There are some things that just don’t make sense on paper. Try to explain to the average photographer why someone would pay thousands of dollars for a fixed focal length manual focus lens in the modern, digital world and they…
There are few lenses more important to any brand’s lineup than a 35mm lens. It will be heavily used by portrait photographers, wedding and event photographers, photojournalists, street, and general purpose. It’s a very versatile focal length, and, unlike most…
The Otus series is the pinnacle of engineering on the full frame (35mm) space, and I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with each of the previous three releases (1.4/55mm, 1.4/85mm, and 1.4/28mm). Zeiss in venturing a little further into…
Tamron has pulled out the stops for its 40th anniversary of their SP brand (Super Performance). The Tamron SP 35mm F1.4 Di USD (F045) is (according to them), the finest optical instrument that they have made. It certainly is a…
I recently completed a six-way comparison of all the currently available autofocusing lenses for Sony’s full frame mirrorless (FE) platform. These lenses cover a wide range of price points, from $379 (all prices USD) for the Viltrox AF 85mm F1.8,…
One of my main projects for 2019 was a plan to pit all the current autofocus 85mm options on the full frame Sony E-mount platform head to head. I’ve done something similar for 50mm options (and, to a lesser extent,…
One of my main projects for 2019 was a plan to pit all the current autofocus 85mm options on the full frame Sony E-mount platform head to head. I’ve done something similar for 50mm options (and, to a lesser extent,…
Sigma has faced a bit of an uphill battle with the FE versions of their ART series if the anecdotal feedback I have received is a valid indicator of the market. Size matters, and the ART series lenses were already…
Sigma 24mm F1.4 ART FE Image Gallery The Sigma 24mm f DG HSM | ART was, I believe, the only ART series lens that I missed reviewing when it was initially released. In the past few months Sigma has been…
Towards the end of 2017 I spent time with my first Kamlan lens – the Kamlan 50mm f compact prime lens. There were things that I praised, including a very nice build quality (all metal and glass) and nice rendering…
The Kamlan 28mm f is a brand new lens from the Chinese lens maker SainSonic. I’ve been privileged to have my hands on a prerelease copy of the Kamlan 1.4 for a while and can now share some photos and…
The release of the truly impressive new Sony a7R3 camera (and now the Sony a73!) has caught a lot of our attention. The a7R2 also caught my attention because of a great spec list and an impressive sensor, but when…
I’ve got a major showdown brewing between the three top 50mm options for Sony FE (full frame E mount mirrorless cameras): the Sony FE 50mm f Planar T*, Sony FE 55mm f Sonnar T*, and the upstart Samyang AF 50mm…
Wow! It has been a long, long time I have received a new Canon L series prime lens. It was two years ago that I reviewed the excellent Canon EF 35mm f II, and since that point I have reviewed…
Wow! It has been a long, long time I have received a new Canon L series prime lens. It was two years ago that I reviewed the excellent Canon EF 35mm f II, and since that point I have reviewed…