20$ Telephoto Zoom | Vivitar 70-300mm Review

20$ Telephoto Zoom | Vivitar 70-300mm Review

When I first took the Vivitar 70-300mm F4.8-5.8 out of my “cheap telephoto lens bag” I didn’t know what to expect from it. It was a bright, sunny day and I was heading out to a Zoo,, so I though to myself: this one has a great reach, it’s small and light, exactly what I…

Carl Zeiss Super Speed S16 Cine Lenses | In-Depth Overview

Carl Zeiss Super Speed S16 Cine Lenses | In-Depth Overview

Ever since I got into video/filmmaking, I’ve been dreaming about owning a set of cine lenses, however as you’ll know, they are not exactly affordable, which is partially why I got into vintage lenses as I find them to share a lot of qualities found in cine lenses. Fortunately, the release of BMPCC allowed me…

VIVITAR 55mm F2.8 1:1 MACRO REVIEW

VIVITAR 55mm F2.8 1:1 MACRO REVIEW

Modern MACRO lenses tend to be quite expensive, therefore it’s something that many leave out of their kit. When it comes to vintage though, MACRO lenses are actually very affordable. One such example is the Vivitar 55mm F2.8, a Komine made lens, which was also sold under many other less popular brands including Elicar, Panagor, Soligor,…

Using “Krasnogorsk” Lenses on BMPCC | In-depth Review

Using “Krasnogorsk” Lenses on BMPCC | In-depth Review

Krasnogorsk lens review has been a long time coming. I first discovered them in 2013 when I reviewed their little brothers, the Kiev-16U trio. At the time there were no adapters that would allow Krasnogorsk mount lenses to be used on any modern cameras, but shortly after I bought my set, RAFcamera released the Krasnogorsk…

PENTAX-A SMC 50mm F1.2 Review

PENTAX-A SMC 50mm F1.2 Review

Pentax-A SMC 50mm F1.2 is an interesting lens. It’s one of those lenses that you either love or hate. Being an F1.2 prime, it’s not the cheapest vintage lens out there and even in comparison to other 50mm F1.2 vintage primes it’s quite pricey (average price is around $550), so it’s better be good, right?…

Vivitar Series-1 70-210mm F2.8-4.0 REVIEW

Vivitar Series-1 70-210mm F2.8-4.0 REVIEW

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm is one of the most difficult lenses to review. Want to know why? There are at least 5 versions of this lens, so chances are that next time you’ll find one, it might be different from mine, but let’s try to figure this out anyway 🙂 Versions: The only quick and…

Zhongyi Mitakon 42.5mm F1.2 REVIEW

Zhongyi Mitakon 42.5mm F1.2 REVIEW

This time I’m reviewing a modern lens, but as mentioned in the video above, it shares a lot of things I like about vintage lenses, which is the main reason why I wanted to review it. As a fan of Zhongyi Lens Turbo II focal reducer, I was excited about an opportunity to test out…

SANKOR 16F Anamorphic Lens REVIEW

SANKOR 16F Anamorphic Lens REVIEW

I’ve very excited to finally share this post with you guys. Some time ago I came across an Instagram user SAMAMORPHIC, who produces some of the most beautiful, atmospheric and dreamy anamorphic content. Eventually we got taking and I found out that Sam uses a Sankor 16F (an anamorphic lens that is new to me)…

Tamron 24-48mm f/3.5-3.8 REVIEW

Tamron 24-48mm f/3.5-3.8 REVIEW

Tamron Adaptall-2 24-48mm f/3.5-3.8 might sound like an average vintage lens with unamusing focal range, especially on a Super35 camera, but it’s actually not your average zoom. The 24-48mm is actually a respected lens which performs beautifully on full frame cameras, making it a great wide-to-mid range zoom. When used on a full frame camera…

E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm F2.9 REVIEW

E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm F2.9 REVIEW

There are a few reasons why people choose vintage lenses over the modern equivalents. One of them is that organic, film-like character that is missing in most modern lenses. The E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm F2.9 is one of such lenses, bursting with character that many of us really love! The only lens I’ve tried so far…