All Posts
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…
Wavelength-Detecting Sensor Eliminates Bayer Filter, Triples Resolution
> _“Current camera sensor technology is completely backwards.” Dr. Eno Lirpa_ Everyone knows that in order to generate color, a digital camera’s sensor is overlaid with a Bayer filter. The filter makes each pixel sensitive to either red, blue, or green light. *Standard Bayer filter, courtesy…
Leica M (Type 240) Resolution Comparison
First and foremost, let’s be very clear: I am not a rangefinder shooter and certainly not a rangefinder reviewer. But I’m more excited than most people about the new Leica M (Typ 240) camera for one simple reason. It has live view and focus peaking so at long last I can, if I want, actually focus a…
Nikon’s Early April Fool Joke?
Nikon’s new Coolpix A camera has some impressive specifications, what with its 16 megapixel APS-C sensor, 18.5mm f/2.8 lens, and $1,100 price tag. Nowhere in those specifications, though, is a claim for Vibration Reduction that I can find. But the packaging department apparently didn’t get the…
The Best Lens Bargains
_Increasing vision is increasingly expensive. – R. A. Janek (actually Michael Crichton)_ For the last year or so, it seems like almost every new lens release has been accompanied by sticker shock. The manufacturers are businessmen and they know when we’ve been salivating at the promise of a new…
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…
Quick Take on the New Nikon 80-400 AF-S VR
You have to hand it to Nikon. We may wait a long time for the lens improvement we want, but once Nikon announces it, they get it in our hands pretty quickly. Unlike, say, the Canon 200-400 f/4 Unicorn Bigfoot lens. I’ve been screaming for some time that this was the lens in the Nikon lineup most in…
Introducing Lensrentals HD
## What is LensRentals HD? LensRentals HD is a shipping discount program. By signing up, you’ll get free Standard Shipping on all the orders you place for one year, and you’ll even save 50% on all FedEx Overnight shipping. No items are excluded from the program: if we carry it, we’ll ship it free.…
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…
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…
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…
Roger Buys a Camera System: Finally
OK, I’ve taken a long route, but narrowed things down to a Nikon D800e based system, a Canon full-frame system, or a Pentax K-5 IIs system. All of them met my needs just fine, although the D800e system gave me better image quality and the Pentax a bit less. ## Let’s Begin With: Don’t Do What I Did…