Lens News

We’ve all seen it in photos and most of us know what it’s called. Some describe it as the “beautiful blur” in the background of an image but to most photographers it’s known as “bokeh.”

I always thought the weirdest mirror lens ever was a Vivitar Series 1 600–900mm zoom I shot with briefly back in the ‘80s. Until now, that is. Check out the following video review of a Soviet era 1,100mm f/10.5 mirror lens known as the MTO 1000A.

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.

A good wide-angle lens is an indispensable tool for anyone serious about nature photography. But owning the right glass is only half the battle: If you want to make epic landscape photos, you have to know how to use the lens properly.

Travel photographer Pierre T. Lambert shares a lot of photography videos on his YouTube channel but it’s the tutorials he does on how to capture sharp images that get the most feedback. Since there seems to be an insatiable appetite from photographers on how to make their images sharper, Lambert has created another video with sharpness tips.

Last fall during Photokina we ran a report on the weirdest lens we’ve ever seen, the Laowa 24mm f/14 2X Macro from Venus optics. And now, although there is still no information on availability or price, the Chinese company has released three short videos illustrating the capabilities of the lens.

Our video from last year on “7 Reasons Why a 50mm Lens Is All You Need for Great Photography,” proved to be an all-time favorite. That clip, which featured Shutterbug photographer Jordan Matter explaining what he loves about his “Nifty Fifty” lens, has racked up over one million views on YouTube and counting.