Roger Cicala
I'm Roger and I am the founder of Lensrentals.com. Hailed as one of the optic nerds here, I enjoy shooting collimated light through 30X microscope objectives in my spare time. When I do take real pictures I like using something different: a Medium format, or Pentax K1, or a Sony RX1R.
Posts by Roger Cicala · page 29 of 39
Imatest Macro Results (With Apologies to the Nikon 105 VR Micro)
A few months back we tested a number of Nikon lenses on the D800 cameras, hoping to determine which lenses could bring the absolute best resolution out of that camera’s 36-megapixel sensor. The results were interesting, and in a few cases surprising. More than a few Fanboys went ballistic over…
Autofocus Reality Part 3A: Canon Lenses
Sometimes I get to write cool, new stuff. Sometimes there’s just grunt work to be done, usually of my own making. This is one of those times. To bring you up to date if you’ve landed here first, this is how I got here. Autofocus Reality Part 1 showed that on center-point, single-shot autofocus,…
Autofocus Reality Part 2: One vs. Two, Old vs. New
The first part of this series confirmed what we already new: Live view focus is more accurate than phase detection AF. This part is going to (sort of) look at something I’ve wondered about along with some related old wives’ tales. And unlike the first article, at the end of this we’ll have learned…
Autofocus Reality Part 1: Center-Point, Single-Shot Accuracy
Once upon a time I wrote an article attempting to explain phase-detection autofocus Works") and its limitations. That was a lot like trying to explain what happened to the Mary Celeste or why Stonehenge was built. Actually we probably have a better handle on the Stonehenge thing than we do on the…
The Olympus 75mm f/1.8 is Expensive Because It’s Worth It.
The first Olympus 75mm f/1.8 m4/3 lens arrived today, courtesy of Tyler’s connections with the King of Siam or wherever it is he gets these things. I had to test it, of course, because that’s what I do. I hadn’t planned on writing about it; the lens has already been reviewed thoroughly at…
Canon’s 18-135mm IS gets an STM Makeover
So the usual happened today: I read in a couple of places that the Canon 18-135mm IS STM lens isn’t going to be available in the U. S. for a while. A few minutes later Tyler walks in my office with one, asking if I want to test it. Let me be clear where I’m coming from: we never stocked the Canon…
Is Sony Going to be the Digital Kodak?
My mind is a strange and dangerous place. I shouldn’t go in there alone after dark. But the other night I was thinking, just me and myself, about all the new camera releases this year. Which has made the biggest impact? Is it the Canon 5D III with that world-class autofocus system? The Olympus OM-D…
Optically Adjusting a Lens
I write a lot about the fact that every copy of a lens is slightly different than every other copy. Now don’t get me wrong: I’m talking slight differences that are barely detectable, not good or bad. Even when things appear to be in the “bad lens” area, they usually aren’t. The majority of the time…
A Weekend with the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8
Tyler has an amazing ability to purchase hard to find items and get them to Lensrentals. Today he amazed even me — a brand new Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 OIS lens arrived when, in theory at least, there are none available anywhere in the U. S. None of us know how he does it. I’m pretty sure none of us…
The “Other” Canon Primes — Why Did They Do That?
Canon actually released 3 prime lenses this month. The 40mm pancake has received a lot of attention, as it should. It’s an amazing little lens at an amazing price. Almost no one is commenting on the other two lenses, though. We got our first small batches of the Canon 24mm f/2.8 and Canon 28mm…
Canon 40mm Pancake – How Did They Do That??
We got our first batch of the Canon 40mm f/2.8 pancake lenses in today and, as with all new lenses, I had to run them through Imatest to establish our acceptable standards for the lens. Let me start by saying I had low expectations. I don’t particularly like pancake lenses except on tiny cameras.…
5D Mk III AF points and 3rd Party Lenses
First, for those of you who aren’t aware, the new AF system in the Canon 5D III has different available autofocus points with different lenses. Canon has listed all of their lenses in the 5D III manual (pages 78-84 for those of you who don’t do manuals much) telling you which of the 61 AF points…