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Don’t make this mistake when using the ‘nifty-fifty’ lens

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How many of you use a 50mm f/1.8 lens? Its popularity across the board has given this lens the nickname of the ‘nifty-fifty’. So-called because of its small size and correspondingly small price tag, but great value. It’s often the first prime lens that photographers buy and is still a firm favourite for many.

But are you getting the most out of your lens? Joshua Peg asks this question as although he believes that the 50 mm f/1.8 lens is pretty great, it still has some limitations, and many people may not be reaching their full potential when using it. In this video, he walks you through how to make the most out of the popular nifty-fifty.

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This 3D printed 163mm f/2.5 lens with built-in aperture and focus adjustments can be made for less than $15

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When it comes to 3D printed lenses, they usually suffer from some limitations that manufactured lenses do not. Two of those limitations specifically are the lack of a variable aperture that can be stopped down and focus adjustment. Some 3D printed lenses get around the focus issue by using a commercially available helicoid lens adapter. And to solve the aperture problem, they may have swappable inserts.

Well, this 163mm f/2.5 3D printed telephoto lens from Felix Steel at Pixels and Prisms features both a fully adjustable 12-blade diaphragm aperture (a first for full-frame 3D printed lenses) as well as a manual focusing mechanism that can lock in the fully extended or fully retracted positions. Aside from the glass, it’s 100% 3D printed and can be built for less than $15. It’s also open source.

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Lomography brings back the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 lens with new silver and black paint jobs

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Lomography’s Art Lens series has grown with the addition of the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 lens in both Onyx Black and Silver Graphite finishes. The lens was first launched by Lomography back in 2016 via Kickstarter and now it’s a regular fixture in the lineup for a price of just $299. It’s their take on the historic lens that came at the creation of practical photography in 1938 with the combination of the Chevalier Achromat Lens attached to a Daguerreotype camera.

The lens is said to have a “series of beautiful aberrations” that “bathed images in an alluring veil of light” creating glazy, soft images at wide apertures. Lomography’s original release of this lens helped to revive the lost aesthetic. At a focal length of 64mm, the lens goes from silky soft-focus images wide open at f/2.9 to razor-sharp from f/5.6 onwards.

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Venus Optics announce new Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF lens

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Venus Optics, the company behind Laowa lenses has just announced the release of their latest full frame lens in the Argus series. It’s a 45mm f/0.95 and according to the company, offers a field of view that is appealing and natural to human eyes. They go on to say that “With the super shallow depth of field at f/0.95, it easily creates a dreamy and romantic rendering.”

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Nikon adds full-frame 40mm F/2 budget prime to their Z series lens lineup

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Nikon has announced the release of their new Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 lens for the Z mount mirrorless camera series. A compact and lightweight prime lens with “high portability ideal for casual everyday shooting” according to the Nikon website. This lens furthers the lineup for their full-frame Z mount mirrorless cameras.

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This watch is like a stylish TLR camera for your wrist

Perhaps you remember these gorgeous lens-inspired watches from TACS. The Japanese brand has done it again, this time creating Automatic Twin Lens. It’s an elegant TLR-inspired watch for all you vintage camera enthusiasts. I find this one the most beautiful so far, so let’s take a peek at the story behind it.

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TTArtisan launches silver anodised version of their 50mm f/0.95 lens for Leica M

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Initially released last year, TTArtisan has expanded its colour options for their 50mm f/0.95 lens for Leica M mount once again. As well as the standard black and limited edition shiny “Silver Black” and red versions, there is now an anodised silver version available. Unlike the other non-black models, this one doesn’t appear to be a limited edition.

As well as the various Leica M mount versions of the lens, TTArtisan also released a very limited run of Sony E and Fuji X mount versions of the lens last year – they only made 20 of each. Like the other Leica M mount versions, though, the lens is identical in spec other than the colour.

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Canon planning to replace focus rings with touch panels on the lens?

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Canon has filed a pretty interesting looking patent at the Japan Patent Office. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it yet, but it replaces the focus ring on the lens with a touch panel which would let you control the lens with your thumb as you handhold it.

On the plus side, it’d make people start to hold their cameras properly, but it does seem like it’d be a bit of a pain for a lot of photographers, particularly those shooting on tripods – like landscape or product photographers. It does offer a lot of potential for cool features, though.

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One of three Leica prototype lenses sells for $290,300 at an auction

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I guess we’re all used to Leica gear being expensive. But when it’s rare as this Vario-Elmar-M 3.5-5.6/28-75mm ASPH. prototype lens, it gets even pricier. This Vario-Elmar prototype is one of only three existing in the world, and it was recently sold at an auction for a whopping €240,000, which is more than $290,300 USD.

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