Lenses and Optics

Tamron 150-600 Telezoom Shootout

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There’s been a lot of interest in the newly released Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 SP Di VC USD lens. (For those wondering what the initials mean, VC means vibration compensation, the others all read ‘marketing drivel’.) But meaningless initials or not, with a price under $1,100, a superior range, and vibration compensation, this lens has created a lot […]

Equipment

Assumptions, Expectations, and Plastic Mounts

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Photography companies love catchword marketing. They like catchwords because photographers make assumptions about what those words mean, even though the words really don’t mean anything. So basically, they say nothing, but it makes you believe something. Two of my favorite examples are “professional quality construction” and “weather resistance”.  When I read those terms, my brain […]

Lenses and Optics

A Bit of A7R Sanity

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A while back I wrote a post I humbly called Roger’s Law of New Product Introduction, complete with the graph shown below. The release of the Sony A7R has demonstrated the accuracy of that post as few other releases have. A few weeks after the A7R release we seem to be following the path quite […]

Equipment

Sony A7R: A Rising Tide Lifts All the Boats?

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  I have to admit I didn’t get too worked up when the Sony A7 and A7R were released. The last time I wrote about Sony it was how there were so few lenses for the NEX system years after introduction. So now we’re going to a system requiring a whole new lens mount. Sure […]

Roger's Corner

Iceland Spar: The Rock That Discovered Optics

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Every year, I can’t think of anything I want for Christmas.  So this year, I was pretty excited to come home and tell my wife, “I know exactly what I want for Christmas. A nice big piece of Iceland spar.” I even sent her a link to make it easy. (It’s certainly a comment on our […]

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