Review by Klaus Schroiff, published March 2023 Introduction Sometimes, albeit rarely, a new lens seems to defy conventions. Straight f/2.8 standard zoom lenses tend to be rather bulky and heavy – even in APS-C format. e.g. The Fujinon 16-55mm f/2.8 has a size of 83.3 x 106 mm and weighs 655g, and the Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G isn’t much smaller. So meet the new Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DN DC Contemporary coming in at just 285g and a size of merely 61.6×76.8mm. Of course, this comparison is slightly unfair. After all, the Sigma isn’t quite as wide – these 2mm…
Author: Klaus
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published March 2023 Introduction The release of the Panasonic/Leica DG Summilux 9mm f/1.7 ASPH killed a lot of the market of the emerging Chinese players in the ultra-wide segment – wide(r), fast, small, and affordable were important value propositions for them, and some of this is now basically owned by Panasonic. So what to do when facing the inevitable? You go even more extreme. Meet the Laowa 6mm f/2 Zero-D MFT. On paper, a difference of 3mm may not sound impressive, but it’s far from insignificant in terms of field-of-view. We are talking about 112° vs…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published February 2023 Introduction Welcome to our new mini-series of vintage lens tests – and this time, it’s not just about some vintage-style lenses but truly about lenses from the 1970s to the early 1980s. In phase I, we’ll have a look at lenses around the 100mm f/2.8 mark with a typical used-market value between $100 to $200. This is probably the financial sweet spot for vintage lenses that you don’t just want to collect but intend to use. There are substantially more expensive (and better) lenses from this era but you have to be quite…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published February 2023 Introduction Our 2nd 100mm-ish lens in our vintage test series is the Olympus E. Zuiko 100mm f/2.8 in OM mount. The Olympus OM mount was developed by Olympus Corporation for their OM-series 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. The mount was introduced in 1972 and was used on several Olympus camera models until the early 2000s. So Olympus manufactured manual lenses well after most others had moved on to AF. Some of their latest lenses feature special glasses, and the price on the used market are often sky-high. However, the 100mm f/2.8 is reasonably…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published January 2023 Introduction The Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 is a medium telephoto lens that was produced by Nikon for their F-mount cameras. The 105mm f/2.5 was first introduced in 1959 ( Nikkor Nippon Kagaku 10.5CM f/2.5 ) and has gone through several iterations over the years. In 1966, Nikon introduced an improved version of the lens, the Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5, which featured a modified optical formula and a more convenient stop-down aperture ring. The version that we are discussing here is the “P.C.” variant manufactured sometime around 1973-1975 which uses a further improved Xenotar/Gauss design. The…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published February 2023 Introduction Viltrox is a bit of an outlier among Chinese lens manufacturers. Most are trying their luck in certain niches. e.g. Loawa is well-known for ultra-wide and macro lenses while others are bottom feeders. However, Viltrox has a very different approach. They are going for the mainstream market. Their rise to (relative) fame started with a set of APS-C format prime lenses – namely the AF 23mm f/1.4, AF 33mm f/1.4 and AF 56mm f/1.4 both in Sony E and Fujifilm X mount. Later they added a 13mm f/1.4 including one for Nikon…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published January 2023 Introduction Minolta used to be a major player throughout the 20th century. The company was founded in 1928 and the camera department was active until 2003 after which Sony took over this business division. During the 70s and 80s, Minolta was one of the most innovative camera manufacturers. e.g. Minolta was the first company to introduce TTL (through-the-lens) metering with the Minolta SR-T. Another first was Multi-Segment Metering as well as IBIS in DLSRs. They were also among the first to use computer-aided lens design. Their reputation also led to cooperation with Leica…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published January 2023 Introduction Canon FD is a lens mount system developed by Canon for its 35mm film SLR cameras. It was introduced in 1971 and replaced the older FL mount. The FD mount was in use from 1971 to 1987, when it was eventually replaced by the Canon EF mount.You may wonder why we chose the Canon FD 135mm f/2.5 S.C. as an example of a medium tele vintage lens from Canon – whereas we used 100mm variants for the other tests. The reason is simple – the pricing. Canon used to make an FD…
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published January 2023 Introduction We already reviewed the Olympus Zuiko MC 100mm f/2.8 and didn’t really plan on going for another vintage telelens from Olympus … but there was an attractive offer for an Olympus Zuiko MC 135mm f/2.8 and we thought that the Canon FD 135mm f/2.5 review could use a companion in the 135mm class. The 135mm f/2.8 (“E-Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8”) was first introduced in 1972 and refined in 1977 (“Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8”). This review is about the latter which features improved multi-coating.As far as release dates go, the Olympus lens is…
Introduction Third-party vendors have a difficult task when it comes to super-tele zoom lenses in Sony E-mount. There’s a behemoth in town – the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS. For many wildlife photographers, this lens alone is a reason for choosing Sony over other brands. However, competition is a good thing, especially if you can offer a twist. The Sony lens is huge by normal mortal standards and Tamron goes into a battle with a smaller interpretation of the theme – the Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD. You can immediately notice two things just from the paper…