Introduction Sigma 28mm 1.4 on Sony A7rII No matter the camera system, 28mm f/1.4 fullframe lenses are a rare breed. And when you are looking for one equipped with autofocus, things really start to look dire. In most cases your only option is this Sigma 28mm 1.4 Art, which is also one of Sigma’s last fast primes designed for DSLRs and one where we still did not see a smaller “DN” mirrorless version. Despite all this, is this still a lens you should consider today? Let’s have a closer look. Sample Images Sony A7III | Sigma 28mm 1.4 Art | f/1.4Sony A7III | Sigma 28mm 1.4 Art | f/1.4Sony A7III ..read more

Introduction Viltrox offers some of the best value AF lenses on the market and now they have come up with this AF 40mm f/2.5 at $158. It should be one of the least expensive fullframe AF lenses with Nikon Z mount and therefore quite interesting. 40mm is one of my favorite focal lengths. Closer to the human’s natural angle of view than a 50mm, and slightly wider than 50mm, it allows for more context to be included in the image. I prefer this focal length to a 50mm for street and everyday photography. The Viltrox Z 40/2.5 with its compact format is therefore an interesting lens. It is not a Vil ..read more

Introduction Thypoch Simera 28mm 1.4 on Leica M10 Thypoch is a new manufacturer of photography lenses and entered the market at the end of 2023 with two M-mount lenses, the Simera 28mm 1.4 and 35mm 1.4. There are a lof of 35mm 1.4 lenses for M-mount, but only a handful of 28mm 1.4s, so I am very curious what this final production model of the 28mm 1.4 is capable of. This lens is also part of my Comparison of Fast 28mm Fullframe Lenses. Sample Images Leica M10 | Thypoch Simera 28mm 1.4 | f/1.4Leica M10 | Thypoch Simera 28mm 1.4 | f/1.4Leica M10 | Thypoch Simera 28mm 1.4 | f/2.0Leica M10 ..read more

Introduction Voigtländer 55mm 1.2 SL IIs Nokton on Nikon FM2n Cosina is always up for a surprise and when they announced this Voigtländer 55mm 1.2 SL IIs Nokton for the Nikon F-mount in 2023 – 5 years after Nikon transitioned to the Z-mount – that surely was a big surprise. Lenses as fast as f/1.2 are rare birds in the F-mount world because they are really operating at the limit of this bayonet. As I will show you in this review, Cosina’s engineers managed to create something that Nikon’s engineers were not able to achieve in over 60 years. Sample Images Sony A7III | Voigtländer SL IIs 55mm 1 ..read more

Introduction Nikon 105mm 2.5 Ai via K&F adapter on Sony A7rII Some lenses became famous because they are rare and/or expensive. Neither is the case for the Nikon Nikkor 105mm 2.5 Ai. In fact – from the early 70s to the mid 80s – Nikon made a lot of them, it was by far their best selling short tele prime. Why was that? And are there still good reasons to use this lens today? Let’s find out in this review. Sample Images Sony A7III | Nikon 105mm 2.5 | f/2.5Sony A7III | Nikon 105mm 2.5 | f/2.5Sony A7III | Nikon 105mm 2.5 | f/5.6Sony A7III | Nikon 105mm 2.5 | f/5.6Sony A7III | Nikon 105mm 2.5 ..read more

Introduction   TTArtisan, one of the Chinese lens manufacturers known for its consistent quality, has primarily produced full metallic, manual focus lenses. However, they have recently released a few autofocus lenses. Their latest creation is the AF 56mm f/1.8 ED, a compact APS-C portrait lens. Let’s take a closer look at it! Sample Images Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f ..read more

Introduction Viltrox, a pioneer in autofocus lenses from China, has been on a roll lately, releasing new lenses for both full-frame and APS-C cameras. Their recent APS-C PRO series boasts impressive quality but with a larger size footprint. In stark contrast, their latest creation is this super-compact AF 56mm f/1.7. Let’s see how this tiny portrait lens performs! I tested this lens on a Fujifilm X-S10 with its 26 Mp APS-C sensor. Sample Images Fujifilm X-S10 | Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 | f/2Fujifilm X-S10 | Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 | f/1.7Fujifilm X-S10 | Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 | f/1.7Fujifilm X-S10 ..read more

Kodak Portra 800 There are already two articles covering Portra 800, but both times they have been developed in the ECN-2 process by Silbersalz35. What was missing was Portra 800 developed in the more common C-41 process, so here we go. Exposed as ISO640. Processing (C-41) and scanning was done at urbanfilmlab in Germany. Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 21mm 1.4 | f/1.4 | Portra 800 C-41Leica M6 | Voigtländer VM 21mm 1.4 | f/1.4 | Portra 800 C-41Leica M6 | Hologon 16mm 8.0 | Portra 800 C-41Leica M6 | Hologon 16mm 8.0 | Portra 800 C-41Leica M6 | Hologon 16mm 8.0 | Portra 800 C-41 Also developed in C ..read more

Introduction Nikon Nikkor 55mm 1.2 Ai on Nikon FM2n The optical design of this Nikkor 55mm 1.2 dates back to 1965, which makes it Nikon’s first f/1.2 lens for the F-mount. Among Nikon’s three manual focus f/1.2 ~50mm lenses this is not exactly a fan favorite though and usually considered the worst of the bunch. Let’s try to find out in this review if that bad reputation is actually justified. Sample Images Sony A7III | Nikon Nikkor 55mm 1.2 Ai | f/1.2Sony A7III | Nikon Nikkor 55mm 1.2 Ai | f/1.2Sony A7III | Nikon Nikkor 55mm 1.2 Ai | f/1.2Sony A7III | Nikon Nikkor 55mm 1.2 Ai | f/1.2Sony A7III ..read more

Introduction Zhong Yi LensTurboII and Nikon AF 85mm 1.4D via Pixco Speedbooster on Sony A7rII Speedboosters are still somewhat popular among videographers, but since these days used fullframe cameras are very affordable, this is not really the case for still photographers anymore. They can be used for some creative shallow depth of field photography on fullframe cameras though, and that is what we will have a look at here. Sample Pictures Sony A7r | Zhong Yi LensTurbo II | Canon nFD 85mm 1.2L | ©Simeon KolevSony A7r | Zhong Yi LensTurbo II | Samyang 35mm 1.4 | ©Simeon KolevSony A7r | Zhong Yi ..read more