We always tell you about new gear here, but at the end of the day lenses are just tools needed to take nice pictures. Martin and I went through all the pictures we took in 2023 to choose our 10 favorites. You can find those pictures here with a bit of additional information, for which there is not always a place in the gear reviews.
It has generally been difficult to find ultra wide-angle prime lenses for any system until a few years ago. It has become much better for full-frame cameras, but still a scarce market in the APS-C world. If available, most of the ultra-wide angle lenses are zoom lenses, with variable apertures and usually not that fast. Here we have a new lens that breaks that trend, a 10mm (15mm equivalent on FF) at the impressive f/2. Let’s see how this lens is!
UPDATE: 2023.12.19 , Flare Resistance.
Here we will look how the Portra 800 holds up when pushed by one stop in combination with the ECN-2 processing.
Exposed as ISO800. Processing (ECN-2, Push +1) and scanning was done at Silbersalz35 in Germany.
Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 27: Kodak Portra 800 Push +1 ECN-2
While most popular macro lenses have been in the range of 90-105mm and Laowa themselves having all, an 85mm, a 90mm, and a 100mm macro 2X lens, they opted for making a 58mm lens too, as some macro photographers prefer a wider angle of view or use the lens both as macro and allround lens. Also the perspective might make a difference for some people as you can include more surroundings with a wider lens for the composition. Laowa has shown that they can produce very nice macro lenses during the past few years, let’s see if this one can match them!
Continue reading Review: Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X APO
If you are looking for used lenses or cameras, Japan can be a real dream destination. Having already been there two times myself I know from first hand experience that it isn’t easy to locate some of the more interesting stores though. My Finnish expat friend Juha Kannisto – who is living in Tokyo – has been helping out photographers from all over the world for years already when it comes to this topic.
I thought it would be useful to collect all this knowledge and turn it into an easy-to-access article, so here we are.
Continue reading Used Lens and Camera Shopping Guide for Japan