Lens Reviews

We Review Lomography’s Daguerreotype Achromat 64mm f/2.9 Art Lens, and It’s a Weird One
2000 1125 Jeb Inge

“Who the hell actually buys this thing?” That’s what I’m asking myself as I struggle through my first day shooting Lomography’s Achromat lens. I silently curse the spirit of Charles Chevalier for this new copy…

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Fujifilm XF 23mm F/2 WR Lens Review – The Fuji X Series’ Best Kit Lens?
2000 1125 Chris Cushing

Lens names seldom roll off the tongue. Most sport an alphabet soup of millimeters and f-numbers, and while these tell us most of what we need to know about a lens, this valuable info is…

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Nikon Nikkor H C 50mm F/2 LTM Lens Review – A Leica Alternative That’s More Than Just a Copy
2200 1238 Josh Solomon

In my Leica M2 review, I mentioned a certain lens, a Nikkor-H.C. 5cm f/2 in Leica Thread Mount. The lens sparked a mini-revolt in the comments section, with its detractors crying “Heathen!” at my mounting…

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Carl Zeiss 45mm F/2 Planar in Contax G Mount Review – an Almost Perfect Legacy Lens
4000 2250 James Tocchio

The Carl Zeiss Contax G Mount Planar 45mm F/2 prime lens is, without bluster, amazing. It’s helped me make some of my favorite images in years. It’s also irritating. Never before have I used such…

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Pentax Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4 M42 Mount Lens Review
2000 1125 Chris Cushing

Eight elements. Eight. The original Zeiss Planars got by with just six, the Planar T* of the 1970s used seven. Minolta, Canon and Nikon all used seven elements in their fifties. Pentax themselves reverted to…

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Minolta MD Rokkor X 45mm F/2 Lens Review
2000 1125 Jeb Inge

I have a chambray button-down shirt that everyone seems to love. There’s nothing special about it and I bought it at the Bass outlet for less than $10. But every time I wear it out…

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Zeiss 50mm F/1.5 Sonnar versus F/2 Planar – a Film Shooter’s Opinion
2000 1125 Dustin Vaughn-Luma

When it comes to M mount 50mm lenses the choices are plentiful, and quite often the costs are high. Single coat, multi coat, ‘crons, ‘nars – the overwhelming abundance of choice is enough to send…

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  • Dustin Vaughn-Luma
  • 18

Minolta AF Macro 100mm F/2.8 A Mount Lens Review – Spoiler : It’s Perfect
2000 1125 James Tocchio

Photography is a fluid craft. The light, our subjects, and even our interests are always in flux. So it helps when our gear can keep up. And it’s this uncommon versatility (combined with amazing image…

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Nikon Nikkor O 35mm F/2 Pre-AI Lens Review
1999 1333 James Tocchio

Not long ago, I reviewed the fastest 35mm Nikkor that Nikon has ever made, the 35mm F/1,4. While incredibly luxurious in the hands and a stellar performer in low-light situations, this lens let down in…

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Five Reasons Vintage Zoom Lenses Aren’t Terrible
2000 1125 James Tocchio

Few things in the vintage camera world are as universally reviled as old zoom lenses. They carry a reputation for being bulky, useless in low light, and criminally soft, especially when compared to legacy prime…

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Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm F/1.4 C/Y Mount – Lens Review
2000 1125 James Tocchio

Today’s lens review isn’t going to change the way you take photos, and if you’re already shooting a fast fifty don’t expect to be surprised. Today’s lens review, while certainly worth reading (don’t you dare),…

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Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 C Biogon ZM – Lens Review
1280 720 Dustin Vaughn-Luma

In the early days of Instagram I had the opportunity to work with some amazing brands using my telephone camera as a primary shooter. During these projects I felt a deep sense of pride knowing…

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  • Dustin Vaughn-Luma
  • 21

SMC Pentax M 40mm F/2.8 Pancake Lens Review
1280 720 James Tocchio

Lilliputian. Svelte. Teensy and weensy, and of course, teensy-weensy. All words I’d never expect to write in a lens review, yet here we all are and I might as well get these silly synonyms for…

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Nikon Nikkor N 35mm F/1.4 – the Fastest 35mm Nikon Lens Ever
995 560 James Tocchio

Today we’re looking at a super-fast Nikon lens that no one really needs, yet many shooters covet. The Nikkor-N Auto 35mm F/1.4 from 1971 (along with its newer AI and AIs versions) is the fastest…

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