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.

Hands-On with Lightroom’s Powerful New Masking System

In a new update, Adobe is greatly increasing the masking capabilities of its Lightroom applications as well as Adobe Camera RAW. While it is not as powerful as what is found in full-fledged Photoshop, you will find yourself wondering how you ever lived without it.

Sony Alpha 7 IV Review: The Best Camera Sony Has Ever Made… Almost

Three and a half years ago, Sony made a statement with the Alpha 7 III. The company wanted to plant the idea that its “base model” did not mean basic. At the time, that camera was specced beyond its price, and it hit everyone by surprise. Now, with the Alpha 7 IV, our expectations are much higher. Did Sony do it again?

GoPro HERO10 Black Review: The Most Significant Refresh in Years

Every year like clockwork, GoPro introduces a new action camera with varying degrees of improvement upon the last. This year we have the HERO10 Black, the company’s second push into 5.3K video recording following the HERO9, but is there enough here to warrant buying the latest and greatest?

HP ZBook Studio G8 Review: Rock Solid Performance, Painful Price Tag

HP's ZBook lineup -- which encompasses the lightweight ZBook Firefly, the affordable ZBook Power, the powerful ZBook Fury, and the best-of-all-worlds ZBook Studio brands -- doesn't attract a lot of attention. As a mobile workstation-class device, the ZBook Studio is not as flashy as most gaming laptops or as affordable as most "creator" laptops, but in many ways, it's better than both.

My First Digital Camera: A Review of the Sony S70 21 Years Later

For me, the year 2000 was when digital cameras really started to become useful. A wealth of cameras arrived sporting Sony’s latest 3 megapixel CCD sensor at a sub-$1,000 price, with enough resolution to make 7x5-inch prints and more than enough for online use.

A Review of the Fujifilm XF 90mm f/2.0 R LM WR Lens

I think lens decisions are even more of a personal choice than the camera system. In the 30 days I had to use the Fujinon XF 90mm f/2.0 R LM OIS, I learned a lot about the capabilities of this lens and was also reminded about my personal preferences in creating photos.

Shooting with the Canon EOS R3 for a Full Week

As a Canon Ambassador, I had the opportunity to work extensively with a pre-production version of the new Canon EOS R3. This article isn’t a test report, but rather, a report on my experiences with the camera, and an account of how it compares to my current EOS R5.

ASUS ProArt PA32UCG Review: Like a Pro Display XDR for PC Users

ASUS announced plans for the ProArt PA32UCG way back in September of 2019. Based on specs alone, this exciting monitor would improve on the already-impressive ProArt PA32UCX and take on the Apple Pro Display XDR by offering the same 1600 nits peak brightness out of a 4K panel, with a faster refresh rate and wider color gamut. Nearly two years later, the monitor is finally available, and we're here to see if it can live up to the sky-high expectations we've built up over the past two years.

Book Review: The Meaning in the Making by Sean Tucker

A Google search for “Creativity” will return over 2,600,000,000 results. Many of these results are books about creativity, which offer specific advice and actions to take in order to be creative now.

Review: The Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 for Fujifilm X is a Superb Value

Until recently, if you were a Fujifilm X-Series camera owner, your options for fast prime lenses (f/1.4 or wider) were limited to (relatively) expensive options from Fujinon, or less expensive third-party manual focus lenses.

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Review: Small Update, Huge Performance Gain

When Razer announced the "mid-2021" Blade 15 Advanced back in May, it seemed like a standard refresh. The company swapped out the 10th-Gen Intel CPUs in the "early-2021" model for 11th-Gen processors and added a new anti-fingerprint coating to the chassis. No big deal, right? Wrong -- that 11th-Gen processor has allowed Razer to upgrade just about everything under the hood of the latest Advanced model, leading to a huge performance uplift.

A Review of the 7Artisans 60mm f/2.8 Mark II Macro Lens

Macro photography in the field is not always easy or comfortable, often requiring long hours outdoors in the heat. So now more than ever, I’m seeing the benefits of lightweight lenses and bodies.

ACDSee Gemstone Photo Editor 12 Review: Who Is This For?

ACDSee has launched free beta access to its Gemstone Photo Editor 12 -- a layered editor that supports RAW level working with multiple documents and non-destructive tools. But, does it hold up with similar grade editors or still has a way to go yet?

Dell U4021QW Review: The Premiere Ultra-Wide Monitor for Photo Editing

The Dell U4021QW is, quite literally, one of a kind. It's the world's first 40-inch curved ultra-wide WUHD 5K2K monitor -- a 21:9 aspect ratio monster that boasts a color-accurate 10-bit panel. In our testing, it has performed beautifully. But while it's definitely the premiere ultra-wide monitor for photo editing, it's not the best photo editing monitor overall.

The Godox AD100 Flash is Unusable for Pro Photography

People always have a love/hate relationship with Godox. For many, they are a cheap entry point to off-camera flash, offering massive bang for the buck. Others see them as cheap imitations of more expensive brands.

PowerVision PowerEgg X Drone Review: What In Tarnation Is This?

Picture an egg. Now picture an egg with a camera on it. Now picture an egg with a camera on it that can fly. Now picture an egg with a camera on it that can fly in the rain. Now picture an egg with a camera on it that can fly in the rain and land on water. You are now picturing the PowerEgg X.

Review: Is the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S the Ultimate Nightscape Lens?

My name is Daniel Stein, and I am a passionate astro and nightscape photographer living on the East Coast of the USA. I’m an avid hiker and backpacker and love to get out and shoot whenever I can. Photography is my escape, and it’s also my story.

Review: The Leofoto Poseidon LP-284C Tripod is Light and Sandproof

Leofoto's newest tripod, the Poseidon LP-284C, claims to be a lightweight carbon fiber travel tripod that's both waterproof and sandproof. If true, this would truly set it apart and make it an indispensable companion for photo missions in just about any condition and any location. I put it to the test over the course of two weeks in Iceland, where it faced rain, wind, sand, surf, ocean, and even a volcano. Read on to find out how it fared.

Review: Canon’s PowerShot G1 is Still a Joy to Shoot With After 21 Years

21 years ago Canon put everything it could think of into a compact camera aimed at enthusiasts who couldn’t stretch to a DSLR or simply wanted something more portable. The result was the PowerShot G1, launched towards the end of the year 2000, costing $1,100, and the first in an enormously popular series that’s still going strong to this day.

Pentax K-3 Mark III Review: An Excellent, Expensive DSLR

Pentax put a lot of time and effort into making the K-3 Mark III, and it shows: it's a huge leap in tech for a DSLR. But it's still a DSLR in a mirrorless world, and that perception combined with a premium price might hold back Pentax's latest $2,000 APS-C camera.

ON1 NoNoise AI Versus Topaz DeNoise AI: Noise Reduction Throwdown

ON1, an established photography software company located in Oregon, recently released its new noise reduction application called NoNoise AI. As a longtime user of Topaz Labs DeNoise AI, it only made sense to pit these two machine-learning-based noise reduction programs against each other and see which one comes out on top.

Review of the Fujifilm XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR Lens

I’m a big fan of zoom lenses. For my photography and budget, they provide great value and versatility, and modern zoom lenses sacrifice little, if any, image quality compared to prime lenses.

Review of the Canon RF400mm f/2.8L and RF600mm f/4L Lenses

Camera Labs' Gordon Laing was given the opportunity to test the two largest and most expensive lenses for Canon's mirrorless RF system -- the Canon RF400mm f/2.8L and the Canon RF600mm f/4L -- and has evaluated how they stack up in stills and video tests.

NEC PA311D Monitor Review: Extreme Color Accuracy for Professional Users

The Sharp/NEC MultiSync PA311D is NEC's flagship photo editing monitor, with more colors, more accurate colors, and more control over your colors than any other monitor we've tested to date. It's not a perfect display -- HDR editing is out of the question, and hardware calibration is impossible unless you pay extra for an NEC-branded colorimeter -- but everything about this monitor was designed with professionals in mind, and we absolutely love that.