If you are tired of the 8mm fisheye lenses for the Fuji X system, and you are willing to open the e-wallet …wide, available for pre-order with a late June 2023 shipping estimate is the new Fuji XF 8mm f3.5 R WR lens going for $799 at Adorama and B&H Photo… This is not a fisheye!
Pre-order Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 Di III-A RXD [Fuji X]
If you are a card-carrying member of the Fuji X system, Tamron has now revealed a Fuji X version of their 11-20mm f2.8 Di III-A RXD lens. It is available for pre-ordering for $829 at B&H Photo…
The lens has already been released in the Sony E system, where it is currently on sale for $699.
Pre-order the NEW Nikon Z8 Mirrorless AND its Battery Grip AND SmallRiG Cages
Pre-orders for the new Google Pixel 7a get freebies but pre-orders for the new Nikon Z8 full-frame mirrorless camera get the prestige of being one of the first to have it in your hands. This being a euphemism for getting no freebies 🙂
The Nikon Z8 is out for pre-order for $4000 as body-only, OR $4147 with the FTZ II Adapter kit OR $4900 with the 24-120mm f4 lens OR $5047 with both.
Pre-orders are accepted at B&H Photo and at Adorama.
The first wave of accessories is out as well, B&H has a trio of pre-order listings for SmallRiG camera cages ranging from $70 (basic) to $119 (with the battery grip attached to the camera) to $129 (handheld, no grip).
Pre-orders are also accepted for Nikon’s own MB-N12 battery grip for $347. The grip accepts two EN-EL15 batteries [BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!]
Pre-Order the NEW Google Pixel 7a with CHOICE of FREEBIE
Yesterday, surprisingly at the very end of the 2-hour long Google I/O Keynote, Google revealed their brand new Google Pixel 7a mid-range “Pure Android” phone with a price of $499! And the wait is not long, because pre-orders are already accepted!
And you have a choice of FREEBIES! If you buy it from The Google Store directly, you get FREE Pixel Buds A-series AND a limited edition phone case.
If you are not interested in that, or want to decide what freebie to buy, Amazon is offering a FREE Amazon $50 Gift Card on purchases until 5/21/23 at 11:59pm PT or earlier if sold out.
It may have a mid-range price, but you get the Tensor G2 chip, 8GB RAM, unlocked (with Google Fi option), wireless charging, extreme battery saver (promises 72 hours), Google One VPN, 6.1″ FHD up to 90Hz, etc, etc, etc…
$100 Gift Card FREE with OnePlus 11 Pre-Orders
Hot on the heels of the Samsung Galaxy S23 comes the new OnePlus flagship. Never a dull moment with OnePlus, a different set of features rolls out with this model. For example, no wireless charging but the included 80W charges the 5000 mAh battery in 30 minutes.
To sale-a-brate the launch, Amazon is including a $100 Amazon Gift Card with pre-orders. There are two options for this model, the 8GB RAM / 128GB storage version goes for $699, while the 16GB RAM / 256GB storage goes for $799 and this has UFS 4.0, while the $699 version is UFS 3.1.
There might be more differences, check the various phone and tech websites and blogs and forums and YouTubes and such…
Here’s a camera-focused take on the 11 by Mr Mobile:
$50 to $100 Amazon Gift Card with Samsung Galaxy S23 preorders
Amazon is offering its own gift cards as pre-order freebies with the pre-order purchase of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 flagships. The gift card amount depends on the model:
+ $50 Amazon gift card with the Samsung Galaxy S23 (256GB version) for $800
+ $100 Amazon gift card with the Samsung Galaxy S23+ (Plus) (512GB version) for $1000
+ $100 Amazon gift card with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (512GB version) for $1200
+ this is the one with the S-Pen
+ please feel free to send me this one as a tape-delayed Xmas present 🙂
SPEAKING of Amazon, for a limited time they are running a sale on some of their Kindle e-readers, including the Paperwhite Signature, regular and Kids variants, and the 2022 “basic” Kindle. Nothing beats a Kindle (or other e-ink e-readers) when it comes to reading text-only e-books!
B&N: 25% off Book Pre-Orders with coupon (39 photography options)
Good until the end of day on 1/27/23, coupon code PREORDER25 gets you 25% off Book Pre-Orders at the Barnes and Noble website. The coupon is good for online orders only. Terms, restrictions, limitations, etc, etc, apply…
They even have 39 pre-order books in the Photography Category, including a biography of Richard Avedon.
Please note that these are pre-orders, so the publication/shipping date may be far far far into the future 🙂
PS: while on their website, look for the “See All Offers” text at the top right corner of their website (as seen on a laptop screen) that shows in-place their other offers, including $20 off on one of their Nook e-readers (GlowLight 4e).
Pre-order the new Fuji X-T5 camera starting at $1700
Say what you will about Fuji’s APS-C cameras, but they look very …photographic! If you can’t resist that siren’s call, and you have $1700+ to spare, the new Fuji X-T5 is now available for pre-ordering with a November 17 estimated release date!
The body only goes for $1700, while the kit with the XF 16-80mm f4 R OIS WR goes for $2200, and the kit with the XF 18-55mm f2.8-4 R LM OIS WR goes for $2100. Zoom more for $100 more 🙂
For those who have not been paying particularly close attention, we are at the 40-megapixel X-Trans BSI sensor now, with Pixel Shift Multi-Shot getting you 160 megapixels. Focus points are growing too, now at 425 phase detection points 🙂 IBIS, yes, Idris Elba’s second cousin, now promises up to seven stops.
Burst mode goes up to 15/20fps, with the mechanical shutter promising half a million actuations. Battery promises up to 680 frames. Video is up to 6.2K. And on and on and on.
Pre-orders are available right now at B&H Photo and at Adorama…
You owe it to yourself to live the Fuji shooting experience, but of course you don’t have to pay $1700+ for this camera – there are plenty of older models (KEH link) circulating in the market!
Curious about this camera? Here’s a 10-minute YouTube-embedded initial review by Dpreview Television:
Pre-Order new 10.2-inch Kindle Scribe e-reader with Pen starting at $340
Speaking of e-readers, the time has come dear friends. Well, the shipping estimate is late November 2022, but if you wished for a larger screen Kindle, and you are willing to part with at least $340, Amazon is accepting pre-orders for the new 10.2-inch Kindle Scribe devices. That’s right, a larger screen e-reader, for the first time since the good old Kindle DX!
There are two pen options, the Basic Pen and the Premium Pen, the $340 option includes the Basic Pen. Storage options range from 16GB to 64GB, and supports 5GHz Wifi as well. It is a 300ppi Paperwhite display. Charging via USB-C. You also get 4 months of Kindle Unlimited, so for the first four months you’ll have A LOT of e-books to read and stress test the new Scribe 🙂
PS: if you happen to buy it and not want it, please free free to send it to me 🙂
Pre-order 55″ Samsung Odyssey Ark, Get $200 Gift Card!
If you’ve fallen for Samsung’s new 55-inch Odyssey Ark display, B&H Photo is giving you 200 more reasons to place a pre-order! For a limited time, if you pre-order the Odyssey Ark for its starting price of $3500, you will also receive a $200 B&H Photo e-gift-card!
The promotion runs as long as you see it mentioned at the aforelinked product page. If you no longer see it mentioned, it means it expired for new buyers.
Pre-order the new M2 MacBook PROs starting at $1299
Wallets at the e-ready! B&H Photo is now accepting pre-orders for the recently revealed M2 MacBook PROs starting at $1299 for the 8GB RAM with 256GB SSD model.
Memory options include 16GB and 24GB with a +$200 jump at each step. Storage options include 500GB and 1TB with a +$200 jump at each step, and a 2TB option with a +$800 on the base price.
Optionally B&H has a “buy together and save” option with a “up to $24 off” combined purchase discount on the Logitech MX Master 3 or MX Anywhere 3 mice. Which is reasonable, you don’t pay for M2 and then use a $10 Amazon mouse 🙂
Preorder the new 12.4″ Surface Laptop GO 2 for $700-$800
Per The Fairness Doctrine (TM), since we previously mentioned the M-series MacBooks we must also mention a Microsoft Surface product 😉
And what a coincidence, the “Surface Laptop GO 2”, a multi-touch 12.4-inch actual laptop is now available for pre-ordering for $700 (128GB on-board) or $800 (256GB) at B&H Photo and Amazon and such…
This has 8GB RAM, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 4-Core (11th Gen), 12.4″ 1536 x 1024 PixelSense touchscreen with Intel Irix Xe graphics, Wifi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, one of each USB A and C ports, fingerprint reader, Windows 11, etc.
The laptop supports the Surface Pen but it is NOT included. It promises up to 13.5 hours battery life.
PS: 128GB is just too “Apple” (aka too little) for the price 🙂
Pre-Order new Fuji XF 18-120 and 150-600 lenses
In addition to the just announced X2Hs camera, Fuji has also revealed a couple of mainline/mainstream X-system XF lenses, and they are designed to make your wallet cry capture great photos 😉
+ XF 18-120mm f4 R LM PZ WR for $899 at ADorama and B&H Photo
+ shipping estimate is mid-September 2022
+ XF 150-600mm f5.6-8 R LM OIS WR for $1999 at B&H Photo and Adorama
+ shipping estimate is early July 2022
+ here’s a 4-minute overview by B&H:
Pre-order the new Fuji X-H2s for $2500
A very memorable memorial day for Fuji fans (it’s a self-writing pun!), as Fuji has officially announced their brand new X-H2s flagship camera with a 26mp stacked BSI X-Trans APS-C sensor, up to 7-stops of in-body stabilization, 6.2K/30P 3:2 aspect ratio, AI auto-focus, both SDXC UHS-II and CFexpress Type B, 15fps mechanical shutter (40fps electronic), both OLED EVF and vari-angle 3″ touchscreen (plus monochrome sky-facing LCD for settings), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, full size HDMI, PC sync, uses the NP-W235 battery, etc, etc, etc…
The camera is available for pre-ordering for $2500 as a body only. It also has three “with lens” kits that bundle it with Fuji’s two T2.9 video-priority pro zooms. The third kit is with both T2.9 zooms. The prices are (of course) high (if you have to ask…).
Pre-orders are accepted at B&H Photo and at Adorama and such…Shipping estimate is early July 2022…
Here’s a 12-minute video overview of the camera by Jake Estes of House B&H:
Along with it are three H2S-dedicated accessories, a $199 camera cooling fan, and $399 VG-HX battery grip, estimated to ship along with the camera in early July 2022. There’s also a $999 file transmitter grip estimated to come out in mid-September (along with the new XF lenses)…
BUT that’s not all! Wooden Camera is also releasing a handful of H2S dedicated accessories (camera cages, etc). But they are also sneaking in a couple of general use adapters, PL lenses to either X-system bodies or GFX bodies…
PS: since the X-H2S uses the existing NP-W235 li-ion battery, if you want to save, for $30 you can get the B&H Photo Watson Li-Ion…
Pre-ORDER new CANON APS-C R7 and R10 cameras
Managing 2+2 parallel camera systems must not be a fun adventure at the Canon and Nikon headquarters, but reality and the realpolitik of photography demand so. Okay, enough nonsense 🙂
Canon has revealed today two new APS-C mirrorless cameras in the R/RF system, along with two new R/RF APS-C lenses that will be offered in official kits with these two cameras. The same DSLR APS-C playbook repeating itself? 🙂
VROOOM PROMISES the CANON R7
The Canon R7, faster than the speed of life per Canon, promises 15fps using mechanical shutter, 32mp, in-body image stabilization with up to seven stops, dual UHS-II SD slots, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, DiGiC X, EVF and vari-angle touchscreen, USB-C and such…
Sounds good but can it beat the legendary Olympus E-100 RS? I don’t think so 🙂
It is available in two standard kits, body only for $1500, or with the newly announced RF-S 18-150mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM lens for $1900. Pre-orders are accepted at B&H Photo and Adorama and such…
Here’s a couple of 3-minute “trailers” for the camera by Canon herself:
CANON R10 goes for the $1K PRICE POINT
For those wanting to stay close to the psychological $1K price-point Canon has revealed the R10 APS-C mirrornyet camera. It will be available as body only for $980, with the new RF-S 18-45mm f4.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens for $1100, or with the new RF-S 18-150mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM lens for $1380.
The R10 has a 24mp APS-C sensor, and shares some but not all (single UHS-II card, only version 2.0 USB-C, etc, etc, etc) of the R7 features. It’s a $500 price difference after all 🙂 The detailed comparison is your homework assignment for the week!
Pre-orders are accepted at B&H Photo and also at Adorama…
The R10 has gotten just one 3-minute “trailer” from Canon instead of the two of the R7 😉
DISAMBIGUATION POINT
This may potentially cause some confusion to those new to the Canon RF world. There is an existing previously released Canon BG-R10 Battery Grip that is designed for the R5 and R6 mirrorless cameras.
Life would be just way too easy if the camera name matched the battery grip name 🙂
Pre-order new DJI Mini 3 PRO drone
New drone time! DJi has revealed their new Mini 3 PRO drone and its related accessories and bundles and already pre-orders are accepted at Adorama and at B&H Photo…
The drone itself goes for $669, while the two controller kits go for $759 and $909…
Optionally you can pre-order various other accessories such as “Fly More” kits and charging hubs and such…
Now accepting pre-orders: iPad Airs (M1 chip)
If you are looking to buy the new M1 chipped iPad Airs, we have good news for you, B&H Photo is now accepting pre-orders, starting at $599…
We broke down the various options in our earlier post…
iPad Airs with M1 chip: NO pre-orders yet
The star of the Apple March 2022 announcement were the previously mentioned MAC Studios but for fans of the M1 chip and iPads, they had some great news as well, as the fifth generation of the 10.9-inch iPad Air is getting the M1 processor now!
iPad Air (M1 chip) Pre-Orders NOT available
Pre-orders are not available yet (as of the time of writing) but you can plan ahead by perusing the detailed listing at B&H Photo. There are five color options this time, a sign that Apple is expecting a lot of sales and upgrades.
Prices start at $599 with (a rather miserable for the price) 64GB of storage. An extra +$150 takes you to 256GB of storage, but there is no 128GB option in-between. If you want 5G as well, that’s a +$150 as well. In other words, the top iPad Air is $899.
Compare to M1 iPad PROs of 2021
If you cannot wait for the Airs, or you are not mesmerized by their features/specs, let’s take a look at the existing iPad PROs that came out in 2021 with the M1 chip.
The 11-inch iPad PRO models start at $749 but with 128GB of on-board storage. 5G is a +$200. Storage options go up to 2TB, with the 256GB and 512GB steps being +$150 each.
The 12.9-inch iPad PRO models start at $999 with 128GB storage. 5G is +$200. Somehow storage is more expensive (!) on this model, with the 256GB being +$200 and the 512GB being +$300. Apple tax on top of the Apple tax 🙂
BUT that’s not all. Optionally you can add Apple Care for +$129/$149, and the Magical Mystical Supernatural Super Serious Sweet Delirious Magic Keyboard for +$299/$340. Higher prices for the 12.9″ models…
Pre-order the all-new Apple Mac Studios with M1 Ultra and M1 Max technologies
As Morrissey sang, Panic on the streets of Wintel! Apple has revealed their new line of “Mac Studio” computer boxes, and along with them comes the “M1 Ultra” line of processors, which is literally two “M1 Max” glued together with Apple’s magic special secret sauce that does not add overhead. As Apple revealed during the event, the “M1 Max” had some of the secret sauce built-in that Apple had not previously disclosed. Or something like that.
Anyways, wallets, open wide…
M1 ULTRA PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE
The new Mac Studios are now available for pre-ordering at B&H Photo. The official shipping date is March 18 but for some higher-demand models, the date can and will slip. YMMV as usual with highly anticipated new releases.
The 48-core GPU “M1 Ultra” models start at $3799 with 64GB RAM and 512GB on-board SSD storage, and peak at $6999 with 128GB RAM and 8TB storage. (The CPU is 20-core in both “M1 Ultra” options).
If 48 cores are not enough for your needs, the 64-core GPU “M1 Ultra” models start at $4799 with 64GB RAM and 512GB storage. That’s a +$1000 difference between this and the 48-core option. The peak of this is with 128GB RAM and 8TB for a very used Honda Civic price of $7999.
So if you want to check out the new “M1 Ultra” technology, the entry-point is $3799.
M1 MAX PREORDERS AVAILABLE
The “M1 Max” models have 10-core CPU and the variable here as well is the GPU…
The 24-core GPU options start with 32GB RAM and 512GB storage for $1999 and climb up to $4799 with 64GB RAM (no 128GB option) and 8TB storage.
If you want more GPU power, the 32-core GPU options with 32GB RAM and 512GB storage start at $2199. That’s $200 more for 8 GPU cores more. That’s just $25 per extra GPU core 😉 These too max out at 64GB RAM and 8TB storage for $4999.
So if you want to check out the new Mac Studios without paying an “Ultra” premium, the entry point is $1999. That’s nearly half of the entry-point “Ultra”, but the entry-point Ultra has double the RAM.
Needless to say, Wintel executives wake up at night with a Tim Cook on stage announcing new Mac PROs with “M1 Super Dooper MEGA Premium MAX Ultra” technology that glues together 64 “M1 Ultra” processors with no overhead 😉
Pre-order the all new Pixel 6 phones for $599 or $899 [PRO] with FREE Pixel Buds
Google has just revealed their new Pixel 6 flagship phones and they priced them at old-school flagship prices. The actual flagship is the Pixel 6 PRO model going for $899 and for a limited time you can get free Google Pixel Buds at the B&H Photo pre-order page. The Google Store page is currently getting hammered as the hype machine is building steam for the phone.
Meanwhile the standard Pixel 6 (B&H Photo) is pre-orderable for $599 with the free Google Pixel Buds.
The above prices are for the 128GB models. The 256GB models go for $100 more on either options. As of the time of writing B&H only offers the 128GB models.
With the Pixel 6 models, Google is offering a minimum of five years of security updates.
The PRO flagship has an insane 12GB RAM, which cannot be found on most Windows computers LOL.
Google said during the live-stream that October 28 is the official release date…
More details on these and unboxings can be found on your favorite tech and smartphone websites and YouTubes and TikToks 🙂
UPDATE: meanwhile at the official Google USA store the Pixel 6 PRO models in the Unlocked option are already sold-out, while some of the options remain in the “Google FI” option. I did not check the Verizon option… The Pixel 6 standard model is not sold out because the HYPE MACHINE is roaring mainly for the PRO model.
Pre-order the new 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite starting at $140 (w/Ads, 8GB) OR Signature Edition for $190 (no Ads, 32GB, wireless charging, auto-adjusting light sensors)
Hooray-hooray e-reader fans! As rumor-leaked, Amazon has finally decided to increase the screen-size of the Paperwhite Kindle e-reader!
The new waterproof 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite e-reader is available for pre-ordering with an October 27 (2021) release date estimate. This is also known as the 11th generation Kindle.
The price of the 8GB base-model Paperwhite with Sponsored Ads is $140, and Without Ads is $160.
Unlike the past, this time around Amazon is adding more features and a different name to the 32GB model. IT is the Paperwhite Signature Edition and it goes for $190 (without Ads option only). So that’s only $30 more than the without-Ads base-model Paperwhite and you get three more benefits see paragraph below:
In addition to 32GB instead of 8GB, the Signature edition offers wireless charging AND auto-adjusting light sensors. These three features are NOT available on the 8GB base model. So 32GB is no longer just for manga and long complicated ebooks and PDFs and large libraries of ebooks/docs 🙂
Amazon also offers bundles with various accessories (cork case, fabric case, leather case) that include a wireless charging dock (for the 32GB Signature edition – NICE!). Needless to say these cost more but not a lot more. For example, the Leather bundle is only $230 (so it’s +$40 for the Leather accessories bundle)…
You can see most of the available bundles at the Kindle Bundle Best Sellers list…
For a limited time, the two adult Paperwhite models come with a 4-month FREE Kindle Unlimited subscription. A great way to read a LOT of ebooks (especially if you like to binge-read). Just post a couple of alerts in your calendar to cancel if you don’t want it to auto-renew. Or if you forget, pester the customer service to undo it 🙂
There’s also a Kids edition that is based on the base 8GB Paperwhite for $160 that includes enough freebies that some adults may choose to buy it? (free access to select Kindle Kids ebooks, 2-year worry-free guarantee). Three color options, one is black, the other two are kidz-stylez 😉
The now previous generation 8GB 6-inch Paperwhite (with Ads) has dropped to $80. I doubt the new 6.8″ Paperwhite is gonna get anywhere this close in price, somebody has to pay for the R&D that went into the new 6.8″ display and e-reader innards and wireless charging and such 😉
There’s also a 20% off Trade-In promotion. You get 20% off on this new purchase, PLUS a gift card for the value of your old Kindle. The system finds the Kindles linked to your account and automatically makes offers on them. For example, I got a $5 gift card ofer for one of the prehistoric Kindle with Keyboard devices. So the benefit is not the $5 I would get on the value of the old Kindle, but the 20% off discount I would get on the purchase price of the all new device!
PS: if you have any old unused Kindles hanging around, and want to get the 20% Trade-In discount, you may want to revitalize them (charge, link to your account, etc), to become eligible for the 20% off trade-in discount. Having said that, I don’t know if their system has any measures in place to prevent making upgrade offers on newly-registered devices. Unfortunately I don’t have any extra unregistered Kindles lying around to test it.
PS2: please feel free to send me the new 6.8″ Paperwhite Signature edition if you don’t want it 😉
Pre-order the NOT-YET-Announced Samsung flagship phone with extras (from Samsung herself!)
Trying to jump ahead of the crowd, the official Samsung website is accepting reservation pre-orders of the yet to be announced Samsung flagship smartphone. This will be officially announced on Tuesday August 10 in 2021 at 10am eastern in an online-streaming Samsung Unpacked event.
The bonuses offered by Samsung are:
- first 12 months of Samsung Care are included (with purchase of a 36-month Care plan)
- up to an extra $100 in trade-in value
- a yet to be revealed “extra special offer”
As this is a reservation pre-order, no prices or model names are revealed 🙂
PS: if I decide to live-tweet the Samsung Unpacked event, I will post an alert on this blog as well; do people still live-tweet things or is that a thing of the past nowadays? 🙂
Pre-order bonuses with Samsung Galaxy S21* pre-orders
Yesterday, a day after the official “Diet CES 2021” ended, Samsung revealed their new Galaxy S three-headed flagship monster, the S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra [see Footnote #1]. If you missed the live unveiling, you can watch the 88 minute socially-distanced presentation (silver lining, COVID-era pre-recorded presentations start on time)
And as usual, Samsung is running a pre-ordering promotion until January 28 in 2021 with the freebies depending on which model you buy:
+ $100 store credit with the S21
+ $150 store credit with the S21 Plus
+ $200 store credit with the S21 Ultra
+ store credit at the Samsung.com online store and/or the Shop Samsung app
+ when you redeem the store credit at Samsung’s, a Galaxy SmartTag will be included automatically for free during checkout
+ neat trick to “encourage” using the store credit
+ promotion ends 1/28/21
The terms and conditions are a little hard to find and with fineprint at the Samsung website, so I’m cut-n-pasting them here. The terms are as of the time of writing of this blog-post. I do not know if they plan to change them in the future…
“18+ & 50 US/DC/PR/USVI only. By 1/28/21, pre-order and purchase a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, S21+ 5G, or S21 Ultra 5G on device installment plan, 2-year contract plan, lease or outright purchase at full retail price (“Qualifying Purchase”), & receive a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag ($30 value) + Samsung Credit either (i) $100 (S21 5G), (ii) $150 (S21+ 5G), or (iii) $200 (S21 Ultra 5G) (“Gift”). Only available while supplies last. By 2/28/21, using your Qualifying Purchase device, follow instructions on the Shop Samsung app (“App”) to submit required info. Gifts will be emailed apprx 4-6 weeks after verification of Qualifying Purchase. Only 47,000 $100, 37,000 $150, and 47,000 $200 Samsung Credits available. Samsung Credits are valid only at www.Samsung.com or in the App for use towards an eligible purchase, and valid through 4/30/21. Gifts subject to availability and are non-transferrable. Limit 1 Gift per Qualifying Purchase. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Additional restrictions apply. Offer subject to additional terms here. Samsung reserves the right to modify or discontinue offer at any time by posting notice on the app or website”
FootNote #1 once upon a time it was a three-headed monster. With the S20 flagship, it’s actually a five-headed monster because there’s also the “Lite” and the “Fan Edition”. Who knows how many variants we’ll get for the 2021 model? The “Stan” edition? The “Shipper” edition? The “Limited Edition”? The “Insiders” edition? The “Valentine” edition? 😉
Pre-order new Sony 35mm f1.4 Master Series prime
Master prime time! Sony has revealed a new 35mm f1.4 lens, this one is under their Masters (GM) series, not to be confused with the existing ZA. The new lens is now available for pre-ordering at B&H Photo for $1398. B&H Photo also has sample pictures and a brief hands-on experience at their Explora blog…
Speaking of which, you can check the Explora CES coverage for some of the biggest announcement at Diet CES 2021. They include a new NVidia GeForce RTX 3060 (no pre-orders yet, good luck fighting the “miners” and their “canaries” for those), another iteration of the Moto G bargain phones ($200 to $300), new MSI gaming laptops, scary-looking ASUS gaming router, two more OnePlus Nord smartphones, Sony joining the drone market with their new AirPeak brand (just as the Chinese brand are facing scrutiny and bans), TV galore of course, Wifi 6E routers, HP Firefly laptop [no, they are not picking up the tab for Firefly TV action] and more…
$30 to $50 e-GiftCards with pre-orders of new OnePlus Nord smartphones ($180 and $300)
The tech world works in mysterious ways. While the most recent OnePlus flagship series was not greeted as a liberator, OnePlus had a surprise hit with their Nord affordable line. And they have revealed two new models in the Nord line at Diet CES 2021…
For a limited time, if you pre-order them during this window, B&H Photo will include a $30 or $50 (depending on model) B&H Photo e-gift card. The offer is good while you see it mentioned at the B&H product page, look for something like this: “Includes Free: 1 item ($30.00 value)”
The Nord N100 (64GB) goes for $180 with the $30 B&H e-gift card included automatically by B&H. This phone has 4G LTE (no 5G, so you won’t regrow a tail), with 4GB RAM, SnapDrogon 460 with Adreno 610, 6.52″ (1600×720, 90Hz, IPS-type LCD, Gorilla 3) screen, USB-C, headphone jack, microSD slot, Wifi 5, Bluetooth 5, fingerprint, etc.
If you want higher specs, the 5G Nord N10 (128GB) goes for $300 with a $50 B&H e-gift card included automatically by B&H while this promotion is running. This has 6GB of RAM, SnapDrogon 690 with Adreno 619L, 6.49″ (2400×1080, 90Hz, 405ppi, Gorilla 3, IPS-type LCD) screen, USB-C, headphone jack, microSD, Wifi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, etc…
NOTE: I don’t see NFC in the B&H specs of either at their aforelinked product pages, so this is something you may want to further look into if you want to use it for contactless payments and such… Under Q&A, for the Nord N10, a B&H staff member answered a customer-question saying this has NFC… But to be certain, be sure to google around multiple places, including the usually-reliable “phone arenas” and such…
Pre-order the new Tokina 65mm T1.5 Cinema Vista [C/E/m43/PL]
This year’s “Diet CES” has brought us a not-so-diet-priced lens, it is the new Tokina 65mm T1.5 Cinema Vista prime lens available for pre-ordering at B&H Photo for $7499 in the Sony E, Micro Four Thirds, Canon EF, Arri PL, and for $7799 in Arri LPL…
Pre-order new Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD for $799 [E]
Sony E fans, in mid-January 2021 you can have in your hands a brand new f2.8 zoom lens for the APS-C E system! That’s when the estimate is for the release of the just-announced Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD lens. It has a pre-order price of $799 and already B&H Photo is accepting pre-orders…
Interesting decision to release a brand new APS-C lens in a world where full frame E-system cameras are close in price to the higher tier APS-C E-system cameras. But for those who are bought into the APS-C E-system, certainly having a compact(er) f2.8 17-70mm (25-105mm eq) lens can be quite tempting
Pre-order new Manfrotto PRO Scrim kits
Pre-order time of the Manfrotto kind! Their new PRO Scrim kits (four options, $460 to $930) are now available for pre-ordering at Adorama… Product details over there…
They come with a 2-year warranty which can be extended to a 5-year extended warranty when you register the product [which goes to show the value of one’s personal data, which most people readily hand off to Facebook and Google and such without expecting compensation for the commercial use of their personal data, but that’s a story for another day]…
Pre-order the new Sigma I-series compact mirrorless lenses (E/L)
Shiguma strikes again with a new line-up of lenses, the I-series. These are mirrorless-exclusive full-frame compact-priority lenses and they are coming out for the Sony E and Leica L 35mm-full-frame mirrorless systems. The three lenses are:
+ 24mm f3.5 DG DN for $549
+ 35mm f2 DG DN for $639
+ 65mm f2 DG DN for $699
Initially at least, the prices are the same, there is no “Leica tax”. Of course prices can change over time, eg the E-system lenses getting discounted but not the Leica [pure speculation of course].
You can preorder these lenses at B&H Photo and Adorama…
Read more about them at the B&H Explora which includes hands-on impressions and sample pictures…
Pre-order the new Apple Silicon M1 computers (ship next week)
And they are finally here! The all new Apple Silicon Mac computers. And they revealed a trio of them yesterday. No more profit-leakage to Intel. Apple keeps it all, and that’s why the prices are kept reasonable despite the big performance gains that were made in the Apple presentation…
The new M1 chip has 8 cores (four fast, four efficient), (up to) 8 GPU cores, 16 Neural cores, up to 16GB RAM, up to 2TB storage, better battery life, better security and on and on and on…
During this transition period, Apple is launching “Universal” apps, a name that didn’t go so well for Windows. Universal apps will have the binary code for both the Apple M1 apps and Intel apps in a single executable to make it easier for end-users. Non-M1 apps will use Apple’s Rosetta II emulator, which Apple claims can run faster than the original Intel Apples.
Of photography interest, Lightroom’s universal app is coming next month, while Photoshop’s universal binary is expected in 2021…
Speaking of apps, these M1 Macs can also run iOS (iPhone and iPad) apps out of the box since they are using similar underlying infrastructure…
And these are now available for pre-ordering in various configurations at B&H Photo with shipment expected to happen next week, which is when the new Mac OS “Big Sur” is expected to rollout…
+ Apple MacMinis starting at $699
+ Apple MacBook Airs starting at $999 ($899 for education)
+ 13.3″ MacBook PRO starting at $1299 ($1199 for education)
If you have 50 minutes to spare, you can watch the whole socially-distanced Apple presentation recorded at “The UFO” in Cupertino::California:
Not everyone is on the hype train though, Linus of “Linus Tech Tips” has a handful of objections…
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