Lens News

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. 

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.

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.

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.

When Yongnuo first introduced a 50mm f/1.8 full-frame lens for Canon users it was an immediate hit with bargain hunters. It was a $40 clone of the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II which sold for about $125 and offered very respectable performance—especially for the price.

Here’s a little something for those of you who can’t afford the new $6000 Leica M–D: Four quirky lenses you can get for under 30 bucks from Weird Lens Guru Mathieu Stern, whose passion is discovering odd optics you can adapt to your mirrorless camera to capture both still images and video. In this video Stern describes a quartet of lenses you can get for less than the cost of two decent cocktails in Paris.

I always thought the weirdest mirror lens ever was a Vivitar Series 1 600–900mm zoom I shot with briefly back in the ‘80s. Until now, that is. Check out the following video review of a Soviet era 1,100mm f/10.5 mirror lens known as the MTO 1000A.