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The Latest News:
The New 7Artisans AF 24mm f/1.8 Lens
credits: 7Artisans
7Artisans has officially launched the AF 24mm f/1.8 lens for Sony E-mount and it is aimed at photographers and hybrid shooters. It’s a full-frame lens with autofocus, a big deal for 7Artisans, since they have mostly focused on manual lenses in the past.
At 24mm with an f/1.8 aperture, this is a versatile wide-angle option that should work just as well for landscapes and city scenes as it should for vlogging, street portraits, or low-light video. The wide aperture helps create smooth background blur and brings in plenty of light for handheld shooting. Autofocus is driven by a stepping motor, so it should be snappy and quiet, a plus for both stills and video use.
Optically, the lens packs 14 elements in 11 groups, with a design meant to minimise distortion and chromatic aberration, especially at the edges (7Artisans claims edge-to-edge sharpness). Physically, it’s built from magnesium alloy, weighing in at 424g, which puts it in the portable-but-sturdy category. The 62mm filter thread, 0.32m minimum focus distance, and 83° angle of view round out the spec sheet. The Lens is available for $329.
You can see full details and sample shots on Pergear’s website here
Samyang’s 14-24mm f/2.8 Is Now Available
credits: Samyang
Samyang’s New AF 14-24mm f/2.8 for Sony E-mount is officially available and it’s one of the most compact full-frame ultra-wide zooms on the market with these kind of specs. It weights 445 grams and measures under 90mm in length. What makes this lens release particularly interesting is its Schneider-Kreuznach co-engineering, a partnership that’s helped pack in 15 elements in 11 groups, including aspherical, HR, and ED glass. The result? Minimal distortion, better coma control, and sharp detail from center to corner, even wide open at f/2.8.
The 14–24mm zoom range should give you the best of both worlds: ultra-wide at the 14mm end for sweeping interiors or star-filled skies, and a more contained 24mm for street, events, or even wide-environment portraits. You’re also getting standard 77mm front filter support, which is rare for a lens this wide. Autofocus is handled by a linear STM motor, which is fast, silent, and smooth. Add in a 0.18m minimum focus distance, and you can get right up close for dramatic wide-angle shots with strong foreground separation.
Extra touches include an AF/MF switch, a customizable focus hold button, and weather sealing in key areas for extra reliability on location. You can also tweak settings using Samyang’s Lens Manager software, including reassigning the focus ring to control aperture. The Lens comes in at $1420.
You can see full details on wexphotovideo’s website here
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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: High Key Lighting
So, what is high key lighting?
In simple terms, high key lighting is about using lots of light to create images that are bright, low-contrast, and basically free of deep shadows. The background is usually white or light-toned, and the whole frame kind of glows.
How to shoot high key lighting
1. Pick the right time of day
Avoid harsh midday sun, it creates hard shadows (the enemy of high key). Instead, go out at:
Overcast days – clouds act like a giant softbox.
Golden hour – early morning or late afternoon light is soft and warm.
Open shade – shoot in a shaded area but with a bright sky behind you.
2. Use a bright background
This is key. A white wall, a pale building, even a sunlit white sheet clipped to a fence—it all works. Just make sure the background is getting more light than your subject so it blows out slightly and gives you that clean, high key vibe.
3. Overexpose slightly
Just like in studio, bump up your exposure a bit to brighten skin tones and lift shadows. But don’t go too far—you still want detail in your highlights.
Creating High Key in Post-Processing
Let’s say your original photo isn’t quite bright or clean enough. No problem, you can absolutely push it in editing.
1. Boost the exposure
Bring up the overall brightness and exposure in Lightroom or Photoshop. Keep an eye on skin tones, you want them to look light, but not washed out.
2. Lift the shadows & blacks
Slide those shadow and black levels up. It flattens the contrast and gets rid of any lingering darkness in your image.
3. Add contrast carefully
It’s tempting to crank the contrast, but in high key you want to keep things soft. A touch of midtone contrast or clarity is fine, but keep it gentle.
4. Whiten the background
Use selective adjustments (like the brush tool in Lightroom) to brighten or desaturate parts of the background if it’s not white enough. You can also use masking to isolate your subject and brighten everything else around.
5. Tweak whites & highlights
Push your white and highlight sliders just enough to get that glowing, clean tone—especially in the background. Again, check your histogram so you don’t lose all the detail.
Pro tips
You can use reflectors: Bounce light back onto your subject to fill in any shadows.
Keep your background clean: High key lighting exaggerates everything. Dust, smudges, and wrinkles will stand out if you’re not careful.
Watch your histogram: Make sure you’re hitting the right balance of bright, but not blown out. Clipped highlights = lost detail.
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