The Minolta MC 1.2/58 is probably Minolta’s most famous lens and a personal favorite of mine. In this in-depth review I have a close look at the Minolta’s qualities and also at its weaknesses.
You can find most images shown in the review in full resolution in this Minolta MC 1.2/58 flickr album.
Continue reading Long-term Review: Minolta MC Rokkor 1:1.2 58mm
You ask what the heck a Magic Shift Converter is? This is a 1.4x tele converter for wide angle lenses and adds ±10mm shift movement. It for example turns Laowa’s 12mm 2.8 in a 17mm 4.0 ±10mm shift lens. In this review you will find out how this can be useful and what the influence on the image quality of the master lens is.
Continue reading Review: Laowa Magic Shift Converter 17mm 4.0
Phillip was kind enough to ask me to write a review of one of my favorite lenses: The Leica R Apo-Elmarit 180mm/F2.8 E67.
I love this lens because it is optically excellent from wide open, lacks field curvature, has pleasing rendering, is well corrected, is small enough to comfortably hand hold, and is bright enough at F2.8 to use even in less than optimal light. I use this lens on Sony because there is no comparable native lens available.
It has been called the world’s best medium telephoto lens. While I cannot confirm or deny this claim, it is indeed a very fine optic in my experience. As will be seen below, it has many virtues and few weaknesses.
Images shown in this review can be found here in higher resolution.
The Contax G 28mm Biogon was considered one of the best 28mm available on film, but suffers serious issues on digital due to sensor cover glass. Can a simple filter make the lens a competitive performer on Sony cameras? Find out below.
I have shot this lens for years on the Sony A7 and more recently with a PCX filter and then on a Kolari UT modded A7. Unless otherwise noted, all of the tests in this review were performed on a Sony A7RII with a reversed 1.5m PCX filter on the lens (Thanks again to Nehemiah for lending me the A7RII). Check captions on sample pictures to see what camera was used. Bonus: The Contax G 28mm Biogon is both Phillip and my favorite lens on aps-c cameras, so I will also add a second installment later reviewing the lens for aps-c provocatively titled How the A6000 + Contax G 28/2.8 is better than an RX1.
Continue reading REVIEW: Carl ZEISS 28mm f/2.8 Biogon T* + 1.5m pcx filter
For this independent review I bought the Sony Sonnar FE 1.8/55 ZA T* and used it for a period of several months during which I performed many tests and used it in a wide range of applications.
Continue reading Sony FE 1.8/55 ZA Sonnar T* – Long-Term Review