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 34 of 39
Fun with Thumbtacks for Advanced Photogeeks
## Introduction There’s a scene in the old movie _Marathon Man_ where Dustin Hoffman wakes up strapped in a Dentist’s chair, mouth forced open, while the evil dentist drills into the nerves of his teeth, repeating the same question over-and-over: “Is it safe”? Tortured past endurance, he would…
The Development of Wide-Angle Lenses
# Introduction When I started my series about the history of lens development, I had planned three articles ending at the turn of the 20th Century. By that time many modern, excellent lenses had already been developed and it seemed a natural stopping point. After my series of 3 articles, I planned…
Who Invented the Telephoto Lens?
# Introduction When I wrote my series of articles on the history of lens development I largely covered the period around the turn of the century. By 1860, photographers had decent portrait lenses, and we discussed that most of the superb prime lenses in standard focal lengths we use today had…
Things You Should Know About Your Lenses, But May Not
This is not an article. A good article is like a five course meal, leading you through various tastes until you get to the big point of the whole thing: cheesecake. But I had a few things I wanted to talk about that weren’t an article in themselves, just blurbs, really. So I planned this one to be…
Stuff I Wish I’d Never Bought
When I wrote about stuff I would buy with my own money it got me thinking about all of the buyer’s remorse I’ve had over the years, both with personal gear I’ve bought, and with things I’ve bought for Lensrentals. I’m a gearhead, so this isn’t about “things that weren’t profitable”. Our accountants…
Stuff I Would Buy If I Bought Stuff
I know I have a dream job. I do all of the buying for Lensrentals, so I can justify spending large parts of my day looking for what’s new and great in the imaging world. And I’m spending company money. I don’t have to buy much camera gear. If I want to use something I check it out and use it. We…
Cooking with Glass
Well, since I’ve titled my other two “History of Lenses” articles with puns, I figured I’d continue the trend. Although I’ll admit this is the worst. But I loves me some puns. This is the third and, for now at least, final article in the History of Lenses series. While the technology is still…
The Glass in Front of Your Glass: All About Filters
In the ancient days of film, any photographer worth his flash bulbs had a large set of filters in his bag. Filters to correct light, enhance contrast, add special effects to his images, you name it, there was a filter for it. Then came Photoshop and RAW and filters became quaint. Many of them,…
The Schott Heard Around the World
OK, confessions first. My assignment for this piece was to write a Holiday Photography Article. And to do it quickly because my last article was overdue. And to make it something cheery and concise since my last article was a long technical piece on how to test a lens. I tried to come up with an…
How to Test a Lens
If you read my articles very often, you may have realized I’m not one to let a lack of knowledge prevent me from writing on a topic. First-hand knowledge I mean. I write a lot of articles that I may spend 6 weeks researching before I feel knowledgeable enough to start writing. But this is one topic…
Concert Shooting Basics
_This time of year, particularly, people have plays, pageants, and all kinds of indoor activities to photograph. Since its one of the most difficult types of photography, we get a lot of questions about it. Since I know absolutely nothing about concert and theatre photography, I’ve asked Brad…
From Petzval’s Sum to Abbe’s Number
## A Brief History of Early Photographic Lenses I’m kind of a history buff, and those of you who are may enjoy this. Even those of you who aren’t into the history of photography may like this because the early lenses were attempts (actually amazingly good attempts) to solve the same problems we…