I’ve had the privilege of testing some autofocus Zeiss lenses designed for Sony’s E-Mount mirrorless cameras. Zeiss has a couple of autofocus lines for mirrorless, including the full frame Batis line and then this APS-C mount Touit (pronounced “too-it”) series.…
There are few lenses more important to a manufacturer’s lineup than a 24-70mm f lens, making Sigma’s 24-70 ART one of their most significant releases this year. 24-70mm is an extremely versatile focal length, covering wide angle (24mm), standard/normal (35/50mm),…
One of Sigma’s most hotly anticipated lenses of the year is the new 24-70mm f DG OS HSM ART lens. Few lenses are more popular among working professionals than 24-70mm f zoom lenses because of their versatility and often very…
Tamron has long been the company that pushes the envelope in “all-in-one” zoom design and have held the top honors of having the largest zoom range in a DSLR lens for most of the past ten years. Years ago I…
Tamron has long been the company that pushes the envelope in “all-in-one” zoom design and have held the top honors of having the largest zoom range in a DSLR lens for most of the past ten years. Years ago I…
First impressions matter. My first two impressions when opening the box and pulling out Sigma’s newest lens – the 100-400mm f DG OS HSM Contemporary – were 1) the lens was smaller than I anticipated (not a lot bigger than…
It’s a little ironic. Information about Tamron’s newest lens, the ground-breaking, more than 22x zoom range 18-400mm f Di II VC HLD, leaked to the Internet the day BEFORE I signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement to get all the info about…
Lost in the midst of the higher profile ART series announcements was the announcement of a lens that makes a whole lot more sense for many photographers. The Sigma 100-400mm f OS Contemporary helps to fill an important gap –…
My Quiet Rebellion We live in a day of ever-larger lenses. High resolution, pixel dense camera bodies like the Nikon D800, then the Sony A7R II, and then the even more pixel dense Canon EOS 5Ds/R have a tendency…
Sigma has established a very clear objective with their ART series primes: deliver large aperture prime lenses with class-leading (or near to it) resolution. On multiple occasions they have pushed the envelope of what was possible in maximum aperture…
The twin brands of Samyang and Rokinon have long been known for manufacturing inexpensive manual focus lenses that have often had excellent optical performance. The very first Rokinon lens I used/reviewed was the Rokinon 14mm f wide angle lens. At the…
Another long awaited lens from the Sigma ART series has arrived – the new Sigma 135mm f ART. It looks nearly identical to the 85 ART, though just a tiny bit smaller in every dimension. Optically it pushes the envelope…
I’ve already done a full review of the new Tamron SP 150-600mm f VC USD G2 lens in the late fall of 2016, but at that time the lens was just coming to market and my review time was…
I’ve been looking forward to spending some time with the new Rokinon (Samyang) SP 14mm f lens. I owned the less expensive Rokinon 14mm f lens, and found it a pretty amazing optical instrument for the price. It did have a…
Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL-II I’ll readily admit to having a weakness for compact, well made manual focus lenses. I’ve considered the Canon EF 40mm f pancake lens to be an excellent value lens, but I’ve been disappointed in the…
Ludicrous Mode American automaker Tesla has become one of the darlings of the auto industry with their high performance electric vehicles. One of the ironic aspects of Tesla’s Model S sedan is the ability to unlock “Ludicrous Mode”. Ludicrous…
Korean lens maker Samyang has settled into a certain niche in the past: they develop manual focus only lenses (with a few Sony exceptions) with highly competitive optics, consumer grade builds, and inexpensive prices. Well, a few of those things…
The Carl Zeiss company definitely knows how to make premium lenses with beautiful optics…and very expensive price tags. Few lenses typify this more than the extravagant Otus series. The Otus 1.4/55mm, 1.4/85mm, and now 1.4/28mm are all wide aperture premium…