The latest design to emerge from the stable of superzoom experts Tamron, the AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO was announced in July 2008. The length of the zoom range is almost as remarkable as that of the lens’s name itself, with the 15x ratio covering everything from a 28mm equivalent […]

Hartblei is a not a manufacturer well-known to the average photographer – the company occupies a small and specialised niche in the high-end lens market, making perspective control (tilt and shift) lenses using its unique ‘Superrotator’ barrel design. The optics are adapted from lenses which were originally designed for 6x6cm medium format cameras, and Hartblei […]

Nikon was one of the first camera manufacturers to design digital-specific lenses matched to the DX sensor size, but then seemed somewhat reluctant to produce a true budget standard ‘kit’ zoom, finally succumbing with its original 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 to accompany the launch of the D50 in April 2005. This lens was updated to a mark […]

The Sony DT 16-105mm 1:3.5-5.6 was announced in September 2007, as a premium kit lens to accompany the Alpha 700 DSLR. Sony has thankfully (and uncharacteristically) managed to avoid the over-proliferation of letters which afflict lens names from other manufacturers, with just the ‘DT’ badge (for Digital Technology) indicating that the design is optimised for […]

The Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 ED is the standard kit lens which Olympus supply with their lower-tier DSLRs, including the E-420 and E-510. Announced in September 2006 to accompany the launch of the E-400, it shares that camera’s defining characteristic, being remarkably compact in size. Indeed it takes advantage of the relatively small size of […]

Nikon first announced the development of the AF-S VR Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF in February 2002, with the lens becoming available to buy in April 2003. Billed by Nikon as a ‘compact, lightweight’ fast telephoto, the lens features a complex optical design of 21 elements in 15 groups, including no fewer than 5 Extra-low Dispersion […]

The EF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 IS is Canon’s latest zoom lens for APS-C format DSLRs, introduced as a companion to the EOS 50D. Its announcement in August this year came as no great surprise, as wide focal length range ‘superzooms’ are clearly popular amongst photographers seeking an all-in-one lens for travel and everyday shooting. The most […]

The Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II is the least expensive lens currently available for the EOS system, and has been in the lineup since late 1990. It’s a simplified version of the original EF 50mm F1.8 of 1987 (often referred to as the ‘Mark I’) which was supplied as standard with some of Canon’s earliest […]