Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Art
Editor’s Choice

This update to Sigma’s stalwart 24-70mm features a new optical stabilizer and a metal lens barrel with a weather-sealed mount. It boasts a retooled hypersonic motor with 1.3 times the torque for its predecessor to improve AF performance. There’s full-time manual focus over-ride and nine aperture blades that stop down to f/22.
Price: $1,299
sigmaphoto.com

Nikon NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 ED VR

This updated full-frame lens adds a stepping motor for improved AF performance. Vibration Reduction has also been boosted and now delivers 4.5 stops of shake reduction. Like all newer NIKKOR lenses, the 70-300mm features an electronic diaphragm for consistent exposure control during high-speed shooting and video recording. It can focus on objects as close as 3.9 feet with a magnification ratio of 0.25x. The lens is dust- and moisture-resistant and features a nine-blade aperture.
Price: $700
nikonusa.com

Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/1.4

This full-frame lens sports an optical design that Zeiss claims delivers “practically no chromatic aberration.” Hooray. Available in Canon and Nikon mounts, the 35mm lens stops down to f/16 and can focus on objects as close as 11.8 inches from the front of the lens. It’s a manual focus lens with a focus ring that rotates 227 degrees for slow focus pulls. It features Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating and is weather-sealed. The Nikon mount can have its aperture de-clicked for smooth exposure transitions.
Price: $2,225
zeiss.com

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 (Model A032)

Tamron’s updated 24-70mm boasts new dual Micro Processing Units, which Tamron says improves AF speed and accuracy while also delivering up to five stops of image stabilization. The new full-frame lens is weather-resistant and can focus on objects as close as 15 inches with a magnification ratio of 1:5. There are nine aperture blades that stop down to f/22. There’s eBAND Coating to combat flare, and there’s ghosting and Fluorine coating on the front lens element to make it easier to clean.
Price: $1,199
tamron.com

Rokinon SP 85mm f/1.2

This fast, portrait-friendly prime lens for Canon cameras has an internal focusing mechanism and multi-coatings to reduce flare and ghosting. You can focus on objects as close as 31 inches from the lens and stop down the lens’s nine aperture blades to f/16.
Price: $999
rokinon.com

Lensbaby Velvet 85mm

Shoot the full-frame Velvet 85mm at f/4 and wider (all the way to its widest setting of f/1.8) and you’ll get a “velvety glow” in the areas of the frame that are out of focus, per the company. Stop down the lens’s 12 aperture blades and the effect will disappear, leaving you with a film-like look. You can focus on objects as close as 9.5 inches from the front of the lens.
Price: $500
lensbaby.com

Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM

The EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM sports built-in LEDs on either side of the lens to illuminate your subjects. It can focus on objects as close as 0.43 feet. The 56mm-equivalent lens uses a hybrid image stabilization system good for up to four stops of shake reduction, per CIPA standards. It offers full-time manual focusing, movie servo AF and a seven-blade aperture.
Price: $350
usa.canon.com

Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8

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. The Laowa 12mm is a manual focus lens with seven aperture blades. It stops 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’s sold in EF, Nikon F, Sony A and E and Pentax K mounts.
Price: $949
venuslens.net

Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM

Canon’s newest portrait-friendly prime is its first EF 85mm lens with image stabilization. You’ll get up to four stops of shake correction, per CIPA standards. The lens has nine aperture blades and is weather-sealed with fluorine coating on the front lens element to make it easier to clean. It can focus on objects as close as 33.5 inches.
Price: $1,599
usa.canon.com