Lens News

We’re all familiar with the notion that lenses in the 85-105mm range are the best choices for portrait photography, supposedly because of the “natural” way they render a subject’s facial features. But in the video below, you’ll see why one pro prefers to use a longer telephoto zoom for portraiture. 

There’s been a growing trend among digital photographers to use vintage lenses on modern mirrorless cameras. Why would you want to do that? Among other reasons is that old manual focus lenses often sell for a fraction of the cost of their current autofocus counterparts, and the necessary adapters are both abundant and affordable.

High-performance zoom lenses with fast maximum apertures are powerful tools for everyday shooting, and in this battle of the mid-range zooms, you’ll see a comparison between two of the best: The Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, and Sigma’s 24-70mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Art.

The term “bokeh” is a common buzzword among photographers these days, used to describe the subjective quality of defocused areas in an scene—either behind or in front of the main subject. A popular misconception is that it’s all as simple as “a faster aperture or a longer lens gives you better bokeh.” But as you’ll see in the video below, there’s a bit more to pleasing bokeh than that.

Let’s say you want to try your hand at close-up photography, but you can’t afford an expensive macro lens. Or maybe you’re not short of cash, but you don’t plan on doing enough macro work to justify the investment. 

This morning Leica unveiled what they call “a revolution in portrait photography,” in the form of a high-speed Noctilux-M 75mm f/1.25 ASPH lens, featuring a fast maximum aperture and the promise of exceptional image quality, unique bokeh, and a price to match.

If you’re like most Shutterbug readers, with a full arsenal of lenses, you know that every lens performs differently in terms of color rendition, sharpness, depth-of-field, bokeh, and contrast. In the video below, you’ll see how one pro determines the “sweet spot” of every lens he owns.