[expat999]

I registered to post this thread. I love this website's content, but I'm afraid I'm having major trouble finding the lens review I'd like to read. All of your thumbnails look way too similar. I get the idea that you were going for "eye-candy", but I just want to quickly find the the lens. There are no options to change the way it looks either.

Could you give us the option to see the website differently, with each lens appearing in a list without the thumbnail?

Kind regards,
Expat999

[Klaus]

Seems that the classic "lists" had lots of fans. ;-)

I suppose that I should work on this ...

Note: There is a search function.

[expat999]

Seems that the classic "lists" had lots of fans. ;-)

I suppose that I should work on this ...

Note: There is a search function.

Thank you so much for taking into consideration my comment.

[walter-]

So many years ago Klaus taught me about lens qualities* from his website. And after a pauze of about 15 years I now picked up this hobby again. I am so happy to see that photozone was still up and running. And now my kids are self supporting and I can buy all those lenses I always wanted.
But then this new layout! This is so frustrating. I especially created an account to complain about this (did I became such a person?? I will need to compensate by providing some real input to this forum). And I am so lucky to not have to start a new thread.

What is so good about the old layout was the simplicity and features this simplicity gave you.
Within a second I can -interest Canon compatible lenses:
- see similar lenses (like the 24-70:F2.8 and F4.0 and different iterations are close to each other)
- find from the browsers search on one page all Canon compatible lenses with feature (like search all 35mm, 24-70mm lenses over different brands).
- And maybe I search a 35mm lens, but the 40mm I didn't knew existed is next to this 35mm.

Maybe the most annoying thing is that the order of lenses feels random (I guess it is based on review date) and that not all lenses are loaded onto the page at once (I guess to reduce bandwith consumption). At the same time the table view is difficult for me to get an overview into my brain.

So my improvement propositions.
- List all lenses again alphabetically below each other and drop the table view.
- List all lenses 'at once' (and I don't care about the pictures of the lenses).
- Don't put the name of the lenses on the pictures (somehow very hard to read).

I did try the search function. But it is just not smart enough. I once tried to reduce my browsers windows size to force the raster to display all lenses below each other. But my browser made the images of the lenses even bigger and the view was useless.
On the old site the overview page of all lenses is also a go to just to get inspiration on what exists. The sorting and simple view helps me here. I now check 'other websites' to see what lenses exist in Canon RF range and then come back to Optical limits to see if there is a review. And I will only buy if there was a review here ;-).

But anyway: even after so many years the reviews here are super and spot on: thanks a lot for all these efforts!

Walter
*and I had to forget about quality again to have fun when shooting ;-).

[davidmanze]

Hi, 
     the classic lists are still there under each camera manufacturer's category,

 for example:

Nikon DSLR (F mount) lens reviews are still accessible via photozone.de 
that gives access to "all the manufacturer's" older lens reviews ..... 

maybe this could be simplified by having a larger banner labeled "Legacy Reviews" once clicked on "Optical Limits" 

in short a simple change in font size would be sufficient .....

just a thought ........

[toni-a]

Well For third party lenses, the lens is listed within the mount on which it was tested...which could male looking for Sigma, Tamron and third party lenses tests rather complicated
for instance you can find Laowa 10mmf2.8 review in Nikon Z while Laowa 14mmf4 is in Sony FE...

[hotdoglover]

This new layout, though! This is quite annoying. Did I turn into that kind of person? I made an account just to vent my frustrations about this. I should make amends by contributing meaningfully to this forum. Not having to create a new thread is such a blessing. space bar clicker

[Klaus]

Well, as mentioned - we had to deprecate the old engine. It was way beyond its end-of-life support already.
The new layout is probably rather generic - it is based on a very commonly used (ready-made) template made specifically for review sites.

The old format was in some ways more straight-forward ... for those who visited the site since the dawn of time. You always knew where things were and whether we published something new.
There's certainly a difference between "the straight-forward" (old) site and the more "eye-catching" (new) site.
The bitter truth is that we have seen a sharp downturn in readers in recent years - on the old site, that is.
This has many reasons - Youtube is probably the main one - but a site has to attract new readers. And the old site was certainly not aligned to this.
The old site was difficult to use on mobile devices and while I have some doubts that this is a useful format in our use case, mobile is the place for attracting a younger audience.
Of course, the other aspect is that advertisers don't take you seriously anymore if your site looks like it's from the Stone Age.

We are certainly willing to change certain aspects based on feedback - but there's no turning back. There are/were also technical reasons. The old engine is/was from 2008 and was kept on life extension by modifying its code to secure it. And while I have a corresponding background, that can't be "my job" (my primary job is basically cross-financing this photo site already ...)

Interestingly, we received several negative comments about the 3-page review format on the old site - which we abandoned on the new one. But it seems that this change is less appreciated compared to the changed navigation. ;-)

[Rover]

I can only speak for myself but I like the new review layout more than the old the 3-page format - although quite a few review sites don't stick to single-page reviews either.