Category: Lens Reviews | Alik Griffin

Cheap vs Expensive Lenses – What’s the Real Difference?

After doing tons of reviews and articles on how I like these cheaper Chinese lenses for day-to-day shooting and for fun, I thought it would be important to do a write up about what your expectations should really be when comparing cheap lenses to higher-end or more expensive lenses like a Samyang or Rokinon. Because there are some big differences.

Pergear 35mm f1.2 Review | Best One So Far

The Pergear 35mm f1.2 is a compact APS-C lens designed with a bright aperture for a very shallow depth of field and low light shooting. When looking at character and performance, this lens is packed with beautiful imperfections, as well as the regular kind. With the limitations in mind, it can produce some nice results and it can be a lot of fun in the right situations.

Nikon Z 35mm F1.8 S Review & Sample Photos

The Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S features a partly aluminum and plastic construction, combined with the dust and weather-resistant design and a bright f1.8 aperture, that all come together to make this one of the best do-it-all lenses for travel or daily use. This 35mm also features a nearly silent stepping motor internal focusing system with no focus breathing which is great for the videographer. Overall the Nikkor Z 35mm f1.8 has a fantastic balance between form and function and will deliver amazing results in any situation.

Pergear 50mm f1.8 Review & Sample Photos

The Pergear 50mm f1.8 is an all manual all-metal, compact 50mm APS-C lens with a 75mm equivalent field of view. This lens produces a classic rendering with great micro-contrast and some very impressive sharpness, no distortion, and almost no vignetting. It's a great street lens or portrait lens especially for photographers looking to take advantage of lens flares and blooms.

Pergear 50mm f1.8 | Sharpest Lens For Under $100?

First impressions of the Pergear 50mm f1.8 a lens that is surprisingly sharp for the price and has pretty great performance all around.

Pergear 25mm f1.8 First Impressions | A Few Problems But A Ton Of Fun

First Impressions and sample photos of the Pergear 25mm f1.8. A micro-contrast beast with some cool portrait capabilities, but not showing limitations with sharpness.

Pergear 35mm f1.6 First Impressions | Better Than Expected

Over the next few months, I'm going to be taking a look at the Pergear lenses for the APS-C camera systems. One of my favorite cheap lenses of all time is the Meike 35m f1.7 so I'm curious to see what else out there is similar, and can we do better. This brings us to the Pergear 35mm f1.6 - A pretty dang cool lens so far.

Nikon Z 85mm f1.8 S Review & Sample Photos

The Nikon Z 85mm f1.8 S is an extremely versatile lightweight, yet affordable 85mm f1.8 prime lens. This lens was designed for both photographers and videographers in mind with useful video features like silent focusing and no focus breathing but also a weather-sealed single barrel construction with all internal focusing elements and dual focus motors for improved close focusing capabilities.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S Lens Review

Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S Lens Review & Sample Photos

The Nikon 50mm f1.8 S was one of Nikon's first lenses for the Z mount system and it has been designed to cater to the hybrid shooter who wants a single lens that can do anything. Video, landscape, wedding, portrait, or even street photography. While the f1.8 aperture isn't exciting for a lot of people, the versatility makes it a great place to start when building out a new kit. The lens is weather-sealed, has a silent stepping motor focusing system with very little focus breathing. It's very well corrected, incredibly sharp with a very manageable size and weight.

Fujinon 35mm f1.4 Review & Sample Photos

The Fujinon 35mm f1.4 is one of Fujifilm's oldest lenses for the X-Mount system. With the fast f1.4 aperture and the 50mm field of view, the lens is very versatile and it's especially great for portrait and people photography. While showing some age by today's standards in terms of autofocus and the technical characteristics, the lens still has some of the most unique character of any modern lens to date.

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