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A Weekend with the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8
Tyler has an amazing ability to purchase hard to find items and get them to Lensrentals. Today he amazed even me — a brand new Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 OIS lens arrived when, in theory at least, there...
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Optically Adjusting a Lens
I write a lot about the fact that every copy of a lens is slightly different than every other copy. Now don’t get me wrong: I’m talking slight differences that are barely detectable, not good or bad....
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Canon’s 18-135mm IS gets an STM Makeover
So the usual happened today: I read in a couple of places that the Canon 18-135mm IS STM lens isn’t going to be available in the U. S. for a while. A few minutes later Tyler walks in my office with...
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Imatest Macro Results (With Apologies to the Nikon 105 VR Micro)
A few months back we tested a number of Nikon lenses on the D800 cameras, hoping to determine which lenses could bring the absolute best resolution out of that camera’s 36-megapixel sensor. The results...
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A Tilted Element Demonstration
One thing we preach here a lot is that just because a dropped lens looks fine on the outside doesn’t mean it is fine. The other thing we preach a lot is that a tiny difference in the centering, tilt or...
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Canon Illumination Correction and Third-Party Lenses
I while back I put out a notice that the Sigma 150mm and 180mm OS Macros had an issue if you shot JPGs on a Canon 5D Mk III and left peripheral illumination correction on. The camera auto-corrected for...
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The Effect of a Decentered Lens on Autofocus
As some of you know, I’ve been testing a large number of Nikon cameras and lenses as part of the Autofocus Reality series. (Nikon full frame results will be up in a day or so.) I noticed an abnormality...
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Scoping Out Digiscoping
Digiscoping I’ve always been a bit fascinated by digiscoping. For those who are out of the loop, digiscoping involves taking images through a spotting scope rather than a camera lens. The advantages...
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Canon 24-70 Mk II Variation
A while back we ran Imatest resolution numbers on a few copies of the Canon 24-70 Mk II. That was right at release time and the resolution was most impressive, but we only had 5 copies available to...
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Quick Resolution Tests on Two New 70-200s
We got stock on two new 70-200mm lenses this week: the Nikon 70-200 f/4 VR and the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC. I would have loved to do some side-by-side comparisons. They’re priced similarly and I expect...
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Metabones Magic?
A few days ago I learned about the Metabones Speed Booster. For both of you who haven’t heard yet, this is an adapter containing optical elements and electronic controls that allows you to mount Canon...
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Optical Tune Ups
It’s not falling that hurts, it’s the sudden stop at the end. -Author Unkown Understandably, people are concerned with whether a new lens they buy is functioning properly and optically within...
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Seeing the Numbers
When someone tells you that something defies description, you can be pretty sure he’s going to have a go at it anyway. - Author Unknown A lot of my posts about lens resolution consist largely of...
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Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR Revisited
My view of lenses is often colored by measurements, numbers, taking them apart, and other geeky things. I also take photographs with them. One of the things I’m always interested in is comparing my...
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Overcoming My f / Entekaphobia
Entekaphobia – fear of the number 11 Or. . . How I Learned to Appreciate Small Aperture Photography If you read my blog much, you know I’m a resolution fanatic. I test every new lens for resolution....
View ArticleThe Requested 80-400 AF-S vs. 70-200 VR II and 2X Comparison
Well, for the first time I’ve totally caved to popular demand and done a test I had little interest in doing. But after I did a Quick-Take post on the new Nikon 80-400 AF-S VR lens I received about...
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Sharpening Maps and Masks
Obviously I’m a gearhead, so I like to know the traits of the lenses I shoot with. I want to know what aperture gives maximal corner sharpness, for example, whether the plane of focus is curved or...
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First Look: Zeiss CZ.2 70-200mm T2.9
Ah, as if the 70-200 zoom field wasn’t crowded enough, with each camera maker having one or four along with the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC and the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 OS, but Tyler decided we have to stock...
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First Look: Zeiss CP.2 135mm T2.1
Of course, being a photo guy who loves shooting at 135mm, I can’t wait to get my hands on the photo version of the new Zeiss 135mm lens. I don’t have that yet, but we did get the CP.2 Cine version of...
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Zeiss ZE 135mm f/2 vs. Canon 135mm f/2L
We had a chance a few days ago to look at the first copy of the Zeiss 135mm APO-Sonnar CP.2 lens, but today received several copies of the 135mm APO-Sonnar in ZE (Canon) mount. I’ve been wanting to...
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