Reviews
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Canon RF 35mm F1.4 L VCM lens review
Key features Highly versatile 35mm focal length Stills/video hybrid VCM for smooth focusing Nano USM for floating element control Floating element design to reduce aberrations at close range Breathing correction SSC and ASC coatings reduce lens flare, and ghosting Aperture/iris collar for video 11 aperture blades Custom function button What is it? The Canon RF 35mm F1.4L VCM is a high-speed, stills and video-oriented semi-wide-angle lens designed for the EOS R range of mirrorless cameras. It’s the successor to the much-vaunted EF 35mm F1.4L USM II, only it’s not quite what we were expecting. Like the Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8L, this lens is a hybrid model that appeals to both…
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Nikon PC Nikkor 19mm F4E ED tilt shift lens review
Key features +/- 12mm shift and +/- 7.5° tilt movements can be applied in parallel (same axis) or perpendicular 90° rotation left and right in 30° increments, tilt 90° left only with a 45° stop Shift movement operates without having to lock it Three extra-low dispersion elements reduce chromatic aberrations Two aspherical elements minimise coma, distortion and enhance sharpness Nano Crystal and Super Integrated Coatings reduce reflections, lens flare, and ghosting Fluorine coatings protect front and rear elements from water drying marks, fingerprints Electromagnetic aperture mechanism ensures stable and accurate exposure control What is it? The Nikon PC Nikkor 19mm F4E ED is a F-mount retrofocus lens designed specifically to…
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Contax Zeiss PC-Distagon 2.8/35 T* lens review
Key features Highly versatile 35mm focal length +/- 10mm shift (no tilt) 90° rotation left and right in 15° increments Shift movement operates without locking Floating element design to reduce aberrations at close range T* coatings reduce reflections, lens flare, and ghosting Made by Zeiss in Germany (Oberkochen) Stopped-down operation only The Contax Zeiss PC-Distagon 2.8/35 T* is a shift lens manufactured by Zeiss for Contax C/Y mount SLR cameras, designed in the late 1970s or early 1980s. At that time, the 35mm focal length was a popular choice for shift lenses. Canon stood out for its tilt/shift model, but Minolta, Nikon, and Olympus all had 35mm shift lenses in…
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Leica Super-APO-Summicron-SL 21 mm F2 ASPH lens review
The Leica Super-APO-Summicron-SL 21 mm F2 ASPH is a high-speed wide-angle for Leica SL cameras. It was announced in October 2023. This lens has the Super-Apo moniker and has a complex design of 14 elements in total, arranged in 11 groups. Leica doesn’t say how many AD (anomalous partial dispersion) elements there are but claims that ‘most’ of the 14 elements are made from ‘special custom glass.’ That may include the three elements with aspherical surfaces, but it’s unclear. Like others in the SL range, the lens also adopts a ‘digital element,’ or what’s better known as a built-in profile, to correct vignetting, distortion and chromatic aberration. While it’s perhaps…
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Leica SL3 review
The Leica SL3 is the third in the series of mirrorless models, which started with the magnificently minimalist 24 MP Leica SL. Kevin Carter takes a look. What is it? The SL3 is the latest in the series and adopts the same body style as the 47 MP Leica SL2 and the 5-axis IS from that model, which was missing from the original SL. The headline specs are the increase in sensor resolution to 60 MP and the inclusion of hybrid AF with Depth from Defocus (DFD) tech to aid focusing accuracy. Fortunately, the photographer doesn’t need to know how this works, as the camera handles that without any input…
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Leica Q3 43 review
Leica’s Q3 43 builds on the success of the Q-series, adding a new 43mm F2 Apo lens to the 60 MP CMOS of the regular Leica Q3. Kevin Carter takes a look. With Canon and Nikon concentrating on niche genres like sports and action or the ‘content creator’, it’s hardly surprising when something like the Leica Q3 arrives to fill the void. And now it has been joined by the Leica Q3 43. While expensive, with better resale prices than rival makes when the time comes to upgrade, it is perhaps the most economical way into the Leica system. Small, light and discreet, the Leica Q3 43 shares the ergonomics…
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Sigma 24mm F2 DG DN C lens review
Sigma is well known for its Art series lenses, but the maker’s full-frame ‘Contemporary’ or C series lenses deserve equal recognition for offering great image quality in a smaller, lighter package. Take the Sigma 24mm F2 DG DN C lens reviewed here, for example. With a metal outer barrel and milled metal aperture and focus rings, it’s a very nicely made lens indeed. What’s more, weighing just 365g and measuring 72mm in length, the L-mount version I was sent pairs incredibly well with the tiny Sigma fp sent for testing. Inside, the lens has 13 elements arranged in 11 groups, with one fancy, fluorite-like FLD element, two SLD (Super-Low Dispersion)…
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Fujifilm Fujinon GF50mm F3.5 R LM WR lens review
What is it? The Fujifilm Fujinon GF50mm is a highly compact and relatively lightweight lens for Fujifilm medium format mirrorless cameras. It’s the equivalent of a 40mm on a full-frame 35mm camera, and at one time, back in the 70s, this focal length was hugely popular. Much of that had to do with price, as they competed with medium-speed (F1.8/2) 50mms – the kit lenses of the day – and were often sold as a more affordable alternative. These smaller and lighter 3-group, 4-element Tessar “pancake” designs were and still are highly compelling. Indeed, today the Olympus Zuiko 40mm F2 is around £600, secondhand, and the Contax Zeiss T* 45mm…
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Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F5.6 T/S review
What is it? The Fujifilm Fujinon GF30mm F5.6 T/S is a highly anticipated lens in the GFX system. Why? Because it’s the first serious challenger to the Canon TS-E lenses (and the Nikon PC Nikkors), which are routinely adapted to fit on the larger-sensor GFX cameras. As a 30mm lens designed to cover the 44x33mm MF sensor, it is the equivalent of a 24mm in full-frame 35mm terms and is, without doubt, the most popular focal length for architecture and interiors. The manual-focus lens will also appeal to landscape photographers. (Arguably, a 35mm tilt/shift might be as popular or even more so (the Nikon and Zeiss 35mm shift-only models are…
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Review: Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD USB 3.2 Gen 2
Samsung’s highly portable T7 Shield SSD with USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) promises high transfer speeds in a robust housing, Kevin Carter takes a look. What is it? This small, highly portable bus-powered NVMe SSD with a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) with read/write speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and 1,000 MB/s respectively, is almost twice as fast as SATA-based SSDs (and 10x that of HDDs). As such it is ideal for photographers and occasional videographers. It’s also a rugged (IP65 rated) drive that’s ideal for replacing any old hard-disk drive for sharing across multiple devices, such as direct-to cameras (mainly but not limited to the newer Panasonic, Sony and…
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