The Sony 1.8/135 GM is a highly anticipated lens that has been rumored for some time. Being a GM lens, it is part of a line which includes some of my favorite lenses like the Sony FE 1.4/24 GM and the Sony FE 1.4/85 GM. My expectations are as high as its price – can it live up to that?
When you start getting more involved with photography – and especially when you prefer using prime lenses – at some point it makes sense to spend some thoughts on building a lens kit.
In this article we want to give you a few ideas of what to consider when building your own lens kit and show you some of ours in the end.
The Pentacon auto 50 mm f/1.8 Multi Coating is a small and very cheap 50 mm lens with an unusually close focus distance of 33 cm. Is this “nifty fifty” worth adapting to a modern full frame camera?
Continue reading Review: Pentacon auto 50 mm f/1.8 Multi Coating
The Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (C/Y) 35-70mm f3.4 was a standard zoom lens designed for the Yashica and Contax series of film SLR cameras. It was, perhaps, the first standard zoom of truly decent quality throughout its range. You could use it an any focal length and not really have any compromise relative the prime lenses of the time. That cliché “a tube full of primes” was (for once) true of it: at least in its day.
It’s since acquired a kind of cult reputation. Some think it remains the finest standard zoom you can get. But how much of this reputation is due to it being so amazing by the standards of when it was designed in 1982, and how much because it still deserves a place in the kits of some modern photographers? Read on to find out!
| Diameter | 70mm |
| Length | 80.5 mm |
| Filter Thread | 67 mm |
| Weight (w/o adapter) | 475 g |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 0.7m |
| Maximum Magnification | 1:2.5 |
| Number of aperture blades | 8 |
| Elements/ Groups | 10/10 |
Continue reading Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (C/Y) 35-70mm f3.4: A review
The Nikon 35mm f/2.8 (affiliate link) is a relatively small 35 mm legacy lens. Although it has some weaknesses it is currently one of my favorite lenses. In this review I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this lens. Most sample pictures can be found in this Flickr album.