Tag: Lens

Today in optics section we will review compact standard objective lens Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. It is attached to camera via Micro Four Thirds mount ( it can be used with Panasonic and Olympus cameras ). Its focal distances range is 14 – 42 mm; maximal aperture : f/3.5 – f/5.6 ( for maximal and minimal focal lengths, accordingly ), minimal aperture is f/22, it is controlled with use of 7 diaphragm blades. Minimal focusing distances are : 0.2 m ( for 14 – 20 mm focal distances ) and 0.3 m ( for 21 – 42 mm focal distances ); field of view : 75 – 29 degrees ( for minimal and maximal focal distances ). Objective photo lens contains 9 lens elements in 8 groups ( this is average value for zoom lenses ), 4 are aspherical, 2 are made of ED glass; all of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective Nano Surface Coating. It supports POWER O.I.S. ( Optical Image Stabilization ) and automatic Internal Focusing. 37 mm optical filters can be attached to it, its sizes are : 61 ( diameter ) x 26.8 ( length ) mm, weight is : 95 g. Package contains : Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. photo lens itself, frontal and rear caps, carrying and storage bag and user’s guide. This is quite convenient compact and light-weight objective photo-lens, with zoomable focal distance, many automation functions and adequate price. Its minuses are : small maximal aperture ( photos in low-light scenes will be dark ) and big amount of lens elements ( they disperse light and increase internal reflections ). So, it can be recommended to novice photographers or for video recording, where its light weight and automation functions are very useful.

In optics section today we will look on photo objective lens attachment Goliton 58mm 2.0X Magnification Tele Converter Lens. When it is mounted to objective photo lens, it receives 2x magnification of image, wherein base objective photo lens should be able to focus on infinity for this attachment to work correctly. It is mounted on lens via 58 mm thread ( there is modification with 52 mm thread ); it has 62 mm thread on frontal side for optical filters. It has 4 lens elements in 2 groups, probably, it is similar to Plossl eyepiece for telescopes ( symmetrical eyepiece with 4 lens elements in 2 groups ), but there is need to look on its optical scheme in order to say precisely. Package contains : Goliton 58mm 2.0X Magnification Tele Converter Lens photo lens attachment itself, frontal and rear caps, storage and carrying pouch and user’s guide. As with all photo attachments : this is attractable solution in terms of price, but there is need to look in shop or read in Internet how it works with given photo lens; and it is desirable if base photo objective lens would have small amount of glasses in order to reduce optical surfaces amount.

Lets look on photo-objective lens attachment Opteka 10x High Definition II Professional Macro Lens. When it is added to photo-objective lens, it receives macro functions ( allows to make magnified photos of objects ) and its zoom is increased 10x times. It is attached to photo-lens via 52 or 46 mm thread, there is ability to attach 52 mm optical filters to it on frontal side. Wherein there are variations of this lens with different diameters : 55, 58, 62, 67, 72 and 77 mm. Attachment contains 4 lens elements, that are made of low-dispersion glass, all of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective multicoating. Its body is made of metal to increase its durability. It supports auto-focusing of objective lens and does not cause problems for infra-red shooting. There is need to note, that attachment’s lens elements has 40 mm diameter and on photo-lenses with large frontal glass it can obstruct part of scene; in this case there is need to reduce lens diaphragm, so that it will not produce image artifacts. Package contains : Opteka 10x High Definition II Professional Macro Lens attachment itself, frontal and rear caps, carrying and storage pouch and 5-years warranty card. In general, it is interesting solution, which costs much less, than specialized macro photo lens; but before its purchasing there is need to read in Internet information about how it works with given photo-lenses models. It has 4 lens elements and together with photo-lens this can produce large amount of optical surfaces, this increases light dispersion and internal reflections, so it is desirable, that base photo lens would have small amount of optical elements.

Lets review attachment lens for photo-objective lens Polaroid Studio Series .43x High Definition Wide Angle Lens With Macro, when it is added to photo lens, it receives wide angle and macro characteristics. It is attached at frontal side of lens into 58 mm thread, there is ability to add to attachment itself 62 mm optical filters to its frontal side. It works with zoom objective lenses and can be used for photos shooting in infrared range. Attachment minificates image by 0.43x times. There is need to note that lens is quite big and can obstruct built-in flash of camera. All in all : it is good solution for optimal price and allows to receive wide angle lens with macro with small amount of lens elements, if main objective lens have their small amount. Wherein specialized wide angle macro lenses are engineered to reduce amount of geometrical and chromatic distortions and usually produce better image, than photo-objective lenses with such attachment. But there is possibility, that photo lens and attachment will fit together very well and will not produce noticeable amount of distortions : this depends solely on them.

Today we will look on professional objective lens Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm F2.8 ASPH with built in Optical Image Stabilization ( OIS ). It is designed for Micro Four Thirds mounts ( it can be attached to Panasonic and Olympus cameras ), has 35 – 100 mm focus distances range, f/2.8 – f/22 aperture in all focal range ( it is controlled via 7 diaphragm blades ), 34 – 12 degrees field of view and 0.85 m minimal focusing distance. Objective lens is mainly designed for video recording, for this purpose it has : built-in OIS, silent Power Zoom focusing motor and constant aperture. It has 18 lens elements in 13 groups, among them 2 are made of ED glass and 1 is made of UED glass; all lens elements are coated with protective and anti-reflective Nano Surface Coating. There is ability to attach 58 mm optical filters to objective lens, its sizes are : 67.4 mm ( diameter ) x 99.9 mm ( length ), and weight is : 360 g. Package contains : Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm F2.8 ASPH objective lens itself, frontal and rear lens caps, carrying and storage bag and user’s guide. Lens is produced only in black color variant. It is mainly oriented to videos recording, because it allows to change automatically many recording parameters without degrading picture quality. But, if there is need in photos-only objective lens, then there is ability to find better-suited and cheaper ones models ( with less amount of lens elements and more adapted for specific types of scenes ).

Today we will review Panasonic Lumix G Micro 4/3 LEICA DG SUMMILUX 25mm/F1.4 ASPH objective lens with 25 mm fixed focal length and aperture in f/1.4 – f/16 range, that is controlled by 7 diaphragm blades. It is very light and is well suited for photos taking in dark conditions : in the rooms, in a cloudy weather and at night time. It is attached to camera via Micro Four Thirds mounts and it can be used with Panasonic and Olympus devices. Field of view is 47 degrees on diagonal, minimal focusing distance is 0.3 m, lens does not support image stabilization, but it can be performed by camera by sensor shifting. Objective lens has 9 lens elements in 7 groups, 2 of them are aspherical for spherical and chromatic aberrations reduction, 1 lens element is made of UHR ( Ultra High Refractive Index ) glass. All of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective Nano Surface Coating. There is ability to attach 46 mm optical filters to it; its sizes are 63 mm ( diameter ) x 54.5 mm ( length ), its weight is 200 g. Its base is made of metal, which increases its durability. Package contains : Panasonic Lumix G Micro 4/3 LEICA DG SUMMILUX 25mm/F1.4 ASPH objective lens itself, frontal and rear caps and protective and carrying case. All in all it is very good light objective lens, which is superior in this respect to many other objective lenses with similar parameters. But there is need to note, that there is ability to find among M42x1 objective lenses similar or even better lenses for much smaller price and use them with modern camera with use of adapters and converters.

Lets continue reviews of Soviet and Russian made objective lens for M42x1 mounts with LZOS MC Rubinar 10/1000 Macro device. It is very powerful telephoto objective lens with 1000 mm focal distance, 1.9 kg weight and 125 x 210 mm sizes. Its aperture equals to f/10, because of this it is not very light and more suited for shooting of objects on land and for shooting of bright astronomical objects. Its field of view is 2.5 degrees and focusing distances range is 4 m – infinity. LZOS MC Rubinar 10/1000 Macro has M116x1 mount on frontal side for optical filters and other accessories. It has 7 lens and mirrors elements in 5 groups ( which is very good ), all of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective multicoating. Also, LZOS MC Rubinar 10/1000 Macro can be used as small telescope, which is not surprisingly, because its optical scheme is very similar to Macsutov-Kassegrene telescope. For this purpose special converters and eye-pieces can be used ( previously LZOS even produced kits, which allowed to use lens as photo camera objective lens and as small telescope, such kit can be seen on photo ); also, this can be achieved with use of special converter with M42x1 mount on one side and 1.25 or 2-inch eye-piece focusing unit on the other side. 2-inch module and eye-pieces are preferably, because they allow to fully reveal capabilities of lens. Currently LZOS does not produce those lenses ( which is pity ) and they can be bought only in stores, which still have them in storage rooms, or through private ads. All in all it is a great objective telephoto lens and, if you have no telescope with similar characteristics, it is good candidate for this purpose, which can be used as multifunctional device. But if you have telescope, then it can be also used as camera lens with use of T-ring.

Today we will look on Tamron AF 18-200mm А/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] MACRO. As it is seen from its name, it has varying 18 – 200 mm focus distance and varying maximal aperture f/3.5-6.3, depending on zoom settings; its minimal aperture is f/22; it is controlled with use of 7 diaphragm blades. Lens has macro function and its minimal focusing distance is 0.45 m; field of view is 75 – 8 degrees, depending on zoom settings. Objective lens has 15 lens elements in 13 groups, among them there are : 3 aspherical lens elements, 2 are produced from LD glass with low dispersion level. All lens elements, except LD, are produced from XR ( Extra Refractive Index ) glass; all lens are coated with protective and anti-reflective multicoating. There is ability to attach 62 mm optical filters to Tamron AF 18-200mm А/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] MACRO; its sizes are : 73.8 x 83.7 mm, and weight is : 405 g. It is produced only in black color variant. All in all : this is a good objective lens, which costs optimal amount of money ( in comparison with other similar lenses ) 149 USD at the middle of Autumn 2015. Wherein : there is ability to buy more affordable lenses for M42x1 mounts and use them with converters and adapters; or there is ability to buy macro lens, which can be attached to existing objective lens.

Today in our field of view will be Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM telephoto objective lens. It has initial focus distance for lens of this type and big aperture, which allows to use it for land scenes shooting and for shooting of big astronomical objects. Its maximal and minimal appertures are : f/1.4 and f/16, accordingly, with 9 diaphragm blades; it is designed for full-frame sensors. Lens has 28.6 degrees field of view and 0.85 m minimal focusing distance with support of automatic focusing with use of Hyper Sonic Motor ( HSM ). Lens is produced in variants for Sigma, Nikon, Canon, Sony/Minolta and Pentax mounts. It supports internal focusing and has no image stabilization. 11 lens elements in 9 groups are built into it, all of them are coated with protective and anti-reflective Super Multi-Layer Coating. There is ability to attach to Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM optical filters with 77 mm diameter; its sizes are : 86.4 x 87.6 mm, and weight is : 725 g. Package contains : Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM objective lens itself, frontal and rear caps, case, user’s manual and 1 year warranty card. All in all : this is a good objective lens, which has interesting characteristics, but its price is quite big : 969 USD at the middle of Autumn of 2015 year ( for comparison : there is ability to buy new Nikon D3200 camera for 350 – 400 USD ). Because of this it is more appropriate for photographers, which need its particular characteristics; for photographers, which just need telephoto objective lens it is better to look at models, that are priced at lower level.

Today we will look on Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 lens for Micro Four Thirds mounts. As it can be seen from its name, it has 45 mm fixed focus and maximal and minimal diaphragms f/1.8 and f/22, accordingly, with 7 diaphragm blades. It has 0.5 m minimal focusing distance with auto-focusing, which works via High-speed Imager AF ( MSC ) motor. It has 9 lens elements in 8 groups ( which is much for lens of such type ), among them 2 are E-HR lens elements; all of them are covered with protective and anti-reflective multicoating. Field of view is equal to 27 degrees, which is not much for prime lens; there is ability to attach 37 mm optical filters to it. Its sizes are : 56 x 46 mm, and weight is : 116 g. Package contains : Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 lens itself, front and rear caps, decorative ring, user’s manual and warranty card. Overall it is not bad objective lens, but accounting its average characteristics and high price ( 399 USD at the middle of Autumn 2015 ), it is better to buy more functional prime lens with smaller price.