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The Latest News:
Sirui’s Aurora 35mm f/1.4 Lens Announced
credits: Sirui
Sirui has officially announced the new Aurora 35mm f/1.4, making it the second lens in a series of lightweight, fast primes that kicked off with the Aurora 85mm f/1.4 earlier this year. The lens was on display at IBC Amsterdam a few days ago, giving us an early look before its official release later this month. Sirui plans to round out the Aurora series with five focal lengths in total, aiming to offer creatives a compact and affordable set of primes.
The 35mm f/1.4 is a full-frame lens that will ship in Sony E, Nikon Z, Leica L, and Fujifilm X mounts. Despite its all-metal build, it comes in at roughly 490 grams depending on the mount, which is light compared to many modern full-frame primes. The lens uses a 62mm filter thread and packs a fairly complex optical design: one SED ultra-low dispersion element, two ED elements, one high refractive index element, and three aspherical elements, all treated with nano multi-coating to help reduce reflections and improve contrast. Autofocus is handled by a stepping motor, with support for eye-tracking across compatible camera bodies.
At IBC, early hands-on impressions noted how surprisingly light the 35mm felt, especially against the backdrop of today’s often hefty high-end glass. Performance expectations are more modest than flagship lenses from Sony or Nikon, but Sirui seems to be betting on portability and price to win attention. The Aurora 35mm f/1.4 is expected to launch on September 29th for $549.
You can see full details on Sirui’s website here
LaCie’s New Rugged SSD
credits: LaCie
LaCie has added a new model to their Rugged lineup with the Rugged SSD4, a portable drive meant for people who need something a little more tough and fast out in the field. The SSD4 is rated IP54 for dust and splash resistance and has been drop-tested from three meters, so it should hold up fine to rough handling and less-than-ideal weather.
Unlike the Rugged SSD Pro5 that came out earlier this year, the SSD4 doesn’t have a fully sealed blue shell. Instead, it is a metal SSD wrapped in LaCie’s signature orange bumper, which gives it protection but not quite the same level of weatherproofing as the Pro5 (IP54 versus IP68). On the performance side, it connects over USB 40Gbps and can hit read speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s and write speeds up to 3,800 MB/s. That is more than enough for editing big photo files or 4K video straight off the drive.
The SSD4 works with Mac, PC, iPad, and phones right out of the box, and it also supports ProRes RAW recording on the iPhone 17 Pro and 4K ProRes on the iPhone 16 Pro when plugged in via USB-C. LaCie also points out that the drive uses at least 35% recycled materials by weight. The Rugged SSD4 is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB versions for $134.99, $249.99, and $479.99.
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Weekly Photo Technique Exploration
Welcome to a new section of the magazine where every week we will explore a new photography technique from across various photography genres.
This week’s technique: Prisming Photography
What Is Prisming Photography?
Prisming is when you shoot through a prism or another piece of glass to bend, distort, or reflect light into your photo. By holding a prism in front of your lens, you can add flares, rainbows, reflections, or even duplicate parts of your subject and all this straight in-camera.
You are basically using optics to get results you can’t normally achieve. Portrait photographers love it for dreamy effects, but it works just as well for landscapes, stills or (especially) abstract work.
Why Give It A Try?
It is cheap (a decent prism costs $20 + you can even use random glass or acrylic objects if you don’t want to buy a prism).
You get effects that look more organic/natural than digital overlays.
It is simply fun → you are literally bending light by hand and watching the magic happen live through your viewfinder.
Gear You Need
A camera, obviously.
A prism or similar object: triangle glass prisms are common, but you can also use crystals, pieces of glass, CDs, or even a phone screen (doesn't work that great though).
A fast prime lens (like 50mm f/1.8) makes it easier to blur out distractions and focus on the prism effect.
How to Shoot Prisming Photography
Pick Your Prism (or Glass Object)
A simple triangular glass prism is the most versatile, you can rotate it to get different rainbow flares or reflections.
Experiment with crystals, glass shards, or even a cheap chandelier piece for different effects.
Hold It Close to the Lens
Place the prism right in front of your lens (without touching it).
Move it slowly around the edges until you see interesting reflections or flares appear in your frame.
Control Your Background
Prisming works best when you have strong light sources or colorful backgrounds for the prism to bend. Sunlight, neon lights, bright skies etc. all work especially well.
Focus on Your Subject
Use manual focus if your camera struggles. Autofocus sometimes gets distracted by the prism.
Keep your subject sharp, and let the prism effects live around the edges of the frame.
Play with Angles
Tilt and rotate the prism to see how the reflections and rainbows change. Small movements make a huge difference. And most importantly —> do not get frustrated if it doesn’t work at first, just keep trying!
Camera Settings
Aperture: Wide open (f/1.8–f/2.8) to get dreamy background blur and keep the prism’s distortions soft.
Shutter speed & ISO: Really depends on your light, so just adjust for proper exposure.
White balance: Prism flares can shift colours, so lock your white balance manually if you want consistency.
Tips Before You Try
Keep a microfibre cloth handy since prisms smudge easily and fingerprints will show.
Don’t cover too much of your lens —> you want the prism to add to the photo, not block the whole scene.
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