Lens speed

Main article: Aperture

Lens speed refers to the maximum aperture diameter, or minimum f-number, of a photographic lens. A lens with a larger maximum aperture (that is, a smaller minimum f-number) is called a "fast lens" because it can achieve the same exposure with a faster shutter speed, and conversely a smaller maximum aperture (larger minimum f-number) is "slow" because it delivers less light intensity and requires a slower shutter speed.

A fast lens speed is desirable in taking pictures in dim light, or with long telephoto lenses and for controlling depth of field and bokeh, especially in portrait photography,[1] and for sports photography and photojournalism.

Lenses may also be referred to as being "faster" or "slower" than one another; so an f/3.5 lens can be described as faster than an f/5.6.

Tradeoffs

Attaining maximum lens speed requires engineering tradeoffs, and as such, "prime" (fixed focal length) lenses are generally faster than zoom lenses, and modern manual-focus lenses are generally faster than their autofocus counterparts.[2]

With 35mm cameras, the fastest lenses are typically in the "normal lens" range near 50mm and there are several high-quality fast lenses available that are relatively inexpensive. For example, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II or Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D are very inexpensive, but quite fast and optically well-regarded. Old fast manual focus lenses, just as the Nikkor-S(C) or Nikkor AI-S 50mm f/1.4, were historically produced abundantly, and are thus sold relatively inexpensively on the used lens market.

Especially outside of the "normal lenses", lens speed also tends to correlate with the price and/or quality of the lens. This is because lenses with larger maximum apertures require greater care with regard to design, precision of manufacture, special coatings and quality of glass. At wide apertures, spherical aberration becomes more significant and must be corrected. Faster telephoto and wide-angle retrofocus designs tend to be much more expensive.

Fast lenses

The fastest lenses in general production now are f/1.2 or f/1.4, with more at f/1.8 and f/2.0, and many at f/2.8 or slower. What is considered "fast" has evolved to lower f-numbers over the years, due to advances in lens design, optical manufacturing, quality of glass, optical coatings, and the move toward smaller imaging formats. For example, the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica states that "...[Lenses] are also sometimes classified according to their rapidity, as expressed by their effective apertures, into extra rapid, with apertures larger than f/6; rapid, with apertures from f/6 to f/8; slow, with apertures less than f/11."

Canon 85mm f/1.8 and f/1.2 showing their large entrance pupils

For scale, note that f/0.5, f/0.7, f/1.0, f/1.4, and f/2.0 are each 1 f-stop apart (2× as fast), as an f-stop corresponds to a factor of square root of 2, about 1.4. Thus around f/1.0, a change of 0.1 corresponds to about 1/4 of an f-stop (by linear approximation): f/1.0 is about 50% faster than f/1.2, which is about 50% faster than f/1.4.

As of 2012, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony all make an autofocus 50mm f/1.4 lens. These are not unusual lenses and are relatively inexpensive. Canon also makes autofocus 50mm and 85mm f/1.2 lenses, while Nikon makes a manual focus 50mm f/1.2 lens and an autofocus 85mm f/1.4; see Canon EF 50mm lenses and Canon EF 85mm lenses for details. Pentax makes a 50mm f/1.4 lens and 55mm f/1.4 lens for APS-C cameras; see Pentax lenses. Sony makes a 50mm f/1.4 lens which is a continuation of the Minolta AF 50mm f/1.4 lens, and two lenses with Carl Zeiss: a 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4.

The maximum exposure time in free-hand photography can be enhanced even more also for fast lenses, if the camera is equipped with an image stabilisation system. In 2014 Panasonic introduced the fastest lens with in-built stabilisation, the Leica Nocticron 42.5 mm f/1.2, which in the meantime even can be operated with dual image stabilisation (Dual I.S.), provided that the camera body has an additional stablising system at the image sensor, too.

In the mid 60s there was something of a fad for fast lenses among the major manufacturers.[3] In 1966 in response to the trend Carl Zeiss displayed a prop lens christened the Super-Q-Gigantar 40mm f/0.33 at photokina.[3] Made from various parts found around the factory (the lenses came from a darkroom condenser enlarger) the claimed speed and focal lengths were purely nominal and it wasn't usable for photography.[3][4]

Maximum possible speed

Ultimately, the speed of a lens is limited by mechanical constraints of the camera system (shutter or mirror clearance, mount diameter). The smallest possible working f-number is

where

This sets a limit close to f/1.0 to f/1.2 for most SLR mounts, whereas lenses for rangefinder and mirrorless cameras can be faster, as they can be brought closer to the image plane. Reproduction lenses incapable of infinity focus can have nominal f-numbers smaller than this limit, as the limit applies to the working f-number (the f-number corrected by the bellows factor), not to the nominal f-number. It should be noted that only the working f-number correctly assesses the light gathering power of the lens.

Since sin θ < 1, it follows that no lens can be faster than f/0.5 if it operates in air. Lenses can be made faster than this by requiring the film emulsion to be in physical contact with the rear element, thus eliminating the air gap between the lens and the emulsion. Another option is to use oil immersion techniques.

List of ultrafast lenses

Some of the fastest camera lenses in production as of 2011 were as follows:

And as of 2015:

The following camera lenses are no longer in production as of 2010:

Many very fast lenses exist in C-mount (such as used by 16mm film cameras, CCTV, medical & scientific imaging systems), including:

Very fast lenses in D-mount for 8mm movie use on H8 cameras:

Very fast lenses used in x-ray machines:

References

  1. ↑ Waldren, Margaret (and others) Advanced Digital Photography 2004 Media Publishing
  2. ↑ Long, Ben Complete Digital Photography 2004 Charles River Media
  3. 1 2 3 Maiello, Agostino (January 2000). "L'OBIETTIVO PIU' LUMINOSO DEL MONDO". Nadir.it (in Italian). Nadir Magazine. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Zhang, Michael (Aug 6, 2013). "Carl Zeiss Super-Q-Gigantar 40mm f/0.33: The Fastest Lens Ever Made?". Petapixel. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "Cosina Voigtänder — Nokton 17.5mm F0.95 Aspherical". Cosina Voigtländer.
  6. 1 2 3 "Cosina Voigtänder - Nokton 25mm F0.95". Cosina Voigtländer. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  7. ↑ The Voigtlander 17.5mm f/0.95 at B&H Photo
  8. ↑ The Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 at B&H Photo
  9. ↑ The Voigtlander 42.5mm f/0.95 at B&H Photo
  10. ↑ "Leica offers World's fastest Aspherical lens". Leica Camera. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  11. ↑ "NOKTOR – Ultra Fast Lenses". Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  12. ↑ "KenRockwell.com – Noktor 50mm f/0.95". Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  13. ↑ "F0.74 - new Metabones Speed Boosters break boundaries - EOSHD". EOSHD. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  14. ↑ "Metabones introduces Speed Booster XL 0.64x for Panasonic GH4". dpreview.com. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  15. ↑ "Official announcement - Metabones Speed Booster ULTRA - EOSHD". EOSHD. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  16. ↑ "Metabones creates Speed Booster ULTRA with improved optics and Canon lens AF for Panasonic users". dpreview.com. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  17. ↑ "USAF Lens Datasheets - Type 1 Aerial Reconnaissance". archive.org. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  18. ↑ Two Special Lenses for "Barry Lyndon", by Ed DiGiulio (President, Cinema Products Corp.), American Cinematographer
  19. ↑ "TV-Nikkor 35mm F0.9 Big First Super Light". Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  20. ↑ Lossau, Jürgen (2003). The Complete Catalogue Of Movie Cameras, Hamburg/Germany, atoll medien, p. 59, ISBN 3-9807235-3-4
  21. ↑ "Science, Kern-Paillard advertisement" (PDF). 165.

External links

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