The 70-200mm lens is a workhorse, but the optics are also workhorse-sized. The Canon RF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM is the company’s shortest and lightest to hit the category. Tipping the scales at a pound and a half, the lens promises all the zoom range with none of the backaches that come with working with a lens like the three-pound EF 70-200mm f2.8 L USM.
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Sony has a plethora of great lenses, but one of their best is available right now for a steal. The Sony 85mm f1.8 FE is one of our favorites. Most people probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between it and the G Master. And it’s available at an insanely good price right now. But so are a bunch of other Sony lenses. In fact, they’re all enjoying sales prices until 6/27/2021. Who knows how long the supplies will last in today’s market? You might as well act fast! We’ve got the whole run down after the jump.
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When the Panasonic S1 was announced, I’ll admit that I took far less interest in it than I did the S1R. I personally need more color depth, and the lower megapixel sensors just don’t do it for me. But after using it, the Panasonic S1 surprised me. Not only is it a capable camera, but it’s gotten better with firmware updates. The firmware updates are enough to make me hope it’s going to dramatically improve. And by all means, this is a great camera. But there’s an elephant in the room in the form of its chunky body.
Editor’s Note: We’re updating this review as of November 2020.
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If you’re looking for glass that will have your back in multiple scenarios, take a closer look at 70-200mm lenses.
There are a few types of lenses that can be considered multi-tools thanks to them hitting the sweet spot(s) when it comes to focal ranges. Lenses in the 15-30mm range are great for multiple genres of photography from landscapes to environmental portraits, 35mm lenses are Goldilocks lenses great for just about everything, and the last multi-tool lens are 70-200mm lenses. Whether you shoot landscapes, portraits, events, weddings, sports, documentary photography, or you’re a photojournalist, the 70-200mm is one lens that should be part of your kit. After the break, we will share some 70-200mm lenses that will have your back no matter what.
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The 70-200mm zoom lens is incredibly versatile and should be in every photographer’s camera bag.
There are quite a few lenses that can be considered the swiss army knives of the photography world. Lenses that spring to mind include 24-105mm lenses, 24-70mm lenses, and when it comes to primes the 35mm focal range is one that works in just about every genre of photography. There is, however, another lens that is equally as versatile as those previously listed. 70-200mm zoom lenses are fantastic in that they can be used for event work, portraiture, photojournalism, landscape photography, sports photography, and even documentary work. In this roundup, we will take a quick look at seven of our favorite 70-200mm zoom lenses. Continue reading…
70-200mm telephoto lenses are firm favorites with portrait photographers for good reason.
When it comes to portrait photography a lot of photographers like to reach for primes lenses thanks to their fast apertures and light weight. Telephoto lenses are also wonderful for portraits, especially 70-200mm variants. With the sweet spot for portraits really falling between the 85mm to 135mm range, 70-200mm telephoto lenses really lend themselves well to this genre of photography thanks to their amazing image quality, and fast apertures.
Found scurrying around in the dead of night, and seen in the harshest of conditions during the day, documentarians and photojournalists are a unique breed of photographer.
The lenses photojournalists use need to be adept to ever changing conditions, and be able to withstand the hardest of jolts, and the hottest, coldest, and rainiest of days. To be successful in this field, a wide range of focal lengths needs to be covered. The challenge comes in finding lenses that are up to the task of being used and abused over and over again without the photographer having to ever worry about their glass. Here is a list of the five lenses every documentary photographer should have in their bag.
For professional photographers, a zoom lens is crucial to our kit. Here’s a selection of professional zoom lenses that rated high in our reviews.
We need to keep our overhead in check while being able to have a decent range of focal lengths in our kit and so professional f2.8 zoom lenses are an essential for working photographers. In addition to that, we want lenses that gather a lot of light and are sharp. Professional photographers are dealing with so many moving parts on a shoot: the last thing we need to be thinking about is if our gear is going to crap out. Build quality is a top priority.
If you are looking to get more into landscape photography but want to avoid primes, this is the list for you
Landscape photography is an interesting niche of photography, an excellent one for the hobbyist photographers of the world. There is little money in landscape photography, so you don’t have people getting into the field chasing dreams of making it big or getting rich. You have a different sort of individual: a photographer interested in the art of the medium, the beauty of our world, and with documenting the natural beauty around us that so many take for granted. But it is also a niche where many people are ignorant to what you need to capture those amazing images we see in those travel magazines.
If you are one of those ignorant people who want to get better with their landscape photography one place you should start is with setting up a versatile landscape photography kit. Step one for that, assuming you already have a camera, is to choose a lens (or lenses if you have the budget). Landscape photography is also interesting in that the age-old adage “zoom with your feet” doesn’t really work – at least not in the spirit of that saying.
Lowepro has been in the camera bag business for over 50 years and the Freeline is their latest innovation
Content creators are a unique group of individuals in today’s world. They are a demographic that includes photographers, videographers, writers and a lot of other related fields, but one thing that surely ties them all together is the need to carry around a lot of gear that makes that content creation process possible. Everything from laptops to cameras, to lights, to microphones; content creators love their gear and need it with them virtually everywhere they go. So for that reason, Lowepro has developed their new FreeLine BP 350 AW daypack. Continue reading…
One of the things that many portrait photographers and headshot photographers struggle with is figuring out whether they should get a 135mm or 85mm focal length for their portraiture. It’s a tough question if you don’t understand how one lens works vs the other option. In truth, they both do different things, but I’m not sure that there’s a great reason why a photographer would want to have one vs the other option. They’re both lens focal lengths that can do very specific things and do them very well.
So we break down which ones are best for you.
WPPI is an interesting show and given its timing every year there rarely seems to be many big announcements happening, but this year we have a big one from Tamron. Just as was expected thanks to leaks last week, Tamron has announced their new 70-200mm F2.8 Di VC USD G2 and 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD. Continue reading…
Japanese camera and lens manufacturers are getting geared up for their annual CP+ show in Japan later in February; and apparently we’re getting a new Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 lens. This is always a big time of year for announcements and by extension, leaks of upcoming products. New image leaks reported over on Nikon Rumors, seem to indicate the existence of a new 70-200mm on the way from Tamron. Continue reading…
Portrait, wildlife, and sports photographers will be thrilled to learn that Nikon has announced the latest update to its hugely popular, widely used 70-200mm line with the new 70-200mm F/2.8E FL ED.
One of the Nikon ‘Holy Trinity’, the Nikkor 70-200mm F/2.8 line has long been one of Nikon’s most popular lenses for a wide variety of professional photographers. This new version features an all new SWM (Silent Wave Motor) AF Motor; the latest Nikon VR technology which the company claims is capable of up to four stops of image stabilization.
When you consider a camera system, one of the most important lenses to look out for is a 70-200mm equivalent–and Sony has been working on delivering that in the form of the Sony 70-200mm f2.8 OSS G Master lens for full frame E mount cameras. With weather sealing, a white body, 18 groups with 23 lens elements, and a constant f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range coupled with a small size overall–there is a lot of love about this lens.
Editor’s Note: In conjunction with the changes we’ve been doing here on the site, we’re once again changing our review format. First impressions reviews will be completely replaced with a fuller and fuller review that will be updated overtime. Readers will be given notifications on when the full review is complete. Each section will also be rated with stars and an overall cumulative rating. Additionally, comparisons will be made. If parts seem incomplete it’s because they’re still being worked on
Update 12/21: this review is complete
The full frame Sony E mount lineup of lenses already has two 50mm offerings in the form of the 50mm f1.8 and the Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8–and today they’re getting a third in the form of the Sony Zeiss 50mm f1.4 for full frame E mount cameras. This latest offering boasts dust and moisture protection, 11 aperture blades (like the 85mm f1.4 G Master before it), advanced aspherical elements, extra-low dispersion elements, and the Zeiss T+ coating that minimizes flare and gives your images lots of punch–just like standard Zeiss glass does.
Like many of the company’s other f1.4 prime lens offerings, this lens has an aperture ring, an SSM motor, and an overall nice feel to the body. When it launches this month, you’ll be able to score one for $1,500. Details on this lens and much more from Sony (with some re-announcements) are after the jump.
Between my Canon 60D and now the 5D Mark III, I’ve made a variety of investments in lenses. I’ve often been asked about why I bought what I did at the time. So, I thought this might be an opportunity to share my thinking when I invested in each lens. Keep in mind though that this setup is just my personal own–and it may not work for you.
Tokina is showing off prototypes for soon to be announced lenses at CP+ right now.
The first lens is a 12-28mm f/4 lens for crop body cameras and offers just a bit more range than the previous 12-24mm wide angle lens. First up is their Tokina AT-X 70-200mm f/4 PRO FX VCM-S: which is a full frame lens that features Image stabilization, 19 optical elements in 14 groups, can stop down to f/22n has a minimum focusing distance of 1.0m and will weight 1,020 g.
Their second lens is Tokina AT-X 12-28 f/4 PRO DX. This is their wide angle that has 14 optical elements in 12 groups, stops down to f/22, has a minimum focusing distance of 25cm, and weighs 600 g. The lens is only for cropped sensor cameras.
Via Nikon Rumors
Another lens expected to arrive this year from Tamron is a new 70-200mm f2.8 lens. The lens will have a different type of stabilization (VC) than the previous version which will bring the size down. Tamron actually claims that this 70-200mm will be the smallest in its class. The lens now features a XLD (xtra low dispersion) element as well as four low-dispersion elements to minimize chromatic aberrations and provide high contrast / high resolution images. This lens as well as the 90mm mentioned in a previous post both include moisture resistant construction. This lens will have a 77mm filter size with a minimum focus of 51.2 inches.
This lens will be available at the end of this year and the pricing has yet to be announced. Full specs can be found on the Tamron site here.
I was bored one day while browsing some photography forums on a day off and then I found this big monster. Above is the Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 lens for Nikon DSLRs. When I saw the photo, I said to myself, “What the hell would I do with a lens like that?”
Sure, it’s nowhere as big as the monster I found before, but oh man is that some big glass. I’d personally prefer the Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 EX DG OS HSM that I reviewed previously.
Let us know in the comments what you’d do with a lens that big.
We did a quick posting when the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG HSM OS FLD
