Popular Gear Reviews

Godox’s line of flashes, including the incredibly popular AD200 and V1, have become a mainstay of the on and off-camera lighting market. They’ve become so popular, in part, thanks to the surprising value and feature set offered at each price point. As a result, the AD100Pro, a new addition to the line, has quite the legacy to live up to. Has it earned a place in photographer’s bags?

Recently, Spiffy Gear had released a very unique-looking light named Spekular. What caught my attention was its ability to combine, shape, and separate one single "light" in so many different ways. From my perspective, having the variety of options for on-the-go shooting held value. I ended up taking the LED light kit for a spin. There were some aspects I liked and some that could use some improvements. Let's dive in.

Let me get to the point: Adobe Spark could be the company’s biggest release yet. For veteran Adobe users, it might not seem as exciting as a new Creative Cloud update; but the combination of its ease of use, ingenious functionality, and truly professional results give it the potential to aid far more people than Photoshop ever will — no, really. This is helped immensely by the fact that Spark’s launch is amongst the most impressive I’ve ever seen, as Adobe Spark launches today with the maturity of a decade-old product. And it’s completely free.

Recently, a gear company you may be familiar with, Tether Tools, released their new Case Relay Power System (CPS). This contraption allows you to shoot continuously without any interruption or having to keep recharging batteries. So, I decided to put it to the test and travel almost 100 miles away with just the power system and no batteries.

If you spend a lot of time under the night sky, you already understand the challenges: weather, setting up in the dark, and processing. Astro Panel 2.0 is a nifty Photoshop Plug-in that can automatically ease a lot of processing challenges and greatly improve your night sky photos.

Last week Sony unveiled their most ambitious Alpha camera to date with the a9. The 24.2-megapixel mirrorless camera takes on the general form factor of previous a7 II bodies and packs in their latest photo technology with a strong emphasis on autofocus, speed, and removing distractions such as shutter noise and screen blackout in continuous shooting. This all adds up to a product that has the potential to make a large impact on the sports photography scene. Today I'm excited to share a number of images I shot with the Sony a9 of a range of track and field events plus hockey and ice skating.

Recently, Godox launched the V1Pro, an upgrade to the popular V1 flash. But with the V1 already at the top of the pack, was there much to improve? In this review, I’ll be comparing the Godox V1 and V1Pro to determine which you should consider adding to your flash photography kit.

Let us take a moment of silence to respect the venerable 70-200mm lenses in our midst. The workhorses that they are have kept many a working professional with their rent happily paid, and many a serious amateur smiling at their results. The collection of several useful focal lengths, 85mm, 135mm, and 200mm, plus everything in between and a fast aperture of f/2.8 has made it the go-to lens for many. Up until recently, it was all but missing from the Fujifilm X System lens lineup as Fuji focused on creating spectacular primes one after another. But, Fujifilm rectified that with their announcement of the XF 50-140mm R LM OIS WR lens in September of 2014.

Not long ago, I released a review of Sigma's newest Art-series lens, the 20mm f/1.4 Art. Unfortunately, Northern California skies have had bit of a tough time clearing up despite numerous requests from astrophotographers below, patiently waiting for news of this lens' nighttime, Milky Way performance. Last night, although far from perfect, areas of the sky did clear up enough to get a small consensus on how this lens fares when pointed toward the stars.

Nikon has started making APS-C mirrorless cameras a few years back, and they are definitely worth considering. Their image quality is decent, the autofocus isn’t half bad, and they undoubtedly have their fans. But they lacked a decent selection of dedicated glass. That is finally changing.

If you've grown tired of waiting for Canon's native EF/EF-S to RF lens mount adapter to become available, this cheap adapter might be the perfect stopgap alternative. It works on both Canon's native lenses and third-party lenses. Read on to see all the lenses I tested successfully with it.

Over the years, I have discovered that having the right equipment for the job is essential. This doesn’t just mean cameras and lenses, but also ancillary equipment like tripods and straps. I decided to give both Peak Design’s excellent Slide and the Slide Lite a try to see which would suit me best.

The new Nikon Df retro styled camera is rustling the feathers of the photography world. People seem to either love it or hate. Today Chase Jarvis unboxes Nikon's newest offering and gives his first impressions. Could the Nikon Df DSLR be the ultimate travel camera or is it just another alternative to the modern DSLR?

Quite possibly the most exciting product announced within the last year comes from lighting company Profoto with the announcement of the Profoto B1 studio strobe. Promising TTL within a 500 watt/sec studio strobe is exciting all on its own, but they also announced that this device is cordless, with a built in battery pack. But does the light live up to its hype?

As a landscape photographer I'm always looking for unique locations. Living in Arizona, I seek out ghost towns, abandoned mines, and old airfields, military or civilian.

I recently traded my Nikon DSLR for an unbranded mystery camera for a few days to test out an entirely new concept: camera as a service.

Do you live tied down? Weighed down by the ball and chain? Feel like you're living with a leash on? No, I'm not talking about your love life, I'm talking about that tether cord attached to your camera. In-studio or on-location tethering has become a necessity, especially if you're working with clients. The thought leader in their cable tethering technology, Tether Tools, has created their latest product, Case Air, to help make photographers live free again.

It's not every day when you come across a camera like this. We took a look to how the new Sony RX10 III fared with its impressive spec sheet, and it did not disappoint!

The Way I See It is marketed as a look behind the curtain of two of the most iconic U.S. Presidencies in the last century, courtesy of White House Photographer Pete Souza. It's quite a bit more than that. To be upfront, if you don't believe in photojournalism or the importance of a historical record, if you're a Trump supporter with thin skin, or if you have an inability to think critically, this movie likely isn't for you. To be honest, neither is this article.

Few things are more terrifying than a corrupted or accidentally formatted memory card. When that recently happened to me, I hastily hopped on the Internet to find memory card recovery software. After several hours of searching, I came across an obscure but free tool, and a few hours later, all my images and videos were safely and securely transferred to my hard drive.

Can a keyboard do more than just type? Can it speed up your workflow and make everyday tasks easier? Do you even need it to? The Logitech Craft is trying to be the answer to these questions and more.

Now that the Fujifilm X system is more mature, plenty of lenses are available not only from Fujifilm themselves but third-party manufacturers are also starting to provide quality options. One such company that has just released it’s first native Fujifilm X mount offering is Venus Optics with their ultra-wide Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D.

As a modern photographer, you are often wearing many hats. We carry a lot of gear. Well now, there is one piece of tripod kit that transforms into a standing, tabletop, monopod, or handheld tripod all-in-one for both your phone and camera. My back is thankful for innovation. Let’s dive into the details.

Today, DxO is taking the wraps off their latest update to their PhotoLab series, PhotoLab 4. It's a major update of its multiple award-winning photo-editing software. This latest version features DxO DeepPRIME, a revolutionary demosaicing and denoising technology based on artificial intelligence and trained with deep learning.

Most people are familiar with the Sony a7-series cameras. These mirrorless cameras have matured over the last decade and enjoy a wide fan base. However, they have also grown significantly in size. If you prefer a smaller form factor, perhaps it's time to consider the Sony a7C II and a7CR.

Skin retouching can seem a daunting task if you are a beginner. What brush do you use, what layer goes where, and how do you smooth the skin? And on top of that, you have to remember all the steps involved. So, how does Infinite Guide make the whole process simple?

Abandon fake Photoshop lens flares and enhance your photographs with lens flares captured in an actual camera. Vibrantly colored and rich in detail, these flares are created using Nikon, Leica, Fuji, and Pentax cameras. Fairly simple to use, the Principle Light Hits Pack by Lens Distortions is definitely becoming one of my new favorite toys for creative post editing.

Would you consider a pocket-sized smoke machine as an additional piece of equipment? Take a look at our review of MicroFogger, a portable fun gadget that creates smoke on the go!

Tripods are an essential piece of equipment for most photographers. They steady your camera in order to capture the sharpest details, allow you to take exposures with long shutter speeds, make it easier to take multiple images of the same scene for composites, and help create those perfect panoramas. Like most photography equipment though, there are low end tripods and high end tripods. The offerings from Novoflex is on the high end of this spectrum with some really cool features.

Midway through 2015, Phase One released the XF camera system, an impressive digital medium format system which combines modularity, software upgradability, and image quality into the ultimate shooting package. Last August I spent a couple weeks shooting with the XF paired with the IQ3 50MP digital back, and in January I again spent two more weeks with the newly released mind-blowing XF 100MP system. In this review I cover my time with the new Phase One system shooting landscapes and nature photography and my experience playing with the image files in post-processing.

Like them or not, medium format cameras are the truth when it comes to image quality. The latest 150 megapixel juggernaut from Phase One is another example of what these systems are capable of, but there's far more to this back than just sheer resolution. Ever shot long exposures at 1/125s?

Around this time last year Phase One released the IQ4 line of digital backs. The IQ4 expanded on the IQ3 and introduced a new Infinity Platform (the UI and operating system in the backs), as well as two brand new sensors: the 151 megapixel full frame medium format IQ4 150MP and 150MP...

After running a handful of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns to date, beginning with its Capture camera clip, Peak Design needs no introduction. Now the company produces everything from large and small straps to the incredibly popular and diverse Everyday line of bags including backpacks, messengers, slings, and more. This morning, Peak Design is updating some of its most popular products including its flagship Slide and Slide Lite straps, the Capture camera clip, and the Pro Pad in a quick, five-day Kickstarter campaign just in time for the holidays — and we have quick reviews of them all.

Canon and Nikon have always had their single digit models at the top level of performance. From the original D1, bringing a professional digital camera to the world that didn’t require a separate backpack for a processor, to the D3, Nikon’s first ever full-frame body, this series of cameras has pushed the envelope of what a camera can do. The Nikon D5 not only pushed the boundary, it has demolished any previous limitation that I have found in a camera.

Last year I shared my method of how I export my photos for sharing with clients and social media without losing quality. While that method is proven, it was always still a pain to share a separate file for full resolution, not to mention that full resolution photos can push 20 MB a piece. Thankfully, I was introduced to an app that overcomes all of this.

About two years ago, Blackmagic made enormous waves in the cinema industry with their original cinema camera. A year later, they packed that camera into a preposterously small package, giving filmmakers the ability to take high quality video with them virtually anywhere. With numerous highly desired firmware updates since then, we wanted to see how the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera has handled the test of time.

You have been up all night, taking images of the Milky Way. Tomorrow, hours of editing probably lie ahead. Light pollution, noise, and a lack of contrast can make most nightscape photos feel lackluster. If you’re familiar with doing landscape astrophotography, then you’ve no doubt experienced the amount of effort needed in post-processing to make your images shine. Even with today’s digital cameras, no picture comes out of the camera the way you’ve imagined them to. Enter OrionH; a panel for Adobe Photoshop dedicated to natural night photography and meant to decrease the amount of time you sit at the computer.

With the importance that social networks now take, our work as photographers has evolved into something entirely different over the past few years. Nowadays, images must be edited faster than ever, and, sometimes, that means not being able to use our computers, but having to rely on mobile solutions. One of such solutions is ACDSee Pro for iOS, which will allow you to edit your pictures on the go with a straightforward and easy-to-use interface. In this review, discover how it could improve your workflow, whether you are a photographer or an Instagrammer.

Super-telephoto lenses are essential to the craft of sports and wildlife photographers who are shooting great distances away from their subjects, as well as to other creative photographers looking to flatten or fill the frame to create unique images. Enter the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary which is a full-frame super-telephoto lens priced just under $1,000 and comes in Nikon F, Canon EF, and Sigma SA mounts.

Over the past few years, Zhongyi Optics have introduced several lenses in their Mitakon “Speedmaster” series of reasonably-priced, well-constructed, super-fast manual focus lenses. The 35mm f/0.95 Mark II lens falls straight into that category. We’ll be looking at the Fujifilm mount version, but this lens is also available for EOS-M and Sony E cameras. So, let’s get into it and look at sharpness, build quality, and, of course, bokeh.

Love them or hate them, Lightroom presets have become a staple in the world of editing. A lot of users use them to emulate their favorite photographers or in an effort to recreate certain film looks. The problem with these presets is that everyone that uses them ends up releasing work that looks the same as everyone else who has the same preset. This was apparent with the very popular VSCO presets. What DVLOP aims to do is give you the ability to not only emulate your favorite photographers, but also the tools to create your own style.

Canon has been very busy in the last few years playing catchup in the mirrorless game. Along with a number of new bodies, Canon has also released a bunch of new lenses, including the brilliant RF100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L lens. I've had it for a couple of months now, and here are some of my initial thoughts, along with various images I've taken.

Anyone who has shot buildings and interiors might wonder what possibilities shooting at 10mm could unlock. This lens definitely triggered my curiosity.

No more pen tool. Remove backgrounds from your photographs automatically with "zero clicks" in five seconds using this free tool, all with incredible accuracy and powered by artificial intelligence.

I got an opportunity to use the brand-new Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM zoom lens. This expensive and large zoom lens with a large aperture is even more amazing than I initially expected. In this article, I share my experience and thoughts on this lens from real-world use.

It’s one thing to have a dedicated graphic tablet for editing and a whole world of convenience to have a versatile editing console. Let’s check out why the Inspiroy Dial 2 can be considered more than just a tablet.

When Nikon’s Z series mirrorless cameras were introduced, they caught a lot of flak. Although I wasn’t a fan at first, I’m starting to come around. Turns out I just had to use one.

Everyone who owns a good camera eventually wants some degree of remote control. It may be simply to get in a selfie, to take a time-lapse, or to create bracketed images.

When getting into the 4K game, even Dell has enough options to be rather confusing to the average buyer. But there’s a reason the U2718Q 27-inch UHD monitor made my list. It hit in all the right spots.