Photography Camera Lenses Reviews

January 15, 2020

Pro Lenses

With great new pro camera bodies hitting the market, it’s no surprise there were quite a number of intriguing professional lenses

Brian Matiash

Whenever discussing a new lens, the tendency is to look at its focal length, or range, if it’s a zoom lens, and what its widest aperture is. You’ll often hear photographers discuss lenses in the following manner: “What lens is that you’ve got on your camera?” “Oh, it’s a 16-35mm.” “Ahh, right. Is that the ƒ/4 or ƒ/2.8 version?” “That’d... Read more

November 25, 2019

First Look At Five Wide-Angle Lenses

A hands-on tests of five wide-angle zooms and primes

Terry Sullivan

The Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S ultra-wide zoom lens (for its full-frame mirrorless camera system) provided very good edge-to-edge sharpness throughout the zoom range, from 14mm to 30mm. In this image, shot at the 30mm end of the zoom at ƒ/4.0, the lens provided a wonderful bokeh and blur behind the yellow rose in the foreground. In our last issue,... Read more

July 26, 2019

First Look Review: Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM US Telephoto Lens

Sony’s short telephoto lens includes stunning optics and impressive technology

By Terry Sullivan

One of my test shots taken with the Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM US telephoto lens. With its close focusing distance and wide aperture, the new Sony 135mm lens allows you to produce almost macro-type shots of subjects. Photo by Terry Sullivan. In the past 12 months (from July 2018 to July 2019), there have been about twice as many pro camera introductions... Read more

December 20, 2018

Sony FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS

Hands on with Sony’s fast, prime super-tele

Text & Photography By Patrick Murphy-Racey

The Sony FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS lens is remarkable on many levels. First, it’s smaller and lighter than any that have come before. It’s silent, fast and very accurate when paired with the Sony a9 camera. But to stop there would be a mistake. It’s the longest and fastest full-frame, super-telephoto lens designed specifically for mirrorless technology,... Read more

December 11, 2018

Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III RXD For Sony FE Mount

Third-party lens for Sony shooters provides great value for the money

Text & Photography By David Schloss

With the release of Tamron’s new 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III RXD for the Sony full-frame mirrorless camera, the company joins a very limited group of manufacturers making native autofocus lenses for Sony’s FE mount. Effectively doubling the number of members by joining this club, Tamron joins Zeiss in developing full-function lenses specifically for the... Read more

February 21, 2018

Sony AX700 Camcorder Autofocus Put To The Test

Sony’s trio of new 4K camcorders feature face detect autofocus—we put it to the test to see how it performs

By David Schloss

Sony’s trio of 4K camcorders are some of the first to feature face-detect autofocus. Whether you’re a still photographer or videographer, having a dedicated camcorder with autofocus in your bag is a huge bonus. All three of the camcorders, from this consumer model we tested all the way up to the professional model, all feature the same sensor, image... Read more

January 30, 2018

Hands On With Olympus 17mm and 45mm f/1.2 Lenses In South Carolina

The company's new high-end glass gives shooters the images they've been craving.

David Schloss

When Olympus first challenged the conventional DSLR-based photographic market with the introduction of their first mirrorless camera, they steered clear of the traditional full-frame and APS-C-sized sensors and instead used their internally-developed Micro Four Thirds sensor. Smaller than either full-frame or APS-C, Micro Four Thirds sensors allowed... Read more

June 22, 2017

Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C — First Hands-On Test

A first look at the new lightweight, affordable super-zoom

David Schloss

Sigma’s new Contemporary 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM has just arrived, and I’ve been spending some time putting it through its paces at a media event in Utah’s Park City. The new lens is, according to Sigma “a state-of-the-art telephoto zoom that brings a new level of portability and quality to the super telephoto market.” Sigma has called... Read more

June 10, 2016

Hands On Review: Sony G Master Lenses

New optics for a new generation of cameras.

David Schloss

It’s only natural that a camera platform as new as the Sony’s a7 series would be perceived as being a little bit short on lenses. When the first a7 shipped—only a few years ago—you could count the number of lenses that designed for its full frame sensor on one hand. The rest of Sony’s lenses were designed for their smaller APS-C sensor equipped... Read more

September 9, 2015

Zeiss Batis Lenses Arrive

Designed to work in tandem with the Sony a7 series, the new Batis 25/2 and 85/1.8 optics deliver sharp image quality and vivid color

By David Schloss

Sony and Carl Zeiss have long had a strategic partnership—you’ll find the blue-and-white Zeiss badge on products ranging from the company’s compact cameras to Sony-designed lenses for the company’s flagship Alpha series. With the release of their first two Batis lenses, which are only available for the Sony E-mount (such as the a7R... Read more

March 9, 2015

Hi-TechStudio: The Mid-Range Zoom

With reduced distortion, sharpness across the field of view and a generally comfortable working distance, the mid-range zooms are a preferred tool for fashion and beauty

By The Editors

Mid-range zoom lenses—those that go from moderate wide-angle to portrait telephoto—are versatile tools that can cover a wide range of subject matter. But they’re especially well suited to fashion/beauty/portraiture work, letting you frame from full body to tight headshot from distances that provide pleasing perspective. Note that with an APS-C... Read more

January 6, 2015

Superfast Glass

The pros and cons of using lenses with maximum apertures greater than ƒ/1.4

By The Editors

Fast lenses let you shoot in dimmer light and can really limit depth of field for selective-focus shots. Superfast lenses are even better, right? We’ll go into that in a moment, but first, what is a fast lens? Fast refers to the size of the lens’ maximum aperture, and it’s a relative term in more ways than one. The ƒ-number designates... Read more

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