RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘LensRentals’

Lensrentals: Tamron 70-200 F2.8 G2’s resolution is excellent

08 Apr

Roger Cicala over at LensRentals has put Tamron’s new SP 70-200mm F2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens to the test. 

Cicala notes that on its own, the Tamron is impressively sharp all the way to the edges at its wide end, and even better in the middle of its focal range. Sharpness drops a bit at full telephoto, but Cicala still says the 70-200 ‘puts in a very good performance.’

The Tamron SP 70-200 F2.8 G2 impresses at its wide end of 70mm.

The Tamron’s performance is comparable to Canon’s 70-200 F2.8L II, though a bit softer at the wide end. When put up against what Cicala calls ‘the best 70-200 zoom on the planet’ – the Nikon F2.8 FL ED VR – the Tamron struggles to keep up, though the gap narrows at 200mm.

Sample variation from ten Tamron SP 70-200 G2 lenses at 70mm.

In addition to lots of MTF charts, Cicala provides some helpful information about copy variation using ten of the new Tamron 70-200mms.

Read the full story on the
LensRentals blog

See our Tamron 70-200mm F2.8 Di VC USD G2 sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Lensrentals: Tamron 70-200 F2.8 G2’s resolution is excellent

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Lensrentals proposes ‘Roger’s Law of Wide Zoom Relativity’

31 Mar
Trippy stuff – this is MTF data from nine copies of the Canon EF 16-35mm F2.8L II, at 16mm. Nice and sharp in the center, less so at the edges. That said, all nine of these lenses test as ‘good’ samples. 

Arch lens nerd Roger Cicala has probably handled more lenses this week than an average photographer might use in a lifetime. And recently, he’s been busy testing multiple copies of several popular wideangle zooms to try and prove what he calls ‘Roger’s Law of Wide Zoom Relativity’.

Simply stated, Roger’s ‘law’ states that wideangle zoom lenses are virtually always sharpest at the wide end of their zoom range, softening as the lens is zoomed. Although many of us have often wondered whether this is the case, Roger’s exhaustive testing proves that it holds true over multiple copies of several modern lens designs, all the way from Nikon’s 14-24mm F2.8 to Canon’s stunning new 16-35mm F2.8L III.

Averaged MFT charts for nine copies of Nikon’s 24-70mm F2.8VR on the left, and data from the older 27-70mm F2.8 on the right. Advances in lens design are obvious from increased sharpness and better consistency across the zoom range. 

What does this mean for the average enthusiast photographer? Just that if you’re the kind of shopper that obsessively tests and returns lenses which aren’t up to your requirements (cough, cough – Rishi…) you can save a lot of time by only testing the wide end. 

Also of interest is just how good some modern lens designs are. Compared to its predecessor, the new Canon 16-35mm F2.8L III’s MTF charts are extraordinary. Likewise Nikon’s 24-70mm F2.8 VR, compared to the lens it replaced.

Thanks as always, Roger, for testing nine copies of everything so that we don’t have to.

Read Roger Cicala’s full blog post at LensRentals.com

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Lensrentals proposes ‘Roger’s Law of Wide Zoom Relativity’

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Lensrentals and the continuing saga of the broken Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM

04 Mar

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_1792729276″,”galleryId”:”1792729276″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

Last week we took a look at Lensrentals’ six hour initial disassembly of a broken Sony FE 70-200 F2.8 GM lens (would hate to be the person who dropped it!). In part two, the guys from LR continue to take apart the lens, to see if it can be saved or sent to the scrapyard.

Read LensRentals’ Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM Teardown (Part 2)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Lensrentals and the continuing saga of the broken Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Lensrentals and the mysterious case of the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM

25 Feb

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_4915756573″,”galleryId”:”4915756573″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

One lens’ bad fortune is our gain: the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM’s optical test results had been puzzling the team at Lensrentals, and when a customer dropped one recently a teardown was in order. The teardown took a total of six hours – twice the usual amount of time required – and along the way they found a lot of solidly constructed pieces, a mysterious component they dubbed the ‘Southern Fairy Tale Ring,’ and a great deal of silicone glue.

This article details the first part of the teardown, showing the disassembly of the first half of the lens up to the point where a snack break was needed. It’s a long read but as always, thoroughly fascinating and entertaining. It turns out that construction of the FE 70-200mm F2.8 is a bit unconventional, and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Read LensRentals’ Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS Teardown (Part 1)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Lensrentals and the mysterious case of the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Prime or zoom? LensRentals investigates

11 Feb

In the latest LensRentals blog post, Roger Cicala writes: ‘I’m going to address something I see repeated online all the damn time that just sets my scientific teeth on edge: This zoom is just as good as a prime.’

What follows is a fascinating look in to the mind-numbing complexities not just of zoom lenses, but of optical bench testing in general. It is worth a read for many reasons, as it offers great insights in to gear selection and gear testing.

Read the full article on LensRentals’ blog

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Prime or zoom? LensRentals investigates

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Lensrentals tears down the Nikon 105mm F1.4

03 Dec

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3131846577″,”galleryId”:”3131846577″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

The folks at Lensrentals had high hopes for the construction of Nikon’s new ultra-fast 105mm F1.4, and in some many ways were satisfied with what they saw inside the lens. Take a look at a few images from the process above, and head to Lensrentals’ blog for the full teardown. It’s well worth your time as Roger Cicala picks a bone with Nikon’s marketing department, identifies the lens-repair equivalent of ‘crossing the streams’ and ultimately offers a look inside a very high quality, well-made lens.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Lensrentals tears down the Nikon 105mm F1.4

Posted in Uncategorized

 

LensRentals tests the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 FL ED

22 Nov
Sarah McAlexander, Lensrentals.com, 2016

Our friends at LensRentals have acquired a supply of Nikon’s new 70-200mm F2.8E FL ED AF-S VR. Nikon’s PR department has been making big claims about this third generation of its workhorse zoom, so Roger Cicala et al. have done us all a kindness by putting it on their optical bench and publishing the results. 

While he finds a bit of sharpness gained at the wide and long end of the range, Cicala is most impressed with performance at 135mm, calling it ‘night and day’ compared to its predecessor. 

Take a look at the full blog post for all of the test results, and yes – even a comparison against Canon’s 70-200mm F2.8L IS II USM.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on LensRentals tests the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 FL ED

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Harder than it looks: LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

10 Sep

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Canon’s new EOS 5D IV is a formidable bit of hardware, boasting a 30MP full-frame sensor and 4K video. Our friend Roger Cicala over at LensRentals.com has taken one apart to see how it works. His verdict? It’s harder to disassemble than you might expect…

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

We love it when LensRentals takes cameras to bits for two reasons. First, we’ve always wanted to see what these things look like on the inside, and second, it’s not the kind of thing that our friends at the major camera manufacturers would ever let us do. 

The screwdrive-happy nerds at LensRentals enjoy opening up Canon cameras particularly, it seems, because in Roger’s words ‘the engineering is always nicely laid out and usually pretty’. Ok then. 

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

The 5D IV, however, seems not to be a typical Canon camera in that it proved very difficult to get into. According to the crew at LensRentals, ‘Until now Canon cameras have all been pretty straightforward in their disassembly: you take out screws, that part of the case comes off, repeat for another part of the case’. 

With the 5D IV, on the other hand… ‘to take off any part of the shell, other than the back assembly, you have to take off most of the shell because Canon has added lots of plastic pegs and latches to the various parts of the shell, making it much more interlocking than in previous cameras’. 

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

Part of the reason for the additional latches could be to improve the durability and weather-sealing of the camera, which as you’d hope features ‘lots of foamed seals along doors and joints’

This view shows the inside of the 5D IV’s rear shell. According to Roger, ‘Inside it looks very much like other Canon back covers. There are aluminum shields over the button panel and LCD. The flexes running to and fro over the LCD are more complex than other Canons because of the extra processing for the touch screen.’

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

This is the main LCD flex, which is unusually large. In Roger’s words ‘almost a circuit board’. 

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

From the back, Roger found a couple of interesting things, looking at the EOS 5D IV: ‘First, there are more flexes connecting to the main PCB than most other models. Second, we were very pleased to see a thick, stiff, sheet of rubber covering the back of the PCB’.

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

The EOS 5D IV benefits from the redesigned mirror assembly we first saw in the EOS 5DS/R, and here’s the mirror motor, tucked away to the left of the lensmount.

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

Here’s the EOS 5D IV’s top assembly. And this is as far as Roger is prepared to go, because ‘we’ve learned from long, painful experience not to take these apart unless we absolutely need to. In general, if something is wrong with the top assembly, you just replace the top assembly’. 

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

This is the EOS 5D IV’s main PCB. Unusual, because ‘there are a lot, a whole lot, of flexes connected to the board from every direction. They are thicker and more complex than previous cameras and a lot end up in thick ‘press in’ connectors instead of simple flex cables.’

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

‘Underneath where the PCB was we now see the circuit board of the image sensor, and to the right of that the CF card assembly’.

LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Lensrentals.com, 2016

What did Roger and his team learn from taking the EOS 5D IV apart? 

  • ‘The weather sealing on the Canon 5d Mark IV appears pretty robust’
  • The multiple pins, clips and screws that hold the camera together might improve weather-resistance but make it ‘kind of a pain to get into’.
  • The extra technology inside the EOS 5D IV mean that ‘there are more chips, and more and heavier connectors moving electrons from board to board than even the Canon 5Ds cameras have’.
  • ‘there’s more air inside this camera than we’re used to seeing. […] In other words, this camera probably could have been a bit smaller but Canon wanted to keep the form factor the same.’
  • ‘Construction is at least as robust as the recent 5 series releases and better than the Canon 5D III’.

You can read the full tear-down, with Roger’s usual detailed analysis and plenty of additional images at LensRentals.com.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Harder than it looks: LensRentals gets inside the Canon EOS 5D IV

Posted in Uncategorized

 

LensRentals details its top ten favorite products from the past decade

30 Jul

Ten years have passed since our friends at LensRentals first launched as a small business operating out of a garage. The company has seen many changes over those years, both in its own operation and in the spheres of photography and videography, and it has highlighted some of those changes in a new blog post. The LensRentals team has detailed their top ten favorite products from the last decade.

‘What we’ve found, is that there is no right piece of gear for everyone,’ they say, ‘and we all have varying tastes and expectations when it comes to gear.’

Click here to read LensRentals’ ten favorite products from the past decade

The products, which aren’t listed in any particular order, run the gamut from cameras to lenses and a few different accessories. Most notably, Canon products took four of the ten slots, with both the 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III making the list, as well as its EF 400mm F4 DO IS II and 11-24mm F4L lenses. 

Pentax, Leica, Freefly, Profoto, Sony, and Sigma products fill out the remaining six slots, though as LensRentals notes: ‘the photography and videography industries have changed faster than ever before, so some pieces of gear had to be left out on our list.’ It’s a somewhat long read, but the LensRentals team takes the time to explain why each product earned it place on the list, and it’s well worth giving it a look.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on LensRentals details its top ten favorite products from the past decade

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Learning curve: LensRentals examines a series of linear focus motors

21 Apr

To the point…

Quick and to the point: that’s the reasoning behind the use of linear focus motors, but it’s less true of the latest blog post on the subject, over on LensRentals.com. That’s what we love about the crew’s in-depth teardowns. In their latest post they tear apart a series of linear drive lenses and discuss the various designs they’ve encountered. Some are pretty robust and others, well, take a look for yourself…

Click here to read the LensRentals Blog post about Linear Electromagnetic Motor focusing

The need for new designs

The ring-type focus motors [pictured above] that were traditionally the default choice for high-end DSLR lenses are not especially well suited to the needs of mirrorless cameras or video shooting. Contrast detection autofocus requires not just being able to move a focus group quickly but also the ability to stop it, then drive it back in the other direction, all with high precision. Video requires silent and carefully-controlled focus drive, to allow smooth refocusing while the camera is recording. These different requirements have prompted the adoption of new types of focus motors.

Linear electromagnetic motors

Among the more popular alternatives to ring-type drive is the linear motor, which features a permanent magnet and a coil of wire that, when electricity is run through it, slides along a bar parallel with the magnet. In principle these fulfill the things demanded of them: fast, precise and quiet (we’ve been very impressed by how fast some of the linear motor lenses we’ve used can be).

Surprisingly, the internet has very few good diagrams of these designs, but you can sometimes recognize lenses that use this type of motor because the focus element rattles around when the camera is switched off. This is because in many linear motor lenses the focus element is only held in position when power is being provided to the focus coil – the rest of the time, the focus carriage can just slide up and down its rails. This isn’t true of the Sony and Zeiss designs that much of the blog post discusses – these appear to have some sort of brake to stop this disconcerting behavior.

Rattle and, er, break

Generally we don’t worry too much about this rattling, but perhaps we should. LensRental’s experience with large numbers of hard-worked lenses reveals that not all linear motor designs are the same. Early Sony motors attach the moving coil to the focus element carriage with just a single blob of glue. Oddly enough, this can fail; leaving the coil racing up and down the rail but with the focus element uncoupled. Later designs do a better job of securing the moving coil to the carriage, prompting Roger Cicala to define two categories within lenses of this kind: Type 1 motors and Type 1a designs that are very similar but don’t break so readily.

No right answer

As well as highlighting a failure mechanism of poor designs, Cicala and Co’s teardowns hint at a fundamental shortcoming of linear motor’s capabilities. Fujifilm’s use of two, three and four linear motors in some lens designs suggests that they struggle to move large, heavy lens elements quickly, taking a brute-force approach.

This is also likely to explain why Sony adopted three different focus drive technologies (linear electromagnetic motor, piezoelectric direct drive and ring-type motors, sometimes in combination) in its recently-announced GM series of lenses: because there isn’t yet a single technology that provides all the necessary characteristics in a way that works for all lens designs.

Results, not technologies

Like LensRentals, we’ve seen very different results between the best and the worst examples of each lens motor type, which is why we try to concentrate on performance, rather than technology, when we write about lenses. We’ve also been lucky not to experience any of the motor failures (perhaps better described as motor detachments), that LensRentals has seen, but it’s interesting to see the designs of lenses improve as manufacturers become more experienced at using each technology. Or, as in the case of the Sony 70-200mm F2.8 pictured here, a mixture of technologies.

We also hope Cicala makes good on his promise to look at other emerging focus technologies, and the ways in which they’re developing, in the coming weeks.

Click here to read the LensRentals Blog post about Linear Electromagnetic Motor focusing

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Learning curve: LensRentals examines a series of linear focus motors

Posted in Uncategorized

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »