Gear Reviews

Pushing past the usual 1:1 macro limit changes how you see small subjects, from jewelry to tiny objects that normally look flawless at a glance. At 1.4x and even 2.8x magnification, every scratch, engraving, and tiny imperfection jumps out, so your lens and technique decide whether that detail works for you or against you.

Thunderbolt 5 docks are starting to decide how your desk actually works, from power delivery to how many high-resolution screens you can run at once. If you spend long hours culling, editing, and tethered to a laptop on photography jobs, you are dealing with the same pain points that photographers run into when a dock chokes their storage or display setup.

For landscape photographers, one of the most crucial purchasing decisions is not always the camera gear, but the backpack you stow it in. Will the WANDRD FERNWEH 50L tick all the boxes? Or is it just another backpack among thousands of other choices available today? Let's find out.

For most of us, storage is an unavoidable part of the workflow. Many creatives don’t see having a NAS as a luxury, but rather as a necessity. Small studios and teams rely on having a server to be able to access shared files fast and on the go. Having an SSD-powered NAS can be the heart of a small production, but can it handle what is needed from a modern team? I tested it out.

One of the year’s most awaited cameras is finally here, and it comes with major upgrades that users of the previous generation will love. The Sony a7 V may look almost the same, but the internal hardware and handling have a lot to offer.

Long wildlife zooms usually force you to choose between reach, speed, and weight, and you often end up sacrificing at least one. The OM SYSTEM M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f/2.8 IS PRO lens is built to pull off a 100–400mm full frame equivalent range while still being something you can actually carry around a bird park for hours.

Choosing an all-in-one zoom for a Sony full frame body is a big commitment, because that lens often lives on the camera for trips, family events, and everyday shooting. This video looks at three very different takes on the 20-200mm class and digs into which one is right for you.

When I am out and about doing street and urban photography—and even a lot of travel photography—my preference is to have minimal gear with me. So the ideal bag to hold what little I carry is a small shoulder bag. But there are plenty of times when I need something a little larger to carry a second camera or action camera and audio equipment for vlogging.

The Ricoh GR series has a strange pull on people who care about having a real camera in their pocket instead of a phone, and the new GR IV pushes that idea further while charging a premium that competes with serious interchangeable-lens bodies. If you care about spontaneous street shots, low-key family moments, or just always having a compact on you, the tradeoffs in this body matter more than the usual spec sheet bragging rights to photographers.

Pushing into serious wildlife and nature work means dealing with long focal lengths, unstable weather, and subjects that do not care about your comfort. Pairing a compact body with the right two-lens kit can be the difference between missing a fleeting bird and walking away with a sharp frame from a safe distance.

The sensor in any modern camera shapes what you can do in low light, fast action, and uneven lighting. Here's a look at what you can expect from the new Canon EOS R6 Mark III.

The Hasselblad X2D II 100C medium format mirrorless camera is built as a stills-only body for when you want an art tool rather than a hybrid spec sheet trophy. This review focuses on how it actually changes the way you shoot, from waist-level landscapes and cars to tracking subjects that don’t stand still.

Bags used for travel should always offer a lot of flexibility in terms of use, and that’s even more true when photographers use them. Carrying camera gear must mean keeping it protected and, at the same time, efficient with space.

New lenses landed fast in 2025, and not all of them earned a spot in a working kit. Here are the best and worst lenses of the year. 

Canon is pushing its mid-tier hybrid line hard, and the EOS R6 Mark III is where that strategy becomes very real. If you shoot portraits, events, or weddings and want one body that can track eyes at high speed while still offering serious video options, this one sits in a very specific sweet spot.

Not so long ago, a 40mm prime lens was an uncommon sight. When selecting a standard focal length prime lens, the choice was 35mm or 50mm. So why are we seeing so many 40mm primes now? And more importantly, why would we need one?

Choosing a standard zoom in the $1,300 range quietly decides how your everyday kit feels in your hand and how long you can stay fresh on a long shoot. When you put a compact 24–50mm against a heavier 24–70mm, you are really choosing how you want to move, react, and work.

Canon’s new RF 85mm f/1.4 portrait lens sits right between the compact f/2 option and the huge f/1.2 flagship. If you care about how your RF setup balances on a gimbal, how clean your files look at wide apertures, and whether a lens really earns a premium price, this one deserves attention.

Deciding whether to buy a Canon EOS R5 in 2025 means weighing a five-year-old body against newer releases while still needing high-end image quality and strong video performance. Can it still compete? 

If you want a compact cinema body that can shoot serious 6K while still fitting in a travel bag, the Nikon ZR hits a very specific need. It lets you rethink whether you actually need something like a more expensive cinema camera once you factor in raw codecs, audio, and how easily it fits around everything else you already carry.

Ultra-wide primes let you stretch space, push perspective, and still keep entire environments in frame when you are stuck in tight locations. Here's a look at an incredibly affordable option.

Canon’s EOS R6 Mark III lands as a 7K hybrid body that tries to merge Canon’s cinema and photo lines into one camera you can carry every day. If you juggle stills, long-form video, and higher-end work, the way this body borrows from the EOS C50 and EOS R5 Mark II changes how you think about what a “B camera” or even main camera needs to do.

I’ve been testing the new Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III and I like it—a lot.

If heavy blur is your obsession, a 135mm f/1.4 gives you a level of background wipeout that few lenses can touch. It takes the look far enough that even seasoned bokeh chasers start paying attention.

A compact 24-70mm style zoom that starts at 24mm but stops at 60mm instead of 70mm is not a common sight, especially with a constant f/2.8 aperture. You get a smaller, lighter lens that still promises bright aperture performance without the usual cost or bulk.

The 35mm focal length is a staple for almost every photographer, but native options often come with a hefty price tag. I recently took the Meike 35mm f/1.8 Pro AF for a spin to see if this budget-friendly full frame lens could stand up to the rigorous demands of modern high-resolution sensors.

Canon’s new 85mm prime aims to solve a basic problem: you want fast glass and shallow depth of field without carrying a giant, front-heavy lens all day. If you work with Canon RF bodies and bounce between portraits, events, and video clips, how this lens balances size, speed, and autofocus will directly change how you shoot.

A single lens that can handle landscape, travel, portraits, casual macro, and video without weighing you down changes how you plan every shoot. The Sigma 20-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DG Contemporary lens aims to be that kind of tool, especially if you hike, travel, or just prefer to keep things light.

Sigma’s 17-40mm f/1.8 DC Art is trying to replace a lens many people have built entire systems around, the 18-35mm f/1.8 Art. If you rely on one fast zoom on APS-C for video, interviews, or hybrid work, this lens is definitely worth a look.

A dedicated monochrome camera changes how you see a scene before you even lift it to your eye. When you commit to black and white only, every choice about light, texture, and timing becomes more deliberate.

A fast 85mm prime this cheap can change how your portraits and travel images look, especially if you want shallow depth of field without spending on a first-party lens. Here's a look at this fantastic option.

All hype aside, what did I learn from putting the brand new Nikon ZR and NIKKOR Z 24-70 f/2.8 S II into the field to make my new series, The Pickup Artist?

Packing for a trip always involves tough choices. Do you bring that heavy ultra-wide zoom for just a few shots? Viltrox AF 14mm f/4 Air has an answer that makes the decision incredibly easy, and it comes in a tiny lens that costs less than a nice dinner for two.

Fast 35mm primes can change how you shoot everyday work, from weddings and street to casual video. A lens like the Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4 can give you shallow depth of field, low-light flexibility, and a look that feels high end without dropping flagship money.

This new tripod from Manfrotto is trying to win your loyalty by offering to do everything you’d want a tripod to do. If you have various workflows and want to minimize your gear options, this might be for you.

Widely accepted as a go-to product for many outdoors and camping enthusiasts, power stations like this are underappreciated by photographers who have a need for power in off-grid scenarios. This article puts the Bluetti Elite 200 V2 through its paces for a variety of photographers who need serious, reliable energy in the field. 

An all-in-one zoom that actually feels like a serious lens can change how you pack and how you shoot. If you use a camera and want one lens that handles portraits, travel, details, and casual video without filling the bag, this new 25-200mm option demands attention.

Leica has turned the Q3 into a dedicated black and white tool with the Q3 Monochrom digital camera, and it is a very different proposition from simply converting color files later. For anyone who cares about tone, low-light performance, and staying unobtrusive, this kind of purpose-built body can change how seriously photographers treat monochrome work.

Fast 85mm primes sit in a sweet spot for portraits, travel, and casual street work, so a solid option that does not wreck your budget matters more than spec sheets suggest. 

Over the last few weeks I’ve been testing out the newly released Kodacolor 200, shooting over the course of a long-needed road trip along the Pacific Northwest coastline, as well as in New York and during several news events.

The limits of a macro lens show up fast when you try to fill the frame with something smaller than a grain of rice or when your background turns into busy mess instead of smooth color. Sony’s new 100mm macro aims to push past that by giving you more magnification and cleaner blur so tiny subjects feel bigger and more isolated in a natural way.

The Nikon NIKKOR Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 lens hits that sweet spot between casual shooting and serious close-up work, so you are not constantly swapping lenses just to cover everyday scenes and detail shots. Here's a look at what you can expect. 

If you spend time on wildlife, distant sports, or compressed landscapes, this new Panasonic telephoto finally gives the L-mount system a native option that reaches deep without feeling like a boat anchor.

When you’re just dipping your toes into video, the last thing you want is gear that holds you back or drains your wallet. I needed a monitor that was powerful enough to handle bright outdoor shoots but still stayed firmly in the affordable range (since professional video isn't my main gig). That’s why the Viltrox DC-A1, a 7-inch on-camera unit, caught my eye. At $278 with a truly stacked accessory kit, it looked like a steal. But does this budget-friendly monitor live up to the hype?

Tilt shift on an ultra wide 17mm lens can either make your buildings look natural and solid or turn them into distorted shapes that feel wrong. When you shoot architecture, interiors, or tight city streets, understanding exactly how that movement works at this focal length decides whether your images look intentional or like corrections gone too far.

Fast 85mm primes are where a lot of the magic happens on modern mirrorless bodies. If you shoot people, street, or compressed landscapes on Nikon Z or Sony E, a small, affordable 85mm can change how often you leave the zooms at home.

Small APS-C bodies can look like side projects compared to the flagship full frame cameras, yet they often end up being the workhorses that leave the house most. If you care about staying nimble as a photographer, hearing how the Nikon Z50 II mirrorless camera has actually behaved over a year of real shooting is a faster way to judge it than reading specs in isolation.

Lomography recently announced its newest camera, the Lomo MC-A, and it raised a bit of a ruckus. It’s an entirely new point-and-shoot camera with some fascinating features and promising ideas. On Friday, I got the chance to handle one of the prototypes at the Lomography office in DUMBO (“Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass” for non-New Yorkers), and I have to say, I really liked what I saw.

An 85mm prime is still the classic way to get flattering portraits on a full frame body, and the latest option from Viltrox tries to give you that look without the usual bulk or price. If you want a compact lens that still feels serious in the hand, this release deserves your attention.

The Leica M10 Monochrom locks you into black and white the moment you turn it on, with no safety net of color files to fall back on. That single constraint forces you to look harder at light, contrast, and shape instead of thinking about what preset you will use later.