Recent Gear Articles

A Review of the Light and Portable Sigma 17mm f/4 DG DN Contemporary Lens

The Sigma 17mm f/4 DG DN Contemporary lens brings with it the promise of excellent sharpness at a useful focal length and in a very small and portable package, making it ideal for genres like landscape and architectural photography. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.

A Look at the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.8 Lens

A quality 50mm lens is one of the most flexible optics a photographer can have in their kit, with the ability to tackle just about everything from portraits to events, street photography, and much more. Such lenses can cost anywhere from under $100 to well over $2,000, which makes the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.8, which sits at $379, a nice middle-of-the-road option that offers you higher levels of performance and image quality without breaking into stratospheric price levels. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

We Review the Lume Cube XL Tube Light

Tube lights are all the rage. So, when a new one comes on the market, it better have some type of stand-out feature to differentiate it from the pack.

9 Things to Like About the Sony a7R V Mirrorless Camera

The Sony a7R V is here, and it brings with it some of the most advanced features and upgrades the company has ever put in a camera, making it quite the intriguing option for a wide variety of photographers and filmmakers. This great video takes a look at the new camera and nine features that make it a fantastic choice for a lot of creatives.

Introducing the New Profoto D30 Strobe

Profoto just announced their new 500 Ws studio strobe, the D30. I've been playing with it for the last few weeks, and today I am finally able to share with you a full photoshoot using this powerful light.

Embracing Limitations and the Path to Expressive Photography

The perennial debate among photographers about the significance of gear in their craft often overlooks a crucial aspect: the creative vision and technique of the person behind the camera. This discussion is particularly relevant as photography technology continues to evolve and grow, offering tools that range from high-end professional equipment to more accessible consumer-grade cameras.

Datacolor Launches SpyderX Tool Kits for Digital Photographers

In my view, color management is one of the most important things we can do as photographers. The use of color is one of the fundamentals of what makes a great image. For that reason, I highly recommend using calibration tools.

Fstoppers Reviews Haida's Red Diamond Series Filters

When Haida reached out to me 12 months ago to test their M10 filter holder, they included their 10 stop Red Diamond filter. I was asked to give a honest review of the filter holder and how I felt about it.

Leica Summicron-SL 50mm f/2 Versus Sigma 50mm f/2

The 50mm is a staple prime and lives in many photographers' camera bags, but the question is whether there is a vast difference in quality between them. In this video, a Leica and a Sigma are compared to gauge the differences.
What If Kinect And Photoshop Were Merged?

We've all seen huge gigapixel images and their boring sidebars that allow us to navigate through them. But what if you could scroll through a photograph Minority Report style? The good people over at the University of Lincoln in the UK have put together an exhibit that combines huge gigapixel images with gestures based on the Xbox Kinect gaming console. The next step seems obvious: combine this technology with Photoshop! If you are near the univeristy, check out the Gigalinc page for future shows of this interesting concept. And if you know how to hack the Kinect, someone please hook this up to CS5!
A Review of the Venus Optics Laowa 17mm f/4 GFX Zero-D Lens

Venus Optics has established a reputation for impressively unique and interesting lenses. The Laowa 17mm f/4 GFX Zero-D continues in that tradition, giving Fujifilm medium format users a particularly wide angle of view, making it appealing for genres like landscape and architecture photography. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it.

A Look at the New Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Lens

A 24-70mm f/2.8 is the workhorse of choice for a huge number of photographers, suitable for a wide range of scenarios and needs. Sony recently released the second version of theirs, the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II, and this excellent video review takes a look at the improvements and new features in the new lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it.

A Look at the New Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Lens

Sigma's latest two lenses, the 20mm f/1.4 DG DN Art and 24mm f/1.4 DG DN Art, continue the Art series custom in that they provide sharp and impressive image quality while significantly undercutting the prices of many first-party options. This excellent video review takes a look at the 24mm f/1.4 DG DN Art and the performance and image quality you can expect from it.

Save a Little on Your Next Audio Purchase

If you've been looking to upgrade your video set up and get some higher quality audio, take a peek at the holiday savings for the TASCAM DR-40 4-Track Portable Digital Recorder. B&H is offering the fantastic price of $139 plus a $15 rebate. Although online ordering is unavailable till tomorrow afternoon, you can still stick it your cart for later. Amazon is also offering a deal, though not nearly as enticing.

PSA: Three Days Left to Get a Refund for the Lily Robotics Drone

News of Lily Robotics' action-oriented drone arrived with much fanfare. But a few months ago, Lily filed for bankruptcy and announced it would not be able to fulfill any of its pre-orders. Thankfully, they're at least trying to refund pre-order customers (pending approval by a judge), but you only have until July 10 at 4 p.m. Eastern to submit a claim. While you can mail one in, it will be much easier and faster to simply fill out the information online. But if you don't act now, you could lose your right to a refund.

Sigma's Flagship Just Got Better With the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II

Sigma’s flagship lens is evolving with the new 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art for L-Mount and Sony E-mount mirrorless systems. Fully redesigned to take advantage of the latest technologies and improve image quality throughout the entire zoom range, the lens is lighter and smaller than its previous incarnation and boasts some serious features.

Just How Impractical Is Sigma’s Bizarre New Camera?

Sigma took the photo world by surprise a few weeks ago at the CP+ trade show in Japan by unveiling its latest creation: a minimalist camera that barely has any dials or buttons. Given the bold design, just how well does it cope with everyday use?

How To Shoot A Commercial With Cinevate's Pegasus

Yes, this is an ad for Cinevate's Pegasus Carbon but this is worth watching. If you are into video, this ad gives some fantastic information about getting moving shots. The Pegasus isn't cheap at $900 but it is one of the best sliders money can buy for a DSLR.

Cinevate's Pegasus Carbon, DSLR Camera Slider from Cinevate on Vimeo.

Racquetball Filmed From The Racquets Perspective

I just stumbled upon another interesting video filmed with the GoPro HD video camera. It's not really an informative video but hopefully it will give you guys some inspiration. You can easily film things with these ultra small/light cameras that simply were not possible a few years ago. What could you film in a different way? Update: Sorry about the title. I've not heard of "squash" before.
A Review of the Versatile Fujifilm XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR Lens

Many photographers seek a versatile "do-it-all" zoom lens to use for the variety of shooting scenarios they face, keeping it mounted to their camera at all times. This type of lens tends to offer a useful zoom range as well as a moderately fast aperture around f/2.8 or f/4. For Fujifilm shooters looking for this kind of walkaround optic, this helpful video review examines the XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it practice.

The T-Create Expert R31 3-in-1 Card Reader: Simple But Hits the Spot

T-Create is a relatively young company producing some top-class equipment for photographers. I ran their card reader and its UHS-II U3 V90 SD card through extensive tests to see how they would perform. Here’s what I discovered about the card reader.

FS Recommendation:  Go Pro HD Hero

If you have not seen the Go Pro HD Hero camera before, let me introduce it to you. We have bought a few of these this summer for various projects and they are a lot of fun to play with and the footage is absolutely amazing. We will have some new Fstoppers videos coming out soon with Go Pro HD footage but in the meantime you must check out these videos. Click the Full Post for a few details about the Go Pros and to see two other fun videos. <