What’s better than a fast lens? Yes, a faster one. That’s also the motto in this review of the Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM. It has been on the market for a while now, so it’s about time for us to cover it. At the time it was released, it also killed the statement that the E-mount isn’t suitable for fast lenses. Obviously, this myth has been busted a number of times ever since (i.e., the manual Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1 Aspherical is even faster). Unfortunately, there’s also a downside with such lenses – their price tag. The FE 50mm…
Author: Klaus
Introduction The Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM was a good first shot when it came out, but it’s also a lens that has its flaws, specifically at f/2.8, where the corners aren’t ideal, and the peak performance isn’t all that impressive either. In recent years, Sony released A LOT of ultra-wide angle lenses, and this should have come with some insights on how to improve the successor – the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II. Other than the expected optical changes, the MK II is also fairly different mechanically. Sony managed to shave off 20% of the weight, and it’s…
Ref.: https://fujifilm-x.com/en-us/products/lenses/xf16-55mmf28-r-lm-wr-ii/ Price: $1199 USD SpecificationsOptical construction16 elements in 11 groups (4x aspherical, 3x ED, 1x Super ED)Number of aperture blades11 (rounded)min. focus distance0.3m (max. magnification: 1:4.76)Dimensionsφ 78.3 × 95mmWeight410gFilter sizeφ 72mmHoodPetal-shaped, bayonet mountOther featuresdust-, weather- and low-temperature-resistant, fluorine coating, Aperture De-Click Switch
Ref.: https://fujifilm-x.com/en-us/products/lenses/xf500mmf56-r-lm-ois-wr/ Price: $2999 USD SpecificationsOptical construction21 elements in 14 groups (2x Super ED, 5x ED)Number of aperture blades9 (rounded)min. focus distance2.75m (max. magnification: 1:5)DimensionsΦ 104.5 x 255.5mmWeight1335gFilter sizeφ 96mmHoodBarrel-shaped, bayonet mountOther featuresOptical IS (5.5 stops), compatible with TCs, focus preset/limiter/control, dust and weather-resistant
The Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 IS STM macro is one of the more affordable lenses in Canon R-mount. At least on paper, it’s quite impressive – it’s fast, comes with an image stabilizer, and it even adds semi-macro capabilities. And at around $600 USD, it’s also quite affordable. Sounds like a winning recipe, so let’s dig into the details. In terms of build quality, it is in line with Canon’s other consumer-grade prime lenses. The lens body is made of decent-quality engineered plastics based on a metal mount. The small, rubberized focus ring turns smoothly. It also features an additional…
Sigma has a wide variety of ultra-fast lenses in their lineup. Among them is the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG DN ART. At a price of around $800 USD, it may not be cheap, but compared to the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM ($1400), it’s almost a bargain. As always, this raises the question of whether Sigma has taken some shortcuts to make this happen, so let’s see. Sigma emphasizes that the lens is especially aligned to astrophotography which has probably the highest quality requirements in terms of edge-to-edge sharpness – something that has traditionally been difficult to achieve for such…
Ref.: https://www.tamron.com/global/consumer/lenses/f072/Price: $700 USD SpecificationsOptical construction15 elements in 12 groups ( 4x LD )Number of aperture blades12 (rounded)min. focus distance0.23m (max. magnification: 1:1)Dimensionsφ 79.2 x 126.5mm Weight630gFilter sizeφ 67mmHoodBarrel-shaped, bayonet mount, suppliedOther featuresFocus limiter, moisture-resistant, fluorine coating, custom button
Whenever a new pancake lens arrives in the lab, I’m getting pretty excited. Sure, their on-paper specs are never impressive – especially in terms of speed – but they are cute or, in other words, darn compact and super-lightweight and thus easy to carry around. So when Viltrox asked me whether I’d like to review this new -full-format- Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 VCM, I raised my hand, of course. However, while this appears to be a “normal” pancake lens, this isn’t really the case here. Thus, let’s get the elephant out of the room here—this lens offers autofocus and electronic…
Website: https://viltrox.com/en-au/pages/2024-via Disclaimer: Viltrox does provide lenses for testing, but they do not sponsor opticallimits.com.
Ref.: https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/rf28-70mm-f2-8-is-stm Price $1100 USD SpecificationsOptical construction15 elements in 12 groups (2x aspherical, 2x UD)Number of aperture blades9 (rounded?)min. focus distance0.37m (max. magnification: 1:4.16)Dimensionsφ 92.2 x 76.5 mmWeight495gFilter sizeφ 67mmHoodPetal-shaped, bayonet mountOther featuresOptical IS (5.5 stops, combined with the camera up to 7 f-stops), dust- and weather-resistant