Within a few months of each other at the beginning of 2021, both Sony and Sigma announced 35mm f/1.4 lenses for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras. They were just begging for a comparison to be made.
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.
Just over a year ago, Lomography launched the 180th Anniversary Edition of the Petzval 80.5mm f/1.9 MKII Bokeh Control Art Lens which promised a bevy of improvements over its 85mm predecessor. It looked as though it would put a historic lens back in the hands in creatives at an affordable $549 price. So does it?
Leica recently introduced its $2,795 Vario-Elmarti-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH lens, the latest zoom lens for L-Mount systems. It's not what most would call "cheap," but it certainly is inexpensive compared to the rest of Leica's lineup. But does that mean a dip in performance?
When taking a look at Sigma's newest zoom in its Contemporary lineup, one can't help but draw comparisons to the myriad of other standard-range zoom lenses available. Let's be honest -- it doesn't break any new ground.
Venus Optics' Laowa lenses have been growing in both notoriety and popularity over the last few years thanks to their nearly constant stream of new and interesting optics for a wide variety of mounts. The company's latest is backed by the high-quality promise of its new Argus line: the Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO for APS-C systems.
Super-wide-angle lenses made for full-frame cameras are usually some combination of big, heavy, slow, or riddled with image quality problems. Usually.
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?
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.
My favorite "walking around" and landscape focal length is 35mm equivalent. I have some 24mm lenses which approximate that field of view on my APS-C camera. One is the Tamron 24mm f/2.8. But despite its great resolution, it is slow to focus and pretty large. So after being very pleased with my Sigma 45mm Contemporary, I decided to give their new 24mm version a try. I'm glad I did.
Photographer Benj Haisch has published a 13-minute review of the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4 APSH lens, a $369 rangefinder optic that he believes performs much better than anticipated when compared to a lens that costs nearly twelve times as much.
I took the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S out to see how it performed taking astrophotography and nightscape photos with a Nikon Z6. I’ve compiled notes and comparison images to help those out who are looking at purchasing this lens for astrophotography and nightscape photos.
Photographer João Burini has published a review of the Laowa Venus 50mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO for micro four thirds after a long time shooting with the lens. He has captured a large number of beautiful images of insects, and calls the lens "the best macro option in micro four thirds."
Photographer and YouTuber Jay P Morgan from The Slanted Lens has published this 6.5-minute video review of the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens for Sony E-Mount. In summary, Morgan says that it "did all the things I really needed it to."
Photographer Alex Barrera has published a 10-minute video where he compares both of Canon's RF 85mm lenses: the 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM and the 85mm f/1.2 L USM. In it, he alleges that "one of these lenses is not a true 85mm."
As a landscape and travel photographer, I often carry around an ultra-wide-angle 14mm lens and the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8. Last week I was able to test the latest addition to the Tamron series for full-frame mirrorless cameras: the 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD. And I think I've found the perfect addition to my usual 2-lens kit.
The guys over at DPReview TV recently set out to test the new Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L lens. But instead of simply shooting some samples and talking about sharpness, they decided to pit it against the classic EF-mount version of this same lens so they could see "how far this lens has come."
If you're a Fuji user looking for an equivalent to the "nifty fifty" lenses available for Nikon and Canon DSLRs, you've probably considered picking up Fuji's old XF 35mm f/1.4 or the XF 35mm f/2. But what if there was a more affordable, faster option out there? The Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 wants to be that lens.
Two years ago, Venus Optics sent macro photographer Thomas Shahan their Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro lens for testing. Now, after two continuous years of real-world use and testing, he's finally gotten around to sharing his thoughts in a thoughtful review that will be a huge help to any extreme macro photographers who are considering this lens.
In early November, Panasonic announced that a 70-200mm f/2.8 for the L-mount was coming soon. The lens represents, which comes in at a hefty $2,597.99, is a major step closer to completing the holy-trinity lineup for their S series cameras.
In early November, Panasonic announced that they would be releasing a 16-35mm f/4. Ever since Panasonic released the S1 and S1R, people have been asking about a wide angle lens, especially with the availability of a high-res mode in both cameras (96MP in the S1, 187MP in the S1R) making them a great camera for landscape shooters.
My main objective in this article isn’t to provide an in-depth review of the Tamron 17–28mm f/2.8 Di III lens, but I hope to offer the reader a few insights in terms of how the lens performs from a landscape photographer’s perspective as a photographer who usually prefers to shoot ultra-wide-angle.
Tamron recently announced a trio of compact primes for Sony FE: the 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.8 and 20mm f/2.8. We had the chance to test out the 24 and 35mm primes for a few days to see how they performed.
Photographer Felix Jäger recently got to review a lens that many Micro Four Thirds shooters have on their wishlist: the Voigtländer 42.5mm f/0.95. But while that mouth-watering aperture number might set your heart to racing, don't whip out your wallet just yet.
Back in July, Fujifilm announced a versatile new zoom lens for its X-Series cameras: the XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR. This new, compact, and highly versatile lens ought to be a great addition to many photographers, and we got the chance to shoot with a pre-production version for a few days.
Back in early July, Sigma announced the development of three new mirrorless lenses that were designed to be used with Sony and Panasonic full-frame mirrorless cameras from the start, unlike their previous E-mount Art Primes, which looked like they had an MC-11 grafted onto them.
Back in February, Tamron announced the development of three new lenses: the 35mm f/1.4 for DSLRs, the 17-28mm f/2.8 for Sony FE, and the 35-150mm f/2.8-4 for DSLRs. We just received the 35-150mm f/2.8-4 Di VC OSD for Nikon F mount to test out for a few days. It’s always exciting to test out new gear, and especially exciting when it’s a unique lens like the 35-150mm.
It's not one of Canon or Nikon's 800mm behemoths, but Sony's 500mm f/4G comes close... if not in focal length, then at least in price. At $13,000 it is the most expensive and longest prime Sony makes, and photographer John Sison got his hands on one to review.
If you’ve read any photography website or stopped into a store recently, you probably know that the creative options available to photographers are as numerous as ever. One aspect of photographic gear that has seen the most rapid expansion in quality options as of late, is lens selection.
Sigma is undoubtedly, tantalizingly on fire. Their Art series lenses consistently undercut and outperform the competition, as they proved yet again by manufacturing an 85mm f/1.4 lens that is not only $600 cheaper than Sony's top-of-the-line 85mm GM, but according to DPReview, it's better 'across the board.'
For us photo-people, the insane price tag on some Cinema zoom lenses makes zero sense. Why not just use really nice photography glass? What makes a Cinema zoom lens worth it? A lot, actually, and this short little comedy bit illustrates the difference between the two options perfectly.
Yongnuo has been making decent Canon knockoffs for a while now, so when it was discovered that an 85mm f/1.8 Canon clone was in the works, we got excited. Now, we get to find out if the Yongnuo, at half the price of its Canon counterpart, can keep up.
Improved optics, improved stabilization, improved autofocus, there's not much that isn't improved about the new Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS II. Maybe that's why Kaiman Wong calls it "Canon's best lens" in his latest gear review.
Out with the old and in with the new. Nikon has released their latest update to the 70-200 f/2.8.
I have already seen a few posts about the new addition to the Nikon prime lineup, the Nikon 105mm f/1.4, but don’t worry, this isn’t just another review with lots of graphs and pictures of brick walls. Just a few thoughts on my first impressions on the new Nikon 105mm f/1.4 from a working event photographer in London.
The fall colors here in Ohio are at their peak right now, and for most photographers that means it's time for wide angle photography. Sigma just so happened to send us their new 12-24mm f/4 Art to try out—what great timing.
The lens that Sigma Art lovers have been waiting for is finally here (almost). The new Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art is a welcome addition to Sigma's Art lineup, and I'm sure people all over are saying "it's about time!"
A few weeks ago, the company behind "zero distortion" ultra-wide angle Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens contacted me to see if I would be interested in reviewing their upcoming lens. I said yes.
If you've in the market for a tiny, fun, manual focus bokeh monster to carry around with you, photographer Nitsan Simantov would like to introduce you to his "favorite lens ever": The Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.4 MC.
I was one of those who noted Sony had some troubles, as manufacturers often do, with some of their first generation lenses for full-frame FE mount cameras. When they announced the G Master lens series I was really excited to test them.