CP+2025 Showcases Numerous Launches

2025.02.25

After every single camera and lens manufacturer skipped CES this year, resulting in the slowest photo industry start seen so far, CP+ 2025 saw a wave of releases, plenty of which were unexpected.

Sigma Photo

Leading the pack by a significant margin is Sigma Photo. This legendary optics company unveiled its new logo and style while launching eleven lenses and one Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera! This is more than any company has done for at least a decade. Their new products span a gamut of photography needs while focusing itself mostly on the Sony E-mount and Leica L-mounts.

The most unique offering is an extreme telephoto zoom lens with an exceptionally wide constant-aperture. The new Sigma Sport 300-600mm F/4 DG OS is ideal for wildlife photography and birding due to its F/4 maximum aperture which is maintained even at 600mm. The lens is optically stabilized and can compensate for up to 5½-stops of shake. This enormous lens weighs just under 4kg and comes at a $6000 USD cost.

For the opposite photographers, the company also launched the Sigma C 16-300mm F/3.5-6.7 DC OS. This is a lens designed for mirrorless digital cameras with an APS-C sensor, making it equivalent to a 24-450mm F/5.2-10 on Full-Frame. While it provides framing versatility, this is an extremely dim lens that would be hard-pressed to be saved a dated 4½-stop Image-Stabilization system. This 18X optical zoom lens boasts an impressive 1:2 ratio that makes it usable for well-lit close-ups. Sigma is release the C 16-300mm F/3.5-6.7 DC OS for 4 lens mounts: Fujifilm X, Canon RF, Sony E and Leica L for a relatively affordable $700 USD.

Sigma Photo also launched comesmetically-refreshed versions of their 9 I-Series C DN lenses designed for Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Cameras. These are all compact prime lenses with wide or bright apertures. The entire series is available only for Sony E and Leica L mounts. See all current Sigma lenses here.

Along with all these new lenses, Sigma Photo released a truly bizarre Sigma BF camera, although it is more like an imaging-device than an actual camera. This camera is built around a 24 megapixels CMOS sensor and not much else! The sensor is mounted on a box minimalist body with an L-mount and no shutter-mechanism. There is no viewfinder or memory card slot either. Instead, internal memory is expected to be used for capturing images and videos. There is not even a provision to add a viewfinder.

Zeiss

After six years of silence, Zeiss who have been making optics of industrial applications during this time, added two new lenses to their premium Otus lineup. The new Manual-Focus only prime lenses are known as Otus ML. The new releases are the above Zeiss Otus ML 50mm F/1.4 and the Zeiss Otus ML 85mm F/1.4 below.

These combination of prime focal-length and ultra-bright aperture is highly common, so they must truly deliver exceptional image-quality for Zeiss to justify launching them. We expect ultra-sharp details that can match the highest resolution Full-Frame sensors around but can only find out once they ship.

Zeiss is building both models for Canon EF, Nikon Z and Sony E mounts. The 50mm version is priced at a steep $2500 USD, while the 85mm is launched for $3000 USD.

Panasonic

The last company to announced at CP+2025, by number of products, is Panasonic. They unveiled just a single Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera. The new Panasonic Lumix S1R II is the new flagship mirrorless, boasting a new 44 Megapixels High-Speed BSI-CMOS sensor with builtin Phase-Detect Autofocus. This new sensor has an ISO 80-51200 standard sensitivity range which is expandable to ISO 40-102400.

The new S1R II features a state-of-the-art 5-axis builtin Image-Stabilization system which is effective to 8-stops, matching best-in-class performance among Full-Frame cameras. The hybrid shutter mechanism spans speeds of 1/16000s to 60s, plus Bulb exposures of up to 30 minutes. The IBIS allows the Panasonic S1R II to capture 177 Megapixels Super-Resolution images made by combining 8 frames in-camera.

While the Panasonic Lumix S1R has a higher-resolution 47 MP sensor, there was insufficient bandwidth to get 8K video working. The new S1R II finally bridges that gap for the first time on a Panasonic mirrorless. It records standard 8K (7680x4320) video at 30 FPS and even a slightly higher-resolution mode that is a little narrower than Cinema 8K. With enough bandwidth for 8K, the new Panasonic S1R II is capable of 5.8K (5888x3312) at 60 FPS as well as more common Cinema 4K and 4K Ultra-HD at a speedy 120 FPS. These videos include stereo audio from internal microphones or a standard 3.5mm mini-jack input. With an optional XLR adapter, the camera can capture 4-Channel 32-bit Float audio.

Given the huge bandwidth of its 44 MP sensor that captures video at near full-resolution, it is unsurprising that the Panasonic Lumix S1R II can also shoot continuously at 40 FPS, for up to 70 frames, regardless of format. It can capture 10 extra JPEG images using its 10 FPS mechanical drive mode. Images and video can be recorded onto a CF Express Type B or SDXC UHS-II card. Video output directly to an external SSD is also supported.

This Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera is built for professionals with triple control-dials and a large number of external controls with numerous customization options. Framing is possible via a large 5.8 Megapixels OLED 0.5" EVF with 0.78X magnification, 100% coverage and an essential Eye-Start Sensor. The camera also has a large 3.2" LCD with 1.8 MP mounted on a double hinge. The body of this camera is both fully weatherproof and freezeproof down to -10C. Expect to see the new S1R II as early as next month for $3300 USD, an exceptionally good price for a flagship camera that record 8K video. Both Adorama and B&H Photo are already take preorders.

• Digital Camera
• Lens