Lens Reviews

Which lens is better for portraits, a 35mm or 50mm prime lens? That's a question many photographers ask and one that Mitch Lally attempts to answer in the below lens comparison portrait test.

Time to hit the Reset Button and put your notions of Image Quality on Pause. In our everyday lives as photographers we prize sharpness, saturation, acutance and absence of aberration when we idealize the images we want to capture. Now it’s time to recognize that images that are blurred, smeared, warped and otherwise traumatized can be beautiful.

Lensbaby lenses produce images that are intentionally unsharp, because optical aberrations can be beautiful. In a word, a Lensbaby turns blur into bliss.

Laowa just released a 4mm f/2.8 circular fisheye lens in four mirrorless mounts and we’ve put one to the test. Here’s our hands-on review of this $199 fast prime.

If a visitor from another planet arrived on Earth and asked to see the perfect specimen of what a digital camera and lens should look like, this combination might be the best choice. In terms of design and construction, fit and feel, the Leica M with 50mm APO Summicron is nearly perfect.

The big news about the Leica M-D (Typ 262) is what it doesn’t have. It does not have autofocus. It does not provide through-the-lens viewing. And it’s not compatible with any zoom lens. 

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...

Last month, portrait photographer Anita Sadowska conducted a lens shootout pitting the Canon 35mm F/1.4 vs the Sigma 35mm F/1.4 vs the Tamron 35mm F/1.4. The comparison test went down to the wire with the Tamron doing well considering its affordable price and the Canon succeeding for overall image quality.