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Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 II Resolution Tests
Here it is, only 6 months after announcement! The Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II has finally arrived. I’d love to say something like: “Never have so many forums contained so many threads containing such strong opinions from people who’ve never touched a lens.” But that would be silly. It happens just…
The Effect of a Decentered Lens on Autofocus
As some of you know, I’ve been testing a large number of Nikon cameras and lenses as part of the Autofocus Reality series. (Nikon full frame results will be up in a day or so.) I noticed an abnormality in one copy of a lens we were testing that some of you might find interesting. We were using 28mm…
Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC Issue
First and foremost, this is just a point of information – something worth knowing about if you own this lens or are considering buying it. The Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC is an excellent lens, but as with so many new products, early adopters are always serving the role of beta testers. I wouldn’t be…
Canon Illumination Correction and Third-Party Lenses
I while back I put out a notice that the Sigma 150mm and 180mm OS Macros had an issue if you shot JPGs on a Canon 5D Mk III and left peripheral illumination correction on. The camera auto-corrected for vignetting that wasn’t there, leaving an interesting pattern with a dark center and lightened…
MM MM Good?
The first Leica M Monochrome (I think everyone is calling it the Leica M-M; at least everyone around here) showed up today. Lensrentals became a tiny reflection of most online forum discussions regarding the camera, with half the employees saying, “Why would anyone want that?” and the other half…
Mirrorless, Mirrorless on the Wall . . . . Part II
## And Now Some Meaningless Speculation These are simply my observations and speculations. I have absolutely no real information about any manufacturer’s plans. If I did I would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement and couldn’t write this stuff. But I like to speculate. It’s sort of like playing…
Mirrorless, Mirrorless on the Wall . . . Part I
Today’s post is one of those exercises in randomness that I just have to do every so often. I’ve been working with mirrorless cameras lately. That led to several people reminding me that two years ago I predicted mirrorless cameras would largely replace entry-level SLRs. After careful evaluation I…
My Search for the Perfect Micro 4/3 Zoom . . .
has no limits. I mentioned not too long ago that when considering mirrorless cameras, I made my judgements largely based on native lenses. I do enjoy slapping an M-mount lens in front of my mirrorless camera once in a while, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t consider putting a large legacy zoom on an…
Sigma OS Macros on 5DIII / 1Dx Issue
We probably should have figured this out more quickly, but when a brand new Sigma 180mm f/2.8 OS gave us this picture shot on a Canon 5D Mk III, we simply wondered, “what’s wrong with the lens?”. *Sigma 180 OS on 5DIII jpg* Then we tested several others copies of the lens… and they all did it. Then…
The Bad Photography Marketing Awards for 2012
There’s an old saying among lawyers, in many variations, but all are similar to this: “_If you have the facts, pound home the facts. If you have the law, pound home the law. If you have neither, pound on the table.”_ For photography, I would assume it would go something like this: _“If you have the…
A Tilted Element Demonstration
One thing we preach here a lot is that just because a dropped lens looks fine on the outside doesn’t mean it is fine. The other thing we preach a lot is that a tiny difference in the centering, tilt or placement of a single element can have a dramatic effect on image quality. Aaron made a great…
Autofocus Reality Part 3B: Canon Cameras
Some days it’s good to be a geeky gear-head. This is one of them because a) I finished testing autofocus on all of the Canon camera bodies we had, b) I actually found out some interesting stuff, and c) I got worked up about camera marketers while doing it, so I have my next post in the works…