Latest Lenses

This 12-60mm standard zoom was launched alongside the professional Olympus E-3 DSLR. It’s designed to be a cut above the 14-42mm kit lens sold with the E-420 and E-520 cameras, as befits the E-3’s professional status. Bought on its own the 12-60mm lens looks expensive but, as ever with ‘kit’ lenses, there are huge savings to be made by buying the camera and the lens at the same time. While the cheaper Olympus kit zoom has a 3x zoom range equivalent to 28-84mm, the 12-60

The ‘DG’ after the Sigma’s name indicates that it can fit both 35mm film cameras and DSLRs. The ‘OS’ stands for Sigma’s own Optical Stabiliser technology, which uses moving elements within the lens to counter camera shake. The ‘HSM’ stands for Sigma’s HyperSonic Motors, which are used for autofocus. On a 35mm or full-frame SLR, you’d call the Sigma a medium-long telephoto. On a non-full frame digital SLR, though, it equates roughly to

The Leica 14-150mm is designed specifically for the Four Thirds mount used by Panasonic and Olympus. Although it’s badged as a Panasonic lens and incorporates Panasonic’s own Mega OIS Image Stabilisation system, it will work on Olympus cameras too: the only difference we found is that the aperture ring on the lens is ignored and the camera body retains control of the aperture. Four Thirds cameras and lenses have a 2x focal factor, so the Leica’s focal range is equivalent to 28

A telephoto zoom is usually the first lens people buy to supplement the kit lens that came with their DSLR, and the Sigma 70-300mm f5-5.6 APO DG Macro could be the ideal choice. On a DSLR with an APS-C sized sensor, this equates to a focal range of around 110-480mm. Lenses like this can be pretty expensive, but the Sigma sells for around £155. The aperture range is f4-5.6; although there’s no image stabiliser, you’d hardly expect one at this price. There is a very good Macro m

Fisheye lenses aren’t like ordinary wide-angles. For a start, their angle of view is wider (a full 180 degrees on a Nikon DSLR) and second they don’t attempt to correct straight lines, rendering them instead as curves. These two factors produce distinctive and highly odd renditions of the world. In fact, this is not the ‘widest’ Sigma fisheye. There’s also a 4.5mm ‘circular’ fisheye which, unlike this one, doesn’t even attempt to produce a rectang

The average DSLR ‘kit’ zoom lens has a focal range equivalent to 28-85mm, which is fine for everyday photography, but not much use for sports, action or wildlife where you can’t get close to the subject. It’s not surprising, then, that most photographers choose a telephoto zoom as their next purchase. Most of the camera makers offer low-cost alternatives, typically 55-200mm ‘digital’ lenses designed solely for DSLRs, or 70-300mm lenses designed back in the da

The Voigtlander Ultron 40mm f2 is one of two new lenses from Voigtlander, sold in the UK by Robert White; the other is the Nokton 58mm f1.4. Voigtlander may be known for its film-based rangefinder cameras and optics, but these two lenses come in Nikon and Pentax fittings and will work with modern DSLRs as well as film cameras. Fitted to an SLR with an APS-C- sized sensor, the 40mm f2 has a focal factor of 1.5-1.6, so that on the Nikon D60 we tested it with, it’s the equivalent of a 60mm l

The ‘VR’ in this lens stands for Vibration Reduction. The name is different, but the basic mechanism is the same as Canon’s IS (Image Stabiliser) technology. Gyroscopic sensors within the lens detect the slightest movement and a ‘floating’ element within the lens is instantly adjusted to keep the image steady. Slow shutter speeds always bring the risk of camera shake, but image stabilisation systems enable you to shoot two, three or even four shutter speeds slower

The first constant aperture telephoto zoom in the Nikkor range is the 70-200mm f2.8VR, a lens which costs around £1200, weighs nearly 1.5kg and measures 215mm in length. It’s a monster. The Tokina 50-135mm f2.8, on the other hand, is £500 cheaper, weighs 600g less and is 80mm shorter. True, the Tokina doesn’t have VR, and it doesn’t quite have the same range as the Nikon lens, but if you can get by without those two things, it’s a very compelling proposition.

Canon’s lenses are split broadly into two camps: the standard ‘amateur’ lenses and the pro-level L-series optics. The 50mm f1.2 is one of the latter. It’s a fixed focal length lens in an age when almost everyone uses zooms, and it costs more than a semi-pro digital SLR. Let’s put this lens’s maximum aperture into perspective. It’s around three stops faster than a typical DSLR kit zoom. In poor light it could let you use ISO 100 where a kit lens mi