“Date your cameras and marry your lenses,” a Sony staffer professed after I arrived in San Diego last week for the unveiling of two new lenses; the 50mm f/1.4 ZA prime and 70-200mm f/2.8 GM zoom. Our select group of journalists were repeatedly told, “Do not leak this launch.” Considering the leaks of cameras introductions from their competitors this summer, the firm request was understandable and we obliged.
The Goods spotlights the hottest premium photo gear out there. If you have a product you’d like considered for The Goods, e-mail images and info to editorial@shutterbug.com.
When people asked legendary editor Herbert Keppler why he sometimes wrote about cameras costing more than the average photographer could afford, he told me it was because of the Maserati factor. “Most people,” he said, “can’t afford a Maserati but like reading about them.” And I get that. My personal dream car is a 1961 Maserati 3500 GT, which sells for north of $450,000. Fortunately, medium format cameras, while expensive, cost less than that.
If you read my article “Sweet Glass: My 10 Favorite Lenses For Portrait, Boudoir & Wedding Photography” you know I’m fond of the 85mm focal length for portraiture. If you didn't read it, please check it out after reading this review. And Tamron’s SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens surely rings this bell. It’s available for Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts and as part of Tamron’s Di family is designed to work with APS-C format and full-frame SLR cameras. I tested the Canon EF version ($749.)
We love covering stories about big lenses and judging by reader reaction, you love reading about them as well. So here’s another interesting piece of big lens news that popped up today: a massive, three-foot long Nikon 1200mm lens set-up has been listed on eBay for $5,750.
The big news about the Leica M-D (Typ 262) is what it doesn’t have. It does not have autofocus. It does not provide through-the-lens viewing. And it’s not compatible with any zoom lens.
Nothing beats the versatile wide-angle lens for street shooting, travel, and landscape photography. Whether you’re capturing mountain vistas or bustling street scenes, the wide-angle lens offers an ideal combination of features for quick, candid shooting.
After seeing yesterday’s post about a new 1000mm telephoto lens Canon has in development, reader Jim Headley let us know he has a rare Birns and Sawyer Omnitar 1000mm f/4.5 telephoto for sale. The one-of-a-kind lens was commissioned by NASA in 1964 through Birns and Sawyer in Los Angeles and built by Astra in Germany.
If a patent published by Canon last week is any indication, the company is exploring the possibility of using diffractive optics to create an EF 1000mm f/5.6 DO super telephoto lens that may be smaller and lighter than could be created otherwise.
Scientists at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are working on a high-efficiency, ultra-thin single planar lens that could revolutionize photography by replacing the multi-element curved lenses used for cameras, smartphones and telescopes.
Ever wonder what goes into the making of a sophisticated $11,000 lens? Well, the intriguing video below offers a remarkable inside tour of Canon’s EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X, a unique super telephoto with a built-in optically matched 1.4X teleconverter.
For Canon lens fans, the wait finally ended when the company took the wraps off the new EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, a relatively compact super-telephoto zoom that has been hotly anticipated and frequently rumored about for years.
Flash and accessory manufacturer Meike has unveiled four new manual-focus lenses for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus and Panasonic mirrorless cameras with APS-C or smaller sensors. The new lenses are the first foray in this category for Meike, and are available on Amazon.
Our favorite weird lens guru Mathieu Stern has been testing out some unusual Soviet-era Russian lens and the results have been surprisingly impressive. In fact, in the below video, Stern pairs the Jupiter-9 85mm F/2 portrait lens on a Sony A7 II mirrorless camera and some of his still photos and video are actually quite amazing.
Here’s another video from our favorite weird lens guru Mathieu Stern who gives a preview of some cheap Jupiter Soviet lenses. Stern regularly discusses inexpensive, oddball glass that can be used on mirrorless cameras.