Lens News

There is an underlying desire in every travel or street photographer to be able to carry one lens to cover all contingencies.

I 've been shooting most of my portrait work with a 28-75mm zoom, but always felt I could use something longer. And I'm about at the point where fixed focal length lenses just won't do; once you get used to the flexibility of a zoom, you're spoiled. I also like a fast lens with a relatively wide maximum aperture, as I like to get way out-of-focus...

One of the favorite lenses among news photographers, a 70-200mm f/2.8 or 80-200mm f/2.8 zoom also appeals to many serious photo enthusiasts. Although large and heavy, lenses of this type offer several benefits. Their very wide maximum aperture allows for faster shutter speeds than the more typical f/4.5-5.6 zooms, great for low-light or action photography at lower ISOs (film or...

If you ever want a unique point of view try a "fisheye" lens. Like looking through a door peephole (which in fact is a "fisheye" type) this order of lens sacrifices linear correction in favor of a very wide angle of view. Originally made for creating "full sky" images when pointed straight up, they had long ago been adopted by photographers for...

The news last week that Canon’s rare, 1200mm super telephoto lens was on sale again reminded us of another giant piece of glass that generated tons of buzz when it was introduced in 2008: the Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 APO EX DG.

There's one lens that's part of my 35mm/digital SLR system that I have used longest, continuously now for about 40 years. It is a homemade single-element soft-focus lens inspired by the Rodenstock Imagon lens for large format cameras. There are more images in my library of photographs made with this lens than any other. But why in this modern, high-tech world of...

If, like many Shutterbug readers, you have a film SLR camera plus several interchangeable lenses, you might be wondering if you can use those lenses with your new D-SLR camera of the same, or even different, brand.