Lenses

Lens filters are an important tool for many DSLR photographers, but dealing with different diameter lenses, stepping-rings, square filter mounts and the rest can be frustrating and expensive. But now, an ingenious filter system for mirrorless camera adapter mounts, looks to shake things up.

Presbyopia is a common form of age-induced far-sightedness. Now a Stanford team has developed a pair of high-tech specs called autofocals, which use fluid-filled lenses, depth-sensing cameras and eye-tracking technology to make sure whatever a wearer is looking at stays sharp.

​Before zoom lenses arrived on the scene, film makers used cameras featuring a few different lenses mounted to a rotating disc. Looking for a quick way to switch between different zoom ratios on large format modern cameras, Ian Kerr, CSC, tapped into the past to create the MultiTurret.​

​Here's an extraordinary photography project worth keeping an eye on: the Lensrentals team has been working on building the widest angle fisheye lens in existence, a C-4 Optics 4.9mm, f/3.5 hyper-fisheye monster with a 270-degree field of view - that's right, it can see behind itself.

​Why carry a dedicated camera around these days when your phone can take care of most moment capture needs? Chinese photographic equipment maker Yongnuo has revealed the YN450, a smartphone-like mirrorless camera that runs Android and is compatible with Canon camera lenses.​

This is one of the weirdest and most extraordinary new camera lenses we've come across. Laowa's 24mm f/14 probe lens looks bizarre, works like nothing else we've come across, and offers a truly immersive and endlessly fascinating way to experience and document the world at the microscopic level.

Back in 2014, Canon stunned pro videographers with an absolute monster of a lens. The Cine-Servo put top-grade glass behind camcorder-like controls to offer unprecedented flexibility. And it only came to be after a wildlife videographer laid down a challenge.

The idea of a universal lens cap to replace any that get misplaced is a good one. But the Kuvrd universal lens cap​ takes things a step further, protecting any lens in a bunch of ways your standard caps can't by making them waterproof, shockproof, dust-proof and scratch-proof.​

For the price of a year-long backpacking trip around the world, you can now own the fastest-ever 75mm aspherical lens. Leica's new Noctilux-M 75mm f/1.25 is a US$13,000 piece of glass with a monster aperture and a razor-thin depth of field to deliver dreamy out-of-focus bokeh.

Hasselblad has gathered together tools and accessories photographers might need to get the best from its X1D camera, and put them all in a tough Pelican case. The X1D Field Kit comes with the $9,000 camera, three lenses, spare batteries, cleaning materials and straps. And yes, it's expensive.​

Researchers at Caltech have created a lensless camera which could lead to the development of thinner smartphones and other imaging devices. The new camera replaces the traditional lens with an ultra-thin optical phased array.

​If you're a professional photographer, then you likely switch between multiple lenses while shooting. The problem is, digging the right lens out of your kit bag at a moment's notice can be a hassle. It was with this in mind that Swedish photographer Jonas Lundin invented the quick-draw TriLens.