Although many zoom lenses are labeled as "macro" that designation generally refers only to moderately close focusing ability. With a few exceptions, such zooms are not adequate for a dramatic frame-filling image unless the subject is quite large. (A few tele macro zoom lenses are capable of much higher magnification, however.) On the other hand, true macro lenses can...

The mid-range zoom I started with when I bought my Nikon D300 was no speed demon, and I was hankering for an f/2.8 lens in the (effective) 70-200mm range. What first attracted me to the Tokina AT-X 535 PRO DX was the fast, constant maximum aperture, providing a bright view every step of the way. What’s more, the barrel on this tele-zoom does not rotate when zoomed: all movement is entirely...

For extreme convenience a zoom lens with an ultra-wide range can make taking top quality images at a variety of focal lengths very practical. One example of this new breed is the Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 AF Aspherical LD lens which encompasses practically...

My first encounter with a Vivitar Series 1 lens goes back more than 15 years to the 600mm "Solid Cat," one of the slickest super-telephotos ever made. In addition to great optics, the lens featured an overall length and diameter of--and I'm not joking--around...

Why are photographers taught to use long lenses for portraits? There are four basic tenets behind this reasoning: narrow angle of view, shallow depth of field, flattering perspective, and a comfortable working distance between you and your subject. However, flip these “rules” on their head and you’ll see why I like working with wides: wide angle of view, great potential depth of field, unique perspective, and, oddly enough, working right in your subject’s face. In short, I use the special nature of a wide lens to give my portraits a new and unique look.

"My" Leica M8--a loaner from Leica for review--came with a 50mm f/2 bar-coded Summicron. The 18x27mm sensor turns this into a 67mm lens in 35mm terms: rather long for someone whose standard lens on 35mm has for decades been a 35mm. So as soon as I got the M8, I started using other, older lenses. There is, after all, an enormous choice, from 12mm (18mm...

Quality, according to the old saying, doesn't cost: it pays. These new manual-focus, Nikon-fit "ZF" lenses are a perfect illustration of that saying. Sure, they are built by Hirofumi Kobayashi in Japan, but they are built to Zeiss standards from Zeiss designs, and they feel like the Zeiss lenses of yesteryear: smooth, solid, beautifully finished, with a lot of...