Lens News

When it’s time to upgrade one’s gear, many savvy photographers begin by buying better lenses, rather than investing in a new camera. After all, it’s the quality off the glass that ultimately determines the quality of the images.

Telephoto lenses can come in handy for landscape photography when you want to add some variety to your standard wide-angle scenic shots. Using a telephoto correctly for landscapes, however, can be tricky for some beginner photographers.

The Sigma Corporation just unveiled the new the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art lens, which the company says is "a completely new design for full-frame mirrorless cameras, as the 'DN' designation indicates." This fast aperture Sigma portrait prime lens, which has a compact, dust-and splash-proof design, comes in both L-Mount and Sony E-Mount versions for mirrorless cameras.

Tamron recently released a fast, super-compact 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 zoom lens for Sony mirrorless full-frame E-mount cameras. Unique among all-in-one type zooms because the maximum aperture is f/2.8 (at the wideangle 28mm setting) the lens has other attractive features that we evaluate in this review.

Tamron recently released a fast, compact 70-180mm f/2.8 zoom lens for Sony mirrorless full-frame E-mount cameras. It’s billed as the most compact and lightest f/2.8 telephoto zoom lens in its class. We had a chance to test this lens on a Sony Alpha a7RII camera. Here is what we found.

Portraits, close-ups and numerous other creative compositions—the Lensbaby Velvet 85 does it all. Here’s a thorough review and several examples shot with this exciting lens.

(Editor’s Note: Exploring Light is a monthly Shutterbug column featuring tips, tricks, and photo advice from professional photographers in Canon's Explorers of Light education program. This month's column is by Joel Grimes on how to shoot portraits with a tilt-shift lens.)