Ryan Mense

DJI Minis used to be for those who want the best flight for the least amount of money. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is what happens when we pay a little extra.

Finally, six years after the original launched, Sony has updated its 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master lens. The original has lagged behind competitors for some time, but the long wait for a successor is finally over.

Autel Robotics’ new EVO Lite+ drone combines a 1-inch 20-megapixel sensor with a variable aperture to shoot detailed, rich images. The company might not be a household name like DJI, but the EVO Lite+ deserves your attention.

The Duovox Mate Pro night vision camera promises the ability to capture full-color photos and videos in near-complete darkness. It fulfills that promise as a fun, if limited, tool.

Over the course of several design tweaks, Platypod has made a name for itself as one of the go-to's for portable camera support. With the new Platypod eXtreme, the company has made an even more configurable and versatile product, albeit with the same old limitations.

Now 66 E-mount lenses in, Sony is reworking more of its popular focal lengths and modernizing them with the latest standards. The new Sony PZ 16-35mm f/4 G takes a classic and gives it new life.

Currently, the longest-reaching telephoto zoom lens in the Nikon Z-mount system, the Nikkor 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S faces a lot of eager potential customers who are going to balance its longer focal length with overall size and cost. I can’t say it will disappoint.

The full-frame Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S has many long-lens photographers excited about being the last piece of glass they’ll ever need to buy. With a built-in 1.4x teleconverter effectively replacing the need for a 500mm or 600mm f/4 and state-of-the-art optics from Nikon, there’s potential to be something truly special.

Sigma has sneakily been releasing a number of compact, wide-aperture lenses designed for mirrorless cameras. Already on the company's seventh addition to the “I” series, the new 20mm f/2 DG DN is now the widest of its kind yet.

In photography, the “cutting edge” doesn’t always happen with the most expensive gear; the ability to produce a quality lens at a price lower than ever is just as innovative. Canon’s RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM is my case in point.

What makes instant film fun to use decades after its peak in popularity? I’d wager it’s the same things that made it fun back in the day: not overthinking things and staying in the moment while also creating unique-looking prints that convey those fleeting moments so perfectly. The Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo takes a different approach.

Canon’s latest mirrorless camera takes on a new shape and reaches all new heights in performance. With its stacked 24-megapixel sensor, blackout-free silent shooting, eye-control autofocus, and improved subject detection, the EOS R3 might just be the new camera to beat.

Astrophotography is a discipline rife with compromises. It’s a battle of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO with no one combination being completely ideal. That’s where Topaz Labs in the edit comes to the rescue.

The most fun I have with photography is capturing something I’ve never seen before. Of course, that sets up a lot of pressure to come away with tack-sharp perfect photos. Topaz Labs is how I ensure my success.

What does it take to make a camera stand out? Some companies go for specs, some go for looks, some go for versatility. DJI went for all three with the Ronin 4D.

Many things that used to be true about photo editing are no longer the case, such as not being able to fix a subject that was accidentally out of focus or not being able to recover much detail when doing heavy noise reduction. Topaz Labs is a big reason as to why we can approach post-processing differently now.

Drones are fun. It doesn’t matter if we’re flying them or looking at drone photos and videos, there’s still that sense of wonder and awe as earthbound humans. That excitement carries over to watching not only any new drone, but in this case a high-end one that promises so much. There’s always inherent hype when a company like DJI announces a drone, and in the case of the Mavic 3, it may be justified.