samplephotos

Michael Zhang

Using the Rare Canon 50mm f/1.0 and Its Bokehliciously Thin Depth of Field

The Canon 50mm f/1.0 was the fastest SLR lens in production before it was discontinued in 2000 and replaced with the f/1.2. There aren't too many copies of this lens floating around on the used market, so photographers who want to use the ridiculous aperture it offers must pay a hefty premium in order to purchase one; the lenses commonly sell for two or three times the original retail value.

When reader Bryan Soderlind switched from film to digital a while back, he decided to splurge and go "all the way" by buying a 50mm f/1.0 for a little over $3,000 -- a relative bargain. The lens was in "impeccable shape" and was in focus even when using the razor sharp depth of field at f/1.0. Here are some of his thoughts on what it's like to use the lens, and some sample photos from his shoots.

Michael Zhang

Sony Unleashes a Number of RX1 Photos Showing the Power of Full Frame

Sony made huge ripples in the camera industry earlier this month by announcing a compact camera with a full frame sensor: the RX1. The camera features a bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens, a super compact size, and a price tag of $2,800 that broke many a photographer's heart.

For those of you who are wondering how the fusion of compact and full frame performs, Sony has uploaded a number of full-resolution sample photographs. Pixel-peepers, prepare to gawk in amazement at the quality that's now possible with fixed lens compact cameras.

Michael Zhang

A Comparison of Sample Photos Shot with the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S

After announcing its new iPhone 5 yesterday, Apple published a gallery of full-res sample photos showing the updated camera's quality. Although the specs haven't really changed, Apple says that the updated sensor and processor leads to better photographs. What better way to test these claims than to compare resulting photos side by side?

Luckily for us, DPReview has the droids comparison we're looking for. When Apple's official sample images were posted yesterday, DPReview product manager Scott Everett realized that he had taken an iPhone 4S photo that was nearly identical to one of the images -- the one of the coastline in Big Sur, California.

Michael Zhang

Check Out These Full-Res Sample Photos Shot Using the New iPhone 5

Earlier today, Apple announced its new iPhone 5, which features a camera that's nearly identical to the one found in the 4S. Soon after the announcement, Apple put up the official product page for the phone, which includes a gallery of sample photographs shot using the iPhone 5. Unfortunately, none of the shots show low-light environments, which would have allowed us to gawk at the power of the camera's new and improved noise-killing processor. For now, we'll just have to settle for these generic shots showing what the 3264×2448 images look like when they pop out of the camera.