In photography, there are two types of distortions: optical and perspective. Both result in some kind of deformation of images - some lightly and others very noticeably. While optical distortion is caused by the optical design of lenses (and is therefore often called "lens distortion"), perspective distortion is caused by...
This is a product review for the Vello Universal White Balance Handheld Disc. White balance is something that I constantly tweak in Photoshop. I typically use the auto white balance function on my Canon 5D Mark III. I find that the auto function gets my white balance close, but in post...
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D IF-ED, a variable aperture zoom lens that was released a long time ago, in the year 2000. The lens has been recently replaced with the Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED, which I recently reviewed and praised for its superb performance. I...
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G lens, which was announced on January 27, 2013 together with the super-telephoto Nikon 800mm f/5.6E VR. The lens replaces the existing 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D, an old autofocus lens released back in August of 2000. With its rather weak optical design optimized...
With the first article in our new Mastering Composition series, it is only fitting that we start off by introducing our main topic. In this article for beginner photographers, I will outline the general meaning of the term "composition" in art. I will also briefly discuss the goal of composition,...
This is an in-depth review of the Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 ZF.2 lens, a manual focus prime lens for the Nikon F mount. The same lens exists in "ZE" version for the Canon mount, which shares identical optical design, but with a slightly different body design (no aperture ring)....
This guest post is a little different than the ones that we have been posting here at Photography Life. It is not coming from an established pro photographer. It is from an aspiring photographer, Kim Leuenberger, who works hard on bringing something unique to the world of photography, something we...
The original review of the Nikon 300mm f/4D AF-S lens was published back in 2009 and was very short. I decided to completely rewrite it, with all the latest information, MTF data, more feedback and sample images, so you are looking at an updated version. If you are a birder,...
This is an in-depth review of the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC, a manual focus prime lens designed for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax, Samsung and Micro Four Thirds mounts. While I will be referring to this lens as "Samyang" in this review, please keep in mind that you can...
This is an in-depth review of the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art prime lens that was announced at one of the largest photo shows in the industry, at Photokina in Germany on September 17, 2012 for Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony mounts. The announcement came on the same...