New Items
Is the New RED Weapon, the Weapon of Choice?
The choice is simple; are you cool, or are you boring? That has to be the big decision RED wants you to make, right? Sure, the argument could be made that you choose RED for the stunning 6K resolution that it offers, or the 16.5 plus glorious stops of dynamic range, but really you want it because…
Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GMaster Emergency Tear Down
*Credit: DC Super Friends Feature Vehicle Assortment 2012 Series 01* OK, I usually don’t respond to requests to disassemble things. I have a day job and the blog stuff is my hobby. But every so often the Bat Signal get’s raised over Gotham Internet and Aaron and I feel the need to fight the crime…
Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 G Master Lens MTF and Variance
We are pretty excited about the new Sony G Master Lenses for FE mount cameras. Our excitement may be a little different than yours because we see the Sony FE lenses as an evolving new product. There were some things we really liked and some things we really didn’t like about the first FE mount…
Sony Goes World Class: The 24-70mm f/2.8 GM MTF and Variance Tests
I was one of those who noted Sony had some troubles, as manufacturers often do, with some of their first generation lenses for full-frame FE mount cameras. When they announced the G Master lens series I was really excited to test them. I was expecting Sony to have made progress both with optical…
Now In Stock: ARRI Alexa Mini & ARRI Amira
There’s no need to bury the lede on this one, so here it is: Lensrentals now carries the ARRI Amira and Alexa Mini. Some of our video clients, especially those with the benefit of higher budgets, may already have worked with one of these cameras. Many have also probably had experience with similar…
LensRentals Review of the Kessler Second Shooter Slider
Full disclosure: I watch a lot of cooking shows. Top Chef, Mind of a Chef, and No Reservations are some of my go-to’s, but my absolute favorite (and by far the dorkiest) is Good Eats. A sort of founding commandment or mantra of that show kept popping into my head over my last couple weekends when…
The Biggest Product Announcements at CES and Their Availability for Rental
This past week in Las Vegas, was the Consumers Electronics Show (CES), where hundreds of tech companies come and announce some of their biggest products for the upcoming year. While typically for photography and videography, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), PhotoPlus Expo, and Photokina…
Best Handheld Stabilization For Your Money? The DJI Osmo Handheld Gimbal
With offerings like the Nebula 4000, the Feiyu G4, and many, many more all being released around the same time, the handheld gimbal market is starting to look a little crowded. A lot of these products, though, are poorly made, badly designed, and just generally not worth your time. So how do you…
The Best and Most Rented New Photography Gear of 2015
Here at LensRentals, we have a unique perspective to the market trends. With over 100,000 pieces of gear that are rented out regularly, we’re able to effectively monitor what products are the most interesting for photographers and videographers. Here is where we’ll show you all our own market…
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA Lens Teardown
Last post, we took apart the Canon 35mm f/1.4 Mk II lens. Continuing the 35mm theme, today we’re going to do the same to the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA lens. And chill out, we’ll do the Sigma 35mm DG HSM f/1.4 Art lens next and one of the Zeiss after that. *Lensrentals.com, 2015* Before we start, let’s…
Canon 35mm f/1.4 Mk II Teardown
As soon as we optically tested the Canon 35mm f/1.4 Mk II lens we couldn’t wait to tear into one for a couple of reasons. One was that Canon has been making a lot of interesting advances in lens mechanics lately, so we’re always excited to look inside their new lenses. Another was that Canon…
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM A1 MTF Curves
OK, here we go again, with what has become a regular routine. Sigma announced another new lens doing what nobody has been able to do before. My expert friends, technical people I ask questions of, all say, “I don’t know this time. I just don’t see how they can pull this one off. Not at that price…