Fstoppers Gear Reviews

Just recently, I was able to test out the Venus Optics 105mm f/2 STF lens. After having it and using it here and there for a few months, I came to the conclusion that it would not be a bad addition to my photo bag. There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this lens considering I've never really had a prime telephoto lens before.

Fujifilm has made quite the name for themselves in the camera industry. They completely changed the game with the release of the original X100 and have since been turning out great camera after great camera. In a similar fashion, Fujifilm is looking to change the way you view medium format cameras with the recent release of the Fujifilm GFX 50s. This camera is not only smaller and lighter than most comparable cameras, but it also comes in at a cheaper price tag. But does the final product live up to the hype?

Canon released the 1D X Mark II last year, representing the next generation of its flagship model, a camera meant to be without compromise — top of the line capabilities, durability, and performance. As even consumer-level cameras reach sometimes stratospheric heights, the truly professional models have had to reach for even greater heights to continue to distinguish themselves. Read on to see where the 1D X Mark II fits in.

Lowepro recently announced an update to their popular Flipside series of backpacks aimed at meeting the modern photographer and videographer's needs. Here I review the largest and most robust of the series, the Flipside 500 AW II.

This is not your typical list of must have photography apps — no Snapchat, Instagram, or Photoshop here. Although you might not have heard of many of the names I'm about to recommend to you, each one has earned its place on my phone because it plays a part in making my life as a photographer much easier.

I love editing photos. For me, pressing the shutter is only the first 10 percent of the adventure. So, any product that promises to not only speed up the editing process, but just as importantly, make it more intuitive, is an intriguing proposition. Enter Palette, which transforms editing from an exercise in mousing sliders to a real, tactile process.

The favorite plug-in amongst many photographers just got a little better, which is great news! In case you haven't read my last article covering what JPEGmini does and what it's all about, it's both a software and plug-in that cuts the file size of every high-resolution photo in half while still retaining photo size and resolution. Sounds impossible, right? We put it to the test and the results did pleasantly surprise us. With that said, JPEGmini listened to what customers had to say and are finally sharing updates to all. Let's dive into what they've added.

How could you make photo editing more intuitive? Both working professional photographers and beginners would really benefit from a more intuitive, time-saving way of interacting with Adobe Lightroom. Dragging sliders and rating images can be, well, a drag sometimes. I’m actually surprised it took this long for a creative company to dream up a dedicated photo editing console for Adobe Lightroom. But the day has finally arrived. Loupedeck promises to change the way you work with Lightroom and shorten the amount of time you spend sitting at your computer. Loupedeck is here and we’re reviewing it.

Photographers today demand a lot from their equipment, and we expect a lot when purchasing gear that we plan on traveling with. Fstoppers takes a look at a lightweight carbon fiber travel tripod that’s packed with the features you may be looking for.

I tend to be fairly wary of brands I've never heard of before, particularly when it comes to buying something that is meant to keep my camera from falling over, but the guys over at K&F Concept offered to let me test out one of their tripods so I figured I might as well throw caution to the wind and give it a go. Is the K&F Aluminum Tripod the perfect value tripod for you? Only one way to find out.

Broncolor is often thought as one the most exclusive flash manufacturers. Its studio units are renowned to be built like tanks and to be remarkably consistent in terms of color and exposure. The Move L is no exception even though it’s meant to be used outdoors. Solid, well designed, and powerful, it will match any sport and action photographer’s needs, even more so now that it can sync up to 1/8,000s with compatible cameras, thanks to HS.

Ah, scanning. If you're not printing in the darkroom, it's a necessary evil when dealing with film. You could argue that outside of the moment of exposure, scanning carries the most weight in determining the quality of the final image. For those that choose to develop their film at home, scanning is the next step in our workflow. Most of us want to get in, get the best scan we can, and get out to the greener pastures of Photoshop to make our final edits. Your choice of software has a lot to do with how efficient and how tolerable it will be to get your negatives into the computer. It's through that lens that we take a look at VueScan.

So, it's kind of a running joke in the office whenever we see an email about a bag that someone wants us to review: "Wow! Do you think it will hold all the things!?" Because let's be real, a camera bag is just that: a bag to hold your camera and other gear. I've used the same cheap camera backpack for about five years now, and it was starting to look a little raggedy. So, much to my surprise (and chagrin), I found a camera bag that I, dare I say it, loved, the Medium Long Bag from Porteen Gear.

Pixrit is the latest in social media content managers specifically targeting photographers. With tag lines like, “Designed for photographers, by photographers,” and, “Schedule 1 month of sharing in less than 5 minutes,” they have set high expectations for a service that already has some strong competition.

When I received this bag I have to admit I had never heard of K&F Concept as a company before. A quick examination of the bag and I could see that this large travel backpack style bag wasn't something cheap you would pick up at Walmart.

It's been three years since Leica brought us the original aluminum wonder Leica T. While it was given a refresh last year, that update flew under the radar of even many Leica fans as it did little more than change the name. The brand new TL2, however, is a ground-up reworking of the entire platform. Well, we've spent the past two weeks putting our hands on one and we've got some thoughts, and even raw DNG files, to share.

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM) is Sky-Watcher’s newest time-lapse and astrophotography tracking platform. It’s their attempt at a compact lightweight mobile setup that's both beginner friendly and easily packed into your camera bag.

Electronics company MGCOOL has recently put out several new sports action cameras in the style of GoPro targeting the 4K and affordable market. The Explorer 1s both feature rich and capable of 4k at 24FPS packs a lot in for the low price of $70.

Colorists and video production folks are already familiar with LUTs (Lookup Table) and likely already use them for color grading videos. This is the next level for working with LUTs.

UPDATE: ENDS TODAY! Have you ever wished you could have a decent sized softbox fit in the palm of your hand? Swedish photographer Vincent Palma and his team have created a 24 inch light modifier that folds down into a mere 8 inches. Using the same patented mechanism as our own Fstoppers Flash Disc, the Sundisc will give you even, soft light when carrying large, bulky softboxes is not practical. The Sundisc Kickstarter has already met its funding goal but that doesn't mean you can't get in on this first production run now before the campaign ends Wednesday, June 28th.

I recently wrote about how photographers should be seriously looking at the medium of video as a skill that should be in their repertoire. Hopefully, some of you were inspired enough to start capturing your own moving images and now you're ready to edit the footage. VSDC Free Video Editor could be just the piece of software you've been looking for.

"Could you Photoshop this for me?" I'm pretty sure that's something every photographer hears on a far more regular basis than any of us would like. I get it, people want better photos. Maybe they didn't see that trash can in the background, or they couldn't get everyone with their eyes open at once, or they didn't like the color of shirt they were wearing in the photo. Whatever it is, chances are you've been asked to fix it at one point or another. Well now you don't have to, now you can just refer your friends to Mendr.

If you're a fan of Lightroom presets, the PIC Presets Collection might be the most complete set you've ever seen. Check out our review of the full system and find out how if they offer the versatility you're looking for.

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.

So many photographers have recently been dipping their toes in the world of video. You can edit photos like a pro, but maybe you just can't seem to figure out video editing; it's very complex – like an onion, so many layers – and now you have to deal with sound design! If you've used presets for your photo editing, then you should definitely consider plugins for your video editing. Red Giant sent us a copy of their recently updated Universe 2.1. Jump on in and see what it's all about.

Being lazy is one of my favorite traits, so walking needs to be avoided at all costs. I'm kidding... well, not really. This wireless remote for my camera has saved me quite literally thousands of steps in my light painting processes.

Microsoft just released an updated version of their Surface Pro laptop/tablet hybrid. It's not a total redesign but it's still a pretty unique product. Yes, there are other tablets on the market, but nothing that works quite like this.

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.

Remember that feeling you had as a child, every time you pass a toy shop window and you could see your favorite toy? You pass that window, and your favorite toy sits there, waiting for you to play with it regardless of all the other forgotten toys you have waiting for you back home. All you can do is just imagine the fun you could have with it every day. The toy you'll never get tired of playing with. The toy that allows every day to become a new adventure. The toy that becomes your new best friend.

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.

Leica is a company that is synonymous with premium quality at a premium cost in the photography industry. So when Leica co-engineered their second-generation dual-lens camera with Huawei and placed it on the affordable $599 Mate 9 smartphone, I was eager to try it out.

The raw processing world often seems restricted to Capture One, Lightroom, and Camera Raw. However, these three are far from being alone. One alternative is called Alien Skin Exposure X2, and while you may have heard of it as a Photoshop plugin, it’s also a standalone app able to edit your raw files. Despite being younger than the other options, it offers a broad palette of features, and I would almost dare say it took most of the best functionalities found on the market to bring to life a very appealing photo editing software. After a few weeks working with it, here’s my review and why you should perhaps give it a try too!

The Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro Hard Drive is one of the best options for photographers looking to back up and access their files on the go. Western Digital updated the line in 2017 with new firmware features and capacities. Check out our review to see how the new version fares!

ON1's relatively new to market Photo (RAW) 2017 has pushed their first major update into beta which Fstoppers managed to get our hands on for an early review. In December, we took a look at the original launch of Photo (RAW) 2017 and were impressed by many of the features but ultimately felt that it did not offer enough benefit to recommend switching to over existing raw editors. With this latest iteration ON1 has promised a series of impressive new features that it feels will launch it into contention as a top tier raw editing tool.

In 2002, QT Luong became the first person to photograph all U.S. National Parks with a large-format camera. His experience in traveling these beautiful, natural lands is simply inspiring. He was even a featured artist in the epic Ken Burns documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” With all his knowledge and stories gained from decades of creating stunning imagery across the United States, I feel fortunate that Luong authored his photography book, “Treasured Lands.”

Apps for working out the best times to shoot in natural light based on your location are not new, but the GoldenHour.One App by Hana Kusova brings together the perfect ingredient of features to compliment any photographer’s planning process for outdoor photography.

The Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD lens is more than an update of the older version it is a complete redesign in almost every way. Its overall design reminds me of the new Sigma Art lenses with its smooth clean lines and all black body construction. Something I’m happy to see Tamron adopt moving forward.

Joby has released their latest products aimed towards mobile content creators with the GripTight PRO Video Mount and GripTight PRO Video GP Stand. The new mount is designed to be used with smartphones for on-the-go video filming, live steaming, or creating vlog content. Here are some of my first impressions.

BlackRapid has been making unique, useful camera straps for a while, but recently released an updated product line. For this review, I took one of their more popular straps out into the field for a rock climbing photoshoot, as well as used it on a location scout.

As someone that always seems to be on the hunt for that perfect camera bag for every occasion, I know there is no shortage of options. But in my everlasting search, one bag I have always been lacking is a good camping backpack that could also carry some camera gear. The backpack style bag I have had in the past have either been great camera bags, or great camping bags. When I saw the Tahquitz backpack though, I got excited.

Color grading is one of the most powerful tools you have when it comes to elevating your images and video. One of the most frustrating and intimidating things about working with color is that it can often feel tedious and un-intuitive. Video editors often employ physical editing panels when color grading their work and now Tangent, one of the leading makings of video editing hardware have brought support for Capture One Pro 10 to their system.

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.

A while back I reviewed the Platypod Max and recently had a chance to test out the new Platypod Ultra and Multi Accessory Kit. The Platypod system is a must have for any tripod-wielding photographer and is relevant in a limitless number of applications. It's a staple in my kit and gets more use than a tripod in my commercial, event, and journalism work. Here's the latest piece of gear you didn't know you needed to enhance your photography and video work.

StudioBinder is a web-based tool designed to help manage any creative production. Whether you are a photographer planning a shoot with a small creative team or a world-class producer looking to manage your next billion dollar box office hit, StudioBinder promises to help make your production run smoother with its suite of handy tools. Lets find out if StudioBinder meets the bar set by its lofty claim of being the world's leading production management software.

The Nikon KeyMission lineup was announced in January 2016 at the Consumer Electronics Show and left many people scratching their heads. Hadn’t GoPro tried this action camera thing before? Overshadowed by the confusing press around the KeyMission 80 and the KeyMission 170, however, was a gem in the otherwise oddball KeyMission lineup, something unique that got lost in the shuffle, the KeyMission 360. It’s a true 360-degree camera that captures spherical video without any gaps in the footage, something that wasn’t as common in consumer 360 cameras at the time. So after many months with the camera, how good is it, and how does it compares to its nearest competition, the Samsung Gear 360?

For years we wondered why external hard drives didn't come with multiple USB ports so that two or more computers could work off of the same drive at once. Sadly, there isn't a simple way to connect two computers to a single hard drive, but we've found a better solution.

One place I never recommend cutting corners is memory cards. Your images and video are too important to risk losing to cheaper cards. Lexar's Professional line aims to provide speed and reliability for working pros. Check out our review of their latest CFast 2.0 and microSDXC memory cards.

If you work in tough conditions and need something a bit more rigorous than the standard USB flash drive, the Lexar JumpDrive Tough could be the ticket. Built to withstand some pretty crazy ordeals, it could be a great option for photographers who frequently work in less-than-stellar environments.

When on the go, a working photographer needs to balance portability, versatility, and power in everything they carry. The choice of computer while away from the home base is critical because it can dictate your capabilities and work potential over these periods of time. In this hands-on review, I take a look at the 12.3-inch VAIO Z Canvas tablet-laptop hybrid as a mobile workstation for photographers.