Lenses

The best new glass for your D-SLR

By William Sawalich

Labels: Lenses, Gear

This Article Features Photo Zoom

LENSBABY

Lensbaby lenses are selective-focus, special-effects lenses that may look like inexpensive plastic toys, but looks can be deceiving. The effects they produce are serious business; just ask the many photographers who swear by them for their attention-grabbing effects.

The Composer is the flagship model in the Lensbaby line, offering more control than previous, more rudimentary versions. This $270 model makes maintaining focus easier than ever before, while still providing the funky selective-focus effects that make the lens so unique. It’s a perfect balance of photographic precision and far-out creativity.

The Composer incorporates a ball-and-socket system for composing and a rotating dial for focusing—both helping to make it the most convenient and easy-to-use Lensbaby yet. Add to that the Optic Swap system, which allows photographers to customize effects from the lens by switching out optical elements, and the lens becomes even more versatile.

PRO-OPTIC

For affordable extreme-teles, check out Adorama’s Pro-Optic mirror lenses. These incredibly powerful, manual-focus telephoto lenses use mirrors in-stead of glass to deliver the resolving power of a 500mm glass lens at a fraction of the size, weight and cost. For $159, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a 500mm telephoto for your D-SLR that competes with the Pro-Optic mirror lens—especially if you don’t want a chiropractor’s approval to carry it and a second mortgage to afford it.

Mirror lenses aren’t as fast as glass, but unless you’re a private detective who works in the dark, you’ll probably do fine. In wildlife photography, for example, an ƒ/6.3 Pro-Optic 500mm mirror lens will easily provide a shutter speed of 1⁄500 sec. at ISO 100 on a sunny day. And if you happen to need more telephoto power than a mere 500mm lens provides, Adorama also offers an 800mm ƒ/8 version of the Pro-Optic, which retails for just $225.

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Lenses

The best new glass for your D-SLR

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