Lens News

Weird Lens Guru Mattieu Stern is at it again with this DIY project explaining how to make a Lenbaby style tilt-shift lens for a mere $30. All you need is a cheap vintage Soviet Helios lens, a rubber tube, and you’re good to go.

Given a choice between a fast 85mm f/1.4 prime lens and a fast-and-versatile 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom, which lens would you choose to shoot outdoor portraits? While the answer may seem obvious, experienced portrait photographer Manny Ortiz decided to find out by taking both lenses along to shoot his pretty wife Diana against a backdrop of the Chicago skyline.

Sigma has expanded their popular Global Vision lens line with the introduction of two new zooms and two high-speed primes, including the 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art that is the world’s first ultra-wide, full-frame lens with an f/1.8 maximum aperture.

It was portrait shooter’s paradise with two new Sony lenses this week. The 100mm STF is a veritable bokeh machine, while the FE 85mm f/1.8 is a budget-friendly, professional quality portrait lens. Sony invited a small group of editors to a private studio and assured us that we were the first journalists in the world to shoot with this new glass.

Every year lately, Canon sends out an image from the Super Bowl showing the majority of sports photographers at the big game using the company’s familiar “white” professional lenses. And this past Super Bowl, as you can see in the above image from the game, the number of Canon shooters seems to have grown.

Tamron has provided a new option for photographers looking for a fast telephoto zoom lens, with the introduction of the SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens. This is a second-generation model, and is said to dramatically improve upon its predecessor with significantly faster autofocus, improved image stabilization, and enhanced optical quality.

As with most new lenses, a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II made it’s way back to the repair department for an initial tear-down. I know there’s some randomness as to what we tear down, but we have some reasons for doing these. Sometimes, like with this new Canon, it’s simply because we know LensRentals is going to stock a lot of them and we need to take a look inside to see what is likely to break and what parts we may want to order. And other times, like with this new Canon, it’s because there’s some new technology inside we want to take a look at.