Lens Reviews

Helios 44M 58mm F/2 Lens Review – Another Round of Russian Roulette
2400 1350 Josh Solomon

Our frequent coverage of lenses and cameras from the former Soviet Union might make us seem like ardent fans of the subgenre, but I can assure you it’s not the case (true at least for…

read more

Industar 61 L/D 55mm F/2.8 Soviet Rangefinder Lens Review
2400 1350 Josh Solomon

Writing for a photography website comes with some interesting side-effects. Aside from getting to shoot and own some of film photography’s greatest machines, you also end up with a few that leave you scratching your…

read more

Speed Isn’t Everything – Voigtländer 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar Review
2400 1350 Chris Cushing

The world was a confusing place in the lead-up to the year 2000. Computers and stock markets the world over were destined to crash due to two-digit date codes, though the valiant efforts of Peter…

read more

Ten Years Later Zeiss’ Distagon T* 18mm F/3.5 Ultra-Wide for Nikon F and Canon EF Mount is Still Pretty Great
2400 1350 James Tocchio

I realized with sudden terror that I’d been yanked away from everything I loved. My family, my cappuccino, the delicious key lime tart I’d been eating just moments before raising the camera to my eye,…

read more

A Year with the Leitz Summicron R 50mm F/2 Lens
2200 1467 James Tocchio

Made to fit Leica’s R mount SLR cameras, Leitz R series lenses don’t enjoy the fanfare heaped on their M mount brethren. No surprise; Leica shooters skew toward rangefinders, and sticker shock keeps kids looking…

read more

Carl Zeiss G Mount 28mm F/2.8 Biogon Lens Review
2200 1238 James Tocchio

We review the Contax G mount 28mm Biogon for the Contax G series rangefinder film cameras and adaptable mirrorless digital cameras.

read more

Canon FD 24-35mm f/3.5L – Earning the Red Ring
2200 1237 Chris Cushing

My preference for shooting vintage Canons can make reducing the weight of my camera bag a real struggle. My preferred camera, the F-1, tips the scales at 820g bare. The A-1, though substantially lighter, is…

read more

The Schneider Kreuznach 50mm f/2.8 Lens – Or Why I Love To Hate the Kodak Retina Ib
2200 1238 Chris Cushing

In the world of cameras and optics, few companies are as storied as Leica and Zeiss. Founded in 1846, Zeiss is one of the most enduring manufacturers of anything mechanical anywhere in the world. Leitz…

read more

Are Canon’s Ultra-fast 50mm F/1.2L and 85mm F/1.2L II Worth All That Extra Money?
1967 1106 Jeb Inge

“Significant” is a word I would use to describe the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM and Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM; in aperture, in weight, in prestige and price. That last metric, price, is…

read more

Fujifilm’s Fujinon XF 16mm F/1.4R WR is a Low Light Master with Just a Few Flaws – Lens Review
2200 1238 Chris Cushing

Consumer bias is a tricky thing. Once you’ve bought something, you don’t want to admit you’ve made the wrong choice, and just as often you’d like to believe that others have made the wrong choice…

read more

The Underdog Nikkor-S 50mm F/1.4 F Mount Lens, and Why it’s Josh’s Favorite Lens Ever
2200 1238 Josh Solomon

I know what you’re thinking; “Do we really need another 50mm lens review?” I don’t blame you. A quick glance through our archive shows write-ups on fifties from Minolta, Pentax, Canon, a shootout between Zeiss’ two best fifties,…

read more

Leica’s Worst Summicron 50mm F/2 is one of the Best (and Priciest) Legacy Fifties Around – Summicron V3 Lens Review
2000 1125 Josh Solomon

Longtime readers of the site will know that I’m far from a Leica fanboy. I generally prefer Japanese manufacturers and often champion their products’ value over their pricier, hyper-mythologized German counterparts. Considering my aversion to…

read more

Jupiter-12 35mm F/2.8 Lens Review – Playing Russian Roulette with a Zeiss Copy
2000 1119 Josh Solomon

There is perhaps no more controversial, polarizing, and confusing subject in vintage photography than Russian lenses. For as many articles and forum threads that lionize the Russian lenses as dirt cheap Zeiss-killers there are just…

read more

Canon FD 200mm F/2.8 Lens Review – A Case for Legacy Telephoto Primes
2000 1125 Chris Cushing

It’s no surprise that every world-class camera company has each produced at least a few brilliant prime lenses that legacy shooters claw over one another to buy; Minolta has their 55mm f/1.2, Canon the 50mm…

read more