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Nikon 105mm f/1.4 E MTF Bench Tests
Joey recently wrote an article about his new crush, the Nikon 105mm f/1.4 E lens, and has been in the lab about every other day since then, asking me if I’ve run the MTFs yet. “You’re going to be blown away,” he says. And every other day I tell him, “I don’t get blown away very often.” So finally…
Nikon 105mm f/1.4E: An Ode to Nikon’s Best Lens
When I first heard about the new Nikon 105mm f/1.4E, I was pretty excited but cautious. I knew it was going to be big, heavy, and expensive, but worth it? What would I use it for? Nikon has always had an edge when it comes to camera bodies, but their lenses generally fall behind other brand’s…
Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L Mark III Optical Bench Tests
I tend to not get overly excited about new releases. The last few years have seen a lot of incremental upgrades that rarely blow me away. Usually, I end up thinking the new version of whatever is better than the last version. Not “rush out to the store and buy it” better, but “consider upgrading if…
A Guide on What to Bring for a Landscape Photography Excursion
I enjoy getting outdoors to backpack, hike, and camp. I love to find a quiet spot among the trees or in the desert and just sit and take in the quiet and beauty of the landscape. I find it therapeutic to get away from the noise distractions of the city and I also enjoy photographing those scenes…
The Ultimate 50mm Lens Comparison
I want to share with you guys a personal lens purchasing journey that I’ve been on for awhile now. My favorite genre of photography is travel photography; I love capturing landscapes, on location portraits, action sports, and general tourist stuff. It’s a very broad topic, and I want my camera gear…
Lensrentals.com Reviews the Canon 5D Mark IV
Announced in the light of Photokina, came the continuation of the Canon 5d series with the latest from Canon, with the Canon 5d Mark IV. The announcement was met with mixed opinions, but like all camera announcements, there is no telling how great the system is until someone you trust gets their…
Fun with Field of Focus Part 1
I’ve mentioned in some other posts that our optical tools can do a lot more than just test a lens’ MTF. For most of the last two years, though, testing MTF is what we’ve been doing. We may not seem all that busy, but we’ve assembled what is probably the world’s largest database of current camera…
The 13 Biggest Product Announcements at Photokina 2016
Each year in Cologne, Germany, over 150,000 people travel from all over the world to attend Photokina – the world’s largest photography trade show. This is also where various photography brands work to announce their newest flagship products, which will be used by millions for years to come. With…
How to Get More Out of Your Sports Photography
Great sports photography is not about recording moments that happen on the field of play, rather great sports photography is a medium that connects the viewer with the athlete and sport in an intimate way not possible in any other way. Most viewers of sports watch the game or an athlete on TV or in…
This is Your (Well Our) Camera at Burning Man
In the repair department, there are things we hate. Salt water for cameras and lenses, salt water and sand for tripods and lenses. Sand in legs of the zoom mechanism of lenses ruins threads, they’ll never be smooth again. Right behind those two is dust. Dust doesn’t always destroy equipment, but…
Is Your Camera Really The Best Optical Test?
_“But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:17._ I have enjoyed, for some years now, the process of learning about lenses and optics. This blog shares a lot of what I’m in the process of learning. A lot of you…
Lensrentals’ Canon 5D Mk IV Teardown
*Courtesy Canon USA* *Lensrentals.com, 2016* Today the Canon 5D Mk IV cameras are out and I’m sure by this afternoon there will be unboxing videos all over YouTube. Aaron and I decided to do an unboxing post, too. By unboxing, of course, we mean taking it apart. If you want to make comparisons, you…