Image: 7artisans

Earlier this year at CP+, 7artisans showed off a full-frame autofocusing 135mm F1.8 lens. Now, the company is launching it for Nikon's Z mount, and has fully unveiled the specs and price.

The AF 135mm F1.8 (7artisans occasionally adds "Max" to the end of the name, but not consistently) has 16 elements in 13 groups, with six extra-low dispersion lenses and five high refractive index elements. It has a 0.68m (2' 3") minimum focusing distance, and can achieve up to 0.25x magnification. Its aperture has 12 blades, which the company says will provide "naturally circular bokeh" and 12-point starbursts.

Autofocus duties are handled by a stepper motor, and the lens has a switch for going between manual and auto focus. It also has two function function buttons, though it's not entirely clear whether they can be programmed to do different things, or if it's the same function but easy to access whether you're shooting in portrait or landscape. It also has a customizable control ring.

Image: 7artisans

At 1014g (35.8oz), it's relatively hefty, though a touch lighter than Viltrox's AF 135mm F1.8 Lab. Part of that is likely down to its aluminum construction. It's 130mm (5.1") long, and accepts 82mm filters. The company says the mount has a gasket to keep out dust, and that the front element has a coating to repel fingerprints, moisture and oils.

At CP+, the company said the lens would also be coming to L and Sony E mount, and there are references to those versions in recent Instagram posts and product photos. However, at time of writing those don't appear to be available for sale yet. Those versions will have a dedicated aperture ring, rather than the Z mount version's customizable control ring.

The Z mount version of the lens is available now for $690. That's quite an aggressive price point, as Samyang's 135mm F1.8 retails for around $800, with the Viltrox option selling for $100 more.

7artisans AF 135mm F1.8 specifications:

Image: Lux Camera

Lux Camera, the company behind the Halide camera app for iPhones, has announced Halide Mark III, the third generation of the popular app. The new version includes several upgrades and new features, including one that caught us by surprise: the ability to process Raw files from several popular camera brands.

Photo looks

According to CEO Ben Sandofsky, the company put significant effort into developing the app's photo processing capabilities. As part of that effort, it teamed up with a Hollywood colorist to build a custom photo processing pipeline designed around the specific dynamic range and color gamut of the iPhone camera. The result is a new set of Halide Looks.

Halide Mark III ships with five: Valencia, which features saturated colors and heavier contrast, designed for landscapes and cityscapes; Rembrandt, a portrait look with extra mid-tone contrast that "emphasizes bone structure and lighting," along with uniform skin tones; Nova, a colorful look with strong contrast and "smooth, peachy highlights," also intended for landscapes and cityscapes; Zephyr, a more neutral look designed to mimic the subtle contrast of film with the character of a traditional print; and Chroma Noir, a black-and-white look with medium contrast.

The new looks join Halide's existing Process Zero, which bypasses the computational processing typically applied to smartphone photos, resulting in a grittier, more retro photo look.

Camera design

Sandofsky says the camera interface has been redesigned to keep the most important controls within thumb's reach. This includes a tile in the lower right corner representing your currently selected look – inspired by the windows on film cameras that allowed you to see what film was loaded in your camera.

Other new tools include aspect ratio options to match popular camera formats: 3:2, 1:1, and a 65:24 panoramic format, plus a dynamic aspect ratio for Instagram that adjusts depending on whether you're shooting landscape or portrait. New composition overlays add a uniform grid, the golden ratio and the rabatment of the rectangle to the existing rule-of-thirds grid.

Halide Mark III's new camera interface. Image: Lux Camera

Additional controls are accessible via a three-dot "More" menu. In a nod to photographers more comfortable with the previous layout, there's an option to revert to the Halide Mark II interface.

The Photo Lab

The updated app also includes a new Photo Lab module for reprocessing Raw files. It's designed to let you quickly try different looks, adjust exposure, toggle HDR, and make other basic adjustments.

The new Photo Lab module is designed to quickly try out different looks Image: Lux Camera

Photo Lab also supports Raw files from several camera brands. Sandofsky says that during development, the team felt Halide Mark III's output was beginning to rival their dedicated cameras, and wanted a way to bring that processing to files shot on those cameras.

The result: Halide Mark III can process Raw files from Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, Leica, and Hasselblad. The company currently classifies this as a beta feature.

Pricing and availability

Halide Mark III is available on the iOS App Store as a one-time purchase for $60, or via a $20/year subscription. Users who purchased Halide Mark II will receive a free upgrade.

Image: Westend61 / Westend61 via Getty Images

Welcome back to our Question of the Week series! This reader-focused series aims to get our photographic community to share thoughts on all sorts of photography-related topics in our forums. We pose questions about gear, favorite camera stores, advice, problem-solving and more, and you share your thoughts and opinions.

This week, we’re leaning into the holiday spirit! The season of giving (and occasionally re-gifting) is upon us, and that means it’s time to unwrap some memories – both heartwarming and hilarious.

What are the best (and worst) photography-related gifts you've received?

What’s the best photography-related gift you’ve ever received? Maybe it was a dream lens that caused you to take on an adventure deep in the mountains, or a handmade camera strap that’s now an essential part of your kit. And what about the worst? Perhaps someone thought you needed yet another "World’s Best Photographer" mug, or that odd lens filter set that turned every photo a shade of green.

In this edition of our Question of the Week series, we want to hear your gift stories: the memorable, the useful and the truly baffling. Share your favorites (and flops) in the forum link below. Photos of the gifts (or what you created with them) are also more than welcome! We'll highlight some of your most entertaining and heartfelt responses in next week's roundup.

Click here to answer the Question of the week