Lens News

The first thing many photographers do after investing in a new lens is to screw on a UV or haze filter. The idea is that these filters protect the front element of your lens from dirt and impact damage while improving contrast and eliminating atmospheric haze.

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.

With the growing popularity of D-SLR cameras with sensors of various sizes, most of the manufacturers are working to expand their line of lenses. As expected, many of the latest products are “digital only”: designed for the majority of D-SLRs with the APS-C or Four Thirds size sensor. But (as specified in the text), some are multi-platform products suitable for all 35mm and digital...

Yes, we’re posting our annual favorite cameras and lenses awards of 2018 with only a day left in January 2019, but that just means determining the best photo gear for last year was harder than usual. And it was, especially with the raft of exciting new full frame mirrorless cameras that hit the market in the second half of last year.

When Sigma decided to extend its esteemed Contemporary line of broad-spectrum lenses to include a full-frame 100-400mm long-range telephoto zoom, they handed their optical engineers a tough assignment: come up with a really long 4x zoom that delivers outstanding imaging performance and enhanced shooting flexibility in a compact, well-balanced, lightweight package optimized for handheld shooting. In other words, they wanted a lens that would expand the long tele zoom market by appealing to travelers, nature, wildlife, and street photographers, hikers, sports shooters and others daunted by the prospect of toting and hefting a ponderous telephoto zoom lens. 

Sigma recently introduced the 105mm f/2.8 DG DN macro lens for L mount and Sony FE mount mirrorless cameras. It focuses continuously down to life-size (1:1 reproduction ratio) at the minimum focusing distance of 11.6 inches and offers considerable versatility beyond macro applications. We took a thorough look at the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN macro lens in a Sony mount for this hands-on review.