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Alex Cooke
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Articles written by Alex Cooke

Can This Popular and Affordable Lens Keep Up With Modern Mirrorless Cameras?

The EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM was long popular with Canon DSLR users for offering a versatile wide angle focal length range in a small body together with great image quality, all at a very affordable price. Now, with Canon developing a line of APS-C RF-S cameras, the 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 is relevant again. Can it keep up with the higher-resolution sensors on modern mirrorless cameras like the EOS R7, though? This excellent video review takes a look at what you can expect.

A Review of the Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR Lens

For Fujifilm photographers who want the ultimate levels of reach, the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR offers a full frame equivalent of 229-914mm, making it quite the intriguing choice for sports and wildlife photographers alike. 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.

Why You Shouldn't Overlook f/4 Lenses

When it comes to zoom lenses, the professional standard is f/2.8, which offers a suitably wide aperture for isolating subjects and working in low-light situations. However, many f/2.8 zooms also have f/4 variants, which are both far cheaper and much more portable. This great video essay discusses why you might want to consider f/4 options for your camera bag.

Canon Patents Another Extreme Lens Design

Ever since the arrival of the RF mount, Canon has shown they are willing to push the boundaries of lens design to new levels. It seems they don't plan to slow down, with two new patents emerging, including one for a 300mm f/2.3 mirror lens with autofocus.

Which of These Versatile Supertelephoto Lenses Is Best?

We are lucky to have a huge range of quality supertelephoto zoom lenses to choose from nowadays — so many, in fact, that it can be difficult to know which is right for you. This excellent video review takes a look at three of the best options: the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports, Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports, and the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS.

Two Straightforward One-light Portrait Setups

When it comes to creating compelling, professional-level portraits, it can be easy to think that you need a complex, multi-light setup in order to get worthwhile results. And while two or three lights can certainly give you more versatility, you can absolutely create compelling results with just one light. This excellent video tutorial will show you two effective and straightforward one-light setups for portraits.

A Look at One of the Best Medium Format Cameras Ever Made

Film continues to enjoy a steady resurgence, and one of the most intriguing ways to differentiate it from working with digital is to pick up a 645 medium format camera, which produces negatives far bigger than even the most expensive digital medium format cameras. One of the best such options is the Mamiya 645 AFD, and this great video review takes a look at the camera after running 250 rolls of film through it.

A Review of the New Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G Lens

The 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is the workhorse of choice for many creatives, offering a useful range of focal lengths and a decently wide aperture. However, for those who do not need that fast aperture, an f/4 option is both far cheaper and more portable, making it a nice alternative. Sony's FE 20-70mm f/4 G is one such option, and it offers extra reach at the wide end, making it more versatile. This excellent video review takes a look at the new lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in usage.

A Review of the New M2 Pro Mac mini

The Mac mini has long been a favorite of casual users and creatives alike who want the Mac experience in a desktop without dropping top dollar on a Mac Studio or Mac Pro. And now, with the ability to add an M2 Pro chip, the mini is more capable than ever. This great video review takes a look at the new Mac mini with the M2 Pro chip and just what you can expect from it.

How Much of an Improvement Is the Canon EOS R6 Mark II for Stills Work?

While the Canon EOS R5 got a lot of the accolades upon its release, the EOS R6 is arguably the most practical workhorse in Canon's lineup, with a balanced feature set that borrows a lot of the advanced capabilities from its bigger sibling without the added luxuries that would drive its price up. The EOS R6 Mark II takes that foundation and includes a range of improvements and new features that add up to a refined and well-rounded professional instrument. This great video review takes a look at the camera for stills work and how it compares with the latest options from Sony and Panasonic.

Helpful Advice for Long Exposure Seascape Photography

Long exposures of moving water are some of the most popular images in landscape photography, as they can calm turbulent motion and reveal patterns and motion that would not be visible otherwise. Creating a successful long exposure is about more than just setting a lengthy shutter speed, though. This helpful video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer giving you some helpful advice for creating better long exposure seascape images.

What Features Would You Like to See in Lightroom?

Lightroom has evolved into a tremendously versatile and powerful program, capable of tackling many things that one used to have to switch to Photoshop for. Nonetheless, there is always room to grow. This great video essay features a seasoned Lightroom educator discussing five things he would still like to see Adobe add to the program.

How Powerful Is the New M2 Max MacBook Pro?

The MacBook Pro has long been the workhorse of choice for many creatives, able to handle the needs of even the most demanding photo and video projects. Apple's transition to their own silicon has revitalized the lineup with improved performance and battery life. The latest model features the new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, and this great video review takes a look at what you can expect from it.

A More Refined Approach to Choosing the Right Aperture in Landscape Photography

Aperture is one of the most fundamental and powerful tools you have at your disposal for controlling the look of your images. As such, understanding and mastering every property of it and consequence it has on your photos is crucial. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer giving a nuanced approach for choosing the right aperture for your images.

Canon Patents Another Extreme Lens

Canon has been quite aggressive in the development of RF mount lenses, releasing some extreme designs, such as the RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM and the RF 85mm f/1.2 L USM. They seem to have no intentions of slowing down, as another boundary-pushing design has emerged in a recent patent.

How These Lightroom Tools Can Improve Your Landscape Photos

While Photoshop is still the destination of choice for the most involved and detailed edits, Lightroom has evolved into a tremendously versatile and powerful tool that can tackle quite a few images on its own. Three of its most useful tools for landscape photography are texture, clarity, and dehaze, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how they are used and how to leverage them for better images.

How Good Is the Sony a7R V Mirrorless Camera?

The Sony a7R series of mirrorless cameras has long been popular for offering some of the highest levels of resolution and image quality available in a full frame camera, but now in the fifth iteration, the a7R V is far from a one trick pony. A range of new and improved capabilities make it a powerhouse camera capable of tackling a variety of scenarios and needs. This great video review takes a look at the camera and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

A Review of the Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera

The Canon EOS R5 signaled to the industry that Canon was deadly serious about the professional mirrorless space, but along with it came the EOS R6, which kept many of the former's most impressive capabilities without such a high-resolution sensor and features like 8K raw video, which the vast majority of professionals do not need. It was also significantly cheaper, making it quite the intriguing camera. Now, the second iteration, the EOS R6 Mark II, is here, and it brings with it a number of worthwhile improvements. This great video review takes a look at the performance you can expect from it.