In the early summer of 2023, I had an opportunity to play with the soon-to-be-released Nikon Z8. We met up with the Nikon crew in Yellowstone National Park to photograph some wildlife and the good folks at Nikon also had another surprise for us out there.
Film isn’t dead yet. That’s the obvious message behind Leica digging up its roots and reimagining its storied M6 rangefinder film camera from 1984 and releasing a brand new variant in 2022.
Leica is going all in on the revival of classics. In addition to restarting production of its M6 film rangefinder, the company is also bringing back the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 originally released in 1961.
Meike has introduced a new 10mm f/2 APS-C manual focus prime lens for Sony E, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Micro Four Thirds cameras.
Nikon has announced the compact Nikkor Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S super-telephoto prime lens for its mirrorless Z-mount cameras and it says that this new optic is the lightest in its class.
Dzofilm has announced three T2.1 Vespid Cyber cinema prime lenses that are designed to connect directly with the new DJI RS 3 Pro LiDAR autofocus system. The 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm lenses have a unique data interface function to output focusing and aperture data to the gimbal.
If you have been searching for an ultra-wide lens for the Pentax system recently, you likely will come across the $1,400 Pentax-D FA 21mm f/2.4 lens announced late last year. Whether or not you should buy it depends on how much you like Pentax.
Cosina has launched the Voigtlander APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 for Nikon's F-mount. Cosina says that the lens has been designed to bring the appearance of chromatic aberration to as close to zero as possible.
Nikon has announced the $300 Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 Ultra-Compact prime lens. The company claims the new optic will provide extraordinary bokeh and fantastic image quality for both video and still photos, all in a very tiny package.
One of my favorite ways to create more interesting photos is to get closer to the subject and fill the frame, eliminating or reducing background distractions.
OM Digital has released a new lens roadmap as well as announced the development of two new lenses for Micro Four Thirds (M43), the M.Zuiko Digital ED 20mm f/1.4 Pro and M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0 Pro.
Venus Optics has announced a new Laowa 14mm f/4 Zero-D (zero distortion) wide-angle manual focus prime lens for Nikon and Canon DSLRs. The company says that it uses a completely different optical design from the mirrorless version of the lens.
Russian camera manufacturer Zenit has announced the release of four new manual full-frame prime lenses that they first revealed last year: the Zenitar 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.5, 58mm f/1.9, and 60mm f/2.8 Macro.
After my testing of the new Sony compact primes, I was able to spend some time with the competing set of primes from Sigma that were arguably the reason Sony created its lenses in the first place. Both sets are fun, compact, and extremely portable optics... but which should you buy?
In response to Sigma's push into compact mirrorless prime lenses, Sony has launched a new trio of compact prime G-lenses. The 24mm f/2.8 G, 40mm f/2.5 G, and 50mm f/2.5 G together are smaller and lighter than an average 24-70mm f/2.8.
Nikon has just announced two of the most anticipated lenses for its full-frame mirrorless Z-series: the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S and the NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S. The former is the fastest AF lens Nikon has ever produced, while the latter is "the world’s shortest and lightest full-frame f/2.8 zoom lens with a 14mm field of view."
Street photographers are not known for their reserve. We are happy to give advice on gear, framing and technique. But I believe the best photographers are those who also seek advice and look to learn from others. That said, not all advice is equal, and some ideas are outdated, narrow minded, or just plan wrong.
Sony has just released the brand new FE 20mm f/1.8 G: a lightweight, high-performance, ultra-wide prime lens for full-frame Sony mirrorless cameras that the company has dubbed "the widest full-frame prime lens in E-mount lineup."
Our friend Roger Cicala over at LensRentals recently decided to take on a few optical "platitudes" that he's always hearing, and see if the data can back them up. So, are "all lenses the same at f/8"? And is it true that you "don’t need primes because I shoot everything stopped down"? Let's find out.
Samyang/Rokinon has announced a new ultra-compact, ultra-wide-angle prime for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras. At just 145g light, 2-inches long, and $500, the new Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 lens is "the most compact, lightweight, and affordable super-wide angle full frame lens for Sony E mount."
I’ll begin by saying that I don’t only shoot with zoom lenses. I should also add that what I’m about to say is perhaps most relevant to other wedding photographers, particularly those shooting in a documentary style like myself.
Meyer Optik Gorlitz is working its way back from the dead. After the company's very public failure—including the embarrassing admission that the $3,000 "Nocturnus" was just a modified $850 Chinese lens—the brand and its new owner, OPC Optics, is preparing to re-release "optimized" and "redesigned" versions of several lenses this year.
In the world of photography, you’ll find people generally prefer primes or zooms. The main benefit to zoom lenses is that you can cover multiple focal lengths in one decent sized package. In saying this, there are some prime lenses that can work well for multiple purposes. Two of these are the 35mm and 85mm primes.
Retailers are already having problems competing against Amazon's free two-day shipping for its Prime members, but now the retail juggernaut is planning to cut that standard shipping time in half. That's right: Amazon is planning to offer free default one-day shipping as a Prime perk.
The Hong Kong-based camera equipment company Meike has launched an affordable 50mm f/1.7 manual-focus prime lens for Canon and Nikon's full-frame mirrorless camera systems.
6 months ago, my girlfriend and I finally did what we had always dreamed of doing: quitting our jobs and traveling the world. This is a relatively normal narrative for western couples in their 20s, but the difference here is I am a passionate wildlife photographer.
Samyang today announced the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 (also sold as the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8), the company's 8th autofocus lens and its first AF lens designed for Nikon F-mount cameras.
Yongnuo's original 50mm f/1.8 lens was announced in 2014 and received quite a bit of attention for being a clone of the Canon "Nifty Fifty" 50mm f/1.8 II. Now the Yongnuo lens is getting its own Mark II followup: the Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 II.
The question of zoom lenses versus prime lenses is an endless debate in photography, and one that has never really been definitively resolved. Essentially, the whole thing boils down to what’s more important: image quality, or versatility.
You've probably heard it a million times: "zoom with your feet!" This advice comes up almost any time the prime vs zoom lens debate resurfaces, but as anyone with even basic lens knowledge will tell you, zooming with your feet is NOT the same as zooming with your lens.
From the beginning of my photography career—which is … almost 30 years ago (that can’t be true!)—I've been shooting with zoom lenses. Due to the flexibility they offer, I was convinced they make the best choice; as far as I know, thousands of other travel photographers who would say the same.
Roger Cicala—the founder of Lens Rentals and one of the most entertaining and informative voices in the world of optical testing—has some news for you: zoom lenses are never as good as primes, and they vary so much from copy to copy that you should probably never trust a zoom lens review.
Have you ever asked yourself what the best focal length for your first (or your next) prime lens should be? If you use mostly zoom lenses, Adobe Lightroom may be able to help.
Sigma’s new 500mm f/4 Sport is getting a lot of attention. It might be because it’s the first telephoto prime in its new ART/SPORT series of lenses, or it might be because of the price tag of $5,999. That’s $3,000 less than the Canon and almost $4,300 less than the Nikon, while only being $1,000 more than the older Sigma 500mm f/4.5.
In a bid to lure a few more of your friends onto Amazon Prime, the Seattle-based retail giant just announced a new feature called "Family Vault." If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can now share the unlimited photo storage you get through Prime Photos with 5 non-Prime friends, free of charge!
There's an interesting lens coming for Nikon photographers. A new Nikon AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E ED lens has been leaked early, offering us a glimpse at the soon-to-be world's fastest 105mm prime lens.
We reported back in May 2015 that Yongnuo was developing a Nikon counterpart to its cheap 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens. The lens quietly became available recently over on eBay, and the price tag is $82.
When people ask me what lens they should get after buying their first camera, I always tell them to buy a 50mm f/1.8 lens because it's one of the cheapest and one of the coolest lens you could buy. I have an old 50mm which is a little bit dirty and also quite old so I don't use it that often. But recently, my girlfriend bought me a brand new 50mm lens, so I fell in love with using the 50mm again.
This is a very small yet very powerful lens, and many people don't know the tricks that you can do with this lens, so I'll share some of them in this article.
Amazon launched unlimited photo storage for Prime members back in November 2014. In March of this year, the company began offering the service for $12 a year, allowing anyone to store their lifetime collection of photos -- including RAW files.
Now Amazon is rolling out yet another perk: the ability to share your unlimited photo storage. Prime members can now share Amazon's unlimited photo hosting with one other adult in their household.
Tamron today announced two new lenses for its high-end SP ("Super Performance") lineup: the SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD and the SP 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD. Both are fast, premium lenses that offer image stabilization.