Category: Lenses and Optics
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First Look: Zeiss CP.2 135mm T2.1
Of course, being a photo guy who loves shooting at 135mm, I can’t wait to get my hands on the photo version of the new Zeiss 135mm lens. I don’t have that yet, but we did get the CP.2 Cine version of the lens, the Zeiss CP.2 135mm T2.1 in today. In addition to making our video shooters all drool,…
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First Look: Zeiss CZ.2 70-200mm T2.9
Ah, as if the 70-200 zoom field wasn’t crowded enough, with each camera maker having one or four along with the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC and the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 OS, but Tyler decided we have to stock yet another one. So today I have to test yet another 70-200mm, the Zeiss 70-200 T2.9 CP.2. ##…
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Sharpening Maps and Masks
Obviously I’m a gearhead, so I like to know the traits of the lenses I shoot with. I want to know what aperture gives maximal corner sharpness, for example, whether the plane of focus is curved or flat, where the distortion changes in a zoom, which end of the zoom range or focusing distance is the…
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The Requested 80-400 AF-S vs. 70-200 VR II and 2X Comparison
Well, for the first time I’ve totally caved to popular demand and done a test I had little interest in doing. But after I did a Quick-Take post on the new Nikon 80-400 AF-S VR lens I received about two-dozen emails and comments asking if the 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR II lens with a Nikon 2X III…
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Overcoming My f / Entekaphobia
### Entekaphobia – fear of the number 11 ### Or. . . How I Learned to Appreciate Small Aperture Photography If you read my blog much, you know I’m a resolution fanatic. I test every new lens for resolution. For personal use, I’ll choose the lens with higher resolution over the one with creamy bokeh…
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Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR Revisited
My view of lenses is often colored by measurements, numbers, taking them apart, and other geeky things. I also take photographs with them. One of the things I’m always interested in is comparing my measurements with actual photographs. When Uwe Steinmueller from The Digital Outback suggested we…
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Seeing the Numbers
When someone tells you that something defies description, you can be pretty sure he’s going to have a go at it anyway. – Author Unknown A lot of my posts about lens resolution consist largely of showing the MTF 50 numbers from Imatest or our optical bench. That leads to a lot of questions about…
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Optical Tune Ups
> _It’s not falling that hurts, it’s the sudden stop at the end._ > > _\-Author Unkown_ Understandably, people are concerned with whether a new lens they buy is functioning properly and optically within specifications. One thing I harp on is that we also need to watch our lenses over time. Bumps,…
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Metabones Magic?
A few days ago I learned about the Metabones Speed Booster. For both of you who haven’t heard yet, this is an adapter containing optical elements and electronic controls that allows you to mount Canon EF lenses to Sony NEX cameras (other versions are planned for other lenses and cameras). The quick…
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Quick Resolution Tests on Two New 70-200s
We got stock on two new 70-200mm lenses this week: the Nikon 70-200 f/4 VR and the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC. I would have loved to do some side-by-side comparisons. They’re priced similarly and I expect a lot of Nikon shooters will be choosing between these two since both are quite a bit less…
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Canon 24-70 Mk II Variation
A while back we ran Imatest resolution numbers on a few copies of the Canon 24-70 Mk II. That was right at release time and the resolution was most impressive, but we only had 5 copies available to test. Over the next couple of months a number of reviews came out. Most seemed to consider the…
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Scoping Out Digiscoping
## Digiscoping I’ve always been a bit fascinated by digiscoping. For those who are out of the loop, digiscoping involves taking images through a spotting scope rather than a camera lens. The advantages are obvious. A spotting scope provides magnification equivalent to a lens of 1,250 to 3,000mm.…