Inspiring ways to improve your photos
Inspiring ways to improve your photos
An affordable compact, lightweight zoom lens for portrait and sports photography.The Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 lens was launched at the end of 2006 and is usually offered in twin-lens kits with Olympus DSLR cameras. Claimed as the smallest and lightest in its class, it fulfils the promises of the Four Thirds System in both respects. With a barrel only 72mm long and weighing only 220 grams it covers a focal length range equivalent to 80-300mm in 35mm format.
The compact, standard zoom kit lens for Olympus DSLR cameras.Usually supplied with the company’s DSLR cameras, the Olympus Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED is a compact standard wide angle zoom lens covering focal lengths equivalent to 28-84mm in 35mm format. This covers all kinds of general photography, including family snapshots, scenery and portraiture.
The smallest of Nikon’s super-fast telephoto lenses.Nikon’s huge AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8G ED VR lens is so big it comes in its own special suitcase. At almost $13,000 its price tag is beyond the reach of even the most serious enthusiasts but, when we were offered it for review we felt it would be interesting to road test a lens that only a very specialised cohort of professional photographers would use – primarily sports photographers.
A compact macro lens with superb performance for 1:1 close-ups, copying work and general photography.
A high-quality extended zoom lens for Four Thirds System DSLRs.Panasonic’s new Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-150mm lens was announced at the end of August 2007 but has only recently become available locally. Although designed by Leica, it is fitted with Panasonic’s Mega O.I.S. optical image stabiliser and Venus Engine LSI microprocessor. Developed for the company’s Four Thirds System DSLR cameras, it is the first Leica D lens to extend to the equivalent to 300mm in 35mm format.
A budget-priced tele-zoom lens with built-in image stabilisation.Canon’s new EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS is designed specifically for cameras with ‘APS-C’ sized sensors and combines light weight with a very low price tag for an optically-stabilised lens. On the EOS 400D and 40D cameras we used for our tests, its focal length range is equivalent to 88-400mm on a 35mm camera. It’s a fairly slow lens – and this is apparent in the viewfinder when you’re shooting.
A first-rate wide-angle zoom for DSLRs with ‘APS-C’ sized imagers.The ‘EF-S’ designation is Canon’s way of labelling lenses with Short Back Focus, which indicates the distance between the sensor plane and the rear element of the lens is shorter than in an EF lens. Such lenses are designed exclusively for EOS cameras with ‘APS-C-sized’ sensors and cannot be used on Canon’s 35mm SLR cameras – or on the EOS 5D. The new EF-S 10-22mm ultra-wide-angle zoom lens covers fields of view equivalent to 16-35mm in 135mm format. An excellent partner to the EOS 400D we used for our tests, its wide angle of view is great for landscape and architectural photography, especially indoor shots.
A high-performance zoom lens that covers a popular focal length range and provides up to four f-stops of stabilisation plus attractive bokeh.Canon announced the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM, on 26 August, 2010 in the lead-in to September’s Photokina Trade Show. Targeted at professionals and advanced amateur photographers it’s surprisingly compact for its specifications and usable with all of the company’s DLSR cameras. The 4.3x zoom range of 70-300mm on the ‘full frame’ models (112-480mm with ‘APS-C sensors), with a variable aperture of f/4-5.6.
A compact, high-magnification zoom lens with few aberrations and effective image stabilisation.The EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM is Canon’s second lens with three-layer type Diffractive Optics (DO). It can be used with both ‘APS-C’ (where it covers angles of view equivalent to 112mm to 480mm) and 35mm-sized image sensors. Using three layers of diffraction gratings enables lens designers to almost completely cancel out chromatic aberration and subdue spherical aberration to a near-negligible point. The resulting lenses are smaller and lighter and can out-perform other zoom lenses with equivalent focal lengths and aperture ranges that use fluorite, ED or aspherical glass elements to controls these aberrations.
A high-performing lens for general photography.A superb general-purpose lens, Canon’s EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM is equally at home on the EOS 400D and the ‘full frame’ EOS 5D cameras, giving a focal length range equivalent to 38.4 to 168mm on the former. Compact for its specifications, it is relatively light and comfortable to use as well as being very well built. The lens barrel carries switches for IS (on/off) and AF/MF (Autofocus/Manual Focus). They are recessed into the lens barrel itself, which means you’re less likely to re-set them inadvertently.
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