We use the measurement results to calculate an objective score. But with the Imatest results, we also determine which sample images we will make to additionally illustrate specific properties of a lens. Or to check exceptional (good or bad) performance. Because measurement results are of little use if they have no correlation with practice. Does a lens focused at infinity perform the same when focusing at 15 meters or 1.5 meters? Never completely. Regular lenses are designed for focusing at infinity. Macro lenses are designed, on the other hand, to perform optimally at extremely short focusing distances. That is why we not only measure (at several distances), we also test cameras and lenses in practice.

Which focal length should you choose when buying a new lens? Do you want to know what a macro shot looks like, made on a camera with a full-frame sensor or on a camera with a smaller sensor? Are you worried about the bokeh capabilities of a lens on a camera with an APS-C or micro-43 sensor? In doubt between a 24mm or a 28mm lens? Or do you want to know if the zoom range of a zoom lens can also deliver the pictures you would like to take? Then visit the Field of View (FOV) gallery. Sorted by focal length (equivalent) of a lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor, you can find shots grouped together that are made with lenses from different brands, on cameras with different sensor sizes, but with the same field of view (FOV). 

NO SLICK PHOTOS, BUT ORDINARY, EDITED sample images

We take hundreds of sample images per review, of which you see only a few in the reviews on our site. First, we have to be thrifty with our time, because otherwise we would never be able to publish more than 50 reviews a year, as we have managed for years. Secondly, the vast majority of our sample images are not made “to be beautiful” but are used to test any weaknesses of a camera or lens. Shots made in bright backlighting of boring apartment buildings at hundreds of meters’ distance are interesting as an addition to our measurement results, but very boring or not worth looking at. You don’t see them. Occasionally, we use such an image to illustrate vignetting, color errors, distortion or edge blur of a lens.

Send us a sample image that you made yourself as a possible supplement to our galleries.

But there are always a few sample images that a somewhat experienced amateur photographer could have made. And probably even better/nicer too! Sometimes we get practical shots made by a reader. If we have not taken a shot ourselves, we will mention the photographer. We have now published the sample images per camera or lens in a separate gallery with sample images. For most of the shots, you have the option of downloading them in the original resolution, in order to get a better idea of the image quality. It’s not our intention to show artistic or heavily edited shots. Because we do not have the goal of photographing better than our readers. There are too many of you. We would never win. Our sample images could have been made by any amateur photographer if he or she had brought that camera or lens with them. You will find little of specialist forms of photography, such as sports photography, nude photography or product photography on CameraStuffReview.

Macro lenses are not only tested at the same distance as regular lenses. We have not been able to find a test card that is small enough to be photographed full screen with a macro lens and that has such a high resolution that you can do a good test of a good macro lens on a 50-megapixel camera with it. We therefore test macro lenses with Imatest at the same distance as normal lenses. All websites and magazines that measure the image quality of macro lenses do this. Even so, CameraStuffReview also has a method to measure the resolution of macro lenses at their shortest focusing distance. After all, these lenses are designed for that! And macro lenses perform at their best at extremely short distances. We hope to be able to say more about this next year.

CameraStuffReview is bilingual. To save time and simplify maintenance, the sample image pages start in English, followed by a Dutch text.

Just like many other amateur photographers would, the sample images are sometimes edited by us. A horizon has been set straight, an image has been cropped, or a different image style has been chosen for more or less saturated images. At high ISO values, extra attention is paid to noise suppression or sharpening. The lens distortion has been corrected for architectural shots. Those are all edits that you could have done as well. For each sample image, we do not state which edits we have applied, but we do mention the camera, lens and the associated settings with which the shot was made.

sample images FOR SLR CAMERAS AND SYSTEM CAMERAs

Although we had actually intended pages with sample images for lenses, as you can see on the sample images start page, we have already added 25 pages of sample images made with recent cameras. We do not distinguish between SLR cameras or system cameras, but we do sort the cameras by brand. We also make no distinction in sensor size. Cameras with a full-frame sensor sit cheerfully next to cameras with an APS-C or micro-43 sensor. Or vice versa.

sample images FOR LENSES WITH A FIXED FOCAL LENGTH

View a sample image full screen, or download a jpg in the original resolution

We are starting with 85 practical specials for current lenses with a fixed focal point, from 11 different brands. Our goal is to expand that to 100 galleries by the end of 2019 with sample images for fixed-focal length lenses. Major changes are currently taking place, which you can see if you look at the various lens mounts. Canon, for example, makes lenses with an EF, EF-S, EF-M or RF mount. Nikon also makes lenses with a new mount for the new system cameras of the Z series. Panasonic now also makes lenses for cameras with a full-frame sensor, while they have released many lenses with a micro-43 mount in previous years. Perhaps we will break that down over time into separate overview pages per mount. For now, all lenses from a single brand, regardless of the mount, are grouped together on one page. 

For each brand, an overview of fixed focal lenses: Here is a part of the overview of sample images made with Sigma Art and Contemporary lenses with a fixed focal point (“primes”). You can find such a page for 11 brands on CameraStuffReview.

sample images MADE WITH ZOOM LENSES

Where is Pentax/Ricoh?

If we were to place the zoom lenses and the lenses with a fixed focal point from each brand on 1 page, it would soon be a mess. And we have not even yet tested everything that is for sale. To keep it clear, we have made separate overview pages for 8 different brands.
At the start of CameraStuffReview, we made the choice to review the widest possible package of lenses from a few brands. This means that other brands, such as Fujifilm, Sony and Pentax are less extensively covered. The choice between breadth (as many brands as possible) or depth (as many as possible per brand) was not easy. It’s six of one and half a dozen of the other: there are always products that we cannot get around to testing. We cannot review everything that is for sale. It will stay that way for a while.

Converter sample images

There are a great many reviews to be found on the internet for new cameras and lenses. But much less is said about converters. There is a much smaller target group for such products. We are proud that we also pay attention to these more specialized products. There is even a separate overview page made with 12 teleconverters from 8 different brands.

sample images FROM Fisheye to 900mm

We have reviewed lenses with a focal length of 6.5 mm through 600 mm, with a field of view corresponding to 13 to 900 mm on a camera with a full-frame sensor. We therefore also have sample images from this enormous range (almost a factor of 100) of focal lengths. We will probably not go any higher. If you want to photograph a test card that is almost 2 meters wide, you have to stand at a distance of many tens of meters to get the test card full screen. It’s not physically possible for us to test focal lengths of more than 900mm (full-frame equivalent).

sample images FOR ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE, STREET, AND TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

In the coming months, we will put the last touches on the pages with sample images that we have now placed on the site. Within six months, we hope to expand this with thematic sample images such as architecture, landscape, street, and travel photography.