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Tested Reviews

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  • Lens Test: Sigma 18–200mm f/3.5–6.3 II DC OS HSM

    Sigma slims down its top all-in-one

    • By Julia Silber on May 23, 2012

    Released in October of 2011, this second iteration of Sigma’s stabilized 11.1X all-in-one zoom ($499, street) offers two seemingly significant upgrades: a high-tech FLD glass element, plus Sigma’s silent HSM focusing motor. This APS-C-only zoom is the full-frame equivalent of about 30–320mm, depending on your camera's body.

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  • Lens Test: Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC

    Yup, another speedy manual focus

    • By Julia Silber on May 3, 2012

    Joining the 8mm, 14mm, 35mm, and 85mm manual-focus, full-frame Rokinons, this 24mm boasts the highest street price ($699) in the line by far. Like Rokinon’s 35mm f/1.4, it provides no electronic communication between camera and lens, requiring users to open the aperture to its widest setting for composing and focusing, then stop down to the working aperture to make the exposure. The good news? Your camera’s aperture-priority autoexposure mode will work—after a fashion.

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  • Camera Test: Olympus Pen E-PL3 ILC

    Olympus' latest ILC achieves midlevel greatness

    • By Philip Ryan on April 9, 2012

    We’ve been fans of Olympus’s PL series of Micro Four Thirds cameras from the start, and the midlevel Pen E-PL2 was among our favorite cameras when it came out last year. Its successor, the E-PL3 ($700, street, with 14–42mm f/3.5–5.6 II m.Zuiko MSC Digital ED lens), adds a swiveling LCD screen, greater low-light sensitivity, and upgraded processing in a more compact body.The PL3 performed quite well in our lab tests and should please most shooters who aren’t looking for pro-level performance.In the Test Lab

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  • Camera Test: FujiFilm X10 Compact Camera

    A serious compact cleverly disguised as a rangefinder

    • By Philip Ryan on April 9, 2012

    Fujifilm hit its stride last year with the debut of the FinePix X100, the first model in its X-series of rangefinder-style advanced compact cameras. Since then, the company has introduced the X10—the subject of this test—and recently announced the X-Pro1 interchangeable-lens compact (ILC) that was one of the most talked-about new products at this year’s International CES show.

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  • Lens Test: Tokina 17–35mm f/4 AT-X PRO FX

    Tokina challenges Canon’s and Nikon’s ultrawide f/4's

    • By Julia Silber on April 9, 2012

    Designed to compete with the popular, ultrawide f/4 full-framers from Canon (17–40mm f/4L; $800, street) and Nikon (16–35mm f/4 VR; $1,140, street), this Tokina 17–35mm f/4 ($720, street) is a welcome constant-aperture zoom for pros and enthusiasts alike.It offers two elements of SLD glass for improved control of chromatic aberration and an aspheric element for compactness. With new seals around its moving switches and rings, it promises better moisture resistance than most AT-X lenses. It is available only in Canon and Nikon mounts.

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  • Glass Glossary: Definitions For Common Lens Terms

    What the lingo in our lens tests means

    • By Dan Richards on March 20, 2012

    Apochromatic (APO): A lens group designed to correct chromatic aberrations for three wavelengths (usually red, green, and blue) rather than just one or two.Aspheric: A lens element with a non-spherical curvature on one or both sides. Aspherics typically have less curvature at the edges than at the center. They can reduce optical aberrations and distortion. And because a single aspheric can replace several spherical lenses, it cuts down on internal reflections that can cause flare.

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  • Lens Test: Zeiss 25mm f/2 Distagon T* ZE

    The Zeiss is right

    • By Julia Silber on March 7, 2012

    Fast, manual-focus primes for DSLRs are popping up like mushrooms (or, in this case, truffles). The more favorably priced (Vivitar, Rokinon, etc.) may prove to be passing fads, but the made-in-Japan tanks from Zeiss should be around for the long haul. These lenses seem simultaneously cutting-edge and old-fashioned, and the full-frame 25mm f/2 Distagon T* ($1,700, street) is the latest to ride our optical bench.

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  • Lens Test: Sony DT 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM

    Sony’s “non-kit” kit zoom for the Alpha 77

    • By Julia Silber on March 7, 2012

    This high-speed, standard-range, Alpha-mount utility zoom scales up to the full-frame equivalent of a 24–75mm on Sony APS-C bodies. When it was introduced with Sony’s remarkable Alpha 77 in mid-2011, Sony insiders referred to the 16–50mm f/2.8 ($700, street) as the camera’s “non-kit kit lens,” and, in fact, the two are often bundled.

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