Tübingen is a nice town about 40 km south of Stuttgart in southern Germany. If you are a regular reader you will surely have come across pictures taken there in one of my reviews. This time I was only using a film camera and various films from the golden to the blue hour.
About a year after the release of the Zeiss Otus 28mm 1.4 Distagon – to the surprise of many – Zeiss released this Zeiss Milvus 25mm 1.4 Distagon. Almost as complex optical design, almost as big, almost as heavy, but “only” half the price – making it the most expensive lens of the Milvus lineup. What are you giving up in terms of performance compared to the 28mm Otus? Let’s try to find out in this review.
I am not someone who buys a new smartphone every year – quite the opposite actually – but when I need a new one I always look for the one with the most capable cameras. I did that in 2019 and ended up with the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and when I needed a new phone in 2025, after a lot of research, I decided to go with the Vivo X200 Ultra. On paper this looks like the death of the 1″ sensor compact camera segment, so let’s have a closer look at this intriguing device.
Update 12/25: Extender lens sections added
Continue reading Vivo X200 Ultra – The Death of the compact Camera
From 2004 to 2018 Nikon produced 14 different AF-S primes from 20 to 200mm for fullframe with maximum apertures ranging from f/1.4 to f/2.0. Among those the “Gold Ring” primes were the highlight of the F-mount lens lineup, mostly aimed at professional photographers, who were not satisfied by the light gathering capabilities of the f/2.8 zooms. The f/1.8 primes on the other hand were aimed at consumers looking for more affordable options. Some of these lenses can be found at very attractive prices on the used market today, so after having used all of them personally, I thought it was time to give you this overview.
Continue reading The Rated list of the fast Nikon AF-S f/1.4 | f/1.8 | f/2.0 F-mount Primes
In 2023 there are plenty of lens manufacturers originating from China speaking to various different target audiences. While some are the Primark of the lens industry – simply trying to offer cheaper alternatives to the reknown manufacturers of lower quality – others have become the actual innovators in the photography lens business.
Having used more than 80 of those lenses from 15 different manufacturers I thought it is a good time to highlight the best ones I came across.
Update November 2025: many new lenses added, many of the lenses listed here are currently discounted thanks to Black Friday Promotions, currently discounted prices are marked in red