Lens Reviews

Leitz 21mm F/4 Super Angulon R – Leica R Mount Lens Review
2560 1440 James Tocchio

James spends six months with and then reviews an ultra wide angle lens for the Leica SLR system, the Leitz 21mm F/4 Super Angulon R.

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Nikon Series E 50mm F/1.8 Lens Review – Value Proposition
2800 1572 Josh Solomon

Kit lenses are, for the most part, forgettable things. The hordes of slow wide-range zooms and 50mm f/1-point-whatever lenses have very few standouts among their ranks. They’re meant to be good-enough until the mediocrity becomes…

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Nikon AF Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 Zoom Lens Review
2800 1575 Jeb Inge

Jeb examines the performance of one of the best zoom lens values available today.

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Value Proposition – the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 Zoom Lens
2800 1572 Josh Solomon

Finding hidden gems is sort of what we do. Today we’re looking at a great value lens with few compromises; the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm zoom.

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The AF Nikkor 24mm F/2.8D is Nikon’s Best Value Wide-Angle Lens
2000 1125 Jeb Inge

A little more than one year ago, while preparing to emigrate to Europe, I decided to put together a proper kit that could shoot nearly any type of photo. I settled on a Nikon F100…

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Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon Wide Angle Lens History and Review
2375 1336 Cheyenne Morrison

“After a few weeks with a Pentax 50mm lens, I had the feeling of suffocating. I realized that I needed a wide angle. As soon as I had my Zeiss Flektogon, the world looked very…

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A History of the Xenon Lens
2235 1257 Cheyenne Morrison

In the pantheon of fast Double-Gauss lenses from the 20th century, the Sonnar, Biotar, and Planar, are well known. But there’s also a lesser-known lens that is their equal; the Xenon. This lens was invented…

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Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2 – Lens Review
2400 1601 Cheyenne Morrison

A review of the Carl Zeiss Jena 48mm F/2 Biotar lens. A classic lens with amazing bokeh, rich history, and amazing images.

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Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5 – The Legendary “King of Bokeh”
2400 1600 Cheyenne Morrison

I’ve been shooting all sorts of classic lenses for many years, but for a long time I sought one legendary portrait lens above them all, the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5. Zeiss originally dubbed this…

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Olympus Zuiko 40mm F/2 Lens Review – Maitani’s Smallest Zuiko
2800 1575 Dustin Vaughn-Luma

I’ve spent the past few months shooting a rare and interesting lens from Olympus’ glory days, the Olympus Zuiko 40mm F/2 in OM mount. This lens combines many of the things that photo geeks (past…

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Leica Elmarit-TL 18mm F/2.8 Aspherical Lens Review
2400 1350 James Tocchio

Leica has just revealed a cosmetic update to its digital mirrorless Leica CL, and this time, it’s silver. But I’ve already reviewed that camera. Can I really request a test camera based on a new…

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Nikon Nikkor 55mm F/1.2 Lens Review – The Fast and the Spurious
3000 1688 Josh Solomon

After shooting the Nikon Nikkor 55mm f/1.2 fast prime for the past month, I’m reminded of my old, high school jazz instructor. He would always tell our band, ”Speed isn’t everything.” Our problem was that…

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Voigtländer Ultron 35mm f/1.7

Voigtländer Ultron 35mm f/1.7 Leica Thread Mount Lens Review
3000 1688 Chris Cushing

My foray into the world of Voigtländer started off as a lark, and I can blame this Voigtländer Ultron 35mm f/1.7 LTM lens for that. I wanted a 35mm lens to use on my Canon…

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Rubinar 1000mm Mirror Lens Review
2400 1350 James Tocchio

In MotoGP, the world’s highest level of professional motorcycle racing, the bikes that riders ride are called liter bikes because their motors have an engine displacement of 1,000 cubic centimeters (cc). Since cubic centimeters are…

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