Our first zoom for portrait and low-light work is the DX 17-55mm f2.8G. As a DX model, this will only work on DX bodies, where it delivers an equivalent focal length of 26-83mm – ideal for capturing group shots and single portraits. The f2.8 aperture may not be as large as the primes above, but…
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Canon’s EF 500mm f4L IS USM is a super-telephoto lens adored by wildlife and sports photographers alike. The 500mm focal length, equivalent to 800mm when mounted on a cropped-frame body, delivers decent-sized images of distant subjects, while the f4 maximum aperture allows you to isolate them with a very shallow depth-of-field. As one of Canon’s…
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Canon’s EF 50mm f1.8 Mark II is an ideal choice for portrait and low-light photography on a budget. The 50mm focal length is a little short for classic portrait work on a full-frame camera, but mount it on a cropped-frame model and it becomes equivalent to 80mm, a perfect length for portraits. Meanwhile, the f1.8 aperture can deliver a blurred background and gathers more than eight times as much light as the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens when zoomed-in. Truly the thrifty-fifty.…
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The Canon EF 40mm f2.8 STM is the company’s first ‘pancake’ lens, designed to be as small and light as possible. Measuring just 22.8mm thick, it protrudes to roughly the same degree as the grip on many DSLRs, and at 130g you’ll hardly notice it when mounted. This in turn makes even larger DSLRs feel…
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The Samyang Rokinon 8mm f2.8 is an affordable Fisheye lens that’s designed exclusively for mirror-less cameras with an APS-C sensor – at the time of writing, Samyang offered three different fittings for Sony E-mount (NEX), Samsung NX and Fujifilm X (X-Pro1 and XE-1). Like other Samyang lenses, it’s manual focus only and also requires manual…
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The Samyang Rokinon 85mm f1.4 is an affordable short telephoto lens with a bright focal ratio that’s ideal for portrait work. Like other Samyang lenses, it’s manual focus only, but comes in at a considerably lower price point than similar lenses from the big camera companies. Note Samyang lenses are branded as Rokinon and Walimex…
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The 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM is Sigma’s first large aperture 35mm full-frame lens. It was announced November 2012 and goes head-to-head against the equivalent offerings from Nikon, Canon and Sony. As Sigma’s first lens to define its “Art” product line (the others being “Contemporary” and “Sports”) it is expected to “focus on sophisticated optical performance…
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The Olympus 45mm f1.8 is a compact, light and affordable short telephoto lens for Micro Four Thirds bodies. It’s great quality too!…
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The AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II is Nikon’s professional f2.8 telephoto zoom. It covers a 2.9x zoom-range and was announced July 2009. It’s the successor to the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR and has an improved optical design and better image stabilization. This speed and performance doesn’t come cheap, but to be…
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The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM is the company’s latest 70-200mm and its first with an image stabilizer. It covers a 2.9x zoom-range and was announced February 2011. Sigma offers this lens with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Sigma mounts and it is cheaper than any other stabilized 70-200/2.8 zoom. While primarily designed…
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