 9a, which does away with the iconic camera bar by making the cameras smaller. The tech giant claims the new model offers an ideal balance of features and price. Despite that, the team acknowledged that the camera is what draws people to the Pixel lineup, so Google says it aimed to provide quality image-making features on the budget-focused device, claiming it is the best camera in its class.

Resolution Sensor size Aperture Field of view Wide rear camera 48MP Type 1/2
(6.4 x 4.8 mm) F1.7 82°
(25mm equiv) Ultra wide rear camera 13MP Type 1/3.1
(5.0 x 3.7mm) F2.2 120°
(12.5mm equiv) Front camera 13MP Type 1/3
(4.7 x 3.4mm) F2.2 96.1°
(∼19mm equiv)

Like the Pixel 8a, the 9a features a wide-angle main camera and an ultra-wide. Those who want a dedicated telephoto camera will need to upgrade to the Pro lineup of Pixel phones. While the dual camera layout remains consistent, Google opted for a different main camera sensor in the new model. Instead of the 64MP wide-angle main camera on the 8a, the 9a uses the same 48MP Quad PD Dual Pixel sensor as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Main camera resolution Main camera sensor size Main camera aperture Main camera field of view Pixel 8a 64MP Type 1/1.7
(7.3 x 5.5mm) F1.89 80°
(26mm equiv) Pixel 9a 48MP Type 1/2
(6.4 x 4.8 mm) F1.7 82°
(25mm equiv)

This move to a smaller effective sensor is interesting since it's a bit of a downgrade from the 8a in terms of resolution, sensor size and aperture. Granted, due to pixel binning – the process of combining adjacent pixels together to function as a larger pixel – the dip in resolution isn't quite as significant as it may initially seem. The Pixel 8a typically produces 16MP images, while the main camera of Pixel 9a uses pixel binning to produce 12MP images.

Even though the difference isn't massive, it is still less, and it's not typical to see lower resolution in a newer model. This, combined with the slightly smaller sensor and aperture, means the computational photography and processing will need to work that much harder.

While all smartphones rely on computational photography, it seems that the hardware downgrade in the 9a makes it even more dependent on AI image processing.

While all smartphones rely on computational photography, it seems that the hardware downgrade in the 9a makes it even more dependent on AI image processing. Those computational photography tools involve image processing for every image you take in the standard camera modes, along with some specialized options currently found on the Pixel 9 Pro.

One such feature is the Macro Focus setting, which is coming to a-series phones for the first time. This mode allows users to get as close as 2cm (0.8") to create pseudo-macro images or videos without a dedicated macro lens. It uses AI to detect when you are close to a subject and automatically switches to the main lens (due to its higher resolution) and macro focus setting instead of requiring a manual switch to a macro mode.

The Pixel 9a's main camera also provides optical and electronic image stabilization, though the ultra-wide rear and selfie camera do not. The main camera uses Google's Super Res Zoom, a form of digital zoom that relies on software and machine learning algorithms to crop and upscale, offering up to 8x magnification. It's no replacement for dedicated telephoto cameras, but it is better than nothing.

As we've seen with other Pixel phones, there are plenty of AI-based editing tools at play on the 9a. Google AI promises the ability to fix blurry images with Photo Unblur. The Magic Editor can automatically crop your image for you or expand the image to invent what's beyond the edges of the frame, much like you can in Photoshop. The Reimagine tool in Magic Editor can even completely change the image using AI, such as making grass green or adding entirely new items to a photo to change the scene.

Image: Google

Of course, the most obvious change with the 9a is the new design that ditches the protruding "camera bar" that has become synonymous with Pixel phones, in favor of a flatter design. Google says this design is inspired by "nature and water droplets," which seems like a stretch, but it is certainly more minimal. It's also slightly more durable than previous models, with a bump from IP67 to IP68 protection and a new scratch-resistant Actua display.

The Pixel 9a steps up to the Tensor G4 chipset, which is the same chip that's in the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. It also features the largest battery in the a-series, promising up to 30 hours of battery life or 100 hours in Extreme Battery Saver mode. When it needs a charge, the phone supports fast charging and wireless charging. Google has also promised seven years of OS and security updates, prolonging the life of the phone.

Image: Google

The Pixel 9a will be available for purchase beginning in April for $500. It comes in 128GB or 256GB storage capacities and is available in four colors: Obsidian, Porcelain, Peony and Iris (the black, cream, pink and blue colors pictured above).

Powerful anti-aging superfood found in the leftovers of Filipino rice wine

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A rice wine native to the Philippines has grabbed the attention of researchers looking into new, natural ways to slow biological aging. But it's not the wine itself – sorry – in the spotlight, but what's left over after the liquid is ready to bottled.

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Category: Diet & Nutrition, Wellness & Healthy Living, Body & Mind

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Paxlovid 2.0: Next generation of COVID antiviral hits final human trials

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Back in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, scientists at Pfizer revealed the development of a novel antiviral molecule, designed to hinder the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s ability to replicate. Clinical trials moved quickly, and by the end of the year we had the very first oral COVID antiviral, called nirmatrelvir.

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Category: Infectious Diseases, Illnesses and conditions, Body & Mind

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Eclipsed by aurora: How one photographer combined two celestial events

Digital Photography Review news -

A still shot from Zafra's timelapse of the event.

Photo: Dan Zafra

Capturing the total lunar eclipse is special enough, but one photographer took things to the next level. Dan Zafra saw the forecast for a period of high solar activity during last week's lunar eclipse and traveled from his Las Vegas home to the Alaskan Arctic to capture the rare event.

Aurora trips are typically best with a new moon because it ensures the darkest possible skies, enhancing the aurora's visibility. This time was an exception, though the eclipse yielded a similar result. "The total lunar eclipse meant that the Moon would darken, allowing the northern lights to shine even brighter," Zafra said.

Photo: Dan Zafra

Getting the timing and location right was a significant challenge, Zafra said. He had to calculate where to be to ensure both the Moon and potential aurora were in the same composition. Location scouting was part of this process, though the subzero temperatures added to the challenge. He finally settled on a frozen lake south of Fairbanks, Alaska, which offered an unobstructed horizon.

The weather made things challenging the night of the event, too. Zafra had to contend with -23°C (-10°F) temperatures, requiring he switch between thin glove liners for dexterity and thicker gloves to keep feeling in his fingers. Cold temperatures also drain batteries quickly. He kept spares in his jacket, swapping them out as needed. He says he used six batteries in total between his three cameras.

Adding to the difficulty was the predictably unpredictable aurora. "At one point, my timelapse framing was completely off—the aurora surged higher in the sky than I expected," Zafra said. "I had to quickly reframe the shot mid-sequence, all while monitoring my other cameras."

Photo: Dan Zafra

Despite the challenges, Zafra managed to capture multiple shots of the event. A telephoto image, created using a 400mm telephoto lens on a Benro Polaris start tracker, enabled a close-up view to show detail on the surface of the Moon. On the opposite side of the spectrum, a 20mm wide-angle lens allowed him to capture a wide view of the entire scene, showing how grand the aurora was. He also created a timelapse of the event to show it all in motion, which you can see below.

Due to the extreme contrast between the Moon and the surrounding aurora, the final images involved some post-processing. Zafra says he bracketed multiple exposures during the shoot. He then used PixInsight to extract details from the Moon and Photoshop to blend them together with the aurora background. The wide-angle image required less editing, with a single exposure for the Moon and one for the landscape. The timelapse was processed with LRtimelapse.

Zafra says that of all of the images he captured that night, the telephoto shot is his favorite. "I’ve seen countless lunar eclipses and auroras separately, but never like this," he said. "It was as if the entire sky was working together to put on a show."

You can see more behind-the-scenes content and more of Zafra's incredible work on his Instagram page or website.

The Stark Varg SM may be the first proper electric Supermoto for the US

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I know many folks who dismissed Stark's initial announcement of the Varg, a 60–80 horsepower electric dirt bike intended to compete with conventional gas-powered motocross bikes, as just another ambitious EV project that would never reach the market.

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Category: Motorcycles, Transport

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Panasonic S1RII: Studio tests confirms image quality is up to par

Digital Photography Review news -

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Photo: Mitchell Clark

As part of our ongoing review of the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1RII, we shot our standard test scene, to see how its sensor performs.

We're moving to a pattern of shooting test scenes together in batches, rather than risking delays to reviews, but the S1RII is a camera built around a sensor we've not seen before, so we rushed it straight into our studio to see how it performs.

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Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes to see the effect of different lighting conditions.

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The results are pretty positive. In terms of detail capture, the S1RII performs as we'd expect, capturing less detail than the 61MP Sony a7R V but with no meaningful difference vs the likes of the Canon EOS R5 II, Nikon Z8 or its own predecessor.

There's a fair bit of moiré visible in various places suggesting there's no anti-aliasing filter. But it's not significantly more pronounced than in most of its rivals, suggesting we were just unlucky that we got to see some artefacts in one of our real-world shooting. If anything, looking around various high-frequency targets in the scene, Panasonic's JPEG engine seems to be doing a pretty good job of suppressing the effects of moiré.

In terms of color rendition the Panasonic looks a lot like its immediate peers, with no significant differences in most colors, compared with its peers. The light skin tone patch is perhaps a fraction more pink than Canon's rendering, but there aren't any nasty surprises: something backed up by our experiences of shooting with the camera.

Noise levels seem competitive at low to moderately-high ISO settings but it looks like noise reduction is being applied to the Raws at the higher ISO settings, with distinct blurring of the noise patterns. JPEG noise reduction strikes a pretty good balance between noise suppression and detail retention, but gets a bit overwhelmed at the highest settings.

Dynamic range:

The S1RII's sensor is a modern design with dual conversion gain; it has Panasonic's 'Dual Native ISO' function that lets you decide exactly where the switch in modes happens, but at default settings, it's at ISO 400 that the switch happens. Sure enough, if you brighten an ISO 320 image, you'll see it has slightly more noise than images shot at ISOs above that point, with the same exposure.

The further you venture into the ISOs from that low gain mode, the more noisy you'll find the very deep shadows (this is exactly the read noise that using the higher gain step minimizes). So the widest possible dynamic range is encountered at ISO 80, but if you're tempted to underexpose in low light, to protect highlights, you shouldn't venture below ISO 400.

The S1RII has a lower base ISO than its predecessor, so you can't make a direct comparison (the new camera receives 1/3EV more light), but even with that slight discrepancy, it's results seem comparable. It's a competitive result, even compared with the best of its peers.

Summary

It's pretty apparent that the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1RII is built around the IMX366 sensor from Sony Semiconductor. So we see a sensor with dual conversion gain giving lots of dynamic range at base ISO and well-controlled noise once you move to the second gain mode. Its BSI design means its high image quality should be maintained right to the corners of the image, as it means the pixels can reliably receive light from more acute angles than on older FSI sensors.

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It does this while being fast enough to deliver 8K footage at an acceptable rate (though not great by video camera standards), despite taking the unusual step of using a slower, 13-bit readout mode, which should give it a DR edge over its peers. We'll be looking more closely at that in the coming weeks. But on the stills side of things, the S1RII seems to be built on predictably firm foundations.

Clever tiny house maximizes space with flexible, storage-filled interior

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Tiny house firms are always trying to think up new ways of maximizing every inch of available space. Modern Tiny Living has hit upon a neat approach to this with its Shadow model, which features a living room that seats six, has lots of storage, and also doubles as a guest bed.

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Category: Tiny Houses, Lifestyle

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I wasn't prepared for how the Nikon Zf changed my shooting style

Digital Photography Review news -

Photo: Abby Ferguson

As a tech journalist and photography educator, I've been lucky enough to get my hands on a variety of cameras. While each differs somewhat regarding menu systems, button placement and ergonomics, they are mostly subtle differences that haven't drastically altered my shooting style or process. That was not the story with the Nikon Zf, though, which surprised me by how much it changed the way I photograph.

The Nikon Zf has been available since October 2023, but I only recently had a chance to use it for the first time. As someone who learned photography on film (with a Pentax K1000, to be precise) and still shoots film, I have admired the camera's looks since it was first announced. I'm a sucker for that vintage film camera vibe, after all. Plus, I like having physical dials for my exposure settings, mainly for nostalgia.

My first time using the Zf was on a hike. It was a last-minute decision to bring it, so I didn't put any thought into using it instead of my trusty Sony a7 III. I knew the physical dials would change how I interacted with the camera and assumed there would be an adjustment period, but that was all. I certainly didn't set out with the intention of using the camera differently or think that my fundamental process would change. I simply tossed the Zf in my backpack as I would any other camera and set off.

Almost immediately, though, I noticed that the way I interacted with the camera was altered. In many ways, it felt much more like using a film SLR than a mirrorless camera. For starters, I exclusively used the viewfinder, not the rear display, to compose my images. That hasn't been the case since I switched to mirrorless many years ago.

The more significant change, though, was that my process slowed down.

The more significant change, though, was that my process slowed down, and I was much more selective about what I took photos of. On that hike, I took less than half of the images I typically take on a hike of a similar distance. Of course, some of this could be attributed to the location and general mood that day, but I was also distinctly aware of a shift in my mindset.

When I take photos during hikes with my Sony, I snap away. I pay attention to composition and subject matter, but it's often a more rushed process. I'm willing to take a handful of shots to get the composition or exposure right instead of slowing down and getting one shot that does what I want. I even take quite a few photos while still walking and not looking closely at the display. With the Zf, though, I was much more intentional about getting the composition where I wanted it in the first frame. I also didn't take photos at all unless I was excited about the scene, and I didn't take any frames while walking.

Photo: Abby Ferguson

Overall, using the Zf was much more reminiscent of how I shoot with film when I have limited frames to work with, and each one costs at least a dollar or so. Whether it was the physical dials and their placement that made me slow down, the vintage design that tricked my brain into thinking I was shooting film or a combination of the two, I'm not sure. But it was truly surprising how a very modern mirrorless camera could shift my process so dramatically.

Of course, Nikon isn't the only camera company offering vintage design and dedicated control dials. It wasn't even the first. This design choice has been a trend in recent years, and cameras from other companies could indeed provide the same effect.

No matter what the cause, the Zf brought back a sense of mindfulness to my photography that I had missed when shooting with digital cameras. In fact, I recently came back to shooting film after years away because I missed the push to slow down. Whether or not this change is sustainable as I keep using the camera remains to be seen. It could also be that I can put that mindset into practice with other cameras without control dials now that I am more cognizant of the change. No matter what, it was a refreshing change that certainly made me more aware of my approach and how different tools can shape my process.

The Aerothrust propulsion system: An insanely great idea

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It might look dumb, but this little engine catalyzed the American Air Boat industry, and its legacy might yet have several more significant chapters in general transportation. Pusher engine technology can create very efficient vehicles, capable of doing things better ... maybe even for personal transport. Just not like this!

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Category: Urban Transport, Transport

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Married men have a big problem, large new study finds

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Men tend to be happier with life when they're married, as many studies have identified over the last few decades. But new research shows they also become fatter. In fact, they're more than three times more likely to be obese than men who remained unmarried.

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Wild neo-vintage camper concept with zero-gravity tailgate up for sale

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Exhibition vehicles often make a big splash for a couple weeks, maybe months, then disappear quietly to never be heard of again. Not the case for the jaw-dropping Camper Schmiede "Marilyn Onroad" camper van. One of the most distinctively appointed camper vans ever concocted is now ready to travel far beyond the gates of any exhibition hall. The six-sleeper camper van features a delightfully vintage-grade interior with transformable spaces and more outdoor living amenities than you'll find at some parks.

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Category: Automotive, Transport

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