Some people who make photographs aren’t astrophotographers, and nor are they specialist hyper-wide photographers. Did I write some people? Most photographers probably fall into that category. For them, especially if they are travelling, a large fast hyper wide, or one of the excellent hyper wide zooms that are now available, is overkill: too much bulk for too little use. A tiny prime, right in the middle of the hyper wide range, makes a lot of sense. It can sit in a corner of the camera bag without taking up too much space or adding too much weight until it’s needed, and when it is needed, it will reward with easy handling. Is this Laowa the hyper-wide we have been waiting for?

Samples

Continue reading Laowa 14mm f4 Detailed Review →

I just wanted to let you know that I just updated used prices on the FE list. It was interesting to see that over 11 months many lenses became a lot cheaper (especially Zeiss branded lenses but also most Sigma Arts) while many others stayed very stable.

Yoshihisa Maitani’s Olympus OM system was a remarkable achievement, with beautifully engineered smaller bodies and exquisite small lenses, often as good or better than larger lenses from the competition. They are all nicely engineered and a joy to use. This makes them very tempting options for someone who wants to explore them on a modern full frame camera, or for someone who wants to experiment with film. I was an OM system user back in the days of film, so you’ll see a few samples from me that are from OM film cameras, as well as digital. In this guide Juriaan, Phillip and I will take you through the lenses with comments about how they perform, and whether they make sense adapted to Sony full frame digital cameras.

Many of the samples are film era images taken from my (David’s) personal archives. We don’t therefore pretend that they illustrate the technical qualities of the lenses, but they do give you an idea of the creative possibilities of them.

Except for a few late era lenses, they won’t resolve quite as well as the best expensive modern lenses, or be as as contrasty as the latest Zeiss or GM glass. But many are close and nonetheless extremely good, and others have a look which we sometimes enjoy as an alternative to the near perfection of some recent glass.

Continue reading Guide to Classic Olympus OM Zuiko lenses on film and Sony Full Frame →