Articles tagged "lens"

From Long Beach, WA to San Francisco, CA, we've made a couple of recent trips with the Sony FE 24-70 F2.8 GM in tow. With a variety of focal lengths, apertures and lighting situations, take a look and see how this workhorse G Master lens holds up. Read more

Tamron has announced pricing and availability for its recently released SP 85mm F1.8 Di VC USD. According to the company, the lens will launch this Thursday, March 24 in Canon and Nikon mounts for $749. Read more

The Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 is a bit of a rarity. It's a fast telezoom designed specifically for Canon, Nikon and Sigma APS-C bodies, providing 75-150mm equivalent range. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a pre-production model while we were in Japan for CP+ 2016. Read more

Rumors suggest Sigma is to launch a 50-100mm F1.8 lens for APS-C cameras. Full specifications and convincing images of the lens have been leaked, which suggest the lens will be part of the company's impressive 'Art' range. Such a lens would offer a fast partner to the company's 18-35mm F1.8 Art lens, giving the same angle-of-view, depth-of-field and total light gathering capability as a ~75-150mm F2.8 lens on full-frame. Read more

LensRentals' Roger Cicala has been his usual busy self, tearing lenses apart to work out how to repair and maintain them. The latest optic to fall prey to his toolkit is the Sony Zeiss 35mm F1.4 ZA: one of the company's latest designs for its full frame a7 series cameras. Peering inside reveals a radical design approach far removed from the one Canon uses for its latest 35mm lens. Read more

DSLR autofocus has been the gold standard for decades but the higher accuracy and precision offered by some mirrorless cameras risks tarnishing this image. However, many modern DSLRs include an option to fine-tune the AF behavior to help optimize their performance. Guest writer Joey Miller has written a short guide to how to make use of this feature over on the LensRentals blog. Read more

Canon made some big claims about the development put into its 35mm F1.4L II. Its new Blue Spectrum Refractive optics is claimed to minimize longitudinal chromatic aberration, and a new 9-blade aperture promises smoother bokeh and 18-ray sunstars. With a copy of the lens in our hands, Sam Spencer put these claims to the test in a shootout against the Mark I version and the Sigma 35mm Art. Read more

Panasonic has just announced the Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm F4-6.3 lens for its Micro Four Thirds system cameras. We've gone hands-on with the high-end, super-tele zoom that sports the longest focal length available for the MFT system. Learn about some notable features this lens brings to the MFT line. Read more

Roger Cicala at LensRentals has a great job - he gets to take things apart whenever he wants, and get paid to do it. And even better, he gets to pay himself to do it. Roger just got his hands on Canon's new EF 35mm F1.4 L II, and just like us, he's been very impressed. But, it must be said, for very different reasons. Click through for a quick look at what he found behind the red ring. Read more

Fall in Seattle means two things - the return of cold drizzle and University of Washington Husky football. Veteran sports shooter and DPR staffer Jordan Stead recently took advantage of a sunny afternoon game to do a little more testing of the Canon 35mm F1.4L II USM. Read more

Chinese manufacturer Zhongyi optics has announced a new lens, the stupendously large Zhongyi 135mm F1.4 Speedmaster. The company is aiming to make less than 100 units, and expects the lens to appeal to specialized stills photographers and filmmakers. We got up close and personal with a prototype this week at the Photo Plus Expo show in New York. Read more

Sigma has grown its 'Art' lineup of prime lenses again, with a new 20mm F1.4 for Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts. The new 20mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art  is designed for full frame DSLRs, and Sigma claims that the 20mm F1.4 is the result of new production technologies including a 59mm double aspherical element. The new 20mm will go on sale from November priced at £849.99/$899.99, and we just got our hands on a sample at the Photo Plus Expo in New York. Click through for some first impressions

Tamron's 16-300mm F3.5-6.3 takes the superzoom concept it made famous a few steps forward. It offers a significant increase in telephoto range, and also goes wider to bring real wide-angle capability to the superzoom category for the first time. It's also earned a 'Macro' designation with its close focusing ability. Is it truly a super zoom? Take a look at our analysis. Read more 

Canon recently announced an update to the wildly popular 35mm F1.4L lens, originally released in 1998 and undoubtedly designed back in the day for film. The original was always a favorite of our technical editor Rishi Sanyal, so join him as he takes a stroll down memory lane and recounts his favorite aspects of that lens, and what he looks forward to in the update. Read more

According to a source speaking with Fuji Rumors, the Fujifilm X100T's successor will have a new lens. The present lineup of X100 cameras all feature the same fixed 23mm F2 lens, and if past announcement intervals are any indication, the X100 series may see an update just around the corner. Read more

In our latest Field Test we put Olympus's new M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO and M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO in the hands of DPReview writer Dan Bracaglia. Dan put them to the test in some of his natural environments: a rock concert, skate park, and a beach landscape at sunset. See video

With the introduction of the Lumix DMC-GX8 and its new Dual IS mode, Panasonic promised firmware updates for most of its lenses to make them compatible. Included in this round are the Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II, Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2, and Macro 30mm F2.8 among others. Read more

Nikon's AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm F2.8-4E ED VR is intended as a high-quality everyday lens with the company's APS-C format DSLRs. Offering an equivalent focal length range of 24-120mm, the 16-80mm features optical VR stabilization and an electronic aperture diaphragm. We spent the weekend shooting with the lens in and around Seattle, attached to a Nikon D7200. Check out our gallery of sample images

LensRentals has embarked on a quest to investigate the complicated topic of sample variation among copies of the same lens. It's the kind of fascinating, geeky stuff we've come to know and love from LensRentals, and in the latest round of tests they've taken a look at a group of short telephoto primes ranging from 85mm to 150mm. Read more

Tamron announced the SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 Di VC USD at the end of 2013, and as one of the cheapest ways to reach past a 400mm focal length, it quickly became popular with amateur wildlife and sports photographers. We've previously published a lab test for this lens, but in order to get the complete impression, we wanted to spend some time with it out in the field. Read more

Sigma's 19mm F2.8 DN, 30mm F2.8 DN and 60mm F2.8 DN Art lenses were launched at the CP+ show in Yokohama way back in January 2013. We've been using these inexpensive primes on both Sony E-mount and Micro Four Thirds cameras for a while now, and our man in London, Damien Demolder has written up his impressions. We pooled our sample images for this field test. Read more

Voigtländer is one of the oldest names in photography, with a long history of making cameras and lenses. Recently, the company has turned its focus from affordable M-mount lenses to lenses with digital cameras in mind. We recently got our hands on the 40mm VM f/2.8 Heliar, made specifically for full-frame and APS-C Sony E-mount cameras. Read more

Lomography has introduced the LC-A Minitar-1 f/2.8 32mm to its 'Art' line of lenses. Like that of the original Lomo LC-A 35mm camera (and more recent LC-A+) the lens features a pancake design and Russian optics, aiming to preserve the 'unique character of its vintage' origins. The lens will be sold in a Leica M-mount, and is available for pre-order. Read more

If $180,000 seems a bit steep for the Canon 1200mm f/5.6L lens B&H is currently offering in its used department, then perhaps this $33,500 NASA 2540mm f/8 lens on eBay sounds a bit more reasonable. That's twice the focal length for a fifth of the price! Read more

In theory, Sony's FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS all-in-one zoom is an ideal candidate for travel photography with one of the company's a7-series. The stabilized lens provides Sony's full frame mirrorless cameras with a 10x zoom range, designed with five aspherical elements and one ED glass element. We put it to the test on landscapes, portraits, and lots of things in between. See gallery

While we were at CP+ 2015 in Japan, we met with Tamron, and the company was kind enough to lend us their newly announced 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD. In Nikon mount, no less. It's a wide range for a full-frame zoom, made more impressive by the inclusion of vibration compensation (VC). With a price tag of $1200, Tamron is taking the Nikon 14-24 head-on, and so we decided to do the same: pit the two against one another in a shootout, which you can view here

We were recently lucky enough to visit Sigma's factory in Aizu, Japan, where Sigma allowed us to shoot with a pre-production sample of the recently-announced 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens. The wintry landscape of the Fukushima prefecture was a nice contrast to the CP+ convention center where we last gathered some samples with this lens, and our recent samples are more representative of lens performance on a native mount body (Canon 6D). Have a look

Tokina might not have the same presence at CP+ as Sigma and Tamron but its small booth is pretty busy, thanks to a brand new 24-70mm F2.8 for Nikon full-frame, and an 11-20mm F2.8 wideangle for APS-C. Just from first impressions, they seem impressively well-built, as we'd expect from Tokina. Click through for some images

We're at CP+ in Yokohama Japan, where Ricoh is showing off two new Pentax lenses designed for full-frame imaging. Although the company's upcoming full-frame DSLR is still in the mockup stage, the D FA* 70-200mm F2.8ED DC AW and D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW are very real indeed. We snuck into the show early this morning before the crowds arrived, to take a look. Click through for more details and images. 

We were intrigued by Tamron's stabilized SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD when we first saw it in prototype form at Photokina in September last year. In tbe meantime, Tamron has confirmed pricing and availability for this fast ultra-wideangle zoom and is showing off the new lens at Japan's CP+ show in Yokohama. We're there, and headed straight to Tamron's booth on Saturday to get our hands on the new zoom. Click through for some images

Ricoh has released its lens roadmaps for the new year (and potentially beyond), and in the works are seven lenses spanning a wide range of types and focal lengths. The highest number of additions will come in the Pentax K-Mount lineup, which is set to get four new lenses this year or next. Read more

Canon's new 11-24mm F4 is attracting a lot of attention at this year's CP+ show in Yokohama, but away from the crows of keen enthusiasts waiting to get their hands on samples, we found a very much non-working example, cut in half showing its internal construction. Click through to take a look at what this complex lens is made of - literally. 

It's not uncommon for a company to patent technologies that might be incorporated into products at some point, though the company might not have any plans to use it in the immediate future. Such a business move appears to be the case with a recent Canon patent, which details the use of variable lens elements in combination with traditional glass elements. Read more

A copy of one of the largest interchangeable lenses for SLRs ever produced has emerged for at a UK retailer. Canon's massive EF 1200mm f/5.6 L USM is a rare beast, and the longest lens in the world with AF. MPB Photographic describes it as being in mint condition and has priced the lens at £99,000. Read more

We recently published a look at the Lomography Petzval lens, a modern version of a 19th century portrait lens. It's a niche product and not something we typically cover, but an interesting adaptation of a classic design. Roger Cicala and the team at LensRentals went one step further - when a couple of copies rolled through the door, they subjected the lens to their usual optics tests. Why? Well, because why not? 

Canon UK has announced the EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM, a compact telephoto zoom for the EOS M mirrorless system. Canon claims the new lens offers high-end optical performance, a 'near-silent' stepping motor and a 3.5-stop optical image stabilization system. Providing an 88-320mm equivalent range on the EOS M, it's the fourth lens in the series, priced at €389.99/£329.99 with availability (at least in Europe) in July.

Phase One has announced a new leaf shutter lens for its 645 camera platform. The new Schneider Kreuznach 40-80mm LS f/4.0-5.6 joins the existing Schneider Kreuznach 75-150mm f/4.0-5.6 leaf shutter zoom lens, and allows for flash synchronization up to 1/1000sec. Supposedly on a par with prime lenses in terms of critical image quality, the new lens is available now for $8990 / €6990. Click through for the press release

When Lensbaby launched the  Kickstarter project for its 'Sweet Spot' selective focus lens at the beginning of April it was initially iPhone only. Now the company has added a pledge level for Android users, too. For $50 you can pre-order the Sweet Spot lens and the Android application for your device. Delivery is expected in October. Learn more

We all know the situation just too well. You're out shooting with your DSLR or mirrorless camera when you decide to swap lenses and have no idea where you've put the lens cap for the lens that's mounted on your camera body. Usually it's in the very last place you look for it. In the worst case scenario you never find it at all. Two Canadian designers have a solution to this problem. Learn more

Sigma has released pricing and availability information of its new 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens. First announced in January at CES, the 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art is a completely new lens, rather than a revision of Sigma's existing 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM. The lens employs the company's Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) system and has 13 elements in eight groups. It will be available for Sigma, Sony, Nikon, and Canon mounts in late April for $949. The UK RRP will be £849.99. Learn more 

Designed by Lomography and manufactured in Russia by Zenit, the Russar+ is an update to the 1958 Russar MR-2 wide-angle lens. The new lens is handmade out of brass and offers a 20mm focal length. It's compatible with L39 and M mount cameras. The lens can also be used on mirrorless systems using adapter mounts. Lomography is taking pre-orders now for $649.00, or £499 in the UK. It is expected to ship in July. Learn more

Nikon has unveiled the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 ED VR (27-450mm equivalent). It doesn't replace the company's existing 18-300mm lens - rather it's 1/3-stop slower at the long end and 30% lighter, weighing 19.4 ounces. The new 18-300mm has Nikon's Vibration Reduction system, which can reduce shake by up to 4 stops. Built with three Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass elements and Nikon's Silent Wave Motor for quieter focusing, the 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 will be available in May for $899.95.

Canon has introduced its new compact XF205 and XF200 professional camcorders aimed at broadcast news and wedding videographers. They come equipped with a wide-angle 26.8 mm (35mm equivalent) 20x optical zoom lens and support two recording formats - MXF, a file format used by broadcast stations, and MP4. The XF205 and XF200 will be available in mid-July for $4,400 and $3,900 respectively. Learn more

Canon has announced its new Cine-Servo 17-120mm T2.95 zoom lens for shoulder-mounted application or as a traditional cinema lens. It has an ENG-style Digital Drive handgrip with zoom rocker switch and will be available in either PL- or EF-mount. Canon has also launched the HJ18ex7.6B portable HD zoom lens for broadcast news and documentary situations. Learn more

One of the drawbacks of running a company devoted to renting out photographic equipment is that it’s necessary to evaluate and service equipment just about every time it comes back. That’s why the team at LensRentals.com have just purchased and installed a massive and cumbersome looking lens calibration system. In one of the geekier unboxing articles, they show every step of the assembly of the device. Learn more

Zeiss will have its new Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30mm T2.9 lens on display at this year’s National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas, April 7-10. The new lens fills the wide-angle gap in Zeiss' cine-style zoom lineup, complementing the already available CZ.2 28-80mm T2.9 and CZ.2 70-200mm T2.9 lenses. Also at the show will be a new Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic MA 135mm T1.9 lens. Learn more

Nikon has announced two lenses for its 1 system mirrorless cameras, in the shape of a 70-300mm ultra-telephoto zoom and a compact 10-30mm powerzoom. The 1 Nikkor VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 is designed for sports and wildlife shooting, and features optical image stabilisation to counteract camera shake; its SRP is $999.95 / £879.99. Meanwhile the 1 Nikkor VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom is a compact lens with electronic zoom control that will come in a kit with the 1 V3 camera, or be sold separately with an SRP of $299.95 / £249.99. 

Sigma gives us another behind the scenes look at their Aizu, Japan lens factory in a video released during the CP+ trade show. It's an artsy factory tour highlighting the craftsmanship and the process of how their lenses are assembled. They released a similar video during Photokina 2012 and have since gained some popularity with their higher end 35mm F1.4 DG HSM and the 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM lenses. See video

We're at the CP+ show in Japan this week, where Editor Barnaby Britton sat down with Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, for a chat about the dp2 Quattro, as well as the challenges of the modern photography industry and what it's like being the head of a family business.

SLR Magic has created the Anamorphot 1,33x – 50, an accessory lens for film makers that compresses the image horizontally by a factor of 1.33x. This allows footage to be shot for 2.35:1 widescreen projection using the standard 16:9 aspect ratio that most cameras record, without having to crop vertically and lose resolution. The lens will be available by March 2014 and cost $899.