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The Latest News:
Sigma Is Making An 85mm f/1.2 DG Art Lens
credits: Sigma
Sigma has officially announced the development of a new 85mm f/1.2 DG Art, a large-aperture medium-telephoto prime for full-frame mirrorless cameras. It joins Sigmaâs growing lineup of f/1.2 lenses, including the 35mm f/1.2 DG II Art and the 50mm f/1.2 DG DN Art. With this addition, 85mm becomes the longest focal length in Sigmaâs current f/1.2 series, a move that obviously targets portrait photographers who want the ultra-shallow depth of field look.
Because this is only a development announcement, Sigma has not shared full technical specifications yet. The company does say the lens is designed to deliver ââexceptional resolutionâ even wide open at f/1.2, which is no small claim given how demanding that aperture can be. Sigma also described the design as relatively compact and lightweight, though no measurements or weight figures have been released. Based on the single image shown so far, it does appear a bit smaller than some competing 85mm f/1.2 lenses.
The only other information that Sigma has made public so far is that the lens will feature a pair of Sigmaâs dual HLA (High-response Linear Actuators) for autofocus and that it will be available in L-Mount and Sony E-mount versions. The lens is currently scheduled to arrive in September, with pricing still to be announced.
DxO PureRaw 6 Is Here
credits: DxO
DxO PureRAW 6 is here, and it is still very much focused on one specific job, cleaning up your RAW files before you bring them into Lightroom, Photoshop, or DxO PhotoLab. Rather than acting like a full editing suite, PureRAW sits at the very start of the workflow. It handles demosaicing, noise reduction, lens corrections, and sensor defect compensation first, so you are working with a technically optimised file before you start making creative decisions. DxOâs argument is that separating the technical cleanup from the artistic editing stage leads to more consistent and higher-quality results.
The headline feature in version 6 is DeepPrime XD3, the latest iteration of DxOâs AI-driven noise reduction and demosaicing engine. XD3 is designed to hold onto very fine detail while still aggressively reducing noise, and it now supports both X-Trans and Bayer sensors, which covers most modern digital cameras. DxO positions XD3 as the choice when maximum texture retention really matters, while the regular DeepPrime 3 mode remains available for faster, more general processing. There is also a new high-fidelity compressed DNG option, which can shrink output file sizes by up to four times compared to standard DNG files, without visible quality loss. The catch is that you have to start from an original RAW file, you cannot compress an already existing DNG.
PureRAW 6 also adds automated sensor dust removal during preprocessing, using machine learning to detect and remove spots before the file moves further down the workflow. Batch parallelisation is another practical addition, allowing multiple images to be processed at the same time instead of one after another. What is still not here is AI-based automatic masking, so local adjustments remain something you will handle in other software. PureRAW 6 is available for macOS and Windows at $139.99 for a new license, or $89.99 as an upgrade from versions 4 or 5.
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Photographer Spotlight
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This time in the Spotlight: Panagiotis Koutroumpis
You can find him on Instagram as: @goatherd_k
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