Lenses

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Lens Test: Sony 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 DT AF

The widest lens available for the Sony Alpha 100, this optic controls distortion brilliantly.
- By Julia Silber on December 16, 2008
The widest lens available for Sony's Alpha 100 DSLR, this digital-only (DT) zoom, the 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 AF ($580, street), isn't recommended for use on older Konica Minolta Maxxum film cameras. But Alpha users may love its 16.5-27mm equivalent focal length, even if that is a narrow range by today's standards.
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Best Buys: Lenses

These lenses give you so much bang for the buck, they're practically explosive.
- By Dan Richards on December 16, 2008
One-Eyed Jack of All Trades: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II AF LD Aspherical
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Lens Test: Leica Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21mm f/4 ASPH

This unique ultrawide gives Leica lovers three lenses in one small and stunning package.
- By Julia Silber on December 16, 2008
What looks like a zoom, is used like a zoom, but isn't a zoom? Leica's 16- 18-21mm f/4 Tri-Elmar-M ($3,495, street). With three individual focal lengths in a single housing, and no intermediate settings, this 21-24-28mm equivalent (on the M8 digital) doesn't zoom, but click-stops through its focal lengths.
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Lens Test: Nikon 135mm f/2D AF DC-Nikkor

Nikon's top-drawer, full-frame portrait lens subtly smoothes out backgrounds.
- By Julia Silber on December 16, 2008
Nikon's DC-Nikkor family is only two lenses deep, comprising just this one and a 105mm f/2. A full-frame lens, this 135mm f/2 ($1,080, street) converts to about 200mm on a Nikon D80.
Both of the DCs are topdrawer portrait lenses that offer Nikon shooters the ability to make out-of-focus areas appear softer by strategically introducing spherical aberration to just the defocused areas. (Sharp areas of the scene are not affected.)
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Lens Test: Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AF

A fitting companion to the Olympus E-510, this compact zoom is a wow.
- By Julia Silber on December 16, 2008
Olympus's wide-angle kit lens for the E-510 and E-410, available separately for $250 (street), this is the smallest and lightest digital Zuiko. It and its tele counterpart, the 40-150mm f/4-5.6 Zuiko, are the first interchangeable lenses from Olympus with plastic mounts. With about the same speed and zoom range as the earlier Olympus digital wide-angle kit zoom, the 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6, this new lens (a 24-84mm equivalent) is more than 30 percent lighter and smaller than its already-compact predecessor.
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Lens Test: Sony Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Vario-Sonnar T* AF

The first Zeiss lens for the Sony Alpha 100 is built better, stronger, faster than what came before.
- By Julia Silber on December 16, 2008
When the Sony Alpha 100, our 2006 Camera of the Year, debuted last year, the only optics available for it were cosmetically updated Konica Minolta lenses. At the time, Sony promised a future line of Zeiss-designed glass. This 16- 80mm f/3.5-4.5 ($660, street) -- a vaunted T*, no less -- is the first of the promised line to run the Pop Photo Lab gauntlet. How does it compare with Sony's similar but less expensive 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit zoom ($190, street)? Let's see.
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Lens Test: Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM AF

Super-speedy. Ultra-sharp. This pro normal is anything but ordinary.
- By Julia Silber on December 16, 2008
This speedy full-frame 50mm f/1.2L ($1,400, street) fills a vacancy left by the demise of Canon's 50mm f/1.0L four years ago. The company's only L-series normal lens, it's the fastest normal AF lens on the planet.
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Lens Test: Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX APO MACRO DG AF

Unusually fast for a macro tele, this lens will please nature photographers who will reap edge-to-edge sharpness for their close-ups and faster shutter speeds that help freeze wind-blown flora and squirrelly fauna.
- By Pop Photo Staff on December 16, 2008
Originally published March 2005.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Sigma's first from-the-ground-up digitally optimized macro lens (i.e., not retrofitted for digital application) throws a full-frame image circle. Result? On a 35mm SLR, it delivers 1:1 magnification, but on a DSLR with an APSsized sensor, it delivers 1:5:1-1:6:1 overlife- size magnification. It's also the shortest fixed-focal-length that will mount Sigma's 1.4X and 2X teleconverters (although AF isn't possible with the 2X).
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Lens Test: Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM AF

Few lenses made for the digital arena can deliver the creamy defocused backgrounds that are possible with this f/1.4.
- By Pop Photo Staff on December 16, 2008
Originally published October 2005.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
The first high-speed "normal" lens for digital SLRs with APS-sized sensors, this 30mm f/1.4 is Sigma's first nontele lens to incorporate elements of SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass. (SLD elements promise improved control of chromatic aberration.) The lens also has an all-glass aspheric element, in addition to a more common glass/resin hybrid aspheric.
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Lens Test: Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX DG AF

A sharp, compact, fast, and ruggedly constructed pro-caliber lens that's priced for all users.
- By Pop Photo Staff on December 16, 2008
Originally published September 2005.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
The fourth generation of Sigma's pro-caliber, EX-series 28-70mm f/2.8, this version features a smaller filter size (from 77mm down to 67mm), improved coatings to control ghosting with digital SLRs, a significantly closer focusing distance (from 19 down to 12 inches), and now a zoom lock. Compared to the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, it's slightly more compact (3.4 vs. 3.6 inches), but otherwise physically similar and comparably priced ($359).
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