Since Apple's keynote I have made two videos about the iPhone 18 Pro's new variable aperture lens, and in both of them I made predictions about how it would actually perform. Both phones are now sitting on my desk. I shot the same scenes on the 17 Pro and the 18 Pro, indoors and outdoors, at every aperture the new lens offers, then pulled all of it into Lightroom and zoomed to 400 percent.
Four days ago I put out a very nerdy video about the variable aperture lens in the new iPhone 18 Pro, and it has since become the most watched thing I have made all year. I did not see that coming. What I really did not see coming was the comment section.
Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro, and the headline camera feature this year is a physical variable aperture on the main camera. I have been shooting professionally for 20 years, and I sat through that entire section of the keynote thinking the same thing over and over: this does not make any sense. Why would anyone want or need a variable aperture on a phone?
Apple just had a gigantic keynote. New iPhones, new AirPods, new Apple Watches, and the one everybody was waiting on, a folding iPhone. I sat through the entire hour and a half and took detailed notes, and I came out of it more curious than convinced.
Laptops have finally gotten fast enough to be true desktop replacements. The one problem is that no laptop can connect to everything on your desk. A MacBook might only give you two or three USB-C ports, so you are going to need a dock.
AI software for photographers is getting so good that it is both incredible and a little horrifying. Every few months, a new app claims it can save us time, but most of them still only handle one piece of the job. Aftershoot’s newest update feels different.
If you use a Mac, you’ve probably hit this infuriating UI quirk: when you click "Upload," the macOS file picker displays microscopic thumbnails. Unlike a normal Finder window, there’s no slider to scale them up. Fortunately, there’s a permanent, 30-second fix. We just have to bypass the UI and tell macOS exactly what we want using Terminal.
Whether you want to record clean audio, or you want a quite room to enjoy music in, room treatment is imperative and usually extremely expensive. Costco just brought the price way down.
A while back, I made the mistake of comparing my old Polk TSi100 bookshelf speakers against much more expensive speakers. Somehow, my cheap speakers won. Now it's time for round two.
New AI software can now create incredibly accurate video from still images, and the Real Estate video market is about to change forever.
Most of us know that shooting in a flat log picture profile will give you the highest quality video footage but the workflow has always been too difficult to deal with. I've created Fstoppers' LUTs for Sony cameras and a shooting and editing workflow that changes everything.
AI powered photography software is getting so good that it may make us obsolete. This may have already happened with real estate photography.
After hearing that “no professional would ever use” a cheap laptop, I decided to test it. I edited an entire wedding, about 2,600 RAW files, on Apple’s budget MacBook Neo and compared it to a MacBook Pro. The twist: I let AI do almost everything.
I’ve been testing the Sony RX1R III and Leica Q3 for three weeks, and it’s got me wondering: who is buying this type of camera?
Whether you’re a casual shooter or a professional photographer, you might be like me and not really understand this “genre” of cameras. These are compact, full-frame, fixed-lens luxury cameras. The Sony costs over $5,000 and the Leica over $7,000.
I’ve used a ton of wireless systems over the years, and consistently, Saramonic tends to deliver some of the best range and audio quality. What shocked me here is that this is their smallest and cheapest system yet at just $49, and somehow it still holds up.
After comparing the new MacBook Neo to Apple’s Air and Pro, a lot of people asked the obvious question: what about Windows?
Yesterday I went to Walmart, bought a $659 Asus Vivobook, and tested it directly against the $600 MacBook Neo using the exact same real-world tasks.
Apple just released the incredibly cheap Macbook Neo for $599 and you might be wondering what it's capable of. In this video I'll put it head to head against the Macbook Air, and Macbook Pro.
To see the results of each test, you'll need to watch the video above but I'll give you a quick summary of what I discovered.
I just tested a 50mm lens that cost $7000. I got to compare it directly to five other 50mm lenses starting at just $225. How do you think it stacked up?
To get the full story, please watch the video above, but I'll give you a quick summary of how each lens performed.
For the past few weeks, I have been testing the Antigravity A1, the first drone I have ever used with a built in 360 degree camera. I expected a gimmick. What I got was something genuinely innovative surprisingly fun.
I know nothing about laser cutter/engravers, and when I offered one to review, I was excited to try. Would I be smart enough to learn how to use it? Would I be creative enough to find a use for it?
Thirty years ago, photo editing meant painting and airbrushing prints by hand. Then Photoshop arrived and wiped out most of those jobs. Over the last few years, AI software like Evoto did the same thing to advanced Photoshop skills. Slide a few controls and get results that once took years to learn. Photographers loved it...Until now.
The entire idea behind The Frame is simple. When the TV is off, it turns into a piece of artwork instead of a black rectangle. Samsung uses an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust brightness and color temperature so that the screen matches the lighting in your room.
Today, I put the incredibly small Saramonic Air up against the current industry favorite, the DJI Mic 2, to see how it really stacks up. The results will surprise you.
What You Get in the Box
I was recently mailed what I believe is the world's most expensive digital picture frame, the InkPoster Tela 28.5. This is different than almost every other digital frame on the market, but can it possibly be worth $2400?
Long before I ever started Fstoppers, I was a professional real estate photographer. It was a great job, but the editing was mind-numbing. Fotello can now edit the photos for me... and the results are incredible.
A few days ago Peter, one of the designers of these new Tenba bags, flew to Puerto Rico to share his creations with me in person.
For the last month, I’ve been deep in the world of ultra-telephoto lenses for Sony full-frame cameras, testing some of the most advanced glass money can buy. But can Panasonic's new 100–500mm f/5–7.1 lens, for a fraction of the price, compete? Surprisingly, it can.
I've spent the last week going out three times a day with some serious glass, and I'm about to tell you something that might save you over ten grand.
A couple of weeks ago Sigma sent me their brand new 20–200mm f/3.5–6.3 DG DN Contemporary lens. At first glance, I thought it had to be for APS-C cameras because it was so small. When I realized this little thing was actually a full-frame superzoom that started at 20mm, It seemed too good to be true.
AI image generation has been incredible for the last year, but it was still extremely difficult to generate realistic images with specific subjects, people, or products. Google's new AI model can finally do it, marking the end of the commercial photography industry.
School portrait photographers are usually the joke of the photography industry, but did you know that many of them are profiting over a million dollars a year? Years ago, I tried to break into this industry, but it felt impossible.
A few months ago, Sony released the long-awaited Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II lens. It's fantastic, but it’s almost $2,000. This month, Viltrox released their own version, with identical specs for just $600, which is the same price as Sony's 1.8 variant. Let's test all three.
Looking at this camera announcement, I had to ask myself: Has Sony completely lost their minds?
I'll be honest—when Sony dropped the announcement for their new RX1R III, I thought there was a typo somewhere. This thing costs more than most people's entire camera kit, and for what? A fixed 35mm lens that you can't even change.
Destin at Smarter Every Day recently released a brutally honest video about attempting and failing to make a simple product in the USA after 4 years. Most people don't understand why it's so hard, and what's wrong with our manufacturing. Let's take a deeper look.
Panasonic’s new 24-60mm f/2.8 lens is better than the 24-70mm f/2.8... and $800 cheaper?
