Introduction Let’s start 2020 with something different – the Viltrox PFU RBMH 85mm f/1.8 STM – and something new – our shift to a 26-megapixel test camera (X-T30). While most are probably familiar with the Fujifilm camera, the Viltrox lens may be a bit of an unknown factor for most. If you came across the Viltrox brand so far (if ever), it was probably about accessory items such as adapters or lighting solutions. However, since late 2018 they have been offering lenses as well. Now there are many new Chinese players out there these days and you may think that…
Author: Klaus
Introduction A while ago, we reviewed the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO and we were pretty impressed. Now, that’s a full format lens optimized for DSLRs but there’s a new kid around now – the Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO for APS-C format mirrorless cameras (Fujifilm, Sony, Canon EF-M). Being shorter in focal length and covering a smaller image circle, it is obviously a much more compact and light-weight lens. Unfortunately, we are still talking about a fully manual lens without AF nor any electronic coupling. If your primary use-case is macro photography, this is probably…
by Klaus Schroiff, published January 2020 Introduction In our previous review, we covered the Viltrox PFU RBMH 85mm f/1.8 STM (in Fujifilm X mount) and we were quite impressed by it. They are about to release more AF lenses in 2020 but they also have an ultra-wide prime lens in their lineup – the Viltrox PFU RBMH 20mm f/1.8 ASPH, an all-manual lens without electronic coupling, unfortunately. Generally, this shouldn’t be a huge deal with a 20mm lens and if needed you can use a magnified focus view on your camera for precise manual focusing. It is limiting the target…
Introduction Over the last couple of decades, we came to expect how a 70/80-200mm f/2.8 shall look like – these lenses are fairly big with a length around the 20cm mark, quite heavy (~1.5kg) and first and foremost – they have to have a constant physical size across the zoom range. Well, this time Canon had different ideas with their new Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L IS and the initial reaction within the community was a bit of a mixed bag. The new lens is about 27% more compact and lightweight and as such nicely aligned to the smaller…
Introduction The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 STM IS macro was one of the first RF-mount lenses released back in 2018. You may argue that it is not among the most exciting lenses out there but it has a rare quality in today’s mirrorless world – it is affordable at around 500USD/550EUR and we have even seen special sales quite a bit below that. Of course, a low price tag alone doesn’t cut it yet. However, it is also very fast, and provides macro capabilities down to an object magnification of 1:2 plus image stabilization. So is it the steal that…
by Klaus Schroiff, published December 2019 Introduction Every serious system is offering a holy trinity of the fast zoom lenses covering the ultra-wide, standard and medium-tele range … that’s with the exception of Micro-Four-Thirds. They got two sets of them. While Olympus is following the more traditional approach of providing f/2.8 lenses, Panasonic/Leica has relaxed the specs a bit by focusing on f/2.8-4 variants. Regarding the philosophy behind Micro-Four-Thirds, the latter makes sense because such variable aperture lenses are more compact. This also applies to the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 50-200mm f/2.8-4 ASPH Power OIS with its weight of merely 655g…
by Klaus Schroiff, published December 2019 Introduction There are long lenses and REALLY long lenses – and the Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4-6.3 ASPH Power OIS falls into the 2nd category. While the focal length range is nothing special on paper, it translates to “200-800mm” on full-format cameras. This illustrates one of the advantages of the Micro-Four-Thirds system – thanks to the 2x crop factor, Tele lenses can be extreme with comparatively little design efforts and they can be offered at a very reasonable price. These days the Leica lens can be yours for about 1400EUR/1500USD and there are fairly…
Introduction We have to admit that there was a rather embarrassing gap in our list of Sony E-mount lens reviews – the Zeiss Sonnar T* 24mm f/1.8 ZA. It has been around for ages and it’s probably what you’d call a lighthouse product in Sony’s APS-C lens lineup. Lighthouse products are not only special regarding their characteristics but also their price tag. The Zeiss lens is available for just under 1000EUR/USD which is probably beyond what most APS-C users would be willing to pay. So let’s see what you would get for your hard-earned bucks.The first thing that you’ll notice…
by Klaus Schroiff, published October 2019 Introduction Shallow depth-of-field photography is not at the center of the micro-four-thirds system due to the comparatively small sensor size. However, thatdoesn’t mean that it is beyond its capabilities. The somewhat exotic series of Voigtlander Nokton lenses (all f/0.95) showed that quite a while ago already. However, there are also more mainstream options both from Panasonic/Leica as well as Olympus. In the scope of the review, we’ll have a look at the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.2 PRO. It also has a couple of in-house cousins of similar speed (17mm f/1.2, 25mm f/1.2). Unlike the…
by Klaus Schroiff, published October 2019 Introduction Sony has enjoyed quite a headstart compared to Canon R/Nikon Z but obviously they keep on pushing. Lately, they have focused more and more on the professional (=high-margin) market segment. Part of this push is also the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM. Regarding the recent trend of super-sizing every new lens design, you may expect that this is just another monstrosity, but this is not the case here. Sony managed to pack the ultra-large aperture into a size that is more aligned with the original ideas around mirrorless systems. As such they already gain sympathy points…