Geek Articles
MTF Lens Tests of the New Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 SP Di VC USD G2
There’s been a bit of rumbling lately about the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2 zoom. Not just because it is a frontrunner in the _2017 Most Initials in the Name Award_, but because a lot of people are saying it’s really quite good. The previous Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 was a good lens, but since they…
A Quick Look at the New Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 MTF Charts
Announced from Zeiss today was the new Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8. You guys know I don’t like putting out MTF charts on less than 10-copy averages, but we had a chance to grab a Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 prototype lens for a couple of days, so I tested it. And since we certainly aren’t going to get our…
Guide to Cleaning Your Camera Sensor
A fair amount of unease comes with interacting with one of the most fragile parts of a digital camera. Automatic sensor cleaners help but haven’t replaced the need for sensor cleaning entirely. However, cleaning camera sensors is not as delicate of an operation as it seems. You still might prefer…
Testing of Battery Life and Recording Times of All Video Cameras
Here at Lensrentals.com, we have over 100,000 pieces of gear that we not only regularly rent out, but also regularly inspect, clean, and diagnose. Because of this amount of gear, we’re afforded the luxury of getting some pretty unique insight into the gear so many videographers and photographers…
Painting Zoom Lenses with a Broad Brush – Roger’s Law of Wide Zoom Relativity
I’ve been writing peer-reviewed scientific papers for way longer than I’ve been blogging about optics. I value significant numerical information presented with methods that allow reproducibility as much as anybody. But way too many people who can’t define either spurious accuracy or spurious…
Completing the Teardown of the Sony FE 70-200 f/2.8 GM OSS: Part II
You probably shouldn’t read this article unless you’ve at least skimmed through Part 1. To summarize, we had a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens that had been dropped and no longer would focus. We tore it down both to see if we could repair it and to see what-all was up inside there. In the first…
Lens Teardown of the Complicated Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS: Part I
*Photoshop credit to Joey Miller.* A lot of you are aware that we’ve been rather puzzled by the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens. It didn’t test like we expected it to, which led us to reevaluate our testing methods with outside consultants (we’re now comfortable they are valid, BTW), question…
Four Studio Photography Techniques to Give a Try This Winter
For many of people, February is the slow month for their photography. Cold weather and gray skies generally shun away inspiration, leaving many of us waiting until the end of it before we’re back out there being creative. That said, winter months can also be perfect for honing your studio skills,…
Things You Didn’t Want to Know About Zoom Lenses
The intersection (perhaps collision is a better word) of art and science is interesting. The scientist says “your impression is not as important as my facts.” The artists say “my impression is all that matters.” Imaging is that way. The photographer or videographer getting the look he wants from a…
First Impressions of the New Canon C700
I’ll preface this piece by saying we’re still waiting for a lot of the equipment for the Canon C700 to be available, so it’s only fair to call this more of a First Impressions than an actual review. However, Canon’s C700 is a highly-anticipated product, so I thought I’d take a barebones kit out for…
MTF Tests for the Sigma BBL: The Big, Beautiful, 85mm Art Lens
Yes, I know the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens just too big for you; reading the online forums, you’d think it was about the same size and weight and a 600mm f/4 lens. It’s not, of course, although it is a hefty lens at nearly 40 ounces. But that’s just a few ounces more than a Canon 85mm f/1.2…
Opening up the New Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II
As with most new lenses, a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II made it’s way back to the repair department for an initial tear-down. I know there’s some randomness as to what we tear down, but we have some reasons for doing these. Sometimes, like with this new Canon, it’s simply because we know…