Lens Reviews

It was portrait shooter’s paradise with two new Sony lenses this week. The 100mm STF is a veritable bokeh machine, while the FE 85mm f/1.8 is a budget-friendly, professional quality portrait lens. Sony invited a small group of editors to a private studio and assured us that we were the first journalists in the world to shoot with this new glass.

Unless you’re completely new to photography, you’ve heard about Lensbaby, the marvelously creative series of lenses that are best described as intentionally unsharp and stuffed with almost every imaginable aberration and distortion. The Lensbaby Trio 28 is the latest model, and it has a secret. 

Why would anyone in their right mind want to use old lenses on their shiny new high-performance DSLR or mirrorless camera? The simple answer is that some older lenses can capture images that have that elusive quality known as character. 

Sports photography shares much in common with capturing images of wildlife: You’ve got an active scene captured at a distance requiring specialized equipment and knowledge of the subject’s activities while anticipating what they are going to do next…or not. Sure, you’ll need fast, long focal length lenses but you will also need camera supports and other gear that along with specialized knowledge separates the virtuosos, like Regis Lefebure (regislefebure.com), from the wannabes. Here’s a look at some of our favorite tools of the sports trade.

If you’ve ever lusted after a really fast lens—even faster than f/1.2—imagine how compelling the thought of an affordable f/0.95 lens might be. Well, buckle your gadget bags folks, because the Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm for Micro Four Thirds cameras is an f/0.95 that pops into the shopping cart for less than $400.  

Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras have become increasingly popular among enthusiasts and pros because they provide a DSLR-like shooting experience in a lighter, more compact form factor, along with robust feature sets and significant technical advantages. The top models deliver pro-caliber performance and hi-res/high-magnification EVFs with incredibly rapid refresh rates that display the image captured by the sensor in real time.

We all know nature and wildlife photographers need long focal length lenses but they’re not the only ones who need a longer-than-normal lens. While the only wildlife I have photographed are the mule deer who treat my backyard like it’s their backyard, I’ve photographed a racing car from time to time and that’s when a telephoto or long zoom lens comes to the rescue.