New Sigma, Tamron and Laowa lenses expand zoom, portrait and macro options

Lens announcements led the week, with Sigma expanding APS-C zoom and full-frame portrait options, Tamron introducing a $729 compact zoom, and Laowa reaching 10× macro magnification. AI also shaped photography’s rules and workflows: Nikon disqualified a competition winner, while Google released a watermark detector.

Key developments

Sigma adds two APS-C zooms

Sigma announced the 16–300mm f/3.5–6.7 DC OS and 50–120mm f/2.8 DC OS Contemporary lenses for APS-C mirrorless cameras. The first offers an 18.8× zoom range; the second pairs stabilization with a constant f/2.8 aperture.

APS-C photographers gain a choice between broad focal-length coverage in one lens and a faster, stabilized telephoto zoom.

Oct 9 · Fstoppers · DIY Photography

Autofocus f/1.2 portraits for two mounts

Sigma introduced the 85mm f/1.2 DG Art for Sony E-mount and L-mount. It adds an autofocus f/1.2 portrait option where photographers previously had f/1.4 lenses or manual-focus alternatives.

Portrait photographers in both systems can choose a wider maximum aperture without giving up autofocus.

Oct 9 · Fstoppers

Tamron prices compact zoom at $729

Tamron introduced the 20–40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD for Sony E and Nikon Z at $729. The compact wide-to-normal zoom combines a constant f/2.8 aperture with close-focusing capability.

Travel photographers using either mount get another option that combines compact size with a constant maximum aperture.

Oct 9 · DIY Photography

Laowa extends ultra-macro options

Laowa introduced two Aksen Ultra Macro APO lenses that collectively cover life-size to 10× magnification. Working at these magnifications involves extremely shallow depth of field and declining light as magnification increases.

High-magnification photography with these lenses depends heavily on lighting and supporting equipment, not just the optics.

Oct 10 · Fstoppers

Nikon disqualifies microscopy winner

Nikon disqualified the 2026 Small World in Motion winner after determining that its microscopic video of beating airway cilia violated the competition’s generative-AI rules.

Generative-AI use can invalidate a winning scientific-imaging entry under competition-specific rules.

Oct 9 · PetaPixel · DIY Photography

Google releases watermark detector

Google released SynthID Detector, a free tool for checking for the AI watermark. The assessment notes that the detector has limitations.

Image-provenance checks gain another tool, but its results are not a definitive test of whether an image involves AI.

Oct 10 · DPReview

Lightroom tackles stubborn reflections

Adobe’s latest Lightroom update promises more reliable one-click reflection removal. A tutorial explains how a newer generative feature can tackle reflections that remain, with attention to controlling what it changes.

Photographers shooting through glass have a fallback when automatic reflection removal leaves distracting remnants.

Oct 10 · Fstoppers

Also this week

Mobile capture

• Godox announced the Litemons SR20R full-color LED light for smartphone and gimbal-camera creators, including users of the DJI Osmo Pocket and Insta360 Luna series. PetaPixel

• Canon Camera Connect earned a favorable assessment as one of the better camera-to-smartphone apps, despite frustrations, with the findings qualified by the recent cameras used in testing. DPReview

Editing tools

• Photoshop’s AI Assisted Editor, released August 31 in Photoshop 27.10, received a Milky Way photography trial exploring its plain-English editing requests. Fstoppers

• A comparison of slider-based blemish removal in Photoshop, Capture One and Evoto examined what each treats as a blemish and how much natural skin texture it preserves. Fstoppers

Technique

• A portrait-lighting tutorial explained how shadow edges beneath the chin and highlights on the nose help distinguish a beauty dish from a softbox. Fstoppers

• A Lightroom sunset tutorial showed how lifting dark areas can soften crushed shadows while avoiding a muddy-looking edit. Fstoppers

What to watch

• Watch for retail availability of Sigma’s two APS-C zooms and 85mm f/1.2 portrait lens; timing is not announced in the supplied items.

• Watch for a release date for Tamron’s $729 20–40mm f/2.8 in Sony E and Nikon Z mounts; the announcement gives no availability date.

• Watch for availability of Laowa’s Aksen Ultra Macro APO lenses covering 1× to 10×; no release timing is given.