Released in August 2013, Nikon’s 18–140mm f/3.5–5.6G DX ED VR for APS-C bodies replaces its popular 18–135mm f/3.5–5.6G zoom, adding Vibration Reduction and 5mm of reach at the long end. This utility zoom lacks the ranges of Nikon’s 18–200mm or 18–300mm f/3.5–5.6G VR all-in-ones, but the lens ($597, street) is lighter and more compact and—for our money—handles noticeably better than either of those two. It sports one ED element for controlling chromatic distortion, Nikon’s ultra-quiet SWM autofocus motor, and a 7.8X zoom range that’s the full-frame equivalent of 27–210mm.

Weighing 1.15 pounds, the lens balanced nicely on our D5300 test camera. It’s also less bulky than the lens it replaces and takes relatively small 67mm filters. It is, however, large enough to cast a shadow at wider focal lengths when used with the D5300’s built-in flash. Attractive and well-marked (albeit without a depth-of-field scale), the lens offers smooth-turning zoom and focusing rings, as well as rapid, accurate, and essentially inaudible autofocusing.

On our optical bench, the lens produced Excellent-range SQF results across its tested focal lengths. Its numbers, in mid-90th percentile, proved slightly better than the four comparable APS-C zooms we’ve tested from Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Tokina. The Pentax and Canon, for example, both turned in low-90th percentile SQF numbers.

In our DxO Analyzer 5.3 tests of distortion control, we found Visible barrel at 18mm (0.70%), and Visible- and Slight-range pincushion at 70mm (0.35%), and 140mm (0.29%), respectively—roughly similar to the other tested zooms. The Nikon’s control of edge vignetting (gone by f/8 at three tested focal lengths), however, scored slightly below that of the other glass.

Three testers each gained 3 extra stops of sharp handholdability with the Nikon’s VR engaged—noticeably better than the Canon’s 2.5 stops.

With superior handling, a generous zoom range, and an effective stabilization system, this lens will deliver almost everything photographers would expect from a wide-to-tele, multitasking zoom.

SPECIFICATIONS
18–140mm (18.44–148.65mm tested), f/3.5–5.6 (f/3.49–5.66 tested), 17 elements in 12 groups. Focus ring turns 130 degrees. Zoom ring turns 80 degrees. Focal length marked at 18-, 24-, 35-, 50-, 70-, and 140mm.
Diagonal View Angle: 76–11 degrees
Weight: 1.15 lbs Filter size: 67mm
Mounts: Nikon AF
Street price: $597
Website: nikonusa.com

TEST RESULTS
Distortion: At 18mm, 0.70% (Visible) barrel; at 70mm, 0.35% (Visible) pincushion; at 140mm, 0.29% (Slight) pincushion.
Light Falloff: At 18mm, gone by f/8; at 70mm, gone by f/8; at 140mm, gone by f/8
Close-focusing Distance: 15.99 inches
Maximum Magnification Ratio: At 18mm, 1:15; at 70mm, 1:5.16; at 140mm, 1:3.59
Image Stabilization: 3 stops

The post Lens Test: Nikon 18–140mm f/3.5–5.6g DX ED VR AF-S Zoom appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Tamron delves even deeper into stabilized wide-angle lenses with this full-frame 15–30mm f/2.8. Following the ground-breaking 24–70mm f/2.8 stabilized lens, the newcomer ($1,199, street) is the world’s first high-speed zoom with shake control that reaches into ultrawide focal lengths.

Other distinguishing traits: its massive size. At more than 2.5 pounds and 5.75 inches long, it has consid-erably more heft than Sigma’s arguably comparable 18–35mm APS-C zoom—a constant f/1.8. Our Tamron is 
also about a half-pound heavier than the Sony Zeiss 16–35mm f/2.8 and a pound heavier than either of Canon’s 16–35mms. It’s an inch or so longer than all three.

Among its 13 groups, there’s an XGM (Expanded Glass Molded) aspherical element placed up front and several LD elements behind it; all promise to tamp down effects such as chromatic aberration. The lens’s protruding front element prevents the use of threaded filters; there’s also no provision for rear-mounted acetate gels. The lens does, however, offer a fixed, reinforced lenshood (sort of like a hood within a hood) that protects the bulging and vulnerable front element from scratching.

In the Popular Photography Test Lab, the lens’s SQF sharpness results fell in the Excellent range at all focal lengths. In our DxO Analyzer 5.3 tests of distortion control, at its sweet spot of 20mm, this lens held barrel distortion to the Imperceptible range (0.04%), a welcome performance.

Light falloff was much improved over Tamron’s 24–70mm f/2.8 VC lens which, at 24mm, vignetted at all apertures. In contrast, at its widest focal length, the new Tamron showed no sign of edge falloff by f/5.6. Nice.

Tamron’s Vibration Control system delivered 2.5 extra stops of handheld sharpness, beating our other comparable stabilized lens, the Canon 16–35mm f/4L, which came in at 2.33 stops.

Practically speaking, Tamron’s 15–30mm is a steal: almost half the price of the Sony Zeiss 16–35mm f/2.8 and about $500 less than the Canon 16–35mm f/2.8 and Nikon 14–24mm f/2.8G. None of these offer stabilization. Who can resist?

Check out our Hands On review of this lens and see sample images here.

SPECIFICATIONS

15–30mm (15.01–29.57mm tested), f/2.8 (f/2.65–2.94 tested), 18 elements in 13 groups. Focus ring turns 120 degrees. Zoom ring turns 80 degrees. Focal length marked at 15-, 18-, 20-, 24-, and 30mm.

Diagonal view angle: 110–71 degrees

Weight: 2.53 lbs

Filter Size: n.a.

Mounts: Canon AF, Nikon AF, Sony AF

Included: Silkypix developer studio software

Street price: $1,199

Website: tamron-usa.com

TEST RESULTS

Distortion: At 15mm, 0.55% (Visible) barrel; at 20mm, 0.04% (Imperceptible) barrel; at 30mm, 0.24% (Slight) pincushion

Light Falloff: At 15mm, f/5.6; at 20mm, f/4; at 30mm, f/3.5

Close-Focusing Distance: 10.33 inches

Maximum Magnification Ratio: At 15mm, 1:7.26; at 20mm, 1:5.72; at 30mm, 1:4.32

Image Stabilization: 2.50 stops

The post Lens Test: Tamron 15–30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD appeared first on Popular Photography.

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The Tamron 150–600mm f/5–6.3 Di VC USD zoom sports one of the class’s broadest focal-length ranges (4X) as well as the longest reach in the tele-zoom category, to 600mm. It also packs Vibration Compensation (VC), an Ultrasonic Silent autofocus drive, three low-dispersion elements for suppressing color fringing, a new eBAND lens coating the company claims will improve anti-reflection performance, and a let’s-get-covetous street price of just over a grand ($1,069, street).

A full-frame lens that reaches the equivalent of 960mm on Canon APS-C bodies (900mm on Nikon and Sony), the lens has a removable tripod collar, lenshood, and rubber cowl around its mount to fend off the elements.

Among lenses with this much telephoto reach, this Tamron 150-600mm is by far the most compact and, at least for short periods, hand-holdable. At 4.5 pounds, it weighs about half as much as Canon’s 600mm f/4L, for example, and fully racked out it measures about four inches shorter. Its removable tripod collar has finger notches that improve the grip when handholding. That said, it still requires at least a monopod for extended use.

In the field, we liked the large, ribbed zoom ring for its convenient placement and easy, albeit slightly uneven, turn. The zoom lock, which confines the lens to its contracted 150mm position, prevented the zoom creep that can occur when walking with the rig on a neck strap. We really appreciated the focus-limiter switch, which has full and non-closeup ranges. The latter, going from about 50 feet to infinity, worked well for wildlife and sports.

On the Popular Photography optical bench, the Tamron 150-600mm lens delivered Excellent-range SQF numbers at 150 and 200mm. At 300mm, the longest setting our bench allowed, tested performance dropped only one notch into Very Good numbers. Most other tele-zooms we’ve tested have dropped a rating notch further, into the Good range, at their 300mm focal lengths. (These include the Tamron 70–300mm f/4–5.6 Di VC USD and the Sigma 70–300mm f/4–5.6 DG OS.)

Our DxO Analyzer Version 5.3 tests found pincushion distortion in the mid-Slight range at all focal lengths, a significant improvement over the uniform Visible-range pincushioning of Tamron’s 200–500mm lens. Light falloff was gone from the corners by f/5.6 at 150mm and f/8 at 600mm. At 300mm, we found no detectable vignetting, a performance that tops all of the earlier tested tele-zooms at this focal length. Tamron’s VC mechanism helped three testers to an average of 2.33 extra stops of handheld sharpness versus without VC engaged.

The appeal of this lens for focal-reach-hungry photographers is ob­vious. Relative to others that reach 600mm, its handling could hardly be more user-friendly. And that price! (The Canon 600mm f/4L streets for nearly $13,000.) Performance of the Tamron 150-600mm outstrips the closest comparable tele-zooms. Plus, it comes with Tamron’s customized version of the Silkypix’s RAW converter, which automatically corrects for distortion, chromatic aberration, and edge falloff in this and every other Tamron SP-series lens. Nice!

Specifications:

150­–600mm (149.96mm–n.a. tested*), f/5­­­–6.3 (f/4.32–n.a. tested*), 20 ele­ments

in 13 groups. Focus ring turns 130 degrees. Zoom ring turns 150 degrees. Focal lengths marked at 150-, 200-, 250-, 300-, 350-,

400-, 450-, 500-, and 600mm.

Diagonal view angle: 16–4 degrees

Weight: 4.5 lbs

Filter size: 95mm

Mounts: Canon AF, Nikon AF, Sony AF

Included: Lenshood, removable tripod collar, Silkypix Developer Studio software

Street price: $1,069

Website: tamron-usa.com

Test Results:

Distortion: At 150mm, 0.21% (Slight) pincushion; at 300mm, 0.20% (Slight) pincushion; at 600mm, 0.20% (Slight) pincushion.

Light falloff: At 150mm, gone by f/5.6; at 300mm, none; at 600mm, gone by f/8

Close-focusing distance: 94.75 inches

Maximum magnification ratio: At 150mm, 1:14.46; at 300mm, 1:7.6; at 600mm, 1:4.03

Image Stabilization: 2.33 stops** **

The post Tamron 150-600mm Lens Test appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Among portrait shooters, the 85mm f/1.4 or f/1.2 full-frame lens has been the time-honored holy grail of glass. Allowing dreamily defocused fore- and backgrounds that set off the subject to great effect, and the perfect focal length for flattering the human face, these lenses have found their way into the hands of serious portraitists since forever. Earlier this year, Fujifilm offered its X-camera shooters the APS-C equivalent of such a valuable tool: the 56mm f/1.2 R Fujinon XF ($999, street).

The fastest lens in the Fujifilm X-series optical arsenal, this mid telephoto-range prime (full-frame equivalent: 85mm) is also among the speediest—and most prestigious—glass available for smaller-than-full-frame cameras. It looked quite at home on our test camera, the Fujifilm X-T1, and had the rugged feel of all-metal construction. That said, at 0.92 pounds, the lens is quite light by mid-tele f/1.2 standards—the Canon 85mm f/1.2 for SLRs, for example, weighs well over 2 pounds. Cosmetically, its finely ribbed focusing ring is reminiscent of Leica glass. Its conventionally styled aperture ring offers click stops in 1/3 stop intervals-—a welcome retro aura, as well.

The lens handles nearly perfectly in the field. Its autofocus is fast and quiet on the X-T1, with occasional hunting required near max-imum sharpness.

If this impressive lens could be said to have an Achilles heel, for us, it would be the electronic manual-focus system. With one of the longest turning radiuses in recent memory (220 degrees), it takes a while to go from near to far. As you make that trip, because there’s no hard stop at either end of the range, you inevitably overshoot the mark and have to backfocus a bit. As is common with electronic manual focus, the lens has no subject distance scale, which prevents pre-focusing.

In the Popular Photography Test Lab, the lens delivered Excellent-range SQF numbers for sharpness and contrast—even at its (massive) maximum aperture. Still more impressive were its 0.03% Imperceptible barrel distortion and best-in-class complete absence of edge falloff uncovered in our DxO Analyzer Version 5.3 tests. The lens delivered a maximum subject magnification of only 1:9.66—for portraits, not a bad thing.

Great for all typical low-light projects, and obviously perfect for portraits, this lens makes a welcome addition to the X-camera lens lineup. While that $999 price may induce some sticker shock, keep in mind that a comparable full-frame equivalent could easily cost two to three times as much.

SPECIFICATIONS

56mm (57.14mm tested), f/1.2 (1.25 tested), 11 elements in 8 groups. Focus ring turns 220 degrees.

Diagonal View Angle: 28 degrees

Weight: 0.92 lbs Filter size: 62 mm

Mounts: Fujifilm Fujinon X

Included: Lenshood, microfiber lens pouch

Street Price: $999

Website: fujifilmusa.com

TEST RESULTS

Distortion: 0.03% (Imperceptible) barrel

Light Falloff: None

Close-Focusing Distance: 24 inches

**Maximum Magnification Ratio: **1:9.66

The post Lens Test: Fujifilm 56MM F/1.2 R Fujinon XF appeared first on Popular Photography.

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The Rokinon 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS for APS-C bodies—the CS stands for “cropped sensor”—is made by the South Korean firm Samyang, which manufactures lenses under several different brand names. This high-speed ultrawide is available in 10 (!) different mounts, with street pricing that ranges from $449 to $499, depending on the mount. It joins a growing line of nearly a dozen Rokinon high-speed, manual-focus primes that include additional ultrawides, fisheyes, standard-range teles, tilt/shift, and cine lenses.

Although it has no autofocus motor, the Nikon-mount Rokinon 16mm f/2 we tested is by far the largest lens of tested digital-only ultrawides, including the Fujifilm 14mm f/2.8, Pentax 14mm f/2.8, and Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8, all autofocus lenses. At about 3.4 inches, the Rokinon is about an inch longer than the Fujifilm and Zeiss, and a full pound heavier. Instead of the 58mm or 67mm filters of the Fujifilm and Zeiss lenses (respectively), the larger and faster Rokinon 16mm f/2 takes 77mm filters, more like a full-frame ultrawide. As you would guess, the Rokinon is big enough to cast a shadow at closer focusing distances when used with an on-board flash.

Cosmetically, the lens boasts a nice, matte-black, stippled surface. It handles well, with a perfectly damped turning action for the large manual-focus collar of ribbed rubber. The collar’s long turning radius allows for precise, if not rapid, focusing, and its body markings, including an unusually complete (f/4 to f/22) depth-of-field scale, are bold and easy to read. For our test lens, we would have liked a minimum-aperture lock on its aperture ring and a moisture-resistant O-ring on the metal lensmount.

In the Popular Photography Test Lab, the lens produced Excellent SQF numbers in the low-90th percentile. The performance is similar to the other lenses mentioned here. In DxO Anaylzer version 5.0 tests, we found Visible barrel distortion (0.34%)—similar to the Pentax, but not in the same league with the Fujifilm or Zeiss Touit, which showed 0.02% and 0.04% Imperceptible pincushion, respectively.

A clearly well-made lens that provides a useful wide angle of view and high speed, this ultrawide is sure to please anyone willing to forgo autofocus. While it lacks the stellar distortion control of lenses like the Fujifilm 14mm f/2.8 or Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8, it’s also nearly $400 less expensive than either of those superstars.

SPECIFICATIONS:
16mm (16.61mm tested), f/2 (2.04 tested), 13 elements in 11 groups. Focus ring turns 170 degrees.
Diagonal view angle: 83 degrees
Weight: 1.45 lbs
Filter size: 77mm
Mounts: Canon, Canon M, Four Thirds, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon, Pentax, Samsung NX, Sony Alpha, Sony E
Included: Lenshood, pouch
Street price: $499 (as tested)
Website: rokinon.com
TEST RESULTS
Distortion: 0.34% (Visible) barrel
Light falloff: Gone by f/4
Close-focusing
Distance: 7.62 inches
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:5.16

The post Lens Test: Rokinon 16mm f/2 ED AS UMC CS appeared first on Popular Photography.

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The Zeiss Otus APO Distagon T* 55mm f/1.4 ZF (Nikon) and ZE (Canon) large-aperture, full-frame normal lenses are the largest and among the most expensive lenses in its class. While the $3,999 street price induces sticker shock, it calmed us to recall that it still costs several hundred dollars less than the comparable (but much smaller) Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-M. Justifying its expense, the Zeiss offers an aspheric element for edge sharpness and expensive low-dispersion glass used to control color fringing.

In the hands, this all-metal, manual-focus lens is positively massive. It weighs more than twice the average for a full-frame 50mm f/1.4, heavier even than some tele primes. Whereas most 50mm f/1.4s take 58mm filters, its threading is for 77mm filters. The finish is a silky matte black.

In field tests, we liked the very long manual-focus turning radius for its precise (if not speedy) focusing. Like all f/1.4 glass, because its depth of field is so shallow, it can be difficult to get (and keep illuminated) a camera’s focus-confirmation alert. Its smooth, rubberized manual-focus ring turns easily and evenly, and its subject distance scales are bright yellow and large enough to read from across the room.

On our optical bench, the Otus offered the highest SQF numbers of any of the six recently tested Zeiss manual-focus primes. Similarly, it outdid all comparable recently tested autofocus lens except the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG, which edged its way past the Otus to the top of the sharpness hill for normal lenses. The manual-focus Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M similarly edged the Otus slightly in SQF, but you’ll pay $10,000 for one of those puppies.

In DxO Anaylzer 5.0 tests of distortion control, however, this Zeiss reigned supreme. It topped the Canon, Nikon, Noctilux-M, Sigma, Sony, and other Zeiss 50mm f/1.4s by a level of magnitude. The Otus’s barrel distortion numbers fell in our top Imperceptible range; all the others produced Slight-range distortion. Vignetting to f/2.5, the lens also outperformed all other (tested) 50mm f/1.4s in edge falloff, with the exception of the Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4, which showed vignetting only to f/2.

Obviously designed for superior sharpness and contrast, without regard to size, weight, or price, this lens is among the most impressive glass ever mounted on Popular Photography’s optical bench. The Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 is a rare bird; one that­­—even without autofocus—could attract and then faithfully serve any Canon or Nikon photographer.

SPECIFICATIONS
55mm (54.48mm tested), f/1.4 (1.47 tested), 12 elements in 10 groups. Focus ring turns 240 degrees
Diagonal view angle: 43 degrees
Weight: 2.32 lbs filter size: 77mm
Mounts: Canon AF, Nikon AF
Included: Lenshood
Street price: $3,999
Website: zeiss.com
TEST RESULTS
Distortion: 0.09% (Imperceptible) barrel
Light falloff: Gone by f/2.5
Close-focusing distance: 19.5 inches
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:6.34

The post Lens Test: Zeiss Otus APO Distagon T* 55mm f/1.4 ZF appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Tamron has once again thrown down the all-in-one zoom gauntlet, delivering the widest zoom range ever, 18.8X, in its 16–300mm f/3.5–6.3 DiII VC PZD Macro ($629, street). Covering an APS-C-sized sensor, the lens provides the full-frame equivalent of about a 24.8–465mm in a confoundingly petite package.

The lens boasts a stylish design with crisp, easily legible numerals and overall unshowy barrel markings that struck us as classy and restrained. Only the subject-distance scales caused some hesitation: Both feet and meters are in white, and we like the convenience of seeing these scales in contrasting colors.

The lens’ Piezo Drive autofocusing motor is quiet, fast, and accurate. Its manual-focus ring turns with a smooth, even action and a not-too-long-or-too-short 130-degree turning radius. At less than a half-inch across, though, the MF ring feels somewhat skimpy in scale.

On our optical bench, the zoom produced Excellent SQF scores at three focal lengths but, as is common for all-in-one zooms, it dipped two levels to Average numbers at its long end. The Tamron’s SQF numbers and distortion, as measured by our tests using DxO’s Analyzer 5.3, ran neck-and-neck with recently tested all-in-ones, including the Pentax 18–270mm, Sigma 18–250mm, and Tamron 18–270mm.

Optically, the lens comes into its own in the macro range. First, its subject magnification of 1:2.30 makes it the mightiest magnifier of recent all-in-ones. Second, it produced no edge vignetting at all in the macro range. And third, our tests found almost a complete absence of distortion (0.01% pincushioning) at its tight 12.75-inch close-focusing distance.

Another distinguishing virtue? At only one of its four tested focal lengths did we detect any edge falloff and, for that one (16mm), the vignetting disappeared by an easily forgivable f/4.

Between that (almost) 19X zoom, and its macro might, you could arguably shoot almost anything with this Tamron.

SPECIFICATIONS

16-300mm: (16.61–299.76mm tested), f/3.5–6.3 (f/3.31–n.a. tested*), 16 elements in 12 groups. Focus ring turns 130 degrees. Zoom ring turns 80 degrees. Focal length marked at 16-, 35-, 50-, 70-, 100-, 200-, and 300mm.

Diagonal view angle: 82.5 degrees

Weight: 1.28 lbs

Filter Size: 67mm

Mounts: Canon AF, Nikon AF, Sony AF

Included: Lenshood

Street Price: $629

Website: tamron-usa.com

TEST RESULTS

Distortion: At 16mm, 0.70% (Visible) barrel; at 35mm, 0.33% (Visible) pincushion; at 100mm, 0.30% (Slight) pincushion; at 300mm, 0.18% (Slight) pincushion

Macro Distortion: At 300mm, 0.01% (Imperceptible) pincushion

Light Falloff: At 16mm, gone by f/4; at 35mm, 100mm, and 300mm, none

Macro Light Falloff: At 300mm, none

Close-focusing D****istance: 12.93 inches

**Maximum magnification ratio: **At 16mm, 1:12.59; at 35mm, 1:5.34; at 100mm, 1:2.98, at 300mm, 1:2.30

Image Stabilization: 2.0 stops

Macro Stabilization: 2.0 stops

The post Lens Test: Tamron 16–300mm f/3.5–6.3 DIII VC PZD Macro appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Sigma continues to expand its impressive line of “Art” lenses, which are characterized by high speed, constant apertures, impressive build quality, and unusually attractive cosmetics. The Sigma 24–105mm f/4 DG OS HSM ($899, street) incorporates Sigma’s relatively new Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) plastic, boasts two SLD and two FLD elements, and is stabilized. On APS-C bodies, it functions (approximately) as a 36–157.5mm or 38–168mm equivalent.

The lens offers a hefty hand feel that bespeaks top-line construction. Large, it resembles a standard-range f/2.8 zoom, and in fact is slightly heavier than Tamron’s 24–70mm f/2.8. With a beautiful matte black finish and crisp barrel markings, the lens is undeniably handsome. Its zoom action is silky, but the manual focus ring is relatively small and stiff-turning. The non-rotating front filter ring and quick, quiet hypersonic focusing motor are nice perks. Oddly, it goes without a moisture-resisting O-ring at the lensmount.

On our optical bench, the lens turned in very good—in some cases, nearly flawless—numbers. Light falloff was gone by f/8 (24mm), f/6.3 (70mm), and f/5.6 (105mm). Not great results, but significantly better than Canon’s comparable 24–105mm f/4L, which at 24mm showed vignetting out to f/13. Its maximum subject magnification of 1:3.89 (105mm) again trounced the Canon’s 1:4.6. Its OS system also significantly outperformed Canon’s: 2 extra stops of hand-holdability, compared to 1.33.

As a standard-range zoom, this lens is suitable for the majority of common subjects. What really caught our eye, though, was its compatibility with a new Sigma feature: mount conversion. Should you ever decide to change camera bodies, Sigma, for a fee, will switch out internal electronics and the lens mount so your 24–105mm f/4 OS will work on your new body, be it Canon, Nikon, Sigma, or Sony. Pretty cool.

SPECIFICATIONS

24–105mm (25.17–104.98mm tested), f/4 (f/3.85–3.93 tested), 19 elements in 14 groups. Focus ring turns 90 degrees. Zoom ring turns 80 degrees. Focal length marked at 24-, 35-, 50-, 70-, 80-, and 105mm.
Diagonal view angle: 84–23 degrees
Weight: 1.98 lbs Filter size: 82mm
Mounts: Canon AF, Nikon AF, Sigma AF, Sony AF
Included: Lenshood, case
Street price: $899
Website: sigmaphoto.com

TEST RESULTS

Distortion: At 24mm, 0.60% (Visible) barrel; at 70mm, 0.30% (Slight) pincushion; at 105mm, 0.28% (Slight) pincushion.
Light falloff: At 24mm, gone by f/8; at 70mm, gone by f/6.3; at 105mm, gone by f/5.6
Close-focusing distance: 16.08 inches
Maximum magnification ratio: At 24mm, 1:11.7; at 70mm, 1:4.91; at 105mm, 1:3.89
IMAGE STABILIZATION: 2 stops

The post Lens Test: Sigma 24–105mm f/4 DG OS HSM appeared first on Popular Photography.

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The latest in a line of storied lenses going back to the 28–80mm f/2.8–4L of April 1989, this is Canon’s fourth high-speed, full-frame, standard-range, L-series autofocus zoom. The previous 24–70mm f/2.8L was introduced in November 2002, and compared with that lens, this version II ($2,299, street) has better weather-sealing, AF processing, and a more rugged build. Its major upgrade, however, is the addition of more high-end glass. The previous 24–70mm had two aspheric elements and one of ultra-low dispersion (UD) glass. This one offers three aspherics, two elements of UD glass, and one of Super UD glass.

About five ounces lighter and 0.5 inches shorter when racked out to 70mm, the new lens, while by no means compact, offers noticeably nicer handling. The turns of both zoom and manual-focus rings are smoother and more even than its predecessor’s. The MF ring is larger, and there’s a zoom lock.

Despite the noticeably smaller profile, its filter threading has ballooned to 82mm from 77mm; upgraders should factor in the cost of new filters.

In the field, the lens handled much like its predecessor, with AF that seemed equally fast, quiet, and accurate in both normal and dim lighting. Like the earlier optic, our test lens lacks stabilization and its subject distance scale (in feet) is hard to read. The lens is, however, internally focusing, with a thankfully nonrotating barrel that’s well suited to lens-mounted accessories.

On the Popular Photography optical bench, the lens produced Excellent-range SQF numbers. Somewhat disappointing, though, was subject magnification, which dropped to 1:4.27 from 1:3.5 at 70mm. Another surprise: At 24mm, edge falloff darkened the corners until we stopped down to f/6.3. Previously, it was gone by f/4.

The lens’s real forte, it turns out, is distortion control. At 70mm, pincushioning improved to 0.20% (Slight) from the Noticeable 1.7% of its predecessor, a huge improvement. Other focal lengths followed suit.

Serious Canon shooters will flock to this lens. It’s matched to the 70–200mm f/2.8L IS, and the two make a perfect pair. You may be tempted by Tamron’s stabilized 24–70mm f/2.8 at $1,300, however. And, all things considered, you very well should be.

SPECIFICATIONS
24–70mm (24.94–69.99mm tested), f/2.8 (2.67–2.95 tested), 18 elements in 13 groups. Focus ring turns 150 degrees. Zoom ring turns 80 degrees. Focal length marked at 24-, 28-, 35-, 50-, and 70mm.
Diagonal view angle: 84–34 degrees
Weight: 1.91 lbs filter size: 82mm
Mounts: Canon AF
Included: Lenshood, soft case
Street price: $2,299
Website: usa.canon.com

TEST RESULTS
Distortion: At 24mm, 0.47% (Visible) barrel; at 50mm, 0.15% (Slight) pincushion; at 70mm, 0.20% (Slight) pincushion
Light falloff: At 24mm, gone by f/6.3; at 50mm, gone by f/5; at 70mm, gone by f/4
Close-focusing distance: 14.21 inches
Maximum magnification ratio: At 24mm, 1:9.54; at 50mm, 1:5.39; at 70mm, 1:4.27

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According to the manufacturer, fans of Rokinon’s growing line of high-speed, manual-focus lenses—now 15 strong—were clamoring for a classic 50mm f/1.4. They finally got it; actually they got two. Rokinon now offers a standard 50mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC full-frame lens ($399, street) and its cousin, a video-friendly version known as the 50mm T/1.5 Cine DS. Both lenses are available in five mounts. Our test optic was the standard Canon-mount 50mm f/1.4 “Digital Photo” lens—so named to distinguish it from the Cine variant.

The lens has an aluminum alloy barrel and weighs in at 1.18 pounds, about 6 ounces heavier than most 50mm f/1.4 glass that we’ve tested from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Zeiss. Only Sigma’s 1.83-pounder weighs more. The same holds true for length: At 3.22 inches, the Rokinon is longer than all the others except the Sigma at 4.1 inches.

The focusing ring is easy to grip, and its 140-degree turning radius suits it to extremely fine focusing. Its turn was inaudible in a test video. The focusing-scale numerals in feet (orange) and meters (white) are nice and bright; the orange practically glows. The depth-of-field scale spans the entire aperture range, and came in very handy in situations in which precision-focusing ranges mattered most.

While this lens made a strong showing in the Popular Photography Test Lab, it really won us over in the field. Especially when shooting close in at maximum aperture, it pro-duced strongly satisfying sharpness in the in-focus subject and a nice bokeh just inches before and beyond.

Setting exposures on our Canon EOS-1D X test body was easy. Aperture Priority and Program modes automatically set correct shutter speeds for the lens-set apertures. In Shutter Priority and Manual modes, we referred to the viewfinder metering scale.

On our lab’s optical test bench, the Rokinon earned Excellent-range SQF scores that roughly matched the other 50mm f/1.4s. In our distortion tests using DxO Analyzer 5.3, though, it did not perform as strongly, landing in the Visible range (0.32% barrel distortion) as opposed to the Slight- or Impercept-ible-range showings of the other models.

The Rokinon rebounded in our vignetting tests, however, matching its Canon, Nikon, and Sony rivals with light falloff at f/2.8. The Zeiss and Sigma beat them narrowly at f/2. With close focusing distances, the Rokinon fell mid-pack, but its maximum subject magnification ratio of 1:5.79 was second only to the Sigma’s 1:5.04.

Rokinon lenses usually carry the lowest price in their class, and this one is no exception. The Canon 50mm f/1.4 streets for the same price, but it offers autofocus, which remains a must for some shooters (unlike the Rokinon, it doesn’t include a hood). Manual-focus fans, though, should definitely give this Rokinon a look.

SPECIFICATIONS

50mm (53.08mm tested), f/1.4

(1.54 tested), 9 elements in 6 groups. Focus ring turns 140 degrees.

Diagonal view angle: 46 degrees

Weight: 1.18 lbs

Filter size: 77mm

Mounts: Canon EF, Nikon, Pentax, Sony A, Sony E

Included: Lenshood, lens pouch

Street price: $399

Website: rokinon.com

TEST RESULTS

Distortion: 0.32% (Visible) barrel

Light falloff: Gone by f/2.8

Close-focusing ****distance: 17.25 inches

**Maximum magnification ratio: **1:5.79

The post Lens Test: Rokinon 50MM F/1.4 AS IF UMC appeared first on Popular Photography.

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