Review: TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2x TS – A Jack of All Trades

September 10, 2023 Martin 10 Comments

Introduction

Short telephoto macro lenses around 90mm-105mm are very popular and the market is crowded with them. Being macro lenses, they can give you great magnification (2:1 in this case), and at the same time, they can also be used as portrait lenses. But of course, they also are good for compressed landscape images and candid photography. The advantage of this lens is that it also offers a 2x magnification instead of the traditional macro 1x magnification, and besides, it is a tilt and shift lens, good for architectural and product photography, not something you see every day. Let’s see how it performs!

Sample Images

Nikon Z6 | TTArtisan T&S 100/2.8 Macro 2X | f/11 (stacked 68 images)

TTArtisan T&S 100/2.8 Macro 2X review sharpness bokeh coma vignetting 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 — Nikon Z6 | TTArtisan T&S 100/2.8 Macro 2X | f/2.8 (untilted)

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Leica M, Minolta, Review

Review: Minolta 28mm 2.8 M-Rokkor

September 3, 2023 BastianK 20 Comments

Introduction

minolta 28mm 2.8 m-rokkor leica review contrast sharpness vignetting 24mp m10 42mp m11 resolution — Minolta 28mm 2.8 M-Rokkor on Minolta CLE

The Minolta 28mm 2.8 M-Rokkor was released alongside the Minolta CLE and is one of the most affordable 28mm M-mount lenses these days. Unfortunately it is also infamous for developing “white dot issues”, probably the main reason for this lens still being affordable on the used market. What is this all about and is it still a good idea to buy this lens or should you rather stay away from it? Let’s find out.
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10

Sample Images

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Analogue, Leica M, Projects, Voigtlander

Analogue Adventures Part 24: Agfa APX400

August 31, 2023 BastianK 11 Comments

After buying the Leica M6 I bought whatever films I could find and among those also was an Agfa APX400 black and white film. It was lying in the fridge for more than a year before I finally conviced myself to use it.
Processing and scanning was done at urbanfilmlab in Germany.
The pictures you see in this article are from 1 roll.

agfa apx 400 agfaphoto agpha black white bw sw schwarz weiss weiß minolta cle leica m voigtländer vm 35mm 1.2 III nokton — Minolta CLE | Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.2 III | f/5.6 | APX400

agfa apx 400 agfaphoto agpha black white bw sw schwarz weiss weiß minolta cle leica m voigtländer vm 40mm 1.4 classic nokton — Minolta CLE | Voigtländer VM 40mm 1.4 Nokton Classic | f/1.4 | APX400

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lenses, Nikon Z, photography, Uncategorized, Viltrox

Review: Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.8 Z

August 27, 2023 Martin 15 Comments

Introduction

The Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.8 STM ED IF Z mount is an autofocus mid-range telephoto, which is popular for portrait photography on full-frame cameras. Viltrox originally made this lens for Sony E-mount cameras, but later they managed to improve and produce it also for Fuji X, Nikon Z, and Canon RF mounts. Viltrox is the only manufacturer that has been able to produce Nikon Z mount lenses with full lens-camera communication and autofocus in the most common focal lengths. 85mm is a focal length that seems easier for manufacturers to design and make lenses with good optical qualities. There are quite a number of those nice and sharp lenses available and it seems that the price, in relation to how good/fast they are, goes up exponentially. Let’s see how good Viltrox has done with this one!

Sample Images

Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 review sharpness bokeh coma vignetting 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 — Nikon Z6 | Viltrox 85/1.8 Z | f/1.8

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Leica M, Light Lens Lab, Review

Review: Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 Speed Panchro II

August 23, 2023 BastianK 13 Comments

Introduction

light lens lab cooke speed panchro ii sp spii review leica m10 m11 m9 42mp 24mp cinematic contrast sharpness rendering bokeh 50mm 2.0 film analogue — Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 SP II on Leica M10

With this 50mm 2.0 Speed Panchro II lens, Light Lens Lab tried to bring the look of the original Cooke SP II to the 35mm format and doing so at an affordable pricepoint – at least compared to what the original lenses are going for on the used market these days.
Before this lens, I never paid any attention to these old cine lenses, that makes it even more interesting to have a closer look at one.
This lens will be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.