Lens News

Chances are if you take a poll of what photographers picked for their first telephoto lens, it would be the 300mm. For one thing, it’s a good choice for those starting out in wildlife or sports photography and, given the nature of millimeters, it’s relatively inexpensive as compared to the big guns like the 400, 500 or 600mm lenses. 

One of the main tools we have for creating visual effects are lenses, the photographer’s eye on the world. Every choice of lens has implications about what you can and cannot include in the frame, how subjects within the frame relate to one another and how we use aperture settings and focal length to create a special point of view. In this chapter we’ll explore lens choice as well as lens controls that are essential to creative photography, including depth of field and focusing options.

At the PhotoPlus Expo 2015 show in New York City this week, we met up with Billy Luong from Fujifilm who showed us all the key features of the brand new Fujinon XF 35mm F/2 WR lens in this short take video.

Phase One just rolled out a major update to its XF Medium Format Camera System, which was only introduced last June. The Copenhagen, Demnark-based company also announced three new Schneider Kreuznach leaf shutter lenses to add to the arsenal.

The new Zeiss Otus 1.4/28 lens offers users of shorter focal lengths the quality of the ZEISS Otus family for landscapes and architectural photography—or any other images they take with a wide-angle lens. The ZEISS Otus 1.4/28 with ZE (or ZF.2 mount for DSLR cameras from Canon and Nikon) was created for pro photographers and features inner focusing, a dial window and the well-known yellow labeling of the dials for easy legibility. 

Ricoh recently announced a 24-70mm high-performance K-mount lens for PENTAX DSLR cameras. The HD PENTAX-D FA 24-70mm f/2.8 ED SDM WR lens offers a versatile focal length range and weather-resistant design that makes it ideal for a wide variety of applications—from wedding, portraiture and sports, to nature, landscape and travel. 

Rokinon unveiled two new high-speed lenses today: the 21mm F1.4 wide angle and 50mm F1.2 portrait lens. Designed for mirrorless compact system cameras, these lenses are available in mounts for Sony E Micro 4/3, Fuji X and Canon M cameras in black or silver models.