2009 | Photocrati

Nikon 135mm f/2 D DC AF Review Round-Up

nikkor-af-135mm-f-2-d-dc If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Photo Zone

The DC-Nikkor AF 135mm f/2 D is a very high quality, versatile tele lens. The resolution figures are excellent when using the Nikkor as a conventional lens. The Defocus Control (DC) feature gives you superior control over background and foreground blur – some portrait and still-life photographers will certainly desire such a detailed controlled over the bokeh (the out-of-focus blur) although it requires quite a bit of experience to master it. Vignetting, distortions and lateral CAs are very low and nothing to worry about in the field. The build quality of the lens is excellent whereas the AF (relying on the slotted drive screw) is a bit dated by now. Similar to its shorter cousin the DC-Nikkor 135mm f/2D has one major drawback – its price tag at around 1200 â‚¬/US$. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro AF Review Round-Up

tamron-af-18-250mm-f-35-63-di-ii-ld-aspherical-if-macro

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Early user comments already suggested that new Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro does not only offer a longer range but also a higher quality over the old Tamron AF 18-200mm XR and the lab results confirm these impressions. The results may not touch the sky but the new AF 18-250mm delivers a very solid performance for most of the range. Unsurprisingly the weak spot is at 250mm @ f/6.3 – stopping down to f/8 is a good idea here. Nonetheless the resolution characteristic is fairly amazing regarding the extreme zoom range. Typical for such lenses the Tamron exhibits a quite extreme level of barrel distortions at 18mm but at longer focal lengths to the problem isn’t overly significant. Vignetting is a problem at 18mm f/3.5 and in critical situations you should generally stop down a bit. … As to be expected for a zoom lens in this price league (<450â‚¬/US$) the lens body is mostly made of plastic but the build quality is fairly decent. The AF speed is quite slow on the D200 whereas the AF accuracy is generally fine here. All-in-all the Tamron is a decent all-round/travel zoom lens. Just make sure that you can live with its rather slow max. aperture at the long end which requires quite a bit of light or high ISO settings for stable hand-held photography. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM EF Review Round-Up

canon-ef-28-135mm-f35-56-is-usm

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

Similar to the Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 proved to be a solid performer without any spectacular strengths nor weaknesses except a positive peak at its 28mm setting. The level of distortions is pretty low for such a lens and vignetting isn’t overly pronounced. Due to the 1.6x cropping factor on APS-C DSLRs the range is quite unexciting here but if you’re looking for a compact short tele-zoom with IS to compliment an ultra-wide zoom … why not? READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 60mm f/2.8 D AF Micro Review Round-Up

micro-nikkor-af-60mm-f-28-d If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Nikon 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Released back in ’93 the Micro-Nikkor AF 60mm f/2.8 D is a relatively old design but it can still deliver excellent results. The resolution figures are excellent and both vignetting and distortions are nothing to worry about. CAs are a little on the high side for a fix-focal lens though (correctable). The mechanical quality is very good and it’s fun to handle the lens. A great macro lens and even a worthy replacement for a standard lens unless you require ultra-large aperture settings. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S IF-ED VR Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR may not be the Ãœber-lens everybody was hoping for (nor was that realistic) but it is still a very good lens. At 70mm the results are nothing short of stellar and still easily on a very good level at 200mm. At 300mm there ´s a performance penalty specifically at the image borders @ f/5.6. Stopping down to f/8 helps to overcome most of the problems but unfortunately there ´s also a quite pronounced but still correctable degree of yellow/blue (lateral) CA. Distortions and vignetting are basically non-issues throughout the range. The build quality is pretty decent and about in line this Nikon’s recent medium grade zoom lenses. The AF is quite fast and almost silent and unlike most lenses in this league the front-element does not rotate during focusing nor zooming. The pricing of the lens may be relatively steep in absolute terms but price/performance-wise it remains a harmonious package. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED AF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Nikon 180mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

It was a joy to test drive the AF 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED – it’s one of those lenses that harmonized perfectly with the camera. The resolution is generally excellent. Distortions and vignetting are not field relevant. Lateral CAs are well controlled although you may spot purple fringing at times. During the field tests the lens was also capable of delivering outstanding contrast and a nice bokeh (with a bit of bokeh fringing). READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon EOS 1D Mark III Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this camera, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this camera at Amazon: Canon EOS 1D Mark III 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Imaging Resource

The big story with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III is that it’s a better, more universally appealing professional camera for more types of professional photographers. I think a lot of intermediate photographers may want to make the jump as well, given its more friendly interface and astonishing high ISO performance. The EOS 1D Mark III has several improvements that illustrate its greater versatility: Fast performance, high resolution, and improved image quality across the board, resolution sufficient for double-truck spreads and general commercial photography. Even faster capture, processing, and write speeds, and faster AF tracking for sports shooters, super low-light capability for photojournalists (High ISO). Quoting the bare specs says a lot: 10 frames per second, 10 megapixels, 110 JPEG buffer, three inch LCD, Live View mode, dual DIGIC III processors, automatic sensor cleaning. Bottom line, the Canon 1D Mark III is by far the fastest digital SLR on the planet, and one of the very fastest SLRs ever. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM EF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

The Digital Picture:

The Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens holds a wide focal length range in a compact and inexpensive package. Overall, the Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens’ build quality is mediocre. It sports a metal lens mount like the best, but the rest of the lens is just average for a consumer grade lens. For its size, the Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens is relatively heavy. It feels short, fat and hefty. It is not a heavy lens, but heavy for its compact size. Overall, the Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens optically disappoints. If you can use f/8 for most of your applications and can live with its optical flaws, the 28-200 might make a decent and economical one lens solution for you. Otherwise, I highly recommend looking at one of my other recommended general purpose lenses as better choices for optical quality. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM EF-S Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs

SLR Gear:

As an entry-level “kit” lens, cost of manufacture was almost certainly a key design parameter for the Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, but it nonetheless manages to do pretty well optically, particularly when stopped down a little. That said though, performance wide open is indeed a little rough, until you get toward the telephoto end of its range. This is a lens that likes to be stopped down for best performance, the “sweet spot” coming at about f/8 at 18mm, f/8-11 at 27mm, and f/11 from 35-55mm. This lens is better than you’d normally expect for such an inexpensive design, but our lab tests have led us to realize that it’s not quite as good as we’d previously thought: If you use it more toward the tele end of its range, and stop down a little from wide open, it’s impressive indeed. Wide open, and particularly at wide angle though, it didn’t perform as well as we’d have anticipated, based on our prior impressions. All in all, a good “starter” lens, but one that you’ll almost certainly end up replacing after your budget has absorbed the initial shock of buying the camera in the first place. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 28mm f/2 Ai-S Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Nikon 28mm f/2.0 Nikkor AI-S Manual Focus Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Typical for older manual focus lenses the Nikkor Ai-S 28mm f/2 comes with an exceptional build quality and super smooth focusing – most of today’s lenses feel cheap in comparison and the glory doesn’t stop here. At medium aperture settings the lens is capable to produce some of the highest resolution figures tested to date. At f/2 the results are somewhat softer regarding both border resolution and contrast. Distortions and vignetting are quite well controlled whereas CAs could be a little lower at f/8. (more…)