CP+ Day One – News Round-up

The first few months of each year are always an exciting time. It’s when we expect camera and lens manufacturers to unveil their latest products and technical innovations to the world. In years gone by we’ve reported on significant camera releases in January from the CES expo in Las Vegas, but it’s usually towards the end of February that the juicy news arrives and this tends to coincide with the CP+ camera and photo imaging show 2017 in Japan.

Though not on the same grand scale as Photokina, Japan’s annual CP+ camera show presents the first opportunity for members of the photography press to get hands on with the cameras, lenses and other photo related announcements we can expect to see on sale in the next few months.

Here at AP, we’re devoted to bringing you our first impressions of the latest kit so we boarded a flight to Japan to get the lowdown on what’s new and upcoming. Below you’ll find an overview of all the new cameras, lenses and accessories we’ve come across so far on our whistle-stop tour of CP+ 2017.

This page will be regularly updated so be sure to check back for all the latest news from CP+ 2017.

What’s new at the CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show 2017

One of the busiest stands at the show on day one is the Sigma stand. The lens manufacturer is showcasing four new full frame optics, comprising the 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art, 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art, 24-70mm f/2.8 DG HSM OS Art and 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG HSM OS Contemporary. Crowds up to four deep are queuing to try out the lenses, which are on display in a touch and try area as well as behind glass. We’re yet to find out the official pricing and availability of the four newly released lenses, but we’re hopeful of receiving this information tomorrow (24th February 2017) when we interview Mr Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma Corporation.

Over on the Fujifilm stand there’s a large area dedicated to the Fujifilm GFX 50S. As well as showcasing the current lineup of lenses for their medium format camera, Fujifilm has the pair of newly announced ‘MK’ Super 35 cinema lenses for Sony’s E-mount on display behind glass. The two lenses – the Fujinon 18-55mm T2.9 and Fujinon 50-135mm T2.9 – are expected to arrive later in the summer. In addition to the E-mount versions, Fujifilm has told us that the same lenses for X-mount will arrive by the end of the year. One of the new Fujinon 18-55mm T2.9 lenses was also paired with a Fujifilm X-T2 to give an impression of what this combination will look like.

We also popped over to the Tamron stand where the updated SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD G2 and new Tamron 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD lenses are creating quite a stir. To one side of the stand, Tamron is showing dissected versions of both lenses behind glass.

On the Sony stand there’s a lot of interest in the new FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS mid-telephoto prime lens and the lightweight FE 85mm f/1.8 mid-telephoto prime lens. Sony has also used the CP+ show as the launchpad for the expansion of their memory card line-up with the addition of the SF-G series cards – offering impressive ultra-high-speed read and write times. We’re yet to come across any examples or promotional material about the SF-G series cards, but we’ll keep looking!

Before we arrived at CP+ we half suspected to see the rumoured Pentax D FA 50mm f/1.4 lens on display. There was only one reference exhibit to view behind glass, but nevertheless it was getting a lot of attention and good to see it at the show. A close look at it suggested it was more of a mock-up than a working sample and we’re yet to be told when it’s due to come to market and at what price. The busiest area of the Pentax stand was the area where they had the Pentax KP on show – a camera that we haven’t had the opportunity to lay our hands on until now but one we can expect a review sample of in the near future.

That’s all we’ve come across for now. We’ll now no doubt find more interesting products to report about during the day, so keep checking back with us throughout the next few days for all the latest CP+ 2017 coverage.