Irix introduces super wide-angle 11mm for full-frame DSLRs

Anyone able to order this from anywhere yet? Still seems to be back order on all the usual sources...

Jun 30, 2017permalink

Dyun27

It is now shipping in the U.S. Got my copy two weeks ago from B&H. It was a long wait, but worth it!

Jul 27, 2017permalink

Perfect! Just in time to max out my credit card limit for the end of the minth...lol

Jul 28, 2017permalink

Looking more more like at least may 2017 now :(...

Apr 13, 2017permalink

It's now on adorama but still show backorder. guess it's not ship til at least march 20?

Mar 14, 2017*permalink

Just wish this has a manual aperture ring like the af-d Nikon lens but I understand they have to make it common with canon and all the Nikon latest lenses with no aperture ring

Feb 25, 2017permalink

Nicolas Alexander Otto

11mm for an affordable price? I wonder why Nikon and Canon can't come up with lenses like these.

Feb 23, 2017permalink

Coliban

I will believe that this lens is good when i see the first test results because even 600/800$ seems to be cheap for 11mm "FF".

Although i like the idea of coating the lenses with neutrinos. I once saw a documentation where they detected neutrinos in deep mines, some thousand meter beneath surface or in a deep russian sea where they used shining spheres to collect the neutrinos. I can imagine that it is a very high sophisticated technique and cumbersome to collect all those very small and very fast neutrinos from the middle of the earth in order to coat the lenses and it must be extreme expensive because neutrinos have no mass at all, so 600/800$ for so many neutrinos seems like a bargain.

I wonder how they transport those neutrinos, maybe in a nuclear fusion basket? Perhaps i buy one Irix lens to watch all those tiny neutrinos with my magnifying lens. Or can i see the neutrinos already with my Nikon Makro 105mm?

Feb 22, 2017*permalink

quiquae

@Coliban
Thank you for your inquiry about our neutrino coating technology. Irix lenses do indeed feature all-natural renewable neutrinos harvested from the Sun on all optical element surfaces.

As you seem to know already, these neutrinos are always moving at close to speed of light right through the lens, while the lens is mostly stationary. However, since the Sun is constantly supplying a stream of new neutrinos to replace them, at any given point in time we can expect to find millions of fresh neutrinos located at the surface of the lens. This natural renewal mechanism allows you to always enjoy our neutrino coating in a brand-new state.

While you may object to calling this arrangement "coating," English dictionaries we have here in Switzerland do not explicitly say that coating requires the coat and the substrate to be moving at the same velocity.

We hope you enjoy our neutrino coated lenses.

Feb 23, 2017permalink

speculatrix

I too saw that marketing bull****, and guessed that someone would write a suitable acerbic comment about it, and rightly so. I despise pseudo-scientific claptrap like that.

Mar 4, 2017permalink

AbrasiveReducer

If they really are able to make 11mm with such low distortion, why can't Canon and Nikon do the same? The big lens manufacturers need to watch these guys because they're suprisingly savvy. They understand concerns about ridiculously heavy lenses, the need for rear filters and obviously the prices are great. And they they give products cute names, the way Apple does.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

NJOceanView

I agree. I found a Rokinon fisheye for about $150 new on sale a couple of years ago and got it knowing I'd use it rarely. When I went to give it a test spin, it was razor sharp and it's perfect for my occasional use. Similarly, for $600 it's easy to see why this 11mm could come in very handy at least a few times a year.

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Canon has the excellent 11-24mm F4 L lens. It has very little distortion, I use it on a nearly daily basis.

Feb 23, 2017permalink

And how much does this canon lens cost again? Not to mention us Nikon shooters been left out of the 11mm til now

Feb 25, 2017permalink

Rensol

Can you imagine Neutrino "coating" on Canon or Nikon lenses?
Right, when manufacturer makes illiterate & anti-scientific statement like that it worth something. They even did not bother to TM it to claim it is just a trademark! No one thinks that Ford Fusion uses fusion to power. But these guys actually claim they did "Neutrino coating for minimum ghosting, CA and flare"!
What is that? Idiotic marketing department?

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Rensol

They have a video about neutrino coating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY-3xcsb0bU
Enjoy :)

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Biowizard

That video explains NOTHING about this so-called "neutrino" coating - note, they don't even Capitalise "neutrino", so the average punter can only be duped into thinking they have somehow captured those elusive particles which travel through space - and us - at around the speed of light. Which OF COURSE, they HAVE NOT.

Brian

Feb 21, 2017permalink

I don't like that name too, but the truth is that they wanted a cool name that could bear the meaning of a neutral color balance. In my opinion it's simply stupid both if you know what a neutrino is, because you know that you can't make a coating out of neutral charge subatomic particles, and also if you don't know what a neutrino is, because it would simply be meaningless.
But my praise goes to the Ariel Atom, not only a cool car, but even completely made by true atoms!

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Biowizard

Love your comment about the Ariel Atom! :-)

Brian

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Adrien D

In few years time, they'll get a Nobel Prize for their ability to capture and design a coating with neutrinos. By then, everyone in the scientific community would wonder why such a breaktrough in technology was just used for lens coatings...

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Seahbc

Yea. Just like the Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs". Sounds cool until you fully understand the meaning of the word. Hehe!

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Biowizard

Or for those of us old enough to remember - the Sinclair QL Computer, successor to the well known Spectrum. "QL" stood for "Quantum Leap" ... which at Imperial College, we all laughed about, as it represents the SMALLEST known change of state possible!

Brian

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Rensol

Or Quantum Speed Internet. What is that? Who knows?....
Back in Soviet Union right after revolution in 1917 people used to give their kids idiotic manes too. Such as Dazdraperma (Long Live May 1th), Lendrosh (Lenin's Flag), etc... I knew old lady who's name was (Kanalizatsia) Sewer!!! Yes her parents actually did not know meaning of word but it sounded cool at a time :))))

Feb 23, 2017*permalink

@Rensol
Those names might be common in Russia like patriotic names (like Italia and Benito) have been common in Italy during fascism: the parents who chose those name had fiscal benefits. That's why the name Italia is still quite common to old ladies, despite it literally means Italy in italian, which sounds quite silly.

Feb 23, 2017permalink

Adrien D

In France, the names France (woman), François (old name for French man), Françoise (same for a woman) were pretty popular, and still common nowadays

Feb 23, 2017permalink

sirhawkeye64

Finally a super wide angle under 14mm for NIkon FF (that's not a fisheye).

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

nemark

...Or huge!

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

sirhawkeye64

Well, Rokinon has a 12mm (but it's a fisheye) and it's actually pretty compact but feels heavy for its size.... but again, it's a fisheye. Although I think that 10-11mm is about as wide you can go without going fisheye I think. I mean, you could make a rectilinear image, but it will probably have horrible distortion lower than 10mm.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

Finally an 11mm for nikon ! ;) cant wait to get it...

Feb 21, 2017permalink

brendon1000

I like that the lens is available for Nikon, Canon and Pentax mounts but the sole sample image attached is taken from a Sony FE camera that the lens isn't native to ! :P

Feb 21, 2017permalink

minoltatron

It seems to be the general trend that Sony E mount is supported by adapters to save cost - Sony users are buying the lenses anyway with adapters, so why make them native!!
Sony A mount is out of luck, Sigma gave up on A mount years ago and Tamrons, latest lenses are not available in A mount either.

Feb 23, 2017permalink

SimenO1

Contrary to other manufacturers Irix presents price right from the start. thumbup! They also present weight on their home page (contrary to Sigmas new 24-70).

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Great to see a third party manufacturer producing also K-mount lenses. Since Pentax has actually not a single FF wideangle prime (the widest Pentax prime is 31mm, which even cannot be described as wideangle) I believe a lot of Pentax K-1 owners will buy Irix, either the older 15mm or this new 11mm.
Kudos to Irix!

Feb 21, 2017permalink

And what's sad for Pentax users like me that want wideangles (particularly AF ones) is that the apologists will then argue about how it's a good thing to not have a wideangle and how they can do the same thing with their DA70 on APSc as anyone can do on FF and 14mm. The third party support is shrinking for Pentax, which should signal the disasterous business strategies they are carrying on with, even under Ricoh ownership. There isn't even a true, modern, FF 50mm available for Pentax. Sigma won't even release their 50 ART- the staple of all photography, which should tell you all you need to know about where they think Pentax is going.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

By now the K-1 is aimed to someone who already has lenses for it, being old, third party or apsc lenses that cover the whole 135 frame. I am pretty much covered for wide angle with my 18 zeiss, and my other most used lenses are sigma 15 fish, FA 28/2.8, voigtlander 40/2, DA*50/1.4 (that beautifully covers the whole frame!), FA 50/2.8 macro, DFA 100/2.8 WR, and DA*200/2.8. Fish excluded (I replaced the 8 samyang with the sigma 15) those are all lenses I already had, so moving to K-1 was a straightforward process!

Feb 21, 2017permalink

indykpol

For wide angle work, you have the excellent 15-30 zoom which from the tests I've seen, surpasses Irix 15mm in most respects. Pentax is also expected to release its own wide and ultra wide FF primes in some future.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

sobermeier

I will add one to my K-1 if no wide angle will announced at the CP+ next week! For APS-C the DA 12-24mm is a good choice.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

SimenO1

DPPMetro: Pentax announced 5 new FF lenses this year, one wide angle, one ultra wide angle, one large aperture normal prime, and a fisheye zoom. That should answer much of what you miss.

3. party lens support is not shrinking as in a continous motion. It took one step back, and I hope Sigma will take that step forward again.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

@sobermeier;
If you already have the DA 12-24 you can buy the K-1 and use it in the 18-24 range, it will still be a good performer! You will maintain the same field of view you have on apsc, but gain the sharpness of a more than double sensor size! You can wait some time till you decide to upgrade lens!

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Toselli: so you say there are lots of APSC lenses and old film era lenses. Fools those who ask for modern lenses designed for 36 MPx fullframe. ;-)

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Scintilla Aquila

@iudex: I think Toselli's point is that APS-C lenses and old film era lenses still do the 36MP K-1 justice (except of course the stupidly cheap ones).

Modern autofocus is of course a concern, but that should be addressed by all the new lenses on the Pentax FF roadmap for this year. Toselli's comment began "by now" ("for now"?), implying that we won't need to keep filling the holes with older lenses for too much longer.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

babart

As well as Sony E users that have a PK to E adapter.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Of course there's still the need for more modern full frame glass! What I wanted to say is that actually K-1 appeals only to someone who already is covered with lenses they alredy own that in some way are suitable to full frame. The majority of the others, who only or mainly have apsc only lenses, wouldn't have bought it anyway, even if pentax would have a fleet of lenses extended as canon and nikon combined. The reason is that if it was the case the lenses they have would be useless, therefore if they really wanted they could move to full frames made by canon or nikon already years ago without much of a difference. For those ones the k-1 is simply a message that says that starting from now they can start buying FF lenses, some available now but most available in the future, to build their full frame system, one of the last pieces of which would be a full frame camera.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

Toselli: OK, it seemed you meant the opposite. As you say, there are 5 lenses to be released this year that should cover the most obvious holes in the lineup (wideangle). Anyhow it´s always good to have third party alternatives, especially when the FF lens lineup is so small by now.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

babart

I understood what you meant. I shot Pentax from back in the film days but have recently gone mirrorless to both Sony for full frame and Fuji for APS-C. For several reasons, mainly size and weight, but also for accurate focus magnifiers as I use manual focus lenses a lot on the Sony, which I mainly use for architecture. I'm thinking of buying the Irix 15 to replace my Rokinon 14, not because the latter is a bad lens, but because I bought it in Sony mount and can't really use it on Fuji equipment. Thanks for the reply.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

@simen:

There was no "announcement this year of 5 lenses".
You're talking about the perpetual roadmap, which is a joke in the industry when it comes to Pentax. Not only that, Pentax pricing has led to such accolades as "worst lens of the year: by influential critics due to the 200% upcharge in relabeling the Tamron 15-30 and the 45% for the 24-70.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

DPPMetro: what "200% upcharge" are you talking about? Tamron 15-30 costs 1199 USD, Pentax 15-30 costs 1249 USD. So negligible difference, well worth the added HD coating.
And as regards the 24-70mm, there is no difference at all (actually Pentax 24-70 is 3 bucks cheaper).

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Your price are via gray market in the US. I know because I checked. In Europe, the Pentax is 1700 EUR and rigidly controlled by Ricoh to the point that dealers are not even stocking the lenses. My local dealers can't sell the lenses and are not allowed to discount to get them out of the stores. My regular store has a 15-30 and 24-70 in store there since September. The Canon and Nikon versions are around 800 EUR, new, authorized dealers. Additionally, TCS TV gave the Pentax 15-30 the Worst Lens of 2016 award because of their outrageous pricing.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

Seahbc

I think the reason 3rd party manufacturers are reluctant to make small quantity of K mount lenses is due to that primitive aperture coupling. Now that the 1st PLM lens has appeared, I am sure 3rd party K mount lenses will be released again in time.

Feb 22, 2017permalink

@Seahbc
3rd party lenses for Nikon, even sigma art, uses the equally primitive aperture lever. Nikon supports electronic aperture like Canon, but they use it only with tilt/shift lenses.

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Scintilla Aquila

@Seahbc: To be clear, the electronic aperture actuation is via KAF4 mount. "PLM" just stands for Pulse Linear Motor, a new autofocus motor type for Pentax. I see people conflating the two all the time because they both debuted on the new 55-300, but they're not the same.

Feb 22, 2017permalink

Seahbc

Well the difference between Nikon and Pentax is that the former has a much larger market share. The extra effort of adapting a lens for F mount is more financially rewarding.
I believe the CEO of Sigma cited the mechanical coupling and low volume as the reasons for the small range of K mount lenses. Maybe with the new electronic interface it would be cheaper and more importantly, easier for Sigma to produce K mount lenses.

Yes, my bad! When I typed PLM I was thinking about the new 55-300 with the KAF4 mount. 😳

Feb 22, 2017permalink

kobakokh

its s good sample how chinese companies now began to producing good lenses... in normal prices...

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Saramarisu

It is a swiss company, which produces it's lenses in South Korea. ;-)

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Jon555

I believe they're really Polish but set-up in Switzerland for tax reasons.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

indykpol

With Swiss investor.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

kobakokh

Yes, i mistaken... Irix is not chinese company, its a European company...

Feb 21, 2017permalink

AbrasiveReducer

They are headquartered in Estonia and they make "pre-production" lenses in Latvia which are then shipped to a quality control facility in Slaphappia before being manufactured in China because labor is so cheap.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

strawbale

Slaphappia is maybe not the best place for quality control ;-)

Feb 21, 2017permalink

kobakokh

actually we as customers always want good results, fine lenses in real prices, and no different who will do it...

Feb 24, 2017permalink

Edmond Leung

the design is delightful charming

Feb 21, 2017permalink

cosinaphile

I WISH manual focus lenses newl developed would incorporate a manual aperture setting in addition to the electronic control.... this would mean that the lenses would never die and would be useful decades into the future.... as it stands i anticipate 20 years from now dslr s will be gone or nearly gone and viewfinders will all be electronic as mirrorless replacements finally come to nikon and canon
and fuji olympus panny and sony continues to make niice mirrorless bodies fully caable of taking any manual lenses from canon nikon and pentax

ive got adapters for all those mounts and use them on both m43 and fuji mounts
ive got the impression these manual lenses lose aperture control on any adapter
and if thats the case it limits yhe life and usability of these lenses

Feb 21, 2017permalink

FLruckas

A 12% less weight saving and lower cost version.
And a metal version at more cost.
I like that approach.
I assume optically they're the same.
Gives the buyer a chance to save money and still get the optics.
Let the buyer decide.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

dash2k8

11mm f/4 at this price is a steal. If this lens' sharpness is even above average, I'm going to get a Firefly for sure. (The Blackstone version's' caveats aren't worth the extra $225 to me.) 3.13% can be corrected in post so it's not a big issue to me.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

jhinkey

Oh the wide open MTF of the 11mm shows there will be lots of "bat wing" lights in the corners.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

techjedi

Genuinely curious in what scenarios would you use this wide open? Seems like a landscape f8-f11 lens. Maybe astro for wide open?

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Le Kilt

Hand-held in dark conditions...landscapes, events, interiors...

Feb 21, 2017permalink

techjedi

Are you going to use an 11mm lens handheld for events/interiors? I would think anything other than a landscape distances would have noticeable perspective distortion. I know there is correction for fisheye type distortion, but it isn't going to make close objects less bulbous. For landscapes, shooting wide open handheld is counter-productive. You want a tripod and a small aperture.

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

Le Kilt

Well, curiously I've been shooting with a 16mm on FF ever since the first 5D came out, and it's brilliant for all the afore-mentioned, hand-held. No problem going wider, I could often use have used it. Of course, I avoid a face in the close foreground, but other objects often add to a great composition!
I have many many low-light hand-held shots taken at 16mm f/2.8 (some printed at ten feet wide), tripod and small aperture being unnesessary, so bring on the 11mm, yeah! ;-)

Feb 21, 2017*permalink

techjedi

Well, I have heard that going from 16mm to 11mm is pretty massive difference, more than the perceptual difference from going up 5mm in the other direction. Anyway, if its working for you, then that is great. Personally, I wouldn't be concerned about corner to corner sharpness or bat wing lights wide open on an 11mm lens.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

SigmaChrome

Depth of Field and Hyperfocal scales. Nice.
Would love to see some full size shots.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

FantasticMrFox

I have frequently come across the mention of slots for rear 'gelantin' filters in certain lenses, but for some reason I have never come across any of those filters, neither in online shops, nor in reviews, announcements, or discussions in online forums.

Do these things actually exist?

Feb 21, 2017permalink

theatrus

Yup! Usually you need to buy a larger size (3x3" is common) and cut to size. You can get anywhere from cheap ones (meant for light modifiers) to more expensive ones - for an ND filter even the cheap ones do a good job.

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Azathothh

This looks interesting!

Feb 20, 2017permalink

Albert Valentino

Neutrino coated lens!!! The future is now 🤗

Feb 20, 2017*permalink

Terry Breedlove

I am listening to Michio Kaku right now and then read this. :)

Feb 21, 2017permalink

tkbslc

Is wide the new megapixel? Who is going to be the first to 1mm?

Feb 20, 2017permalink

Jon555

My phone is 3.9mm... :-)

Feb 21, 2017permalink

Old Cameras

Tell me more about this "neutrino" coating process.

Feb 20, 2017permalink

UlrichSchiegg

The lens was announced at the photokina in Cologne last year.

Feb 20, 2017permalink

FantasticMrFox

I think development of the lens was announced, not the lens itself. Just like Pentax announced development of a full-frame DSLR and showed a mock-up, but the K-1 was only announced half a year later.

Feb 21, 2017permalink