Lens Reviews
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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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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, the Olympus Zuiko 40mm F2 is around £600, secondhand, and the Contax Zeiss T* 45mm F2.8…
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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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Leica APO Summicron-SL 50mm F2 ASPH lens review
Announced on 15 August 2019, the Leica APO Summicron-SL 50mm F2 ASPH is a relatively compact high-end lens for Leica SL cameras. Inside, the lens design is complex for a 50mm. But, it’s designed for a digital sensor so there are some prerequisites to satisfy. It has no less than 12 elements in total, with several AD (anomalous dispersion) elements to mitigate CA and fringing plus three with aspherical surfaces to reduce SA and distortion. The lens also adopts what some call. a ‘digital element,’ or a lens profile, to correct vignetting, distortion and CA, more as an afterthought in this case as the lens is so well corrected optically.…
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Nikon Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S lens review
The Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S is one of Nikon’s high-end S-line triumvirate of high-speed zooms (at the time of writing) and in effect replaces the renowned F-mount lens of the same focal length and ratio that redefined the ultra-wide-angle zoom in the SLR era. Kevin Carter takes a closer look. As a ‘made for mirrorless’ lens, it’s much smaller and lighter than its esteemed forerunner (650g vs 970g), thanks largely to a far less wildly convex front element. Indeed, the two highly convex elements at the front of the F-mount lens have been replaced by a single double-sided aspheric front element in the new S-line. While the change in…
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Fujifilm Fujinon GF20-35mm F4 R WR lens review
Fujifiilm’s lens division Fujinon has introduced an ultrawide-angle zoom for its medium format GFX mirrorless cameras. Kevin Carter looks closer Fujifilm’s GFX medium format cameras offer the compactness of mirrorless with the benefit of a generous 44x33mm sensor, so thumping great big lenses for full-frame 54x40mm 645 DSLRs is becoming less of a thing. Indeed, as Fujinon used to supply the components for Hasselblad’s now discontinued HC/HCD models for the H series cameras (which were then assembled in Sweden according to my contact at Hasselblad), it’s little surprise that they’re not only filling that void but expanding what’s on offer with their brand of lenses. These GF lenses don’t…
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Zeiss 35mm F1.4 ZM Distagon lens review
Intro Although marketed for the maker’s M-mount Zeiss Ikon rangefinder, the range of ZM lenses is rightly popular with Leica M users. All are accessibly priced compared with their Leica equivalents and optical performance is often on a par, if not sometimes regarded as being technically superior. With the Zeiss Ikon camera now retired, this new high-speed 35mm model is aimed squarely at Leica’s core users. Compared to the latest iteration from Wetzlar, the Zeiss is priced somewhat modestly at around £1680 inc VAT. It’s supplied without a case or hood, but there’s no mistaking the quality. Build Externally the design is reminiscent of previous models complete with click stopped…
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Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH Close Focus 2023 model: First impressions
The new Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH Close Focus 2023 (11728) model follows the recent update to the Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 ASPH CF last year and adopts the built-in rangefinder decoupling or “double-cam” feature of the focus ring. The feature enables focusing down to 0.45m from the usual 0.7m – the former is the typical minimum focus of DSLR/mirrorless lenses of this focal length (50mm). The double-cam feature was first introduced on the Leica Summilux 35mm F2.0 APO and was quite stiff on the model I tried. To disengage rangefinder focusing, you push the focus ring through some slight resistance at the minimum focus distance marked at 0.7m in orange-coloured…
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Zeiss 35mm F1.4 ZM Distagon lens review
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Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct: Initial Impressions
The Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct is one of Nikon’s showcase lenses – a sort of throwback to the early days of Nikon’s interest in optical research. It’s certainly a lens that splits opinions – I’m still not sure exactly how I feel about it – though there’s no denying it’s a beautifully made lens that’s capable of extremely high image quality in all its nuances. You can read additional opinion on this lens here. Build Like other Nikon exotics it’s delivered in a massively oversized cardboard box but inside it contains a large Pelican type hard-case, instead of the more usual soft-padded type. I didn’t weigh the case…
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