Jon Tarrant

  • June 22, 2012

Nothing ruins a good picture quite like chromatic aberration, which reveals itself as colour fringes. Let’s see what chromatic aberration looks like on technical targets and in real-world pictures.

  • May 19, 2012

Having set the scene with various technical definitions and explanations we are now ready to consider how best to compare the performances of pro-spec and consumer lenses.

  • May 13, 2012

Having looked at resolution figures quoted in line-pairs-per-millimetre and in cycles-per-pixel attention now turns to lines-per-picture, which is a measure that defines the maximum number of picture lines and therefore…

  • May 1, 2012

This new prime lens has a very affordable price. The WDC review of the Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G discovers that its performance is impressive too

  • April 6, 2012

Lens resolution figures have long been stated in line-pairs per millimetre but in the digital arena it is common to use cycles per pixel: what is the difference and how…

  • February 26, 2012

Compact System Cameras are, in many ways, the best of both worlds; they and small and yet also very versatile. But by the same token, Compact System Cameras may be…

  • February 19, 2012

The arrival of zoom lenses changed the way photographers approached their subjects. In the days of primes you had to move to another spot to change the composition but zoom…

  • January 15, 2012

Macro lenses come in a variety of different focal lengths but how do you choose the best focal length for any given macro situation?

  • January 1, 2012

Numerical testing and visual sharpness are two very different things. Of the two, visual sharpness is probably more important but it is also harder to define.

  • December 19, 2011

Tamron’s new 18-270mm, with its piezoelectric motor, was named EISA’s European Zoom Lens of the Year 2011-12. Yet the same Tamron 18-270mm zoom failed to shine when tested for the…

  • August 26, 2011

If you had to photograph a wedding using only one lens then which lens would it be? Having taken a break from wedding photography for several years a friend tempted…

  • August 11, 2011

Television dramas such as the CSI series take many liberties with photographs, especially when it comes to forensic analysis, so let’s look beyond the CSI fiction to see what is…

  • July 24, 2011

The latest edition of Camera Lens News, from Carl Zeiss, has just been published and includes a feature on Planar lenses. Given that the Planar design was developed by Paul…

  • July 3, 2011

Have you ever wondered what constitutes an education in photography? What are the topics and facts that examination boards and educationalists consider to be important? One way to find out…

  • June 13, 2011

There are several different colour problems that affect lenses but the one we are interested in here is known as chromatic aberration and commonly manifests itself in pictures as coloured…