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…
Author: Klaus
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…
by Klaus Schroiff, published September 2019 Introduction The Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE (aka Rokinon) is one of the first third-party full format lenses that were released for Sony FE cameras – thus it’s about time for us to have a look whether it’s worth it. In a typical Samyang fashion, they are tackling the market from a value perspective. You can purchase the lens for as little as 500USD/EUR – which is a third of what you’d have to pay for Sony’s own Zeiss Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA. To be honest though – that Zeiss lens has…