Lens News

“Date your cameras and marry your lenses,” a Sony staffer professed after I arrived in San Diego last week for the unveiling of two new lenses; the 50mm f/1.4 ZA prime and 70-200mm f/2.8 GM zoom. Our select group of journalists were repeatedly told, “Do not leak this launch.” Considering the leaks of cameras introductions from their competitors this summer, the firm request was understandable and we obliged.

Lenses are, perhaps, the most important (pardon the pun) element in photography but most photographers probably have no idea how they really work. If you want to learn about lens but you don’t have a lot of time and don’t want to break your brain, Canon has released simple and straightforward 3.5-minute video titled “How Lenses Function.”

Every lens maker offers standard types of lenses: wide angle, normal, and telephoto zooms plus several primes in popular focal lengths. Although highly useful, these lenses alone do not represent the breadth of offerings available. Hidden away within the lineups of many lens makers are specialty models which, even if they aren’t suitable for one’s purposes at any given time, are fascinating not only for their unique qualities but also because they might someday be the perfect tool for a specific shooting situation.

What's the ultimate lens for street photography? What's the worst lens? Could the 24-70mm F/2.8 be both good and bad for shooting street? All these questions (and more) are answered in the below video from photographer Pierre T. Lambert.

If a patent published by Canon last week is any indication, the company is exploring the possibility of using diffractive optics to create an EF 1000mm f/5.6 DO super telephoto lens that may be smaller and lighter than could be created otherwise. 

The Olympus M.Zuiko ED 300mm f/4 IS Pro telephoto you see above wouldn’t be considered particularly big for a DSLR lens, but on a micro-four-thirds camera (with its 600mm 35mm equivalent) it’s an entirely different story. But what if you could get a 300-500mm f/2.8-4.0 zoom for your MFT system, with a whopping 600mm-1000mm equivalent in 35mm terms?