Lens News

The Sigma Corporation of America has unveiled pricing and availability for the Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art lens: it will go on sale in late July 2015 for a street price of $999.

Nature photography has long captured the hearts and minds of amateur and professional photographers dedicated to capturing images of the great outdoors. Whether your passion is wildlife, landscape, or macro photography, we’d love to see examples of your best work.

Nikon just announced the AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR, a versatile DX-format lens designed for advanced and enthusiast photographers. The Nikkor 16-80mm features a combination of Nikon lens technologies typically found on the company’s pro glass including Nano Crystal Coat, which is appearing for the first time on a Nikon DX-format lens.

Sigma has long been a leader in the third-party lens market, producing an astounding array of glass that’s compatible with major DSLR systems from Nikon and Canon (plus their own camera line) as well mirrorless and other camera manufacturers. While the collection of lenses has been staggering, it’s not always been easy to figure out if a Sigma lens is a high-end professional product or a consumer-level piece of optics from name and price alone.

The Sigma Corporation of America this morning announced the Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art lens, which the company is calling “the world’s first” full-frame zoom lens with a constant aperture of F/2 throughout the zoom range. The company has not yet announced pricing or availability for this somewhat unusual piece of premium glass.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: everyone has their favorite lens and in my pack, you will always find one in the 400mm variety. To wit, I have Nikon’s newer Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, the 200-400mm f/4 G ED VR and the standard-bearer of them all: the prime Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 AF-S lens. Before that, I had a few of the pre-set, manual focus 400’s but when the Nikon F4 was introduced, the game really changed, especially when it came to wildlife or other land moving objects. I was hooked.

I got a lot of feedback – mostly positive but with a few spirited rejoiners – to last month’s editorial “Smartphones (Still) Can’t Compete with Great Camera Gear,” that I feel I should “double down.” Again, this isn’t a knock against using smartphones for shooting images. As I mentioned last month, I do it all the time with some pretty decent results. And many serious photographers are constantly turning to that little phone in their pockets and have produced many spectacular photos.