Gear Reviews

If there is one thing Sony shooters certainly do not have a dearth of, it is wide-aperture 85mm lenses. And with all the options, you might be wondering which one is right for you. This excellent and comprehensive video review breaks down the features and pros and cons of each choice. 

Laowa is a lens manufacturer that is making waves over and over again. I had a chance to use their newest macro lens and put it through its paces to see if it can really rival its counterparts. 

Sigma's Art series of lenses has been a runaway hit, with the line continuing to expand to both new focal lengths and new mounts. One of the newest in the lineup is the 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art, and it has been lauded for being incredibly sharp even at its maximum aperture. Is it the right lens for you? This great video review will answer that question. 

The Masters of Photography courses are aimed at offering instruction from those who have mastered their genre, to those who are entering it. The Albert Watson course covers his whole career, working in portraiture and commercial advertising as well as shooting landscapes and personal projects. Here’s what I thought after giving it a go.

Replacing the sky in a landscape or outdoor portrait can be both a difficult and very tedious process. Skylum is preparing Luminar 4 for release this fall, and the marquee feature is its automated sky replacement that can allow photographers to quickly replace a sky in a convincing fashion. Is it the groundbreaking feature it has the potential to be?

Canon has come out of the gate firing on all cylinders when it comes to lenses for their mirrorless RF mount. One of the most interesting lenses in that lineup is undoubtedly the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM, the mirrorless version of one of the most popular portrait lenses of all time, the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM. How does the mirrorless version compare to its DSLR predecessor?

Tamron has been killing it with their lens releases in the last few years, undercutting the prices of first party manufacturers by significant amounts while still providing high optical quality and performance that have led to an increasing presence in the professional segment.

It’s been seven months since the Canon EOS RP has been out in the market. While most others are looking at the performance of the camera in a general sense, I put it to the test and tried to find the right context for such a camera.  

The Zeiss Otus 100mm f/1.4 ZE Lens is like most Zeiss lenses: it has absolutely astounding image quality with a price tag to match. Is that stunning image quality worth the high price of admission? This great video review seeks to answer that question. 

The Zenitar 50mm f/1.2 S is a hodgepodge of vintage lens design brought into the modern world in order to marry the delight of swirly bokeh with the convenience of a modern lens mount. 

Godox is well known for producing affordable, high quality lights that a lot of photographers are quite fond of. The Godox V1 is their entry into the round head speedlight market, and it has captured the attention of a lot of photographers, particularly in the face of the much more expensive Profoto A1. Is it the right speedlight for you?

The price range of camera lenses goes from very affordable to so expensive that you cant fathom a need to buy it in any business-like sense. In this video, I compare a budget lens to a reasonably expensive prime lens. 

On the back of producing the world’s best-selling lens, Tamron has released a piece of glass that got me incredibly excited: the 17-28mm f/2.8 for Sony full-frame cameras. I’ve tested this lens extensively on both jobs and personal projects over the course of a month, and hopefully, I can now tell you whether you should buy this lens or not. 

The Sony RX 100 VII is the latest entry into the company's line of premium point and shoot cameras, and with it comes a plethora of features for photographers and videographers alike. This great video review takes a look at the video features of the camera to help you decide if you should consider adding it to your kit. 

As high quality RGB Led light panels become cheaper and more compact, more and more photographers and videographers are finding just how useful these little lights can be. In this video, I compare the new Falcon Eyes Pocketlite F7 light to my favorite RGB light panel as we explore a few unique lighting setups any photographer can create on the fly. 

Are you like me? Do you look for entertainment with some elements related to photography and is more than merely "behind the scenes" or "how to type" of videos? Something that provides a different insight into photography and the photographers who create world-class images? If so then perhaps, or maybe not, the documentary "Jay Myself" is for you. 

With extreme wide-angle lenses on the market from all the major players now that don't accept screw-in filters, filter manufacturers have stepped up their offerings with larger filter holders and dedicated attachment rings. One such offering is Haida's M15 Magnetic Filter Holder. 

Traditionally, the most extreme supertelephoto lenses have mostly remained the purview of first-party manufacturers aside from a few exceptions, but Sigma recently dipped its toes back into the waters with the 500mm f/4 DG OS HSM Sports lens. Can it keep up with Canon and Nikon's variants? This great review will answer that question for you.  

New gear always excites any photographer like a kid gifted with a new toy. More often than not, we always just end up taking random photos of a cup of coffee or even the lens cap on a table to test out the new camera.

I am a big advocate of calibrating equipment. For this reason, I regularly make sure my monitors, cameras and, lenses are calibrated and working correctly. Printers, on the other hand, are a device that I've never done anything beyond using the factory settings. I figured it might be a good idea to reconsider that. 

Last week, Sony announced two APS-C cameras and two more G-series lenses for their crop-sensor system. In this first-look review, I share my thoughts after photographing birds with the new a6600 and E 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS. 

When I received the RAVPower FileHub my first thought was "This thing is light. It can't be what it says it is." and boy was I wrong. While it definitely is not perfect, the RAVPower FileHub is an extremely versatile, handy, device for those that like to travel light. 

Sigma's Art series of lenses took the photography world by storm a few years ago, and perhaps none was more hotly anticipated than the 85mm f/1.4 Art lens. That lens finally came to the Sony E mount last year, and this great video review takes a look at it to help decide if it is the right portrait lens for you.  

Having a photobooth is something I recommend every wedding photographer to have. The problem is that not all photobooths are created equal.  

The "Masters of Photography" courses are a collection of online lessons provided by, as the name implies, some of the top photographers around today. I tried their Joel Meyerowitz course to see what I could learn about street photography from one of the best in the game.

Canon released the Canon Pixma Pro-10 around 2014 and changed prosumer printing. Even though it was released over five years ago the Pro-10 (and the Pro-10S) is still one of the the flagship models until you reach into professional level territory.

A few years ago, Samyang was known for producing cheap but quality lenses that used manual focus only and were particularly loved by astrophotographers. Recently, they've started to branch out into creating autofocus lenses. Does their 45mm lens for Sony shooters maintain that optical quality while adding good autofocus performance?

The Panasonic S1H is an absolute monster of a camera that's aimed squarely at videographers and filmmakers. And while it looks fantastic on paper, you might be wondering how it holds up in real-world use. This excellent video review answers just that question. 

Zeiss is well known for making spectacularly sharp lenses, but with that high optical quality often comes a correspondingly large price tag. However, the Batis 85mm f/1.8 is much cheaper than some of its counterparts, making it an intriguing option for many photographers. This great video review takes a look at the lens to help you decide if it's right for you.  

With the growing popularity of mirrorless cameras due to their more compact size and weight, tripods have also been evolving to be more portable. But it doesn't mean that less weight automatically means better. 

In a recent video, we take a look at the FeiyuTech AK2000 gimbal to see how good it is and if it's worth recommending. This gimbal is the smaller version of its bigger brother, the AK4000, and I wanted to see how the little one compares.  

Fujifilm's XF 8-16mm f/2.8 lens is the widest available rectilinear lens on the system and has completed the "Holy Trinity" of professional-grade zoom lenses. Squarely aimed at the uncompromising photographer, this lens shows that Fujifilm is ready to offer working photographers of all styles great lenses to execute the images they conceive.

Insta360 promised a camera smaller than your thumb, but with unique capabilities. Have they delivered? 

Earlier this year, Fujifilm released the 16mm 2.8 R WR (AKA the 16mm 2.8). A compact prime lens for their Fujifilm X system. I got to play with it for about three weeks and there is a lot to love, but it isn't without its imperfections.

Though film has long since fallen to digital, it is still a passion for many photographers, and medium format film still offers the beauty of large negatives that are not matched in size even by the most expensive of digital options. This awesome video review takes a look at one of the best options from yesteryear, the Mamiya 645.  

In this short video, videographer Max Yuryev puts the Sony a6400 and the Fuji X-T30 to the test to compare and see which one has the best colors straight out of the box. 

If you ask me, curved television sets are a little over the top. Unless you have a television the size of a movie screen, it just doesn’t make financial or practical sense to bend that screen. But when it comes to monitors a few feet from your eyes, Samsung’s CJ791 curved monitor really does make the difference. 

The 85mm wide-aperture portrait lens is often a calling card lens for a lot of companies, showcasing some of their best optics at one of the most popular focal lengths. How good is Sony's version? This great video review tests it out to help you decide if it is right for you. 

There has never been a better time to be looking for a camera, as there is a veritable plethora of high quality cameras with an array of feature sets and prices available to anyone looking. This fantastic showdown takes a look at a wide variety of some of the most popular and intriguing cameras out there.  

Sony's RX100 line of cameras is well known for packing a ton of technology and great image quality into a very tiny package, making them an intriguing option for photographers and videographers looking for something they can carry everywhere. This excellent video review takes a look at the latest version to help you decide if it is right for you.  

The Fujifilm X-A5 is remarkably cheap, coming in at just $499 including a widely respected kit lens, making for inexpensive entry into the popular X Series. But can it hold its own against its more powerful siblings and will it stand up to the demands of a professional photographer? This great review will answer just that question for you.  

The smart controller merges a CrystalSky monitor with a regular controller to offer an all-in-one package. This solution is effective and comes with interesting features. 

Mind Shift’s ROTATION180° PANORAMA made by Think Tank has been on the market for a couple of years now, but is its unique quick access feature still useful, and who exactly is the bag designed for? 

Is 3D printing the next step in niche manufacturing for photography gear? How does a 3D-printed product stack up against its all-metal CNC'ed inspiration? 

I think I'm right in saying that blogging, from choosing the images, to sorting, and uploading them, is the least fun part of running a photography business. So, is there a way to make this task less challenging, time consuming, but also make it work for our SEO? Take a look at our review of Narrative. 

The Samyang AF 45mm f/1.8 FE lens for Sony E is quite the intriguing lens, providing an autofocus prime with a wide maximum aperture in an impressively small and cheap package for Sony shooters. Does it give you a lot of bang for your buck? This great first look video aims to answer just that question.  

Topaz Studios seems to have endless releases of powerful tools for photographers, and many of us have at least one Topaz application or plugin in our collection of editing tools. So, just how good is the newly released Topaz Studio 2? 

Venus Optics (Laowa), a small Chinese lens manufacturer founded in 2013, has risen to prominence with their sometimes off-beat, always different, and always high quality lineup of lenses for all the major lens mounts. They have launched niche lenses like the 24mm f/14 probe macro and a series of their flagship close-to-zero-distortion Zero-D lenses.

This is a look at how this affordable home security cam can be used for increasing security of your gear while traveling on assignment. Even though it was never designed for this purpose, unlike a lot of other options on the market the Wyze Cam has just the right features to make it possible.  

We dragged Nikon’s new 500mm f/5.6 PF out to the Galapagos islands, up over the Andes, and down into the Amazon jungle to put it through its paces — as well as through numerous rain showers, muddy trails, and squadrons of mosquitos. None of it fazed the lens a bit, though the mosquitos at times drove me a little mad.