Lens News

Although most of the new products shown at PMA 2007 were digital, at least some of the new lenses are just as useful for anyone still shooting with a 35mm SLR system. While some of the new zooms were designed exclusively for use with D-SLRs with the APS-size sensor, the multi-platform lenses work perfectly with both analog and digital cameras. That's because they project...

Canon just introduced a host of new glass tonight: the new Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM lens and three new Tilt-Shift macro lenses: the TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro lens, TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro lens and TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro lens.

Every year manufacturers and distributors unveil new products at trade show events. They see these shows as the best venues to garner the attention of the gathered members of their industries and to show them their latest wares. In the photo industry this has traditionally been the annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Show, which we have always covered. This year that event was subsumed into the larger Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Phew, what a busy month it’s been for new photo gear! While the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas has not, traditionally, been a major event to debut high-end photography equipment, CES 2016 was definitely an exception with dozens of interesting imaging releases. (And hopefully this is a trend that continues at future CES events, which, in recent years have been rather ho-hum for photography gear.)

Nikon launched an intriguing new lens this summer though you might have missed it. For whatever reason, the AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6E ED VR, which was announced the second week of July, slipped under most photographers’ radar and that’s a shame. I recently had a chance to test out this surprisingly lightweight and compact wide-ranging zoom lens from Nikon while shooting with it from the field level press area at a Major League Baseball game and came away impressed.

There’s no more iconic focal length in Nikon folklore than 105mm. I remember the day in the 1980s when I purchased the legendary Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 lens (at prices that seem ridiculously low these days) from Denver’s Robert Waxman Camera and thought I’d finally made it. I felt some of that same rush of excitement when I picked up the new AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E ED lens ($2,196). While designed for FX (full frame) Nikon F-mount SLRs, it can also be used on their DX cameras that use APS-C-sized sensors, where it produces a 157.5mm equivalent field of view.

Like many photographers, when Nikon introduced their 20-35mm f/2.8 lens I just had to have one. Being a commercial photographer, the ability to carry a zoom that would cover this field of view was very handy, especially for assignments that involved shooting in buildings or offices for public relations clients. While the lens was exciting, the best images were captured at around f/5.6 to f/8 when the corners started to match the sharpness of dead center. Following that was the Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8, which was more commonly known as the “beast” in photographic circles because it gave us more breathing room at the long end, complete with AF-S focusing. Although it weighed in at two pounds, it was a sharp lens!