Buyers’ guide
Take a newview
Buyers’ guide
Looking to refresh your shooting options? There’s a wealth of third-party lens choices out there for your camera…
first-party glass. And, while third-party options often fill in the gaps of a camera maker’s range, when identical focal lengths are offered, they’ll usually be a fraction of the cost. Here’s a selection of PN ’s favourite third-party lens-smiths and some of the most interesting glass they offer.
From DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, rangefinders and other formats, third-party manufactures make optics for every different lens mount. The picture has never been healthier, with more brands than ever to choose from, improved quality and many excellent alternatives to
MOST OF US start out with a kit zoom lens that’s from the same manufacturer as the camera we bought. These can be great, but the world of photography is a lot wider than that, both in terms of what your chosen lenses can do – and who makes them.
Sigma › sigma-imaging-uk.com
mirrorless mounts are coming down the line. Taking note of the growing popularity of those bodies, the company has also updated its popular 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports (£1199) with Sony’s E and the L-mount versions. There are plenty of options for full-frame and APS-C DSLRs, too. These include the 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art (£1249) for portraits, the 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art (£1269) – a mainstay for landscape
Sigma has long been a name to trust when looking for third-party lenses. It produces them in all sorts of mounts, including for its own SA fit and the L-Mount it shares with Leica and Panasonic. With its range broadly divided into Art, Sports and Contemporary lines, there’s also a new I Series imprint focusing on compact, high-quality lenses designed for mirrorless cameras. One of our favourite lenses from Sigma, though, is the 35mm f/1.4 DC DN Art (£749). An update of the original model that was a big hit for DSLRs, this new version is for full-frame mirrorless bodies in L and Sony E-mounts. It features an updated optical construction, as well as an 11-bladed iris for ultra- smooth bokeh. Hopefully, more
photographers – and the groundbreaking 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art (£699), with its super-fast aperture throughout the zoom range.
NICE BOKEH Not long ago, the look of a blurred background wasn’t an issue. Nowadays, beautiful bokeh is important – and what many photographers believe is a priority when buying a new lens
Laowa › venuslens.net
incorporates a +/- 11mm shift function. This makes it a great choice for shooting architectural subjects and cramped interiors. Its five-bladed aperture design gives beautiful sun stars – and it’s available in a broad range of DSLR and mirrorless mounts.
the mirrorless cameras they’re designed to give lots of help with this – they’re very usable. Elsewhere, make sure you check out the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift (£1249), a full-frame ultra-wide lens with a colossal 110° view, but which
shallow depth-of-field at its moderate wide-angle 63.4° angle of view. Its crop-sensor sibling gives an equivalent 50mm view, focuses as close as 35cm, and has an APO design to suppress chromatic aberrations. Though both are manual focus, with
Starting out with a range of quirky, but high-quality macro lenses, Laowa now offers an amazing range of optics. Its recent Argus line includes two amazingly fast options. The 35mm f/0.95 FF (£899) is for full- frame bodies in Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon R mounts. Then the 33mm f/0.95 CF APO (£499) is designed for APS-C mounts – including Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, Sony E, Canon RF and M. The former is the world’s first full-frame 35mm lens with f/0.95 maximum aperture. It offers superb light gathering for night or low-light photography, as well as a super-
FAST AND WIDE Laowa has some impressively quick aperture lenses in its range
Issue 93 | Photography News 29
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