Lens News

Sometimes you want to capture expansive vistas without resorting to post-capture tricks like stitching multiple frames together; like on my latest excursion to Antarctica when I wanted a wider perspective than I achieved on an earlier visit with a 24mm lens (which transformed into a 38mm on my crop-body camera). The question I asked myself was ”how wide is “wide enough?”

I’ve always preferred longer focal-length macro lenses in the 90-100mm range because they give you more breathing room between the camera and skittish subjects than does standard (50/60mm) macros. No wonder, then, that one of my earliest lenses was the original Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 macro, which I first paired with a Minolta SR-T 102. I burned plenty of Kodachrome with that glass.

Sony just introduced two new full-frame lenses for their E-mount mirrorless camera system: the FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS telephoto zoom and 50mm F1.8 prime lens.

Every company that makes lenses usually designs a few that are ideal for portraiture. The trend these days for studio and boudoir portraits is toward fast prime lenses, while zooms remain popular for location and wedding photography. Wide-angle lenses may get you closer to the subject but perspective distortion exaggerates a subject’s nose and ears.

An aperture set at f/2 is twice as big as one set at f/2.8 and four times larger than f/4. What’s Pi got to do with f/stops, and why do we use such a seemingly arbitrary numbering system? Continue reading to learn the answers to these and a few more arcane aperture facts. 

Here are some tips I discovered when researching this month’s column. One was from my wife who uses this technique all the time—smile! And you know what, people smile back, making you appear friendly and non-threatening. The other was from Michael Archambault, who suggests you “acknowledge that street photography is not perfect.” Or as my grandfather once told me, “If you spend your whole life looking for happiness, it’ll make you miserable.”

Sigma announced two new APS-C format lenses this morning: the Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art Lens and the Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens.