Reviews

After teasing an “in development” announcement late last year, Tamron’s all new 70-180mm f/2.8 for Sony E-mount is finally about to hit store shelves. With the release of this lens, Tamron will complete their “holy trinity” for Sony mirrorless.

A bible for photographers. That is how Robert Capa described The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson. After almost 70 years it was first published, this book has still a lot to say to photographers and especially to street and documentary photographers.

As many of you know, I have been lucky enough to have a Canon EOS 1D X Mark III in my possession for more than a month now. People have been asking me to review this new top-of-the-line camera, but I really wanted to put it through its paces in order to do a fair review.

Though it might seem less popular than other systems (probably due to marketing), the L Mount Alliance is producing some of the best full-frame lenses currently available. In this case, Panasonic Lumix worked in tandem with their buddies at Leica to release their second 70-200mm lens for full-frame systems: the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 70-200mm f/2.8 OIS.

Every time I mention the merits of anything related to Leica, I catch flack from a contingent of readers here that seem to be angry that I would even talk about a product that has a reputation for being overpriced and out of reach. "He must be bragging about owning one" or "overpriced crap" tend to be the top two comment themes I receive.

My name is Tomer, and I've been a street photographer for the past 12 years. Over the years, I've done a lot of event photography, shooting weddings, couples, families, and more.

I didn't have a terribly long time with Fujifilm’s latest hybrid shooter before it was released—it was only about a week for what you see shot below—but thankfully, not too much has changed since the previous X-T3, and what has is obvious and easy to evaluate.

These days, it's probably more likely that you win the lottery than for Sony to make a bad lens. Their process over the last few years has been really dialed in, to the point where making a technically good piece of optics is their bread and butter.

Vintage glass shooter and photography YouTuber Mathieu Stern recently got the chance to try Lomography's special LomoMod No.1 cardboard film camera and special liquid-filled lens—an ostensibly "fun" combination that turned out to be a nightmare for Stern, who has dubbed it "the worst camera I ever tested."

Two years ago, Venus Optics sent macro photographer Thomas Shahan their Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro lens for testing. Now, after two continuous years of real-world use and testing, he's finally gotten around to sharing his thoughts in a thoughtful review that will be a huge help to any extreme macro photographers who are considering this lens.

I went into my hands-on with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III with no expectations. For me, it had been many years since I had used an Olympus (aside from an afternoon borrowing from a friend who had an older PEN camera about five years ago, the last time I shot with Olympus was with the E5 and E3).

Over three years ago, I tested out the Fuji X100F and was introduced to the pleasantries of carrying around a capable point and shoot. Today’s agenda is the fifth installment of Fujifilm’s X100 line of cameras: the Fuji X100V.

On my last shift at the film lab in Bondi, I picked up one of the last rolls of Fujifilm ACROS film. It seemed poignant -- as my job at the shop was finishing, so too was the production of this film stock.

Astrophotographer Ian Norman of Lonely Speck recently got his hands on a Google Pixel 4 XL for testing, so he took it out to Joshua Tree National Park to see how well the "Astrophotography Mode" on this smartphone compares to shooting with a "real" camera.

YouTuber Tyler Stalman recently got his hands on a review unit of both the Mac Pro and the Pro Display XDR, and while many tech YouTubers have reviewed these extreme (and extremely expensive) Apple products, he's the first we've seen who's evaluated them from the perspective of a professional photographer.

Indian wedding photographer Ankita Asthana recently traveled to Rome for a shoot and brought along the $8,000 Nikon NIKKOR Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens to test out. She shares her thoughts and a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot in this 7-minute video.

I was lucky enough to attend the local launch event of the Fujifilm X-Pro3. After spending half a day with the camera, I was surprised to see myself enjoying it so much after being somewhat critical of the concept.

Late last year, macro photographers rejoiced at the announcement of a worthy competitor to the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1x-5x macro lens, which has been heralded as the best high-magnification macro lens since its release in 1999. The Mitakon 85mm f/2.8 1x-5x lens held a lot of promise, but it was immediately apparent that something was wrong.

If you're shooting often, it can be pretty easy to fall into a rut. Maybe that's just me, but when I feel like I have to shoot, which is often, it can be a challenge to force creativity. I don't have access to a studio all of the time, and even when I do that space doesn't necessarily get my creative juices flowing anymore. It's too familiar; feels too safe.

Rechargeable AA batteries are essential for many photographers, but which brand delivers the best bang for your buck? Project Farm decided to find out by putting 10 different brands to the test through a year of use. The tests and results are in the 10-minute video above.

In early November, Panasonic announced that a 70-200mm f/2.8 for the L-mount was coming soon. The lens represents, which comes in at a hefty $2,597.99, is a major step closer to completing the holy-trinity lineup for their S series cameras.

In early November, Panasonic announced that they would be releasing a 16-35mm f/4. Ever since Panasonic released the S1 and S1R, people have been asking about a wide angle lens, especially with the availability of a high-res mode in both cameras (96MP in the S1, 187MP in the S1R) making them a great camera for landscape shooters.

Photographer Alastair Bird recently reviewed the Bronica RF645, a classic medium format rangefinder that he calls "one of the nicest little cameras you've never heard of."

Last month, as a Canon Ambassador, I had the opportunity to try out the new DSLR flagship camera, the Canon 1D X Mark III, for 2 days. This is neither a technical review nor a test report. The video above will show you how I worked with the new camera.

Back in mid-2017, I was tasked with reviewing Sigma's first 24-70mm lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM IF Art lens, and I was extremely disappointed. You can read my whole review here, but in summary, I found it to be sadly inconsistent with its sharpness. Most notably, I found that edge sharpness was really quite bad.

My main objective in this article isn’t to provide an in-depth review of the Tamron 17–28mm f/2.8 Di III lens, but I hope to offer the reader a few insights in terms of how the lens performs from a landscape photographer’s perspective as a photographer who usually prefers to shoot ultra-wide-angle.

For a long time, there weren’t many options for high magnification macro photography without resorting to solutions like lens coupling and reversals. The only lens on most photographer’s radar was the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1x-5x Macro. There were also other options, however, so let’s take a look at how the MP-E 65 compares to more modern and vintage lenses to put to 5:1 magnification and beyond – using a butterfly wing.

For a several years now, I have been patiently waiting for a “new” MacBook Pro to arrive. There has been a lot of hype about new processors, increased screen size and resolution, improved
features and connectivity, even better battery life. Myself along with many industry colleagues, have been reaching out to Apple for some time to let them know what we need and why.

A lot has been said about the ultra-high resolution Sony a7R IV when it comes to shooting portraits, studio work, or landscapes--basically everywhere high resolution is a must. But what about wildlife photography? Seattle-based wildlife photographer Aaron Baggenstos took the camera to Africa to find out.

If you can get past the lack of a full-frame sensor, the Fujifilm X-T3 and Sony a6600 are two of the most compelling and full-featured mirrorless cameras on the market today. So while everyone is arguing over full-frame mirrorless, The Slanted Lens decided to do a little APS-C shootout to see which of these cameras is the better performer.

Panasonic recently released a major firmware update that adds Animal Detect autofocus to the Lumix G9. As a bird and wildlife photographer, the new feature had me really excited, but how well does it actually work? I took it out into the field to find out.

Tamron recently announced a trio of compact primes for Sony FE: the 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.8 and 20mm f/2.8. We had the chance to test out the 24 and 35mm primes for a few days to see how they performed.

I’ve been shooting with the Ricoh GR III for the past few months and I can tell you it definitley lives up to the hype. It’s small, stealthy and produces amazing images but is this the ultimate street photography camera? My Ricoh GR III street photography review has the answer.

The trinity is now complete. Since the release of the Canon EOS R about a year ago, the mirrorless camera is my go-to tool for shoots. Not least because of its size and weight, as well as the amazing lenses (RF 28-70mm f/2, RF 50mm f/1.2, and my RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 expedition lens) the EOS R has benefits over its DSLR counterpart.

Up until a few weeks ago, I had never used a Leica. I don't think I'd ever even held one or knew much about them other than the occasional story of an outlandishly expensive iteration on a camera previously on the market. I had preconceived notions about the kind of company Leica was, about their goals, and about their strategy. I expected very little, regardless of what they were going to show me.

Photographer Felix Jäger recently got to review a lens that many Micro Four Thirds shooters have on their wishlist: the Voigtländer 42.5mm f/0.95. But while that mouth-watering aperture number might set your heart to racing, don't whip out your wallet just yet.

Two weeks ago I unboxed the Sony a7R Mark IV mirrorless camera, the high resolution beast, and brought it with me for a field review in the mountains around Santa Clara in Northern California.

Back in July, my Godox TT350O flash went wrong. I simply got an E9 message on the LCD and it wouldn’t work at all. It was annoying as I had enjoyed using Godox flashes and wireless transmitter up until then and had even recommended them to others.

It is now exactly 2 years since I started uploading stock photos to Unsplash, the "slightly" controversial stock photo platform where everything is free for everyone. I thought this would be a good occasion to share what I've gained from my presence on Unsplash.

Back in July, Fujifilm announced a versatile new zoom lens for its X-Series cameras: the XF 16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR. This new, compact, and highly versatile lens ought to be a great addition to many photographers, and we got the chance to shoot with a pre-production version for a few days.