Lens News

For photography nerds, the end of Photokina is like the last few hours of Christmas day that you desperately try to hang on to.

Photokina is the biggest photography event of the year. It’s become the event where all of the big photography announcements go down.

And while this year’s Photokina wasn’t exactly ground-breaking, there were several announcements that look as if they’ll move photography forward, even if it’s just incrementally.

Read morePhotokina 2016: All the Big Announcements

Brandon Ballweg

Brandon Ballweg is a graduate of the University of Kansas and is a wedding and street photographer from the Kansas City area. He is the founder of ComposeClick.

The days of third party lens manufacturers producing subpar lenses is in the rearview mirror at this point. Sigma has effectively changed the landscape of the lens market with their widely-loved ART series lenses.

And at Photokina 2016, Sigma announced two new lenses to add to the ART series and one to its Sport line.

Read moreSigma Announces 3 New Lenses at Photokina 2016

Brandon Ballweg

Brandon Ballweg is a graduate of the University of Kansas and is a wedding and street photographer from the Kansas City area. He is the founder of ComposeClick.

In one of the more exciting announcements from this year’s Photokina, ZEISS continues to round out their Loxia lineup with an 85mm focal length for Sony E-mount cameras, the ZEISS Loxia 2.4/85.

I think it’s safe to say:

ZEISS likes to do things a little bit differently.

Read morePhotokina 2016 Announcement from ZEISS: the Loxia 2.4/85

Brandon Ballweg

Brandon Ballweg is a graduate of the University of Kansas and is a wedding and street photographer from the Kansas City area. He is the founder of ComposeClick.

Steve Huff recently stated that Olympus stole the show at Photokina 2016.

And for the most part I agree.

To be honest, in terms of lenses, the releases at this year’s Photokina have been somewhat of a letdown. Some years, we’re just flooded with new photography products that really push the envelope.

The event this year just hasn’t had that… special sauce that it has some years.

But that’s not to say that it was all flops.

Read morePhotokina 2016: Who’s Been the Star of the Show?

Brandon Ballweg

Brandon Ballweg is a graduate of the University of Kansas and is a wedding and street photographer from the Kansas City area. He is the founder of ComposeClick.

Back when discussions were going on about where will the 2016 Olympics be held, Brazil was a rising power in the world – everything was going well for Brazil. No one saw the political turmoil that would be happening during the Rio 2016 Olympics. There’s the fall of worldwide oil prices, a huge corruption scandal and very questionable impeachment proceedings of the country’s president. What that all leads to is a perfect storm of bad economic conditions for the average Brazilian – leading to occurrences like what was seen earlier in the week of the Rio Olympics, when News Corp photographer Brett Costello was robbed of $40,000 worth of photography equipment.

Read morePhotographer Robbed of $40,000 Worth of Gear at Rio 2016 Olympics

Brandon Ballweg

Brandon Ballweg is a graduate of the University of Kansas and is a wedding and street photographer from the Kansas City area. He is the founder of ComposeClick.