lenses

I have had a pet interest in the 3D photography technology called stereoscopy ever since my mom gave me a stereoscope of 19th century design for some boyhood birthday. Although the technology remains a small niche of photography, it is being adapted to the digital age.

I recently came across the Loreo 3D Lens in a Cap, a stereo lens that works on most film or digital SLRs. It's a 38mm lens with an f/11 of f/22 aperture that takes two images of the same scene from slightly different perspectives.

With stereoscopy, your brain can reconstruct depth … Read more

Sigma announced two higher-end telephoto lenses this week for digital SLRs with smaller image sensors.

One has a range of 70mm to 200mm and the other 50mm to 150mm, but both have a large f/2.8 aperture for faster shutter speeds in lower-light conditions and a hypersonic motor for quiet focusing. The lenses are designed for Canon, Nikon, and Sigma SLR cameras.

The two lenses highlight the growing sophistication of technology for digital SLRs with sensors smaller than a frame of 35mm film. Though Canon and now Nikon sell full-frame cameras, the vast majority of models sold use less … Read more

Japanese lensmaker Tokina announced two lenses Friday, an 11-16mm wide-angle zoom and a 35mm fixed-focal-length lens. (Update: Sorry for the extra word earlier--the second lens is indeed fixed at 35mm.)

Both models have relatively fast f/2.8 apertures useful for low-light conditions, and both are designed to mount on Canon and Nikon digital SLR cameras with smaller image sensors, according to announcements on Tokina's Japanese Web site.

The AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm F2.8 is scheduled to be available in February 2008 at a cost of 90,000 yen, or about $810. It weighs 560 grams.

The … Read more

Sigma announced two fisheye lenses Wednesday, one with a 4.5mm focal length and the other a 10mm model--for Canon, Nikon, and Sigma SLR camera owners who want to photograph extreme wide angle views.

Fisheye lenses capture light from an extremely broad angle, but produce distorted views of the world with parallel lines bowing outward. That distortion can be annoying, but many enjoy it as an artistic effect--think giant bulging faces in the foreground dominating tiny trees beyond--and scientists use some varieties of fisheye for precise measurements such as the sky's cloud cover.

But the digital SLR era has … Read more

Tamron will start shipping its image-stabilized 28-300mm lens on Monday--but only in Japan and for Canon SLRs, the company said.

The lens, formally called the AF 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC, is one of a host of new image-stabilized superzoom lenses on the market. Nikon has said its 18-200mm model is its all-time bestseller. Sigma recently added its own 18-200mm competitor. And Panasonic, whose lenses are compatible with Olympus SLRs and vice versa, also offers a 14-150mm model, which is the same range when translated into 35mm camera terms.

Tamron had planned to release the lens in August, … Read more

SLR leader Canon announced Monday it's developing two high-end image-stabilized telephoto lenses, the EF 200mm f/2L IS USM and the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM.

The company is showing prototypes of the lenses at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York, but didn't release any price and availability information. Both are "L"-grade lenses, higher-priced models designed with better optics, weatherproofing and durability.

The 800mm lens surpasses the focal length of Canon's current biggest lens, the EF 600mm F/4 IS USM. It was developed in response to requests by sports and news … Read more

I've tried Lensbabies' 3G selective-focus lens, and I like it.

This lens, which looks more like a miniature Lunar Excursion Module than a traditional SLR lens, restores some physicality to a world of photography that's ever more electronic and automated. And the images it produces can be compelling.

The trend in photography in recent decades has been toward ever more automation. We have automatic exposure, focus, shutter speeds, white balance. As computers get smaller, the list of automated camera operations gets longer: newer Panasonic models can tell the difference between a landscape and portrait, and Sony's DSC-T200 … Read more

With Nikon's two new high-end SLRs announced today, it makes sense that the company would want to update its pro lenses to go along--and Nikon has delivered, with five new pro lenses covering a wide range of focal lengths. All of these new lenses include Nikon's new Nano Crystal Coating to minimize internal lens reflections, indicated by a badge with a prominent N on the lens, as well as Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements to cut down on chromatic aberration. Plus, all five lenses will hit stores this November, just in time for the new SLRs. Let's … Read more

Lensbabies, a Portland, Ore.-based maker of an unusual flexible lens that selectively focuses only on particular areas, has expanded sales channels to cover "nearly all key markets," the company said Tuesday.

The company distributes products directly to retailers in the United States and Canada, but now has secured partnerships with others to distribute products in Germany, Japan, Russia, Greece, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Norway, Thailand and many other countries, the company said.

The lenses work on a variety of SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras.