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parfocal lenses

Samyang parfocal AF 24-70mm f/2.8 for Sony FE has now been announced globally

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Samyang (AKA Rokinon and Bower) has launched their first zoom lens with the new Samyang AF 24-70mm f/2.8 FE, a wide-angle to short telephoto lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture for full-frame Sony E-Mount cameras. The lens had previously been announced only in Thailand, but now the announcement appears to be global.

Autofocus lenses have been part of Samyang’s lineup for a while now, although they were primarily specialising in manual focus lenses. But Samyang says that after five years of “in-depth research and communications” with its customers, they now want to target more of the mass market to better meet photographers needs.

What are parfocal lenses? Are they important? And why do filmmakers want them?

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The term “parfocal lens” has only really come into common usage amongst the general population over the last decade or so as our DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have allowed us to start shifting more towards shooting video content. But what exactly are they? And what’s the big deal?

As this video from Michael the Maven explains, parfocal lenses are zoom lenses, but they are zoom lenses which keep their focus distance through the entirety of their focal length range. What this means is that as you recompose for a tighter or wider shot of your subject, you don’t have to refocus the lens. It stays exactly where it was.

Did you know what parfocal and varifocal lenses are?

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Maybe you know that varifocal lenses are designed for stills and SLR cameras, and parfocal are designed for cinema and broadcast. But why would you want a parfocal zoom lens if you can use a varifocal even for the videos? What are the differences, and why does it matter anyway? This video by Vistek gives a great illustration of all this. It doesn’t only tell what the differences between the lenses are, but it gives examples that will make it much clearer to understand.

How To Win Any Photography Trivia Face Off With A Simple Question

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Have you ever sat down with a group of photographer and gotten into a trivia face off. You know those kinds of discussion where one would go “Oh yea? So what is the F-stop that comes after F/64?”* Or “So, what is hyperfocal distance?”** or “what’s the fastest sync speed on a D70?”***

Those can sometimes get quite frustrating. Especially if all participants are quite knowledgeable.

Before you learn how I lost that contest, see if you can identify what the following lenses have in common:

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