Lenses


17 Top Prime Lenses

September 28, 2017

By Greg Scoblete

The Irix 11mm f/4.

The latest, greatest lenses for mirrorless cameras, DSLRs and medium-format bodies.

Meyer Optik Nocturnus 50mm f/0.95 II

Sony’s a7S II has pushed the boundaries of low and available light photography with heretofore unimaginable ISO levels. But sometimes, it’s better to let the light in the old fashioned way, with a crazy-wide aperture lens. Meyer Optik’s Nocturnus 50mm lens fits that bill nicely. This ultra-fast 50mm prime lens offers an incredibly shallow depth-of-field with an f/0.95 aperture. There are 15 aperture blades with anti-reflex coating to bring the bokeh. When you need to dial back the incoming light, the Nocturnus stops down to f/22. This is a manual lens with dedicated rings for aperture and focus control. The aperture ring has no click stops and Meyer says it operates in “near silence,” making it suitable for filmmaking. It has a minimum focusing distance of 19 inches. It’s available for Sony E mount and can mount to both full-frame and APS-C bodies, and accepts 67mm filters.

Price: $2,999
meyer-optik-goerlitz.com

Venus Optics Laowa 12mm

Many lens-makers deliver 10mm or 12mm prime lenses with a fisheye effect, but the Laowa 12mm has much less optical distortion and little of the pronounced fisheye curvature of its rivals. It’s a manual focus lens with seven aperture blades that stop down to f/22 and can focus on objects as close as 18cm from the front of the lens with a maximum magnification of .2x. It delivers a 122-degree wide-angle of view. The front of the lens is coated with what Venus dubs “Frog Eye” coatings, which, besides sounding cool, work a bit like fluorine coatings in that it makes the front lens element easier to clean. Venus sells the 12mm lens in Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A and E and Pentax K mounts.

Price: $949
venuslens.net

Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8

Sony shooters can mount the new Batis 135mm and enjoy full autofocusing and image stabilization. The lens stops down to f/22 and can focus on objects as close as a little over 2 feet with a magnification ratio of 1:5.3. The Batis 135mm lens boasts an OLED screen that displays focusing distance and depth-of-field info. It’s also dust- and weather-resistant.

Price: $2,000
zeiss.com

Tokina FiRIN 20mm f/2

The new FiRIN line from Tokina gives Sony shooters a lens that’s equally at home shooting stills or recording video. The first model, a 20mm f/2 manual focus lens, has a wide focus ring and an aperture ring that can be de-clicked for quiet and smooth exposure changes during video recording. It has nine aperture blades and stops down to f/22.

Price: $799
kenkotokinausa.com

Rokinon AF 35mm T/2.8

The new AF 35mm T/2.8 lens supports autofocusing and measures in at a squat 1.2 inches and weighs 3 ounces. The 35mm lens can focus on objects as close as 13.8-inches from the front of the lens and stops down to T/22 (Rokinon has calibrated this lens by the cinema T-stop standard). There are seven aperture blades and it accepts 49mm filters.

Price: $399
rokinon.com

Irix 11mm f/4

This wide-angle lens is available in full-frame Canon, Pentax and Nikon mounts. It’s a manual focus lens that features a focus lock mechanism, a rear gel filter slot and will click when focus reaches infinity. Like the company’s 15mm lens, the 11mm is sold in two versions. Both are weather-sealed with nine rounded aperture blades that stop down to f/22. The Firefly edition is built of a lightweight composite with an anti-slip rubber focus ring and ships with a soft lens pouch. The Blackstone is built from a more durable aluminum and magnesium with engraved fluorescent markings on the lens barrel. The Blackstone edition also ships with a hard lens case.

Prices: $575 (firefly), $775 (blackstone)
en.irixlens.com

Sigma 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art

This new prime lens features an acceleration sensor that detects the orientation of the lens, information used by the AF system for speedier, more accurate performance. There’s also a focus limiter and full-time manual focus override. Like other models in Sigma’s Art line, the 135mm’s mount is dust- and splash-proof. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 34.4 inches and stops down to f/16. It has a nine-blade aperture and a maximum magnification of 1:5.

Price: $1,399
sigmaphoto.com

Fujifilm Fujinon GFX 110mm f/2 R LM WR

If you’ve invested in Fuji’s new GF-50S medium-format camera, your lens options continue to grow. The new GFX 110mm offers a portrait-friendly equivalent focal length of 87mm on a 35mm camera. The lens is sealed against dust and moisture and has nine rounded aperture blades that stop down to f/22. It delivers a maximum magnification of 0.16x.

Price: $2,800
fujifilmusa.com

Hasselblad XCD 120mm Macro

Hasselblad is making good on its pledge to build out its family of native XCD lenses for its mirrorless X1D medium-format camera. One of the newest to the fold is the XCD 120mm Macro lens. It offers an aperture range of f/3.5-32 and a magnification of 1:2. It has a minimum object distance of 0.43m. Like the other lenses for the X1D, the XCD 120mm Macro lens has an integral central shutter offering a full flash synchronization up to 1/2000 sec.

Price: $4,495
hasselblad.com

Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 12mm f/1.4

With a 24mm equivalent focal length, this Micro Four Thirds lens uses Panasonic’s Depth from Defocus technology for speedy autofocusing. There’s a nine-blade aperture, two ultra-extra low dispersion elements and one extra-low dispersion element to keep images free of flare and ghosting. It’s splash- and dust-proof and has an aperture ring for those who like to exercise manual control over their exposure. This speedy prime stops down to f/16 and accepts 46mm filters.

Price: $1,300
panasonic.com

SMC Pentax FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited

This squat standard lens offers a 53-degree angle of view and stops down to f/22. It uses Ricoh’s SMC multi-layer coating to minimize reflections. You’ll enjoy a maximum magnification of .12x and can focus on objects as close as 17.7 inches from the front of the lens.

Price: $500
us.ricoh-imaging.com

Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS

Featuring Optical SteadyShot image stabilization and a Smooth Trans Focus optic for creating bokeh when shooting wide open, the 100mm has been built to accommodate Sony’s high-resolution camera bodies. It uses a Direct Drive SSM for fast, quiet autofocusing and can focus on subjects as close as 1.87-feet from the front of the lens. It sports 11 aperture blades and stops down to f/20.

Price: $1,500
sony.com

Schneider Kreuznach 45mm f/3.5 LS

The new Blue Ring lens series for Phase One XF medium-format cameras are built to please the pixel peepers with the ability to resolve 100-megapixel image sensors. The 45mm delivers the equivalent of a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera. It’s a leaf shutter lens that supports flash sync at up to 1/1600 sec. shutter speeds and stops down to f/32.

Price: $5,990
phaseone.com

Canon EF 35mm F/1.4L II USM

This wide-angle prime is Canon’s first lens with Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics, which uses a lens coating made of organic material that refracts blue light and results in significantly less chromatic aberration. Canon’s proprietary Sub-Wavelength Structure Coating (SWC) helps combat flare and ghosting. You’ll enjoy a minimum focusing distance of 11 inches and a magnification of 0.21x for tight close-ups, and can manually focus even on autofocus. It’s dust- and water-resistant, with fluorine coating on the front and rear elements to make them easier to clean.

Price: $1,799
usa.canon.com

Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 VC USD

This 90mm Macro (model F017) offers 1:1 magnification and delivers improved image stabilization (Vibration Correction or VC). The VC is good for 3.5 stops of image stabilization, per CIPA standards. Also tweaked is the software controlling the lens’s Ultrasonic Silent Drive actuator to improve autofocusing accuracy when shooting objects at close range. It’s available in Canon, Sony and Nikon mounts.

Price: $649
tamron-usa.com

AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.4E ED

The new AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.4E ED sports a nine-blade aperture and is weather-sealed with fluorine coating on the front element so dirt and smudges are easier to wipe away. This full-frame lens stops down to f/16 and can focus on objects as close as 11 inches from the lens with a reproduction ratio of .17x. It features Nikon’s Nano Crystal Coat anti-reflective coating and an electromagnetic diaphragm for more consistent exposures during continuous shooting.

Price: $2,000
nikonusa.com

Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO

This ultra-fast medium focal length prime is dust- and splash-proof and offers the equivalent of a 50mm focal length on a full-frame camera. It features a minimum focusing distance of 19.5 cm and stops down to f/16. It has a programmable function button and a manual focus clutch to quickly switch between automatic and manual focusing.

Price: $2,000
getolympus.com