Recent Gear Articles

A Hands-on Review of the Sony a7S III

After years of waiting, the Sony a7S III has just been announced. Building on the success of previous models, the new camera provides something special for filmmakers around the world.

RED's New Raven 4K Camera Is Right Under $6,000

RED Digital Cinema has announced the latest addition to its line of professional cameras, the RED RAVEN priced at $5,590. RED RAVEN is the lightest and cheapest camera among the RED Cinema lineup. This camera is capable of capturing 4K resolution footage at up to 120fps or 2K resolution at 240fps.

Camera Modes Explained: From Auto to Manual and Everything In Between

Understanding your camera’s modes is crucial to controlling how your photos turn out. It’s what separates a snapshot from a well-crafted image, and knowing when to use each mode can dramatically improve your photography. If you're new to photography, here's what you need to know about camera modes.

Comparing the Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM to the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

Canon has been blazing full speed ahead with its RF lenses, with two of the new models being the RF 800mm f/11 IS STM and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM. Both feature some of the company's latest designs and features, but offer vastly different capabilities and price points. Which one is right for you? This excellent video comparison takes a look at the image quality and experience of using both.

Is This the Ultimate Wedding Photography Lens?

Wedding photography generally requires at least two and often several lenses to get through the entire day, and as such, any lens that can take the place of a few offers a significant increase in convenience. The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD is one such lens, and with its tremendous focal length range and wide aperture, it looks like a potentially fantastic option for wedding photographers. This great video takes you through a wedding day with the lens to show you how versatile it is.

Removu K1: A 4K Gimbal/Camera Combo With an LCD Screen

While some would argue that the Removu K1 is a shameless rip-off of the DJI Osmo+, very few would complain about the fact that there is now another affordable gimbal/camera combo option on the market that doesn't carry all of the Osmo's flaws, and now with a built-in monitor. It does, however, seem to bring with it a few flaws of its own, albeit at a significantly lower price point.

ProGrade Iridium CFexpress Type A 4.0 Cards: Futureproof Performance?

CFexpress Type A has been a bit of a niche card format compared to the bigger Type B cards. Mostly used in Sony cameras, Type A cards haven’t seen as wide availability or as high specs. However, ProGrade has just launched their Iridium line of Type A cards, which promise to take performance into the next generation.

Saramonic Ultra Mic Review: Can It Compete with DJI and Rode?

Last week, I received an email from Saramonic. They wanted to sponsor a video featuring their new Ultra Mic System. But unlike every sponsored video request I've ever gotten, they didn't want control over the video, they asked for a fair and honest review, comparing their product to two of the industry leaders: DJI and Rode.

How to Buy a Used Film Camera

Last week you saw the video guide for "How to buy a used digital camera" and for this week, it's part two of our tutorial with Fullerton Cameras. This video contains a lot of great information on the purchase of used SLR cameras, what to look out for, what to ask and much more.

Why Are There No Security Features in Cameras?

It is 2021, and numerous devices have GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular radios or some combination thereof, and these capabilities provide a certain level of security. There are also passcodes, serial number databases, and much more. And yet, cameras do not seem to take advantage of any of these capabilities. Why is that, and will we ever see some of these features make their way into our devices?

Sometimes Small Softboxes Are Better Than Big Ones

Our good friends over at Pocket Wizard have had a great year with the release of the new Nikon MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 wireless radio triggers as well as the new AC3 controllers which allow you to control groups of flashes directly from the top of your camera. This video of Neil Van Niekerk shows how he is able to use the new AC3 controllers along with some relatively small softboxes to produce quick and easy studio style shots on location. I'm a huge fan of the Photoflex Octodome softboxes that I use on most of my shoots but these small Lastolite softboxes have an interesting look that you can't always get with larger softboxes. I guess it's the soft directional lighting that adds a bit of moodiness into Neil's images that I like. If you have had a chance to experiment with different sized softboxes on location, which ones do you prefer and why? Let us know in the comments.
Lensbaby Releases New "Spark" Selective Focus Lens

Lensbaby has released a new member to the selective focus family: the Spark. A manual pull focus lens, the Spark joins the Composer, Scout, and Control Freak lenses that have become popular with portrait photographers around the world. So what's special about the Spark? Let's take a look.

Follow the Fstoppers Live Tweets from Adobe MAX

Rebecca, Mike and I are all at Adobe MAX, ready to bring you the news as it breaks. To follow the story, either watch the live stream at Adobe.com and Fstoppers on Twitter to hear our thoughts on what Adobe is bringing to the table this year.

Fourteen Little Things You Should Carry in Your Underwater Camera Bag

Over the years, I’ve acquired an interesting array of “tools” that I use for setting up and maintaining my underwater camera housing. I wish I had known earlier about some of the items I travel with, as they have made my life quite a bit easier. Most of what I carry with me has been a result of trial and error, and I’d like to pass along that information to any budding underwater photographers out there.

Finally a Technical Service Advisory for the Nikon D600

After a class action lawsuit, Nikon has announced they are performing free sensor cleanings and shutter replacement for all D600 cameras. As an owner of a D600 I am glad to see Nikon is being held to fixing this very common issue. Funny enough I had my sensor cleaned on Sunday for oil spots.

The Unique Way Tilt-Shift Lenses Work

Tilt-shift lenses are some of the most unique and useful lenses out there. This great video will show you how they work and why they are so prized for lots of different work.

A Review of the Pentax K-3 Mark III Camera

Pentax has always maintained a small but fiercely loyal set of followers, and the company is unique in that it continues to plow ahead with DSLRs with no intentions to get into mirrorless. The K-3 Mark III is their latest installment in its highly popular line of APS-C DSLRs. This excellent video review takes a look at the camera's newest features and improvements and how it performs in practice.

How to Choose Your Next Lens

Investing in glass can be a long and drawn out process and it’s definitely one that you don’t want to rush when it can be such a large commitment. Photographer James Popsys has put together an excellent short video to talk you through some of the major elements to consider — including some ideas that you probably won’t have thought of — when making your decision.

ONA Announces the Berlin II Now in Beautiful Black Leather with Gunmetal

ONA is a premium camera bag company presenting some of the finest in leather goods used to store and protect your photography gear with style. This week they launched their next collaboration with the one and only Leica, introducing their next generation Berlin II in all black leather. Read on to check out some of the features.

Blackmagic Production Camera FINALLY Will Format SSDs In-Camera

Really, really good news out of Blackmagic today, as they just informed me that they have updated the firmware of the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K to allow for in-camera formatting of the SSD. So will this be coming to the Pocket Cinema Camera and the Cinema Camera? Yes, yes it will.

Watch a Homemade Lens Being Built and Shot With

I thought I was a fairly apt DIY'er, but then I saw this next-level achievement. This man built his own lens from scratch, right down to machining the glass himself.