Reviews

Expert reviews of the latest digital cameras, lenses, lighting products, accessories, phones, photography-editing software, and more. PetaPixel tests state-of-the-art products in the photo industry and provides insights and recommendations for photographers to make informed purchasing decisions.
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Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 Review: Travel Light

Tamron has a long and illustrious history of making travel-zoom lenses with massive focal ranges. These lenses provide a maximum amount of convenience, but how much of a compromise needs to be sacrificed to make this all possible? The new $900 Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di VXD G2 is set to make a mark on the travel-zoom industry.

A Canon EOS R6 Mark II mirrorless camera is shown without a lens, set against a dramatic red and orange smoky background.

Videographers Might Have to Worry About the Canon R6 Mark III Overheating

In PetaPixel's review of the new Canon R6 Mark III, the lack of a fan versus the C50 -- which uses the same sensor and has many of the same video features -- was mentioned as one of the reasons a videographer might want to go with the cinema-focused body. When it comes to the R6 Mark III, we do see overheating as a possible concern in some use cases.

A close-up of a silver TerraMaster external hard drive on a wooden surface, with the Petapixel Reviews logo in the upper right corner.

TerraMaster D1 Portable SSD Enclosure Review: Quiet and Fast Storage

With modern, high-resolution camera systems, photographers are capturing tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of files per shoot, before even considering video. Your storage workflow is now almost as important as the camera and lenses you use to capture everything. This is why portable, interchangeable Solid State Drives (SSDs) like the TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus have become commonplace among photographers.

A Canon EOS R6 Mark II camera without a lens is mounted on a tripod outdoors. The image features PetaPixel Reviews and Editors' Choice badges in the corners.

Canon EOS R6 III Review: Predictably Excellent

The Canon EOS R6 III is an excellent camera for nearly every type of photographer and is better than its impressive predecessor in many essential ways. But did Canon play it a bit too safe with its new enthusiast-oriented, photo-first camera?

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DJI Osmo 360 Review: Ready for Adventure Against Stiff Competition

The Osmo 360 is something of a reverse situation for DJI. Rather than being a category leader in this respect, the device is more of a response to what competitors like Insta360 have been doing. That widens the scope and scrutiny for what a camera like this could and should be, given the versatility DJI claims it has.

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Leica M EV1 Review: A Polarizing Shift for M-Mount

The "M" in the Leica M series stands for Messucher, which refers to a large and accurate rangefinder incorporated with a viewfinder. For decades, this Leica rangefinder system has been synonymous with its brand and is the basis for the charming shooting experience that Leica M cameras are famous for. But with the Leica M EV1, Leica has forged a new path, and it is sure to polarize its fans.

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Fujifilm X-T30 III Review: Same Price, Nearly the Same Camera

Fujifilm has a crowded lineup of cameras, which, from an optimistic viewpoint, offers photographers many choices. However, from a pessimistic viewpoint, the degree of choice can be intimidating to beginners. This is part of why it is so important to have a solid entry-level camera to welcome new photographers into the Fujifilm family. For many years, the X-T30 series has served this role well, and now a third version has arrived. Priced at $999, it keeps photography affordable.

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Apple MacBook Pro with M5 Review: The Best Laptop for Photographers

Although Apple’s Pro, Max, and Ultra-series chips rightly get significant attention in the creative professional space, the company’s base M-series chips are nothing to scoff at. The brand-new MacBook Pro with M5 (14-inch) is an excellent example of just how great Apple’s base model chips are. Photographers and most video editors should take notice, because the new MacBook Pro with M5 is a fantastic machine.

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Canon EOS C50 Review: A Pro Camera for Pro Filmmakers

Since the Canon Cinema series was started over a decade ago, the cameras have targeted professional users in film and television, leading to large, expensive bodies that appealed to a small group of users. That changed with the release of the new $3,899 Canon C50, which is the smallest, most affordable and possibly most exciting camera yet related in this line. Or does it?

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Viltrox 50mm f/1.4 Pro Review: So Close to Excellent

Many of us started our photographic journeys with a fixed 50mm lens. Arguments abound about what the best focal length is, but none can deny that a 50mm is the crossover point from wide angles to telephotos. It is a versatile focal length that can accommodate so many different kinds of photography if one is simply willing to move their legs.

Close-up of a Zeiss Apo Sonnar 85mm f/1.4 camera lens with "PetaPixel Reviews" text overlay in the top left corner, set against a dark background.

Zeiss Otus ML 85mm f/1.4 Review: A Costly Decision

Zeiss is a famous and prestigious name in the world of optics, and it is very willing to partner with other brands to bring the weight of its name to the table. So often we see the Zeiss name attached to Sony products, Vivo smartphones, Contax cameras, and Cosina optics, to name a few brands, both past and present.

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Laowa 200mm f/2 C-Dreamer Review: Ambitious and Affordable

Laowa has made a name for itself by releasing wonderfully weird optics that the major lens manufacturers would never think to produce. Probe lenses, ultra-wides, incredibly bright manual focus lenses, these are the kind of oddities Laowa is best known for. I was, therefore, surprised when they started teasing a 200mm f/2 C-Dreamer professional autofocus lens.

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Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro G Master Review: Close to Perfect

Sony was one of the first major manufacturers to switch from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras and subsequently rushed to bring out a line of dedicated lenses for what was then the new E-mount. To be completely honest, some of these lenses were less than stellar, but nonetheless had to carry the line for many years.

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Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 S II Review: The Legend Continues

Nikon debuted its Z-mount cameras in 2018 and shortly thereafter came out with its first professional 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens. Unlike some of the other companies that also began making mirrorless full-frame glass, Nikon came out with a legendary lens right out of the gates. The original 24-70mm f/2.8 lens may have been a little bulky, but it was incredibly sharp, immune to flare issues, and excellent for video work, too.

Three men hold different cameras toward the viewer. The man in the center, with gray hair, focuses on his Canon camera. The man on the left squints his eyes, holding a Sigma camera, while the man on the right holds a Sony camera.

Are Old Compact Cameras Good, or Is It Just Nostalgia?

Earlier this summer, Chris Niccolls, Jordan Drake, and I browsed the fixed-lens section of KEH's website to see what was available for a reasonable price. With compact, point-and-shoot cameras suddenly exploding in popularity, we were wondering: have they aged well, or is it just nostalgia?

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Sigma 35mm f/1.2 DG Art II Review: Compact, Lightweight, and Ultra-Fast

35mm has long been one of my favorite focal lengths, so it’s odd that I never had the chance to use the original Sigma 35mm f/1.2 DG Art as it would be right in my wheelhouse. Fortunately, when Sigma launched the second version of this optic in both E-Mount and L-Mount, I had a chance to make up for this omission.

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Canon RF 85mm f/1.4L VCM Review: Truly a Hybrid Lens

Two things that I love are 85mm lenses and Tokyo, Japan. I was fortunate to experience both, and PetaPixel's Jeremy Gray joined me for a week in Japan to visit Canon headquarters and the Utsunomiya optical factory. We missed Jordan on this trip, but Jeremy had never before visited Japan, and we wanted him to experience all that it has to offer for the first time.

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Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Great Leica Cameras That Inch Forward

The Xiaomi 15T Pro and 15T are driven by their cameras and Leica co-engineering, and continue to outperform established competitors in North America. As these are global launches, obtaining either of these still requires importing them from online vendors. Or, if you happen to be in Europe, Asia, or one of the other available markets, buy it and bring it back.

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Sigma 135mm f/1.4 DG Art Review: Massive and Magnificent

I absolutely love the 135mm focal length, and feel like it’s quite underrepresented on modern mirrorless mounts. It’s a great choice for portraits, candids, indoor sports, and street photography. So when I heard Chris Niccolls would be unavailable to review the new Sigma 135mm f/1.4 DG Art lens, I jumped at the chance!

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OM System 50-200mm f/2.8 IS Pro Review: Optical Excellence

When it comes to the longer telephoto ranges, even Micro Four Thirds lenses can still be big, and not everyone needs -- or can afford -- the full reach of an OM System 150-400mm f/4.5. OM System has a couple of 40-150mm lenses in various sizes, and they have longer zooms up to 300mm with slow apertures. The time is ripe for something in the middle, and that's where the 50-200mm f/2.8 IS Pro comes in; but it will cost you $3,699.

A man with a beard smiles while leaning on a wooden railing in a forest, looking at a Nikon Z camera body placed in front of him. The image includes the text “PetaPixel Hands-On.”.

Nikon ZR Hands-On First Impressions: Zed RED Redemption

In the year and a half since Nikon acquired RED, both have been extremely busy with video-focused products. RED released Z-Mount versions of its cinema cameras and Nikon dropped the Nikkor Z 28-135mm PZ video lens as well as a library of RED LUTs for the N-Log profile. However, I’ve been wondering when we’d see a camera that truly fused Nikon and RED technology, and that day has arrived with the release of the Nikon ZR.

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Apple iPhone 17 Pro First Impressions: Huge Upgrades for Photo and Video

Apple unveiled its iPhone 17 family today, including the much-improved iPhone 17, the ultra-thin iPhone Air, and the redesigned flagship iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. The PetaPixel team flew to Apple Park in Cupertino to witness the unveiling and go hands-on with the new-look iPhone 17 Pro, and there is much to like for photographers and videographers alike.

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Google Pixel 10 Pro Review for Photographers: The Most Minor Update Yet

Smartphone season is here, and, as usual, Google is starting things off. The Pixel 10 series has arrived, and although a telephoto lens has now been added to the base model, we prefer to evaluate the highest-end Pro series for its creative photo and video usage. At first glance, the specs and hardware look almost unchanged from the previous models. So is new software enough, or is this the most iterative update Google has ever released?

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Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC Contemporary Review: An Absolute Gem

The industry desperately needs more lens support for APS-C cameras and it often feels like a neglected market. Full frame is clearly the favored child when it comes to the camera game, but I happen to love smaller sensor cameras, which give a great mixture of compactness and quality. Sigma is on a roll, making sure to give users excellent and affordable optics for Sony E mount, Canon RF mount, and Fujifilm X mount. The latest $629 Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC Contemporary lens seeks to cover the ultra-wide arena with plenty of light-gathering potential to boot.