The best camera features generally go to top flagships for good reason, but mid-range brands like Tecno always try to punch above their weight. The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra may be a phone you’ve never heard of, yet its camera system is varied enough to stand out.
The Nikon Z system needed a new kit lens. The 24-120mm f/4 is one of the best lenses I’ve ever used, but it isn't exactly affordable and is understandably beyond the budget of many beginner photographers. The 24-50mm is a decent optic, but it has a slow aperture range and a limited focal range for general-purpose photography. Even the Nikon 24-200mm and Tamron 25-200mm is a bit too expensive for a beginner.
The Reto company, which is behind the insanely popular Charmera camera, are at it again with a charming 35mm analog camera. They clearly took a design cue from the Ricoh GR series of cameras while heaping on a generous pile of Kodak nostalgia, but the end result promises to be a stylish and simple analog experience for potential buyers.
The Oppo Find X9 Ultra will be the company’s first “Ultra” flagship to go beyond China’s borders, making it something of a global debut. Those in the know recognize the symbolism, but the backbone of this introduction begins and ends with the quadruple rear camera array.
In February, PetaPixel published its review of the Canon 14mm f/1.4L VCM lens and found some issues with its performance in astrophotography. There were many theories from readers and viewers of the YouTube channel as to why this happened, but none of them were right. The truth is a little more interesting.
I think most of us have a strange fascination with 40mm lenses. It seems like a relatively uncommon focal length, and of course, it is overshadowed by the ubiquitous 35mm lenses. In truth, both lenses can do pretty much the same thing, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the 40mm focal length always feels a little exotic.
The Canon RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5L STM is an extreme lens. It's the world's widest-angle zoom lens and has a staggering 190-degree field of view; looking into the viewfinder is like taking a step backward.
It was eight years ago that I reviewed the Panasonic ZS200, and I was immediately impressed by the compact size of the camera, along with a massive 15x optical zoom range. Most importantly, the ZS200 didn’t make any compromises when it came to handling and manual control, and the EVF was imminently useful.
I've seen storage manufacturers try all sorts of ways to mitigate heat, with the most popular option being a design that facilitates passive cooling. Sharge went a different route, though, and packed a tiny fan into the wallet-sized DiskPro. It's different, but is it better?
There has long been a grand concept in the digital camera world to have a device that takes great photos and is constantly connected to the internet. This would allow for powerful on-device editing and the convenience of sharing your content immediately. Many attempts have been made to bring the creativity that a larger sensor and interchangeable lenses offer, but have it connected to your favorite apps and social media outlets. These have all failed.
Zeiss is nothing if not consistent. The Otus ML lenses bearing the illustrious blue Zeiss badge have always unapologetically strived to make optical lenses the old-fashioned way.
An ultra-wide lens is not something I often reach for. They can be useful as interior architecture lenses, for capturing dramatic vistas, and even for the occasional shot on the street, however, I usually find the propensity of the lenses to capture so much in the frame a tricky proposition.
Is there room for a new full-frame 35mm film camera? When the Pentax 17 half-frame camera came out, it represented a serious risk to see if beginner photographers would be willing to buy a new camera. When you consider the saturated used camera market with all of the options that are still available, it’s hard to imagine much demand for a camera that will cost substantially more.
Like its flagships, Vivo focuses on mobile photography with its mid-range V Series, and the V70 aims to carry that torch. While not a dramatic shift, key moves with the user experience make this a likeable device for several reasons.
If you ask me, some of the worst smartphone photos are those people take with front-facing cameras. Smaller sensors, smaller lenses, and fewer resources are big reasons why, and as rear cameras continue to evolve (some more than others, anyway), products are released to encourage users to turn their phones around and use the rear lenses instead.
Tamron lenses have some very cool capabilities you may not be aware of -- like the ability to pull focus during a time lapse -- and it’s all thanks to its Lens Utility App. I want to talk about what of these abilities are, but I also want to take this opportunity to shame other lens manufacturers for not offering these same features.
I’ve reviewed my fair share of Fujfilm Instax cameras. Most recently, I played with the creatively powerful Instax Mini 99 and the entry-level Instax 400 Wide for those who want bigger pictures. However, it has been a long time since I’ve tested the most basic of Fujfilm Instax cameras. The latest iteration is the new Instax Mini 13, and I felt that I could test it with a fresh perspective.
I had no idea what to expect with the Oppo Reno 15 Pro once I unboxed it and started setting it up. Billed as an “all-in-one creative partner,” the general premise is to impress with the images it captures, and using it as much as I have, I’m surprised at what it delivers considering the specs.
Since it introduced its own silicon, it feels like every time we review an Apple computer, we make some grandiose statement about how much better it is than before, or how it's the best. That much praise can make it hard to express the meaning of this achievement, as it can just feel like listening to a broken record.
Should Google have even bothered to make the Pixel 10a? I asked myself this question multiple times while using it because I couldn’t always tell where the distinctions lay with its predecessor.
While browsing online shopping, I have often come across unusual and unheard-of 35mm film stocks. My curiosity won out because black and white photography is artistic alchemy, and the film plays a big role in how the final images turn out. So, was this Temu film any good?
It has been seven years since Apple released its last XDR Display and in that time, monitors and what to expect from them have changed a lot. Now that we finally have a new option in the Studio Display XDR, was that wait and new $3,299 price worth it?
Sigma created an art form out of its Art series of lenses. They are beautiful, professional, and often chosen over OEM options. But there is always room for improvement, and the Art series has been on the market for a minute, so new technology inevitably leads to new updates. It could be argued that the Sigma 35mm F/1.4 Art is one of the most popular primes in the Sigma arsenal, and now we have a successor.
A wet and rainy San Francisco was the venue for this year’s Galaxy Unpacked launch event and the testing ground for shooting the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. The Ultra model is priced at $1,299, which is the same as last year’s model. I’m going into this review with the usual intention of testing this phone more as a camera and seeing how it stacks up as a creative tool.
In 2018, I reviewed the Peak Design Travel Backpack for Imaging Resource and while that review has since disappeared from the Internet, I can still recall my feelings in extreme detail: I hated it.
It seems fitting that on the centenary of the Leica I Model A, the German brand takes its iconic legacy and applies it to the Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi. One hundred years after the first 35mm camera came to market, this device tries to mix modern and retro in ways other handsets don’t.
The Chinese tech industry is a colossus, but there is a distinct lack of access to many of the more interesting options in North America. While Chinese lens designs are fairly common in North America, we are largely ignorant of the mobile phone options, as they are so rarely available.
If you own an APS-C E-mount, RF-mount, or X-mount camera, Sigma has a brand new prime lens that provides wide-angle coverage and plenty of light. This new $579 Contemporary lens makes a lot of sense for darker interior shots, so I headed to the Contemporary Calgary art museum to see what I could find. You just have to shoot with a Contemporary lens at Contemporary Calgary.
The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary is located just outside of Calgary, and does amazing work housing and rehabilitating these amazing wolf hybrids that often prove too much for owners to handle. We took the $3,199 pre-production Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II lens out to see how it handles this dynamic location.
Lots of photographers might dismiss the Flashback One35 V2 as a gimmick; a digital non-disposable camera aimed at image-conscious Gen Z users more interested in aesthetics than artistry. That characterization, however, misses the mark.
Tamron consistently creates zoom lenses that break the norm when it comes to focal length, offering alternatives to the classic patterns that most other manufacturers pursue. Even the more conventional Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and 70-180mm f/2.8 refuse to match the more common 24-70mm and 70-200mm formulae. However, the standout lens from Tamron in recent memory is the oddly effective 35-150mm f/2-2.8 lens, which proves to be an ideal event lens for almost any situation. If it could be faulted in any way, it would be due to its rather heavy weight and bulky size.
Canon has created, in a very short time, a complete line of L-series prime lenses that cater to the hybrid photo and video shooter. It is quite an achievement to build a whole line of professional prime lenses that are all similar in size, weight, and form factor, while still maintaining the quality expected of an L-series optic. The latest addition to the family is the 14mm f/1.4L VMC, a first for Canon in its RF-mount. I took this $2,600 lens for a spin, appreciating its compact nature, but with serious trepidation that Canon may have pushed the envelope a little too far this time.
For the last several years, if you were an L-Mount user looking for a super telephoto lens, Sigma was your only option (or a Leica version of a Sigma lens). Now Panasonic has introduced their longest full frame lens yet, with the Lumix S 100-500mm f/5-7.1 OIS. It’s compact and light, but also slow and expensive. Is there a place for this $2,100 lens in the L-Mount lineup? Let’s find out.
One look at the Asus Vivobook Pro 15 (2025) might be enough to dismiss its plastic-heavy build as little more than another PC lost in the shuffle. Asus figures you won’t feel that way once you open it up and take it for a creative-laden spin thanks to its attractive OLED screen and dependable performance.
Learning to love the rangefinder was a long process for me. I could appreciate the simpler and sometimes slower approach to photography that a rangefinder represents. There is more demand on the photographer to focus, compose, and pre-visualize the image.
Ultra-fast 35mm lenses are not a new thing. Leica users have had access to the excellent Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 Nokton across multiple versions for many years. The Noctilux title isn't new either. Leica has multiple insanely fast 50mm lenses, going down to as bright as f/0.95, on the market.
Earlier this year, memory brand Glyph debuted its new Atom EX SSDs with a specific focus on serving content creators. With Sandisk still refusing to publicly acknowledge the problems with its compact SSDs, I was pretty happy to see another brand step up and create something for photographers and filmmakers.
Making a camera backpack is not easy. Photographers rarely look for the same features in a bag, and everyone has an opinion on what they want, which makes creating a singular design that everyone will like simply impossible. Hasselblad decided to try and, in doing so, managed to do something few makers have managed: make a unique and exceptional interior.
The Leica M-mount is a dynamic arena for third-party lens manufacturers, even though the brand is considered quite exclusive. These prestigious cameras come with huge price tags and the easy assumption would be that Leica users would only stick to Leica lenses. However, as one of the oldest camera manufacturers around, third-party lens makers have been creating for this illustrious mount for almost a century, and I got to play with a piece of history for my latest review. Well, sort of.
The Honor Magic 8 Pro is part photography upstart and part AI canvas in how it approaches still photos, relying more and more on what machine learning can do along the way.
Why buy a dedicated monochromatic camera when a regular camera can take black and white photos? It's more expensive, far less versatile, and made for a very small market of users. That's the question I hear a lot, and I get it. But I would argue that photography isn't always about the most efficient tool, or the easiest path to a final result.
By now, everyone knows about the dominance that Fujifilm holds over the instant photography market. Instax is a huge part of its business and has become the de facto photography gift for birthdays, parties, and at the holidays.
With all the budget lens manufacturers available to a prospective buyer, it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sirui is a well-known manufacturer of tripod gear, and when I heard they were making lenses too, I was very skeptical.
If you're looking at picking up a drone, you probably are thinking of one made by DJI, or another DJI, or yet a third DJI option. Others have tried, but largely, all have failed to get a solid foothold. However, this only refers to the drone market that appeals to the creative videographers. When it comes to the first-person view (or FPV) market, there are many brands vying for attention.
It’s the holiday season, and Reto has come up with the perfect Christmas present for photographers. The new Kodak Charmera is a tiny keychain-sized camera that uses licensed Kodak designs and logos to incredibly popular effect. The Charmera is true to its name and is a marketing masterpiece that is almost impossible to get now. I wanted to find out if this toy camera is worth all the hype, and whether it is worth purchasing after the holiday season.
BTS -- or "behind the scenes" -- footage has become an essential part of how I tell stories; not just for social media, but for documenting the reality of underwater work. When it comes to shooting underwater, there are a ton of factors to think about — from managing your buoyancy and checking the settings on your camera housing, to being aware of your surroundings and controlling your breathing. The last thing I want to spend time worrying about, then, is how I’m going to capture behind-the-scenes content at the same time.
K&F CONCEPT has expanded its lineup of photography accessories with the Popod 72" Phone Tripod, a 3-in-1 magnetic tripod and selfie stick designed for mobile creators. With a snap-open design, adjustable tripod head, Bluetooth remote, and support for 1/4" screw-mounted accessories, the Popod aims to simplify content creation for solo shooters and small-scale creators.
Earlier this year, 7Artisans announced the Floral Bloom Art Cine Lens series, with the first being a 37mm T2.9 for PL mount only. It sounded interesting, so we agreed to check it out. We appreciate the effort and applaud the company for trying something new, but unfortunately, this lens is terrible.
Everyone wants a point-and-shoot digital camera. There is something to be said for having a compact, simple, fun, pocket camera that you can take photos with, just for the pure joy of it. Memories to be made, without having to know the exposure triangle, or shoot RAW photo formats and edit later. But not everyone wants a used hand-me-down that may or may not function properly, and Camp Snap is hedging its bets that some consumers out there want a fresh start.
It’s felt like a long six months since Sigma first announced the Aizu Primes (which cost $8,300 each), the company's new series of full-frame compatible T1.3 cinema lenses. Currently available focal lengths include 25mm, 27mm, 32mm, 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, and 75mm. Fortunately, after shooting several projects with them while traveling, I finally have a trio of them at home to do some controlled testing.
