One-and-a-half years after the faster – and significantly more expensive – Nikon AF-S 85mm 1.4G, this Nikon AF-S 85mm 1.8G had been released. Two thirds of a stop slower, about half the weight and less than a third of the price – but with very similar imaging characteristics. At the end of the DSLR era this was a very popular lens and Nikon made a whole lot of them, but is it still an interesting option today? Let’s try to find out in this review.
While only lately f/0.95 fullframe lenses have become somewhat wider available and affordable, the first one that was commercially produced was the Canon 50mm 0.95 for the Canon 7 rangefinder cameras and that was in 1961. To put things into perspective, that was 47 years before Leica’s first f/0.95 lens, the Leica 50mm 0.95 Noctilux-M Asph, and 58 years before Nikon’s first, the Nikon Z 58mm 0.95 S Noct-Nikkor. Canon themselves called this the “Dream Lens”, so after already having reviewed most of these f/0.95 fullframe lenses, let’s get back to their roots and have a look at the original!
Big thanks to Camera Obscura Elburg for sending me the lens for this review!
Continue reading Review: Canon 50mm 0.95 – The original f/0.95 Dream Lens
About two months ago, Viltrox released a 35mm f/1.7 for APS-C cameras. It seems they’ve been busy, as they’ve now introduced the 25mm f/1.7 in their Air series. Officially named the Viltrox AF 25mm f/1.7 Air STM ASPH IF, it certainly comes with a lot of acronyms to keep track of!
This is an unusual focal length, equivalent to 37.5mm on a full-frame camera—sitting between the classic 35mm and 40mm, both popular choices for everyday and street photography. Let’s take a closer look!
I tested the lens on a Nikon Zfc
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.
It doesn’t happen often that one of our readers reaches out and tells us he had his own lens made, but that is exactly what happened here. Not finding what he was looking for among the lenses already available, our reader Calvin from Hong Kong decided to had a lens made to his desires and have it manufactured in China. Of course I was interested to review it, so let’s have a look at this intriguing lens together!
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
It has been about a year since TTArtisan introduced the AF 35mm f/1.8, and now it’s time to release version 2 of that lens. I liked the first version when I reviewed it and enjoyed taking pictures with it. They have tried to improve the lens since last year and therefore we can see a couple of changes, but have they succeeded?
I tested this lens on a 21.5 Mp Nikon Zfc.
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.
Continue reading Review: TTArtisan AF 35mm f/1.8 ED II (APS-C)