Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Tamron has announced the Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD, a new, versatile zoom that wants to be your go-to lens for any shooting situation. The focal length range is pretty unusual; dare I say groundbreaking.
Starting at the standard 50mm rather than 100mm, this lens differs from other ultra-telephoto zooms you’ll find in the market. While the zoom and the focal length range sound tempting, there are some drawbacks as well. So let’s check them all out.
A lot of us fall into two camps when it comes to photography. Nope, I’m not talking about Nikon versus Canon or any such silliness. I’m talking about whether you’re predominantly a zoom lens shooter or a prime lens aficionado. Personally, I love a good prime lens. I don’t know if it’s because I shoot video or because I love to photograph people, but my camera kit seems to be full of mostly prime lenses.
There are many advantages to shooting with prime lenses, yes, even for landscape or travel photography. In this video, photographer James Popsys takes us for a walk in the beautiful Welsh countryside and tells us what he loves best about shooting with primes.
It had to come eventually and now it’s finally here. Sony has announced its new Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II lens to go along with its recently released FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II announced last October. Like its predecessor, the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II is designed for full-frame Sony E mount cameras and comes with a number of new improvements that should help the shooting workflow.
Sony says it’s the “world’s lightest f/2.8 standard zoom lens”, but we usually have to take Sony’s “World’s” claims with a pinch of salt and a few caveats. In this case, though, weighing in at only 695g, they might actually have a point. It’s 20% less than the original and significantly less than its Nikon and Canon counterparts.
Well, this is a bit counterintuitive. Spotted by asobinet, Canon has patented a mechanism for a zoom lens mechanism that actually gets shorter as you increase the focal length. Yes, that’s right, the exact opposite to how zoom lenses normally work.
The patent was published on November 18th to provide zoom lenses with large apertures and small size with high optical performance. A number of lens examples are included in the patent, including a couple with ranges of approximately 28-70mm and 28-60mm with f/2.8 and f/4 maximum apertures respectively.
It’s probably no surprise that pictures of the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II leaked shortly before the announcement. But now it’s officially out, and we’ve learned something more about the new and improved 70-200 Sony FE lens.
Nikon has released a brand new zoom lens for Nikon Z crop sensor cameras. The Nikkor Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is versatile, lightweight, affordable, and it wants to become your go-to lens for various situations. So, let’s see what it has to offer.
Along with the new PEN E-P7, Olympus has also announced a new ultra-wide zoom lens for Micro Four Thirds. The M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm f/4 PRO is the new autofocus lens with the equivalent focal length range of 16-50mm. If you’re planning to add a wide-angle zoom to your gear bag, let’s see what this new Olympus lens has to offer.
Panasonic has just launched the Lumix S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 MACRO O.I.S. lens. It leaked in the lens roadmap last year, but now it’s officially here and ready for preorders. It looks like a pretty versatile lens that lets you shoot the subjects really far from you, but those really close too, so lets’ see what it has to offer.
I’m a big fan of cheap lenses. I don’t care even care if they mostly suck. Sometimes, a really cheap terrible lens can offer you exactly the look you’re going for – and it can get you there much more quickly than trying to degrade your image manually in post. But in this case…
Tommy, Stephen and Mitchell at TMS Productions decided to order some cheap filmmaking gear from Wish to see how well it actually worked. They got a cheap “4K” action camera and a 420-800mm f/8.3-16 telephoto zoom lens. So, why does the thumbnail say 3200mm? well, they bought a couple of cheap 2x teleconverters, too.
Nikon Coolpix P900 is a pretty powerful little camera in terms of optical zoom. You can use it to zoom in the Moon, or “prove” that the Earth is flat. However, it has now officially been listed as discontinued and soon you won’t be able to order it anymore.
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!