FAQ

We don't record:

• lenses designed for formats other than medium format (up to 6x7), 35mm full frame or APS-C,
• pre-WWII lenses, except for Leica screw mount lenses,
• vintage lenses with aperture controlled from the camera body only, including but not limited to: Deckel (DKL) and Topcon UV mount lenses,
• lenses with external automatic diaphragm, including but not limited to: lenses with Alpa or Exakta mount, Tokyo Kogaku Auto-Topcor lenses, Miranda dual mount lenses with Pressure Automatic Diaphragm,
• lenses with Altix, Bronica Classic, Canon J (+ Nippon-Kogaku focusing mount), Olympus OM AF, Pentacon Six, Petri, Practica B, Voigtlander Prominent, Yashica AF, Yashica Pentamatic mounts,
• lenses of little-known brands, including but not limited to: Acall/Kyoei, Access, Accura, Albinar, Asanuma, Beroflex, Berolina, Bower, Cambron, Carena, Centon, Chinon, Computar, Cosmicar, Danubia, DeJur, Elicar, Focal, Formula 5, Hanimex, JC Penny, Kaligar, Kalimar, Kawanon, Kenlock, Kobori, Komine, Komura, Lensbaby, Lomography, Makina, Old Delft, Opteka, Optomax, Osawa, Ozeck, Pallas, Panagor, Paragon, Pentor, Petri, Phoenix, Photax, Porst, Prinz, Pro Optic, Promaster, Promura, Quantaray, Revuenon, Rokinon, Sakar, Samigon, Sears, Sirius, Soligor, Spiratone, Starblitz, Sun, Sunagor, Tefnon, Telesar, Tou/Five Star, Unitor, Universar, Upsilon, Varexon, Vitacon, Vivitar (non Series 1), Walimex, Weltblick, Wollensak,
• Cosina manual focus lenses (before the company began to use the Voigtlander brand), Kiron manual focus zoom lenses, Sigma manual focus zoom lenses, Sigma YS lenses, Sigma XQ lenses, Tokina manual focus lenses (due to inconsistencies in specifications in the company's materials over the years and release of versions with different optical formulas under the same name), Rikenon P manual focus zoom lenses for the Ricoh K mount (as most of them were rebranded lenses from such third-party manufacturers as Cosina, Sigma and Tokina), YUS (Yashica US) lenses due to the total lack of manufacturer information,
• lenses made by the following German manufacturers: A. Schacht München/Ulm, Carl Zeiss Jena, Enna München, Isco (Optische Werke) Göttingen, Meyer-Optik Görlitz, Pentacon Dresden, Rodenstock München, Steinheil München,
• Soviet/Russian lenses, including but not limited to: Granit, Helios, Industar, Jupiter, Kaleinar, Mir, Peleng, Rubinar, Russar, Tair, Telear, Telemar, Vega, Volna, Yantar, Zenitar, Zodiak,
• Chinese lenses (not gonna even bother making a list of brands),
• lenses developed for military applications (for example, ELCAN lenses made by Ernst Leitz Canada for U.S. Navy),
• CCTV, projection, cine, stereo, enlargement, microscope lenses,
• lenses designed for twin-lens reflex cameras,
• lenses designed for use with reflex housing (Canon Mirror Box, Leica Visoflex, Zeiss Ikon Panflex, etc.),
• autofocus lenses designed for manual focus cameras,
• body cap lenses,
• attachment lenses,
• telecompressors,
• prototype lenses.

On our website, lens specifications are unified and filled out strictly on the basis of data contained in booklets or instruction manuals published by lens manufacturers. We do not use unverified information (i.e. private information not based on manufacturer documents). Because similar independent websites never state their sources, we are not interested in any information from them, and we never sync with them.

We do not believe that ratings can reflect an objective view of a particular lens. Any assessment is always subjective and often does not take into account the whole complex of factors that have a significant impact on performance of the lens.

In particular:

• The sharpness of the final image depends on the combination of camera and lens used. In addition to focal length and aperture, sharpness can also be affected by focusing distance: conventional lenses are optimized to provide the best image quality when focusing at infinity, and therefore may exhibit reduced image quality at short to medium distances;
• The bokeh depends on the DISTANCE between the camera and the subject (the smaller it is, the more the background is blurred), as well as the DISTANCE from the subject to the background (the larger it is, the more the background is blurred);
• The autofocus performance of a lens depends on factors, not all of which are directly related to the lens itself: available lighting, autofocus algorithms used by the camera, contrast of the subject, focusing distance, and much more;
• The resistance to flare depends on whether the original lens hood is used with the lens.

Are you sure that users who rate lenses on other websites are aware of all these factors and are taking any careful account of them?..

Sorry, but we do not collect this kind of data. We do understand that sometimes serial numbers are important and useful (especially in the case of Nikon and Leica lenses), because they can help to distinguish one variant of the lens from another, roughly determine the year of production etc. Anyway, currently we do not have any plans to record sets of serial numbers in our database.

No, we don't sell anything. Nevertheless, there can be links on the pages of our website to online stores or private sellers of photographic equipment, which we consider reliable and whose services we often use when we want to purchase photographic equipment.

Sometimes users of our website have been questioning us in the comments about original or current market prices of certain lenses. Typically, these questions are due to the fact that such users plan to sell lenses on marketplaces (for example, eBay).

Please be informed that our website specializes solely in providing information about lenses. We do not sell them or track their prices: it's just not interesting to us. We also do not provide users with the opportunity to place advertisements. Therefore, we cannot help you determine the original or current market price of a particular lens.