PigPog | Lenses

Kinda useful things for photography. And just as important as the camera.

Some lenses I have and use...

My Lenses

I love my glass. I have quite a few lenses, all with their own strengths and weaknesses, some with quite a character of their own.

Sony SEL2860

The lens that currently lives on my camera most of the time. It's not fast. It's not a great zoom range. But it's very small and light, and very sharp. If I need wider, I always have my iPhone with me. And if I need longer, well, I'll just have to crop.

With a 28mm-60mm zoom range, it covers most of what you might need. A bit less than the common 24-70 'standard zoom' that's so popular, but in a fraction of the size/weight.

It's the kit lens you can get bundled with an A7C, which means they come up used fairly often, at good prices. List price is £400, but I got mine in pretty much perfect condition for around £250, from Wex. It's likely it came as a bundle and someone sold it on straight away - and when the bundle is so little extra, they might even have made a little profit from doing so too.

I'd been looking at other cameras, and the main reason was to get something smaller and lighter. And with this lens, My Sony A7iii is smaller and lighter. Not pocketable exactly, except for very large pockets, but about as small and light as it can get.

Sony SEL24240

A fairly big and heavy lens, but only if you don't consider the zoom range you have. 24mm-240mm is a long range. From snapping a street scene around you to picking out a single person at a distance, it can do almost anything.

Admittedly it doesn't do anything especially well, but it can do it.

Voigtländer Nokton Classic 40mm f/1.4

Small. Quite heavy for its size, but not actually heavy. Manual focus, and it's Leica M-mount, so you need an adapter. Not cheap new, but mine was a bargain used. I love it. Wide open, it has plenty of character, and makes lovely images. Stopped down a couple of steps, it's dull but much more 'normal'.

Technically, it's not a great lens, especially at f/1.4. Vignetting, soft corners, a definite style to it. But I love that style.

Beyond the lovely images it produces, it just feels really nice to use. The build quality is great, with all the controls feeling just right. Focussing is by a little tab on the focus ring that your index finger fits into, so you can focus with one finger. There are handy tabs on the aperture ring too, in a very different shape, so it's really easy to find and operate them both without looking.

Leica TELE-ELMARIT 90mm

A super-handy little lens, pairs well with the Voigtländer. Mine is the tiniest version they produced, and while it's not technically the best lens of its type, it's a pocketable 90mm lens with f/2.8 aperture, making it pretty great for portraits, where a little softness around the edges and a bit of vignetting is no bad thing.

Canon FL 58mm f/1.2

My most extreme bokeh lens. Wide open, it's soft and glowy. Technically, it's just a bad lens. But damn, it makes some pretty photos.

Lomography Petzval 55mm f/1.7

A complete weirdo. I love it, but don't actually use it often. It has a 'bokeh control ring' for adjusting how swirly you want the bokeh, and it can get very swirly. The lens design comes from the 1840s. Yes, 1840s. Mine is in the brass finish, so it looks as ridiculous as the photos it takes.

Lomography Minitar LC-A

A 32mm f/2.8 lens that's tiny. Really smol. Pancake. The only drawback is that the quality is shit. Like, really bad. Sometimes, though, that might be just what you want. It's the Lomography way.

I used it quite a bit for a while, but to be honest, the novelty wore off. I tried taking it out for a walk a couple of years later, and just found it ruined almost every shot.

A fun little novelty if you like the rough style, but it's just a bit too much character for me.