Picture This and That: Look at Dat Glass Edition

Photographic lenses, or "glass" in photographer slang, are something a lot of first-time interchangeable lens camera buyers don't really think about when they make their purchase.  But they should.  In a previous post I said, "there is no point in buying a $1000 receiver and $400 pair of speakers" because bad speakers will degrade source material no matter how good the receiver is.  A better analogy would have been, "there is no point in buying a $2000 mixing board and plugging in $15 microphones" because cameras and lenses are visual recording instruments.  There may be times when a person would want to use a low-fidelity input device such as a cheap microphone or a plastic camera lens because of the effect it gives.  But the same effect can usually be done in processing (mixing or editing), whereas upgrading to a clean picture or recording is difficult or impossible.  Photographers usually aim to get the clearest image possible for that reason.

Below are my notes about lenses.

Basic terminology - these are some frequently used terms.

• Extension tube - mounts between a body and lens to decrease the focal length
• Fast - a lens with a large maximum aperture, generally considered to be f/1.4 to f/2.8 depending on the type of lens, but exotic (read: expensive) lenses can be faster
• Filter - blocks a certain portion of incoming light from passing through it; generally screws onto the end of the lens, but some lenses have a filter tray near the middle of the lens barrel
• Fisheye - a lens with a very wide field of view and exaggerated distortion
• Fixed-focus - typically used only on very low-end cameras
• Kit - a lens that comes with the camera, often a 28-85mm zoom
• Macro - a lens that allows for close-up work, with minimal magnification
• Macro filter - not a filter; mounts on the end of lens to allow close-up work
• Portrait - a slightly long-focus lens, with a focal length of 85mm to 105mm
• Prime - fixed focal-length lens
• Standard or normal - a lens that gives a field of view similar to the human eye, typically 50mm for 35mm cameras, with a range from 40mm to 55mm
• Teleconverter - mounts between a body and lens to increase the focal length
• Telephoto - a long-focus lens that enlarges distant subjects, with a focal length of 105mm or greater
• Teleside converter - mounts on the front of a lens to increase the focal length
• Tilt-shift or perspective control - specialty lens used by professionals
• Wide-angle - a lens that allows for a greater field of view, with a focal length of 35mm or less
• Zoom - a variable focal length lens

OEM manufactures - Lenses from camera manufacturers are generally considered to be, on average, better than the third party manufacturers.  None make lenses for any mount but their own, but the lenses can sometimes be re-used with an adapter.

• Nikon - F mount lenses
• Canon - EF mount and EF-S mount lenses
• Sony - Alpha mount (formerly Minolta AF mount) and E mount lenses
• Pentax - K mount and Q mount lenses
• Olympus - FT mount and mFT mount lenses
• Panasonic - FT mount and mFT mount lenses
• Samsung - NX mount lenses
• Ricoh - GXR integrated sensor/lens units
• Pentax, Hasselblad, and Mamiya/Leaf/Phase One make medium format lenses for their own cameras

OEM/Third-party manufacturers - both of these companies make their own cameras and lenses, like the ones above.  In the case of Leica, which is widely considered to be the best lens maker in the world, its lenses are often used on other cameras via an adapter.  Sigma started out as a third-party manufacturer, and usually is considered the best.  It recently created its own line of DSLRs with the unique Foveon sensor.

• Leica - S mount and M mount lenses
• Sigma - SA mount lenses, plus it is one of the "big three" third-party makers

Third-party manufacturers - these companies make lenses with a variety of mounts.  The lenses are mostly manual focus because until recently the OEM companies did not released the electrical specifications for their lens mounts.  Some companies have reverse-engineered electrical specifications, with mixed results.

• Tokina - one of the "big three" third-party makers
• Tamron - one of the "big three" third-party makers
• Samyang - Korean manufacturer that makes lenses for a lot of rebranders
• Zeiss - high-end lenses
• Schneider - tilt-shift lenses
• Hartblei - tilt-shift lenses
• Arax - tilt-shift and fisheye lenses
• Voigtländer - Cosina makes lenses under this name
• LZOS - Russia company selling two fisheyes
• KMZ - Russia company with several lenses, usually branded Zenitar
• Belomo - Belorussian company with several lenses
• Kowa - makes only one telephoto lens that can also be used as a sighting scope
• Noktor - fast (large aperture) lens made for SLR Magic
• Rodenstock, Schneider, Fujinon, and Nikon are the main large-format lens manufacturers
• Congo, Osaka, Cooke Optics, and perhaps other very low volume manufacturers also make large format lenses

Third-party rebranders - these companies generally just re-badge lenses designed and built by other companies.

• Vivitar - for a long time this was the largest rebrander in the US.  It sometimes even had its own lens designs made by others.  It seems to have stopped making lenses, though they are still available from some retailer
• Rokinon - lenses mostly seem to be Samyang
• Promaster - Wolf Camera "house" brand
• Pro Optic - may be Adorama "house" brand; lenses mostly seem to be Samyang
• Bower - may be B&H "house" brand; lenses mostly seem to be Samyang
• Quantary - Ritz Camera "house" brand
• Phoenix - Samyang captive brand
• Opteka - may be 47th Street Photo "house" brand; lenses mostly seem to be Samyang
• Kenko - Tokina lenses are sometimes sold under this captive brand
• and probably others around the world; historically there have been hundreds of such brands 
• Sinar, Linhof, and Caltar apparently rebrand large-format lenses

Specialty and novelty manufacturers - several companies offer lenses that create certain retro or low-fidelity effects, or that have limited appeal for some reason.

• Lensbaby - low-fi tilt-shift and fisheye lenses
• Holga - low-fi lenses
• Sunex - super fisheye lens
• Wanderlust - pinhole lens
• SLR Magic - low-fi lenses available on e-Bay
• Subjektiv - 4-in-1 low-fi lens
• Loreo - body cap lenses
• Jenoptik - UV & IR lenses

MSC lenses - this is a chart of lenses available, or announced and likely to appear, for mirrorless system cameras as of October 2011.  It contains all lenses with a native physical mount, though some are not electrically compatible and thus have to be manually controlled.  The Micro Four-Thirds mount has the most lenses available, though a lot of them are rough duplicates because there are two companies making cameras for the mount.  However, at any particular focal length, one of the lenses may be a better than the other, so it is worth looking at the reviews for both brands.  I think it's unlikely that there will ever be any quality third-party lenses for the Q mount, and perhaps the CX mount as well, because of the small sensor size.  On the other hand, the E mount will eventually attract several third-party makers because the NEX platform is likely to be moderately successful, and Sony has offered to license the electrical specification for the mount.  Samsung seems to have realized that as a very minor player, one of the ways it could get more attention is to field a large array of lenses for the NX mount in short order, which it has.  Focal distances are listed both at the native crop factor and as 35mm-equivalent.

Mount	Brand	Name	Type	AF	FD Min	FD Max	Eq. Min	Eq. Max
CX	Nikon	Nikkor 10mm f/2.8	Wide prime	Yes	10	10	27	27
CX	Nikon	Nikkor VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6	Standard zoom	Yes	10	30	27	81
CX	Nikon	Nikkor VR 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 PD-zoom	Super zoom	Yes	10	100	27	270
CX	Nikon	Nikkor VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6	Telephoto zoom	Yes	30	110	81	297
E	Rokinon	8mm Ultra wide Angle f/3.5 Fisheye Lens	Fisheye prime	No	8	8	12	12
E	Sony	16mm f/2.8 wide-Angle Lens	Wide prime	Yes	16	16	24	24
E	Sony	18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens	Standard zoom	Yes	18	55	27	83
E	Sony	18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens	Super zoom	Yes	18	200	27	300
E	Sony	Carl Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 Lens	Wide prime	Yes	24	24	36	36
E	Sony	30mm f/3.5 Macro Lens	Normal prime	Yes	30	30	45	45
E	Sony	50mm f/1.8 Telephoto Lens	Telephoto prime	Yes	50	50	75	75
E	Sony	55-210mm Zoom Lens	Telephoto zoom	Yes	55	210	83	315
E	Noktor	HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95	Telephoto prime	No	50	50	75	75
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Vario 7-14mm F4.0 Asph.	Wide zoom	Yes	7	14	14	28
mFT	Samyang	7.5mm 1:3.5 UMC Fisheye MFT	Fisheye prime	No	8	8	15	15
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Fisheye 8mm F3.5	Fisheye prime	Yes	8	8	16	16
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6	Wide zoom	Yes	9	18	18	36
mFT	Wanderlust	Pinwide	Specialty lens	No	11	11	22	22
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0	Wide prime	Yes	12	12	24	24
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G 14mm F2.5 Asph.	Wide prime	Yes	14	14	28	28
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6	Standard zoom	Yes	14	42	28	84
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II	Standard zoom	Yes	14	42	28	84
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R	Standard zoom	Yes	14	42	28	84
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 Asph. Mega O.I.S.	Standard zoom	Yes	14	42	28	84
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 Asph. Power O.I.S.	Standard zoom	Yes	14	42	28	84
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Vario 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 Asph. Mega O.I.S.	Standard zoom	Yes	14	45	28	90
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm F4.0-5.8 Asph. Mega O.I.S	Super zoom	Yes	14	140	28	280
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6	Super zoom	Yes	14	150	28	300
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital 17mm F2.8	Wide prime	Yes	17	17	34	34
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G 20mm F1.7 Asph.	Wide prime	Yes	20	20	40	40
mFT	Panasonic	Leica DG Summilux 25mm F1.4 Asph.	Normal prime	Yes	25	25	50	50
mFT	Voigtlander	Nokton 25mm F0.95	Normal prime	No	25	25	50	50
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F4.0-5.6	Telephoto zoom	Yes	40	150	80	300
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R	Telephoto zoom	Yes	40	150	80	300
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital 45mm F1.8	Telephoto prime	Yes	45	45	90	90
mFT	Panasonic	Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm F2.8 Asph. Mega O.I.S.	Telephoto prime	Yes	45	45	90	90
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G X Vario PZ 45-175mm F4.0-5.6 Asph. Power O.I.S.	Telephoto zoom	Yes	45	175	90	350
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Vario 45-200mm F4.0-5.6 Mega O.I.S	Telephoto zoom	Yes	45	200	90	400
mFT	Noktor	HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95	Telephoto prime	No	50	50	100	100
mFT	Olympus	M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm F4.8-6.7	Telephoto zoom	Yes	75	300	150	600
mFT	Panasonic	Lumix G Vario 100-300mm F4.0-5.6 Mega O.I.S	Telephoto zoom	Yes	100	300	200	600
NX	Samyang	8mm F3.5 Fisheye	Fisheye prime	No	8	8	12	12
NX	Samyang	14mm F2.8 IF ED MC Aspherical	Wide prime	No	14	14	21	21
NX	Samsung	16mm F2.4 Pancake	Wide prime	Yes	16	16	24	24
NX	Samsung	16-80mm F3.5-4.5 OIS	Standard zoom	Yes	16	80	24	120
NX	Samsung	18-55mm Portrait Lens	Standard zoom	Yes	18	55	27	83
NX	Samsung	Compact 18-55mm Zoom Lens	Standard zoom	Yes	18	55	27	83
NX	Samsung	18-200mm Multi-Purpose Lens	Super zoom	Yes	18	200	27	300
NX	Samsung	20mm NX Pancake Lens	Wide prime	Yes	20	20	30	30
NX	Samsung	Ultra Compact 20-50mm Zoom Lens	Standard zoom	Yes	20	50	30	75
NX	Samyang	24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC	Wide prime	No	24	24	36	36
NX	Samsung	30mm NX Pancake Lens	Normal prime	Yes	30	30	45	45
NX	Samyang	35mm F1.4 AS UMC	Normal prime	No	35	35	53	53
NX	Samsung	50-200mm Telephoto Zoom Lens	Telephoto zoom	Yes	50	200	75	300
NX	Samsung	50-200mm NX Telephoto OIS Lens	Telephoto zoom	Yes	50	200	75	300
NX	Samsung	60mm F2.8 Macro ED OIS SSA	Telephoto prime	Yes	60	60	90	90
NX	Samsung	85mm F1.4 ED SSA	Telephoto prime	Yes	85	85	128	128
NX	Samyang	85mm F1.4 Aspherical IF	Telephoto prime	No	85	85	128	128
Q	Pentax	Fish-Eye 3.2mm f/5.6	Fisheye prime	No	3	3	18	18
Q	Pentax	Standard zoom 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5	Standard zoom	Yes	5	15	28	84
Q	Pentax	Toy Lens wide 6.3mm f/7.1	Specialty lens	No	6	6	35	35
Q	Pentax	Standard Prime 8.5mm f/1.9 AL [IF]	Normal prime	Yes	9	9	48	48
Q	Pentax	Toy Lens Telephoto 18mm f/8	Specialty lens	No	18	18	101	101