Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Along with the new Canon EOS RP, Canon has announced six new lenses. Sort of. They haven’t announced that the lenses are available, or when they’ll be available (other than “later in 2019”), just that they’re under development.
Five of the lenses are clearly aimed at professional users, offering the “Holy Grail” with 15-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 zooms, as well as two 85mm f/1.2 lenses. But they’re not forgetting those who love their superzooms, either, with a 24-240mm f/4-6.3.
If you’re in the market for a new lens, it may be hard to decide whether to go for a third-party option, or stick with the same brand as your camera. The Sigma Art series has received a lot of praise, and photographer Julia Trotti put it to a test. She used the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art and compared it to the Canon 85mm f/1.2L II. In the video below, you can see how the lenses compare on Canon and Sony bodies.
The 85mm lens is the to-go lens of many portrait photographers. In this video, Matt Granger compares seven 85mm lenses from different manufacturers and with a huge difference in price. They are all between f/1.2 and f/1.8, and the prices go between $99 and $4,500.
One of the most popular portrait focal lengths out there is 85mm. Most of us have one in our bag, or at least a zoom capable of 85mm. We’ve seen comparisons of 85mm lenses before, although they’re typically from different manufacturers.
But how do Canon’s 85mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 lenses stack up against each other? What are each of their strengths and weaknesses? Is there really an advantage to buying a $1,849 lens over a $349 one? That’s what photographer David Flores wanted to find out, so he made a video.
Samyang have today announced two new lenses to start their Premium range. An 85mm f/1.2 and 14mm f/2.4. These new lenses, Samyang say, offer “unprecedented resolving power”, built for 50MP stills and up to 8K video productions. Also known as Rokinon, Samyang has become quite a formidable competitor lately.
Both of the new lenses are full frame manual focus lenses. This may disappoint some folks who were hoping for autofocus. Though, personally, I don’t see it as a problem. Lenses as wide as 14mm are typically manually focused anyway. When everything a few inches past your lens is in focus anyway, it’s not an issue. For the 85mm.. Well, given the notoriously slow AF on Canon’s 85mm f/1.2, you might as well manual focus anyway.
Russian manufacturer KMZ has a long history in the photographic world, having produced cameras, lenses and enlargers under the Zenit brand since 1952.
Having been relatively quiet for a number of years, they’re now making a big comeback with the announcement of three very interesting new manual focus lenses; 85mm f/1.2, 50mm f/1.2 and 50mm f/0.95.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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