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Lens News
Lenses; Great New Optics For Digital And 35mm SLRs
Peter K. Burian  |  Jun 01, 2006  |  0 comments

Every year the PMA Show becomes increasingly digital in its scope, with fewer exhibitors of "traditional" products. The 2006 show confirmed this trend but surprisingly, most of the new lenses (of familiar brands) are of the multi-platform type: suitable for 35mm cameras and digital SLRs with small (APS-C size) or full-frame sensors. That may not prove to be a...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Canon’s EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens; An APS-C Lens That Lets You Get Closer
Jack Neubart  |  Apr 01, 2006  |  0 comments

If I could, I'd spend all my time hunting down bugs and lizards and any other critters small enough to fit inside a macro lens. Simply stated, I love macro. So I couldn't wait to put the new EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens through its paces on my Canon EOS 20D digital SLR.

 

As you may already know, EF-S is Canon's designation for APS-C-dedicated lenses...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Indy Ultra-Wide Zooms For Digital SLR Cameras; We Test The Sigma AF 10-20mm, Tamron SP AF11-18mm, And Tokina AF 12-24mm
Peter K. Burian  |  Feb 01, 2006  |  0 comments

As digital SLR cameras have become more affordable, an increasing number of photography and imaging enthusiasts have made the shift to digital capture. But there's one common complaint--the ultra-wide angle lenses designed for 35mm systems do not produce an expansive angle of view with any of the affordable digital SLRs. Because such cameras employ a sensor that's...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Tokina’s AT-X 100mm f/2.8 PRO D Macro Lens; Close-Ups For Digital And Film
Peter K. Burian  |  Jan 01, 2006  |  0 comments

Although many zoom lenses are labeled as "macro" that designation generally refers only to moderately close focusing ability. With a few exceptions, such zooms are not adequate for a dramatic frame-filling image unless the subject is quite large. (A few tele macro zoom lenses are capable of much higher magnification, however.) On the other hand, true macro lenses can...

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Classic Camera ReviewsLens News
The Same, Only Different; Format, Angle Of View, And Image Quality
Frances E. Schultz  |  Jan 01, 2006  |  0 comments

If a picture is really brilliant, you don't have to worry about grain or sharpness or anything else: to quote Mike Gristwood, late of Ilford, "How much good would it do you to know the technical details of any one of Henri Cartier-Bresson's pictures?"

By the same token, if a picture is really bad, no amount of technical brilliance is going...

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Lens NewsPro Techniques
Soft Focus Revisited, Digitally; How To Make Your Own Soft-Focus Lens Like The One I’ve Used For 40 Years
David B. Brooks  |  Jan 01, 2006  |  0 comments

There's one lens that's part of my 35mm/digital SLR system that I have used longest, continuously now for about 40 years. It is a homemade single-element soft-focus lens inspired by the Rodenstock Imagon lens for large format cameras. There are more images in my library of photographs made with this lens than any other. But why in this modern, high-tech world of...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Canon’s EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; An Ultra-Wide Zoom Digital APS-C Format Lens
Jack Neubart  |  Dec 01, 2005  |  0 comments

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (16-35mm equivalent in 35mm parlance) was designed to cover the APS-C format, specifically the EOS 20D and both EOS Digital Rebels (plus future APS-C models). Canon's EF-S lenses (S = Short Back Focus) are physically matched to these cameras. This design also results in a smaller and lighter lens (3.5" long and less than 14 oz).

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Tamron’s AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II Lens;
Joe Farace  |  Nov 01, 2005  |  0 comments

Tamron's AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 lens is part of their digitally integrated (Di II) lens series that's designed for digital SLRs and is not recommended for use with cameras having image sensors larger than 24x16mm, or 35mm film cameras. The lens is available in Canon EF, Konica Minolta AF-D, Nikon AF-D, and Pentax AF mounts and is maximized for smaller-sized imaging...

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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Leica’s Summicron 75mm f/2; Is This The Ultimate Street Lens?
Roger W. Hicks  |  Oct 01, 2005  |  0 comments

What do you want from a 75mm f/2 lens? Whatever it is, the new APO-Summicron-M Aspheric almost certainly delivers it--except, it must be said, low cost. Perfection, or as close as modern lens design can come to it, doesn't come cheap.

For reportage, it is superb: fast, compact, and convenient. Of course, you don't normally need or expect ultimate...

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Lens NewsLens TipsPhoto How To
Long Lenses On The Cheap
Text and photography by Mike Stensvold  |  Jun 01, 2005  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2005  |  0 comments

Long lenses are wonderful photographic tools. Their longer-than-"normal" focal lengths magnify everything, allowing you to get "close-ups" of subjects you can't (or don't want to) approach closely. The shorter long lenses (those in the 85--120mm range, for 35mm cameras) are ideal for portraits, because they produce a good head size at a...

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Lens NewsLens TipsPhoto How To
Choosing and Using Lenses
Mike Stensvold  |  Feb 01, 2004  |  1 comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next to your camera body, the lenses you use with it are your most important photographic purchases. While physically, a lens is just a collection of glass or plastic elements held precisely in position in a light-tight tube, with a camera mount on one end and some means of focusing, creatively it's your...

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Lens NewsLens TipsOutdoor Photography How ToOutdoor TipsPhoto How ToTravel Tips
9 Easy Special Effects
The Editors  |  Aug 01, 2003  |  1 comments

Sun & Games Fun with the sun...and more

1. Sun Stars
Your wide-angle lens at its smallest aperture can turn the sun into a star in your photos—fitting, since the sun actually is a star. The effect occurs because the tiny aperture diffracts the incoming light rays a lot. This diffraction causes the star effect. You can include the sun as a compositional. Photo by...

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Lens NewsLens TipsPhoto How To
Choosing and Using Lenses
Mike Stensvold  |  Jun 01, 2002  |  0 comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great tool for creative photographers

You can't beat the 35mm SLR for its combination of features, price and performance. And one its best features is its ability to accept a wide range of interchangeable lenses. From superwide fisheye to supertelephoto, macro...

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Lens NewsPhoto How To
When To Turn Off The Focus
Sometimes The Eye Is Quicker Than The Lens
Jay Abend  |  May 01, 1999  |  0 comments

One of the most important tips that I give aspiring photographers who own modern 35mm cameras is to learn to use their cameras totally manually. That's right, turn off the autoexposure and the autofocus, set the motor drive to single frame, and use...

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