Popular Gear Reviews

Why Using A Camera Sling Is Common Sense | The Yeti Review

Shooting events is like running a marathon, it often feels like it's never ending. At the end of the day you are sore, dirty, and you may have blacked out for a portion of it from dehydration. Using an ergonomic camera sling for one or both cameras is a great solution for saving your neck and back and also keeping your cameras secure on your body. This is a no-brainer investment if you are an event shooter and may change your life if you haven't been using one.

Lifetime Review: Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens

The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens is the oldest piece of kit in my work camera bag. As I get ready to upgrade all of my gear, I thought a lifetime review was in order.

Walking Dead Star Norman Reedus Replaces Crossbow with Camera

Renowned actor Norman Reedus, best known for his portrayal as Daryl Dixon in the television series The Walking Dead, is also an international artist and photographer. Step inside the inventive mind of Reedus by taking a look at his recently published book, The Sun’s Coming Up… Like a Big Bald Head. It is filled with dark and gruesome images that exist somewhere between Reedus's reality and our own.

The Camera Accessory That Saved My Workflow? Peak Design Tech Pouch Review

If you're like me, you have a whole bunch of small photography bits—cables, connectors, SD cards, batteries, and more—in your camera bag. If you were to use a different bag, you'd have to take all of them out and transfer them over. That's how I lived for the first couple of years of my career, and it was awful.

The GR Is Not the Only One: Fujifilm X70 Re-Review

Many photographers know the famous Ricoh GR lineup. Unsurprisingly, it is a widely loved and appreciated series of APS-C fixed-lens compact cameras. But it is not alone in this space. Many Fujifilm users know the X70 well, but is it still a good choice today, nearly seven years after its release?

The Best Value for Money? Fujifilm X-T3 Re-Review

When it comes to used cameras there are many powerful contenders for the top spot in terms of the best bang for your buck. Well, almost no cameras have been losing value as fast as Fujifilm’s X-Ts with each new release. For a budgeting photographer, this can only mean you get the good stuff cheap.

The Camera You Should Want: Fstoppers Reviews the Sony a7 III

Sony has been making waves with the a7R III and a9, but a lot of photographers don't need those crazy levels of resolution and frame rates. Instead, they look for a quality camera that can do almost anything asked of it at a reasonable price. The Sony a7 III may just be that camera, with an awesome feature set, excellent performance, and an aggressively competitive price. Check out our full review.

Review: One Week With Peak Design’s Everyday Backpack

Peak Design’s last Kickstarter for the Everyday Messenger was the most successfully funded photography product on the crowd-funding platform. With two days to go, its latest for the Everyday Backpack, Tote, and Sling just beat that record with nearly $5 million in pre-orders. These are my first impressions after a week with a pre-production version of the highly anticipated Everyday Backpack.

A Practical Review of the Apple M1 MacBook for Photo and Video Editing

The M1 architecture released by Apple late last year completely blew away the expectations of many tech enthusiasts, myself included. Now that the dust has settled after a few months for apps to grow into the new system, how well does the M1 chip handle photo and video editing?

Is Photo Mechanic Plus a Lightroom Killer? An In-Depth Fstoppers Review Part 2: The Image Catalog

In Part 1 of this In-Depth review, I outlined the core philosophy of Photo Mechanic Plus before going on to summarize and test the ingestion process. Arguably, this is the star in the crown however, Camera Bits have now added an image catalog allowing it to manage your photo archive. Read on to find out how it performs, as well as a comparison with Lightroom's own catalog.

First Hands-On Look At the Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens

If you’re looking for a little more reach with your Sony Alpha mirrorless camera, there is a new telephoto lens coming soon that you may want to check out. Sony announced plans to ship their longest E-mount focal length zoom lens, the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS, in May 2016. I had the chance to shoot with the new telephoto mounted to the 42.4-megapixel Sony a7RII, and am happy to share my thoughts on the practical-use aspects of the lens in this article.

The Bad and the Beautiful: Where Does Helmut Newton Fit Into Our New World?

Over the last few years, we've increasingly and very publicly questioned our behaviors, our politics, our history, our heroes, our statues, and our art. It's only reasonable that we question our photography idols. Where do Helmut Newton's hyper-erotic photography and his ruminations on power fit into our new world?

Hands-On with the Everyday Messenger: The Bag That Raised Nearly $5 Million

While running a Kickstarter campaign might be a bit easier for veteran company Peak Design, there’s something to be said for raising over $4.8 million of excitement over a messenger bag. What is so special about this bag that merits this reaction? After reaching out to Peak Design, they sent a just-finished version of the Everyday Messenger — the "Trey Ratcliff bag" — for review so I could answer some of those questions.

We Review the New Sony a6700 Mirrorless APS-C Camera

After four years, Sony finally released this new APS-C camera. This is the a6700 with a completely new design. It features the new A.I. engine for identifying and tracking subjects. Unfortunately, Sony forgot to make a few other improvements.

Fstoppers Reviews the Sony a7R Compact Full Frame Camera

If there was a camera that really got people talking in 2013, it was the Sony a7 and a7R. Hailed as a “game changer” and “camera of the year” by both PDN and PopPhoto, it’s gotten a lot of attention. A full frame, powerful and purportedly pro-level mirrorless compact, what’s not to love? Many Sony fans were quick to hail it as the beginning of the end for the DSLR, and even many DSLR shooters seemed ready to join them. I’ve been shooting with the a7R for a few weeks now, and it’s time I laid down my personal verdict on this camera.

Fstoppers Reviews the Arsenal Smart Camera Assistant: A Must Have Accessory?

There was quite a bit of buzz about the Arsenal Smart Camera Assistant some months ago. It's a hardware device that can plug into many DSLR or mirrorless cameras (though there are some important exceptions which I'll detail later.) It's designed to automate a lot of shooting situations, and make AI based decisions about camera settings to get you the best possible images.

Joey L. Reviews Three Portable Lighting Kits for Traveling Photographers

Joey L. is a photographer best known for his stunning personal work creating portraits of the peoples of Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, and other exotic places of the world. He uses studio lights on-location to achieve his unique and dramatic look for his portraits of these exotic people. Consequently, he is frequently asked about what lighting gear he takes with him for those kinds of shoots. Recently, Joey made a video and blog post outlining three major options for portable studio lighting for photographers with varying budgets who want Joey L.-esque studio lighting on the go.

Fstoppers Reviews The Griffin PowerMate

It’s no secret that I have an unquenchable, near fetish-like lust for buttons and sliders or anything really that makes image processing akin to playing some freaky, incongruous musical instrument one might find in the Mos Eisley Cantina. This year, at CES 2014, Griffin announced an updated version of their PowerMate - an all-purpose, aluminum knob that will be wireless and wonderful and not out for a few more months. Luckily, there is a pretty great (and relatively inexpensive) wired version available now.

Nikon D810 Review VS D800 VS 5D3 VS FS700

I believe that the Nikon D810 is currently the best all around camera you can buy for the money ($3300) even with competition from Sony's A7R. The more difficult question comes from current D800 owners like me; "Is this camera worth upgrading to?" The answer isn't cut and dry.

We Review the Fujifilm GFX 100S Medium Format Mirrorless Camera

This year seems like it’s shaping up to be the second wave of megapixel wars from the major manufacturers. In this review, we’ll take a look at the 102-megapixel Fujifilm GFX 100S medium format mirrorless camera and what it has been like to work with over the last month.

We Review the Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 Lens: A Manual Focus Treasure

Do you have a lens in your collection that brings you joy every time you use it? One that begs to be used because of how beautifully it renders the world around you, and you can’t help but wonder how a specific subject might look when photographed with it? I recently found that lens for myself with the Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4, and to be honest, it has been an unexpected love affair.

Art versus Art: Sigma Art 50 1.4 vs Nikon 58 1.4

The Nikon 58mm 1.4 and The now famed Sigma Art 50mm 1.4 are two lenses that arguably have a lot in common and at the same time polar opposites. The fact of the matter is the Sigma series which is marketed under the “art” moniker has received its praise because of technical proficiency while the release of the Nikon 58mm fell flat due to misguided expectations.

Hasselblad H6D-100c Comparison Review - Full Frame Out-Performs Medium Format

Hasselblad holds a special place in the photography community and is well known for making some of the best cameras currently available. I have been using the H6D-100c camera system for more than a year, and I wanted to see if it holds up to the perception. With its huge 100-megapixel sensor, this camera does produce some very detailed and beautiful images. The latest "orange dot" lenses from Hasselblad have all been rated up to and potentially even beyond 100 megapixels, making them very effective. With that in mind, it would seem nonsensical to compare this camera to a full-frame system, however after seeing some of the results, the opposite is true.

Fstoppers Reviews - Neewer TT850 Li-Ion Flash

No AA's? No problem! Late last year Neewer, a company previously bashed for making fake MB-D11 battery grips, released the TT850 speedlight (you may also find this same flash branded as the Godox Ving V850). While not offered by B&H, they can be found on eBay and Amazon, for around $100. Typically I wouldn't get too excited about a third party product but there is a particular feature that sets the TT850 apart from its competitors and put it at the top of my list.

Chris Knight Produces the Bible of Dramatic Portraiture

In an industry saturated with educational materials, navigating the minefield to find which resources are valuable, and worthy of your hard earned money, can be rough. As a photographer, I have purchased countless tutorials, books, and magazines. I have poured through blogs, YouTube videos, attended numerous workshops and endured some questionable Facebook Live sessions. When I tell you I have discovered a gem, it isn't because this is my first time mining.

I'm Switching To Mac After a Lifetime of Windows

For my entire life, I've been not only a Windows user but a MacOS hater. I've loved Mac hardware but I could never get past the annoying limitations of their software. All of that changed when I bought the new M1 MacBook Pro.

We Review the BenQ PhotoVue SW321C: Half the Price, Double the Features

As someone that is as deep in the Apple ecosystem as it gets, I will still pick the BenQ PhotoVue SW 321C over both Studio Display and even the ProDisplay XDR. Not only is this monitor objectively better, but also way more affordable. In this article, we will review the BenQ PhotoVue SW321C.

A Beast for Serious Photographers: We Review the Nikon Z 8

Many of us have been waiting for it for years now. A serious and capable mirrorless successor of one of the best DSLRs ever, the brilliant Nikon D850, has finally been unveiled and it comes packing a serious punch. How does it feel to use one? And is it worth the upgrade? Well, I’ve had it for a week and I love it.