I normally dismiss ultra-fast aperture lenses because they tend to be overly large, overly expensive, and overly excessive. I rarely want to have the shallowest depth of field possible, and an f/1.2 lens is only two-thirds of a stop brighter than a reasonably priced f/1.4 lens. But what if I can have my cake and eat it too?
Sigma announced the 50mm f/1.2 Art for full-frame cameras, promising to combine optical excellence and outstanding autofocus performance in the smallest and lightest chassis on the market.
Following the success of its 35mm lens, Sirui has announced two new full-frame carbon fiber anamorphic lenses for its Saturn Series available in 50mm and 75mm focal lengths. The new trio of lenses all weigh less than 500 grams, making them the "world's lightest" full-frame anamorphic lenses.
Yongnuo has announced a new and affordable YN50mm f/1.8X DSM Pro lens for Fujifilm X-mount. In addition to supporting autofocus, the lens integrates a small OLED display, similar to what Viltrox used on its recent 16mm f/1.8 lens.
I have a special interest in manual focus 50mm lenses. It began with a Praktica film SLR that was bundled with a 50mm f/2.8 Meyer-Optic Görlitz lens. Next came a Canon Ftb SLR with a 50mm f/1.4 FD SSC lens. This lens had a noticeable improvement in image quality along with a much better anti-reflection coating.
Chinese lens manufacturer Zhong Yi Optics has announced the Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm T/1.0 Cine Lens, designed to be part of a lineup of Micro Four Thirds cine lenses.
TTArtisan has announced a new 50mm f/2 full-frame manual focus lens. Though not the fastest “nifty fifty” in the company arsenal, the standard focal length lens has a natural viewing angle and the company says it has a fast enough aperture to provide high performance in low light.
Photographer Gordon Laing from Camera Labs and Dino Bytes has released a special episode dedicated to one of the strangest digital cameras released in the 90s - The Nintendo Game Boy Camera.
Vintage lenses are more popular than ever, thanks in large part to the mirrorless revolution as well as affordable, high-quality cinema and hybrid video cameras. These lenses are regularly “cine modded” for video use due to their unique character and less clinical rendering, (sometimes) affordable prices compared to cine lenses, helicoid-driven focus with hard stops, and physical aperture rings (which are often de-clicked).
Viltrox has announced a 50mm f/1.8 lens for both Sony and Nikon mirrorless cameras, adding to the company's expanding list of third-party lens choices for full-frame mirrorless bodies.
Samyang has announced the second-generation version of its 50mm f/1.4 for Sony E-mount. The company says that after five years of development, it believes that it has created "a new standard for standard lenses."
Cosina has announced the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Heliar Classic lens for VM-mount that it says was designed in "pursuit of a classical image that modern lenses do not have." The optical design is intentionally imperfect to mimic a true vintage lens and show various aberrations.
TTArtisan has announced a new $235 50mm f/1.4 lens for multiple full-frame mirrorless systems: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Leica L.
Chinese camera lens manufacturer 7Artisans has announced the affordable $236 APS-C 50mm f/0.95 lens for Sony E, Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, EOS-M, and Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mounts.
A decade into the E-mount camera system and Sony has become well-versed at making 50mm lenses for mirrorless bodies. The company's latest effort, the 50mm f/1.2 G Master, is the most ambitious as well as the most satisfying.
On June 12, the 38th Leitz Photographica Auction is set to offer a large assortment of rare and highly collectible camera products, the most notable of which is a rare Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 lens designed in 1966 for NASA Apollo missions.
Vazen has announced its latest anamorphic lens in the 50mm T2.1 1.8x, which adds what the company calls an "ultra-wide-angle option." It is available in either Canon EF or PL mounts.
After my testing of the new Sony compact primes, I was able to spend some time with the competing set of primes from Sigma that were arguably the reason Sony created its lenses in the first place. Both sets are fun, compact, and extremely portable optics... but which should you buy?
I'm photographer Jay P. Morgan from The Slanted Lens. In this video and article we’re going to take a look at why a 50mm lens is the only lens you need for landscape photography.
In response to Sigma's push into compact mirrorless prime lenses, Sony has launched a new trio of compact prime G-lenses. The 24mm f/2.8 G, 40mm f/2.5 G, and 50mm f/2.5 G together are smaller and lighter than an average 24-70mm f/2.8.
Sony has announced three compact and fast prime lenses -- 24mm f/2.8 G, 40mm f/2.5 G, and 50mm f/2.5 G -- designed to balance high-quality with small size. These lenses look to be clearly designed in response to Sigma's recent push in this direction with its I-Series lenses.
Nikon has been aggressively marketing the internal diameter of the Z mount as being 17% larger than the Nikon F mount, and the larger mount allows more flexibility in the optical design of the Z lenses like their newest 58mm f/0.95 lens.
In January, Leica announced the re-issue of the classic Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 ASPH. The silver edition was limited to 100 pieces and an official Leica reseller is claiming its value has already doubled.
Leica has announced the reissue of what it calls a "landmark" lens: the Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 ASPH. The lens will be released in two variants: standard black, which is available through all dealers, and silver, limited to 100 units and only available at Leica stores.
Kenko Tokina has announced two new lenses for the Fujifilm X system: the atx-m 23mm f/1.4 X and the atx-m 33mm f/1.4 X. The 23mm has an approximate field of view of 35mm on a full-frame sensor, while likewise, the 33mm translates approximately to 50mm.
Cosina has announced the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage Line 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical II VM lens for Vessa and M-mount cameras, replacing the first version that was released in 2013. The lens is constructed nearly entirely out of metal and glass and features knurled rings for the manual adjustment of aperture and focus.
If you're a total bokeh maniac, two of the lenses you've probably looked at with yearning are the Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 and the Nikon Noct 58mm f/0.95. But how do these actually very different lenses compare to one another when you shoot them side-by-side?
Portrait photographer Julia Trotti recently put together a useful comparison video for beginners where she captures portraits using a crop-sensor camera and her most-used prime lenses: a 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 135mm.
Andrew of husband and wife photography team Denae and Andrew recently partnered up with KEH to test out 10 of the best-selling vintage 50mm lenses on the used market. From old Nikon and Canon glass, to Minolta, Pentax and even a Contax lens, all of these can be had for under $100, and Andrew wanted to find out which of the 10 performed best.
My name is Timmy Smalls, and I'm a photographer based in Melbourne. I recently traveled to the south island of New Zealand for a week with only a 50mm lens, trying to capture the grand and intimate landscapes.
After many years of experience using different lenses, I now have resorted to only using a single prime lens. I started with a 50mm, then added an 85mm, 35mm, 100mm, and 28mm to my collection, and I’ve played around with zooms. But now I exclusively use a 50mm lens. No more zooms and no more choices. But why would I volunteer to limit myself?
As of early 2017, my only camera is the Ricoh GR II, which has a fixed-focal 28mm lens. I wanted to share my personal experiences shooting with a 28mm lens, after shooting with a 35mm lens for almost 6 years.
Fujifilm today announced its new Fujinon XF 50mm f/2 R WR lens, a durable, weatherproof lens that's designed to be "perfect for any type of travel photography."
The 50mm lens has been the 'standard' for street photographers for ages, but is it the best option available? Maybe not. Kai wanted to find out, so he pit the 50mm against a 35mm and 28mm, and went out shooting to find out which he liked best and why.
If you think a 50mm f/1.2 lens that captures sharp portraits with gorgeous bokeh is hundreds or even thousands of dollars away, think again. If you're willing to get creative, you can have one for just 20 bucks.
Sony today announced its new Sony FE 50mm f/2.8 Macro full frame lens. It's a light and compact prime lens that provides versatility.
Back in June my poor little Nikkor AF 50mm F1.8D (and attached body) took a tumble off our patio table.
We reported back in May 2015 that Yongnuo was developing a Nikon counterpart to its cheap 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens. The lens quietly became available recently over on eBay, and the price tag is $82.
News broke back in February that Russian camera manufacturer Zenit was going to come back and take on Leica in the luxury camera market. But the first Zenit products to see the light of day aren't cameras, it's three very fast KMZ/Zenit lenses: the Zenitar 50mm f/0.95, 50mm f/1.2, and 85mm f/1.2.
When people ask me what lens they should get after buying their first camera, I always tell them to buy a 50mm f/1.8 lens because it's one of the cheapest and one of the coolest lens you could buy. I have an old 50mm which is a little bit dirty and also quite old so I don't use it that often. But recently, my girlfriend bought me a brand new 50mm lens, so I fell in love with using the 50mm again.
This is a very small yet very powerful lens, and many people don't know the tricks that you can do with this lens, so I'll share some of them in this article.