Lens Reviews

Admit it. You’ve always wanted a 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens. For many professional and enthusiastic amateur photographers, it’s the backbone of their lens arsenal. Here’s a great candidate if you’re ready to take the plunge.

Creating photo books on American railroads are a good part of my workload, so telephoto lenses are what I often turn to for my train photography. Extremely heavy and often dangerous, locomotives and rolling stock require a wide berth for safety’s sake. Furthermore, in the wake of the September 11th attacks, security has tightened around railroad property, demanding more distance between the photographer and subject. 

Tamron’s new SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens ($1299) continues a trend that many camera and lens manufacturers have embraced in recent years. This new Tamron 15-30mm lens is fast, big, expensive and designed for photographers who expect optical excellence. As part of Tamron’s Di lens series, the SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 is available for Canon and Nikon full-frame DSLRs and APS-C cameras where it produces a 24-48mm equivalent focal length range.

Attention wideangle prime lens fanatics! The new 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens from Venus Optics Laowa for Fujifilm X, Sony E and Canon EOS-M cameras has arrived.

Using a vintage SLR lens on a DSLR can be a fun and, occasionally, frustrating experience. (Not all the inexpensive glass you dig up on eBay is going to suit your needs.) To help you find that perfect analog match for your high-tech digital SLR, we’ve picked our ten favorite classic SLR lenses that will get you shooting timeless images with your DSLR right away.

While the main body of my work has been with lenses such as the 24mm fixed, wide angles, and mainly my trusty 16-35mm zoom, I have often found myself wanting a long zoom for the scenes that present themselves along the way. It’s not that I am unwilling or just plain lazy to get closer—a long zoom, like the recently released Tamron 100-400mm, simply changes the way I see and helps me explore other visual options.

The specifications are impressive, but can a super-wideangle zoom with a super-fast f/2.8 aperture deliver the results pros and ardent amateurs demand?