LensHero
LensHero is a new site designed to help people choose from the myriad of lenses available for their particular dSLR camera, including lenses available from third party manufacturers. The concept is easy in the extreme; on entering the site, start typing the name of your camera, or select from the drop-down menu, choose your budget, and the type of lens (from a selection). Press the big "GO" button, and you get a page containing a selection of lenses that meet the criteria. On this page there is also a submenu, from which the selection criteria can be changed, and if there are a lot of lenses then there is an option to limit the selection. Another way of choosing a lens is to say what sort of lens you already have, and the site will try and suggest other lenses based on this selection, which may be particularly useful for comparison shopping.
Once you have found your lens, the site lets you know whether it is compatible with your camera, and how it will perform with the sensor size in your camera- this may seem simplistic, but I remember when I first moved from a film SLR to a dSLR, this would have been very useful. Also, the site gives snippets from reviews from B&H Photo, which is useful, but no direct links to the reviews, which would be more convenient.
Now- who will this appeal to? This is perfect for newcomers to the world of the dSLR. If you have just move from the world of the point-and-shoot to a camera with changeable lenses- maybe looking to expand on the kit lens that came with your new purchase- this is an excellent starting point. I have been using an SLR camera for about 25 years, and I would still use this site for ideas.
