Lens Reviews

Professional photographers live by their lenses—they know they’re one of the keys to capturing high-quality images. That’s why they often spend thousands of dollars for a lens that’s optimized for their type of shooting, or gives them an edge over their competitors. But is it possible for serious photo enthusiasts without deep pockets or a business write-off to acquire lenses that deliver professional caliber imaging performance for a lot less money?

Shutterbug photographer Jordan Matter is back with another photography how-to video, offering tips on getting the most out of your 50mm lens. 

Today’s computer-designed lenses are a joy to use and typically deliver high resolution and great sharpness, contrast, and color rendition. But modern premium glass isn’t always needed to make beautiful images, as you can see in the quick video below.

We often turn to Weird Lens Guru Mathieu Stern for interesting tips on bargain vintage lenses that that can be adapted for use with today’s modern mirrorless digital cameras. Best yet, you can often pick up some awesome glass for chump change and the adapters are very inexpensive.

There is no denying that zoom lenses have far more versatility than prime lenses, and with faster-apertured zoom lenses becoming more and more common in the photography world, I figured it was time to truly give them the spotlight they deserve.

One lens that should be in the arsenal of every photographer is a moderate telephoto zoom like a 70-200mm. Lenses in this category offer a great compromise between power, mobility, and versatility. They enable you to get in tight on nearby subjects, and unlike longer telephoto zooms, moderate telephotos are relatively lightweight, compact, and easy to carry.

One of the few things we didn’t try in our in our recent review of Sony’s small and sophisticated A6500 mirrorless camera was to try shooting with a cheap 500mm f/8 preset lens and a 2x teleconverter. But that’s exactly what photographer Christopher Burress did in the video below, and his results are pretty interesting.