Want to see exactly what the new Zeiss lenses look like in the flesh? We have compiled a hands-on gallery for your perusal.

Want to see exactly what the new Samyang 10mm f/2.8 manual-focus ultra-wide angle lens looks like in the flesh? We have compiled a hands-on gallery for your perusal.

Carl Zeiss has introduced a new family of autofocus lenses for compact system cameras (CSCs). Initially comprising a 12mm f/2.8, a 32mm f/1.8 and a 50mm f/2.8 macro lens - equivalent to 18mm, 48mm and 75mm respectively -, this new range of Zeiss AF lenses will be available for Sony E-bayonet (Sony NEX cameras) and for Fujifilm X-bayonet (Fujifilm X cameras). The X-mount lenses will come equipped with manual aperture rings. Zeiss says it uses several “different types of glass” for the lens elements and “a mix of materials” - which include, but are not limited to, metals - for the mechanical parts. Exact pricing for the Carl Zeiss CSC lenses has yet to be communicated but the company says they will be “around the €1,000 mark” each.

Source: Carl Zeiss Camera Lens Blog

Schneider Kreuznach has announced four new SLR lenses, including two Xenons, a Makro-Symmar and a Super-Angulon tilt-shift lens. The Xenon 35mm f/1.4 and Xenon 50mm f/1.4 are the fastest lenses in the line-up, while the Makro-Symmar 85mm f/2.4 provides outstanding resolving power to match the resolution of 30+ megapixel image sensors. The Super-Angulon 28mm f/4.5 Aspheric tilt-shift lens (pictured) offers 12mm of shift and 8 degrees of tilt, and an oversized image circle with a diameter of 72mm. According to the company, “[t]he advanced technology of the mechanics allows for movements independent of each other without degrading the image quality in resolution or in distortion which makes extreme displacements possible up to the edge of the coverage.”  All lenses are available with bayonet mounts for Canon EOS, Nikon F, Sony Alpha and Pentax K series SLR cameras.

Schneider Kreuznach has unveiled a new range of lenses especially for video applications with full-format single-lens reflex cameras. The new series includes three fixed focal lengths: T2.1/75mm, T2.1/50mm and T2.1/25mm. The main feature of this new series is the precise manual focus ring, which means that the lenses can be used with professional accessories such as follow focus mechanisms. As with all Schneider-Kreuznach lenses, they are robust enough to withstand intensive daily use without any problems. All lenses are available with Canon or Nikon mount.

Want to see exactly what the new Samsung NX lenses look like in the flesh? We have compiled a hands-on gallery for your perusal.

The Samsung 12-24mm wide-angle will be launched in October for £479, and the 45mm macro f1.8 in 2012 at £229, bringing the range of Samsung NX system lenses up to 11 in total. Both the NX 12-24mm and 45mm have Samsung’s unique i-Function control and will only be available in black.

At Photokina 2012, Panasonic are showcasing mock-ups of their 43mm f/1.2 and 150mm f/2.8 Micro Four Thirds lenses, which they plan to launch sometime in 2013 or 2014. They are on display behind glass in a rather poorly-lit area of the Panasonic booth.

Schneider Kreuznach has introduced its first-ever lenses designed for the Micro Four Thirds system. The first lens in the series, the 28mm equivalent Super-Angulon 14mm f/2 wide-angle lens, will be available by the third quarter of 2013. In the fourth quarter, it will be followed by the Xenon 30mm f/1.4 “universal” prime and the Makro-Symmar 60mm f/2.4 macro lens. The Super-Angulon 14mm f/2 features 10 elements with 4 aspherical surfaces, the Xenon 30mm f/1.4 has 7 elements with 1 aspherical surface, while the Makro-Symmar is an 8-element lens. Unusually for Schneider Kreuznach, these lenses will offer auto focus capabilities as well as diaphragm control via the camera body. Pricing and exact availability to be confirmed.

Want to see exactly what the new Spark from Lensbaby looks like in the flesh? We have compiled a hands-on gallery for your perusal.

The Lensbaby Spark is a more affordable return to the company’s roots, costing £79 in the UK and $80 in the US. It’s also much easier to use for beginners than the more expensive Lensbaby models because it can’t be moved outside the field of view of an APS-C sensor. With a constant f/5.6 aperture, 50mm focal length and manual focusing, we think the cheap and very cheerful Lensbaby Spark will find a place in quite a lot of stockings come Christmas…

Lensbaby has released the Lensbaby Spark, a new selective-focus lens geared toward young photo enthusiasts who are “looking for a creative spark to help break out of the box of traditional photography.” Like most other Lensbabies, the Spark is a manual-focus lens with a sweet spot of focus that users can move around the frame by bending the lens. Unlike its more expensive stablemates, the $80 Lensbaby Spark doesnt’t come with interchangeable aperture disks but makes do with a fixed f/5.6 aperture - meaning the size of the sweet spot cannot be controlled, and depth of field is dependent solely on camera-to-subject distance. It also lacks the Lensbaby Composer’s convenient focus ring - photographers squeeze to focus, and tilt to move the sweet spot around the image. The Spark is available now.

Want to see exactly what the new HD Pentax-DFA645 Macro 90mm f/2.8 ED AW SR, HD-Pentax DA 560mm f/5.6 ED AW and Pentax DA 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 ED SDM lenses look like in the flesh? We have compiled a hands-on gallery for your perusal.

Want to see exactly what the new Fujifilm X-E1 compact system camera looks like in the flesh? We have compiled a gallery of hands-on photos for your perusal.

Sigma has announced three new lenses - the 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM, 35mm F1.4 DG HSM and 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM. Sigma has also organized all of its lenses into one of three product categories: Contemporary, Art and Sports. New Sigma Optimization Pro software and USB Dock are designed exclusively for the new lenses within the new product lines. The price and availability of the Sigma 17-70mm, 35mm, 120-300mm has yet to be announced.

The Leica TS-APO-ELMAR-S 120 mm f/5.6 ASPH. is a telephoto lens for the Leica S system, featuring tilt-shift capabilities. Designed for still-life and product photography, the Leica TS-APO-ELMAR-S 120 mm f/5.6 ASPH. is an apochromatically corrected lens offering parallel shifts (shift, rise and fall) of up to 12 mm in all directions and tilting of the plane of focus (tilt and swing) by up to 8°. The Leica TS-APO-Elmar-S 120 mm f/5.6 ASPH. is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £4,920 including VAT from January 2013.

The Leica ELPRO-S 180 is a new close-up conversion lens for the Leica APO-Elmar-S 180 mm f/3.5. Reducing the close focusing distance to 1.1 metres, this accessory lens achieves a significant increase – around 30 percent – in the reproduction ratio to 1:4.5. In contrast to the majority of apochromatic accessory lenses, the Leica Elpro-S 180 is dedicated to one particular lens, thus avoiding lateral chromatic aberrations and ensuring that there are no detrimental effects on the imaging qualities of the lens. Autofocus, exposure metering and all other camera and lens handling functions are maintained when using the add-on lens. The Leica Elpro-S 180 will be available at selected Leica dealers from October 2012.

The Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. is the first zoom lens for the Leica S system. The range of focal lengths covered by the lens is equivalent to that of a 24-72mm zoom on a 35mm camera. The lens construction is based on 14 elements assembled in 4 groups. For a zoom construction, the lens achieves extraordinarily high contrast rendition and maximum resolution wide open the company claims. The Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £7,380 including VAT from November 2012.

The Leica Super-Elmar-S 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. is a new superwide (19mm equivalent) lens for the Leica S system. With an optical formula comprising 12 elements in 10 groups, the Leica Super-Elmar-S 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. exhibits an extraordinarily high degree of freedom from distortion for such a wide-angle lens. Five of the lens elements are manufactured from glass with anomalous partial dispersion to prevent negative effects such as chromatic aberration. Two aspherical elements located behind the iris and the aspherical surface of the front lens minimise monochromatic aberrations. Thanks to the unusual construction of its focusing system, the Leica Super-Elmar-S 24 mm f/3.5 ASPH. offers extremely high image performance from the point of closest focus to infinity, the company says. The Leica Super-Elmar-S 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £5,330 including VAT from November 2012.

Phase One today announced the Phase One 645DF+ camera platform, with support for more than 50 different digital medium format digital backs and 80 different lenses from leading brands, and featuring a new high-powered rechargeable Li-ion battery enabling up to 10,000 captures on a single charge. Billed as “the world’s most versatile camera platform for high-end photography,” the Phase One 645DF benefits from an enhanced auto focus system with an all-new custom adjustment feature, and offers support for both focal-plane and leaf-shutter lenses. Its range extends from exposures of up to 60 minutes to as fast as 1/4000s. It facilitates flash synchronization speeds of up to 1/1600s with leaf shutter lenses from Schneider Kreuznach. The Phase One 645DF+ camera body is priced at €4290 / $5990 without a digital back.

Also today, Phase One announced the Schneider Kreuznach 28mm LS f/4.5 Aspherical lens. With edge-to-edge sharpness, an angle of view of 102°, a minimum focusing distance of only 35 cm / 1.15 feet, it is ideal for interior, land- and cityscape as well as architectural photography. The Schneider Kreuznach 28 LS lens is priced at €4290 / $5990. Both the camera and lens are available for ordering now; volume shipping begins in October 2012.

At the Photokina trade show held in Cologne, Germany, we had an opportunity to lay our hands on a prototype M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 lens. This is an interesting moderate wide-angle lens that features both a distance scale and DoF marks, making it suitable for zone focusing, much like the existing (but considerably wider) 12mm f/2 lens. In order to show you what the M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 “street photography lens” looks like in the flesh, we have compiled a hands-on gallery of 22 images.

Want to see what the new all-black Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2 Special Edition looks like in the flesh? We have put together a hands-on gallery for your perusal