If we recommended the Sony ZV-E10 II for many beginner creators last week, why wouldn't we do the same for the Panasonic S9? At first glance, it looks like an incongruous set of opinions.
The Razer Blade 16 is a big laptop in size and capability, though it also comes with some compromises. However, Razer frames its Blade laptops, and they cater to gamers first, a subset of consumers notoriously fickle about performance. Creators aren't far behind with their demanding needs, which Razer knows. They've told me, "We believe gamers are creators, and creators are gamers."
It has been a long time coming, but the EOS R1 is finally here. For years, the Canon R1 has been teased and hinted at before getting an official announcement two months ago. Now, finally, we at PetaPixel got our hands on an early test with the R1 body. That said, I cannot stress enough that it was a very early look.
The Canon EOS R1 has been hogging all the attention with announcement dates, sneak peeks, and speculation. It had been a long time since we saw a new flagship camera from Canon and now we had one in our hands. But with all the fanfare going on about a new "1" series camera, another Canon release quietly slipped under the radar -- until now.
Ricoh has experienced much success in the compact digital camera market with its GR series. Drawing on a lengthy heritage of its GR 35mm film cameras, the latest digital version is the popular GR III, and within that, is the GR III HDF.
Pen Display Tablets have typically been a professional's tool. While incredibly useful and precise, they have usually been quite large, sometimes even mounted to a workstation. In the last few years, portable options, like the $749 Wacom Movink 13, have become increasingly more viable for both hobbyists and professionals alike.
Sony's new ZV-E10 II corrects all of the issues I had with its predecessor and delivers an affordable and performant hybrid creators' camera. It isn't without compromises, but it is far and away the best attempt in this space we've seen yet.
Just last month, Xencelabs announced a new "industry first" $1,249 4K OLED Pen Display targeted at professional digital creatives requiring quality and portability. The tablet has compelling features and big ambitions. Can it live up to these lofty goals?
When the Fujifilm X100 first hit the market it took the world by storm. A pocket-sized camera with stellar good looks and a retro-inspired control scheme, it was instantly coveted by photographers aplenty. We wanted to take a retrospective look at the X100 series from the beginning and give you the low-down on the upgrades and quirks over the years.
A couple of weeks ago, Leica announced the Leica LUX camera app, the legendary German company’s first smartphone app for taking photos. While the company has produced its FOTOS app for many years, this is its first dedicated to smartphone photography.
The Google Pixel 8a offers compelling, worthwhile photography features at an accessible price point. It’s hardly a perfect smartphone, but it gets a lot of things right the moment you pull it out of your pocket and start snapping away.
As a creative who often has to travel for my clients, the amount of gear and accessories needed to get a job done can often lead to a lot of headaches when trying to get everything connected to my laptop, especially if I'm shooting large campaigns where I need to ingest a ton of data.
The iPad is quickly becoming a more viable tool for creators to use as their main workflow solution. The recent introduction of Final Cut Pro for iPad has been a big part of the improvement to making the iPad more useful for my own work. Now, Apple released a new version, along with Final Cut Camera for iPhone, which brings some thoughtful enhancements to the table.
I’ve been in the camera review business for over 15 years and in that time I’ve been fortunate enough to have tested and taken photographs with countless cameras, spanning a wide variety of designs and intentions. Curiously, as I prepared to review the Pentax 17 it occurred to me that I had never once reviewed a new production 35mm film camera in all that time.
Nikon's Z6 III brings a lot of technologies to the table and packages them into a camera that seems purpose-built to win the $2,500, mid-range, full-frame camera fight. It may be priced to compete with the middle of the camera pack, but it's swinging punches like a flagship.
Recently, I've pushed myself to look at third-party lens brands from China, which offer interesting character at a relatively low price. I wanted to try out the lenses that cost more money but might provide a more compelling user experience and the Voigtlander manual focus primes could be the answer.
The Panasonic GH series has always been some of the best hybrid cameras ever made, and the new Lumix GH7 brings the best features of the GH6 and last year's G9 II together in a single body. It's basically a perfect camera for me as the sensor size is the only thing I consider a compromise.
Maingear has been a big name in custom PCs for over 20 years and has earned a sterling reputation for its high-end PCs, especially for gaming, and strong customer support. While its flagship MG-1 line, ranging from just over $1,100 to the $4,000 machine I tested, has plenty of features for hardcore gamers to drool over, the MG-1 can also be an outstanding option for creatives.
Sigma introduced the world's first full-frame, mirrorless, f/1.8 lens: the 28-45mm f/1.8 Art. But if no one has ever made a lens like this before, do we even need it? Let's look at the facts with this rather odd entry and see if it's a hidden gem or a mad science experiment.
Viltrox has been busying itself with full-frame Z-mount releases over the last year, building upon the core of its business which has been centered around APS-C. In fact, the last Fuji X-mount release was the "Pro" monikered 27mm f/1.2 that I reviewed in August 2023. The new 56mm f/1.7 sits at the opposite end of the spectrum, retailing at an extremely modest $139. It may be budget in price, but its performance is far from it.
"Medium Format cameras can’t shoot sports, action, and wildlife," they said. Well, maybe now they can.
One of my favorite cameras of all time was the Panasonic GM5. With its interchangeable lenses and ultra-compact design, I could truly take it anywhere and still have full manual control. Compromises had to be made given such a small design, and the Micro Four Thirds format did limit potential image quality, but I had an EVF and a creative camera that was perfect for travel.
The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS was truly a legendary kit lens. It broke the stereotype of bare-bones kit lenses that came packaged with slow apertures and pedestrian optics. I say was because it now must make way for a new lens to take center stage. The new Fujifilm XF 16-50mm f/2.8-4.8 has very big shoes to fill indeed.
The Hobolite Iris, the company's latest addition to its lineup of LED lighting equipment, is small enough to slide into a pocket yet versatile enough to deploy in a variety of ways. The main reason why is because it integrates into the broader Hobolite ecosystem, with particular compatibility with the existing Hobolite Micro light.
PetaPixel editor-in-chief Jaron Schneider got his hands on the new M4-powered iPad Pro already, and is actively putting it through its paces for a comprehensive review. My iPad Pro arrived last night, and I opted for Apple's "Nano-texture" glass option. So far, it is much better than I expected.
Sigma updated its 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art with a new body design, a new autofocus motor, and a reworked optical formula to make it lighter, smaller, faster, and sharper. That's the promise, anyway, but is it true?
Fujifilm is consistently updating its line of mirrorless cameras to make use of the latest film simulation modes and sensor technology. It is no surprise, then, that it has released a 40-megapixel version of its insanely popular X-T double-digit line to bring high resolution to an affordable platform: the X-T50.
The first Fujifilm GFX 100S had my favorite form factor of any GFX camera due to its take-anywhere size. I loved the smaller body design of the latest GFX 100 II, and of course all the improvements to autofocus and film simulation modes as well as an emphasis on faster shooting and video. But it was only a matter of time before the latest improvements transferred over to the GFX 100S line and the wait is now over.
Apple's iPad Pro (2024) is a marvel of modern technology. Sleek, bright, and thin, it feels like technology we were promised when I was a kid. But for as many times as I stood mouth agape at it, I felt pulled back -- and that's not necessarily entirely on Apple to fix.
Hasselblad has introduced a new 25mm prime lens to add to its already crowded wide-angle assortment. I've reviewed the 30mm f/3.5, and Hasselblad also has 28mm f/4 and 21mm f/4 lenses. However, this new wide prime splits the difference and has an even brighter f/2.5 aperture.
I love short telephoto lenses because of how versatile they can be for anything from portraits to landscapes.
The Vivo V30 Pro may be a mid-range smartphone, but with Zeiss in the mix, the camera takes a decisive step forward compared to its predecessors. Until now, Vivo reserved its collaboration with Zeiss for its X Series, but no longer. The Zeiss tech makes the more affordable V Series more interesting to photographers.
I've used a lot of different microphones over the past few years, but recent experience with Shure on The PetaPixel Podcast put its SM7db at the top of my tier list. Shure's new MV7+ doesn't quite unseat my number one favorite mic, but it comes darn close.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro is a quality smartphone with a camera array built to make the case that it has the goods to be among the best. Honor is a spinoff of Huawei, which let the brand go in 2021 in a bid to evade U.S. sanctions. Since then, Honor has carved out its own purpose and identity, including a current attempt to go public with an IPO.
It is highly unlikely that you have not heard of the Fujifilm X100VI. Similarly, you've probably seen some polarizing discourse around it. For some reason, it's seemingly only appropriate to love this camera or dunk on it. There is no in between.
The biggest video-centric exhibition took place last week and brought with it a ton of news, including a new dual-lens camera from Insta360 called the X4 8K. There are a lot of conflicting reports on the video quality, though and Jordan Drake has thoughts.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the clearest indicator yet that Xiaomi wants to be the best in mobile photography, even if some parts of the world don't know it. Anecdotal as it may be, people react with surprise at the images they see captured by the phone when I show them.
Aura Frames has emerged as a dominant force in the digital frame world, and it's easy to see why. The stunning image quality and ease of use make it a top choice for displaying photos.
Do you want a compact lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture? Does it have to be as sharp as a G-Master lens without the high price? Sony may have just given you what you asked for, provided that you don't need an extensive zoom range.
A couple of weeks ago I upgraded from the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II to the OM System OM-1 Mark II. One of the reasons was for the OM-1 Mark II's greatly enhanced wildlife tracking functions.
An OM System 150-600mm f/5-6.3 has been sitting in the office for months and I haven't touched it since I tested the OM-1 Mark II. Finally, the cold weather had given way and I had no excuse to ignore it anymore. A trip to the Calgary Zoo would let me test out not only the wildlife capabilities of this lens but also the excellent macro versatility that the lens offers.
If you've ever taken photographs with a vintage Barnack Leica, you know that this precursor to modern cameras is considerably more difficult to load film into than pretty much everything that came after it.
As its name indicates, Insta360 is best known for its 360-degree cameras. The recent announcement of the Ace Pro is the company's expansion into the more traditional form factor pioneered by GoPro and integrates some of the industry's latest tech, including a high-end processor and large sensor. But is it enough to set this camera apart in the crowded action camera market?
110 film is an incredibly niche format that is kept alive by one company: Lomography. It has leveraged that by releasing the $160 Lomomatic 110, a cool piece of kit that harks back to the 1970s and produces lo-fi, imperfect images.
Nikon's new Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens is a groundbreaking full-frame zoom lens, offering 14.2 times zoom in a lightweight package. Does it come with unacceptable compromises, or is it poised to be the ultimate all-in-one lens for Nikon Z photographers?
I normally dismiss ultra-fast aperture lenses because they tend to be overly large, overly expensive, and overly excessive. I rarely want to have the shallowest depth of field possible, and an f/1.2 lens is only two-thirds of a stop brighter than a reasonably priced f/1.4 lens. But what if I can have my cake and eat it too?
National Geographic's new documentary series, Photographer, lives up to its name. The six, hour-long episodes focus less on beautiful photographs and more on their creation. The series is very much about the person behind the images: the photographer.
I have to admit that I haven't given enough time to review the many, many lenses that are coming to us out of China. The only thing harder than knowing which Chinese camera companies belong to which other camera companies is knowing how to pronounce the often strange naming conventions given to the brands.
The Xiaomi 14 may very well be the kind of phone most should experience, in part because it brings the Leica camera hardware and software to the fore. Previously, Xiaomi only included all Leica features in its Pro or Ultra models, but has now done it for this, the smallest of the bunch. This time, the 14 Pro is a Chinese market exclusive, leaving the 14 and 14 Ultra as the two global options.
I have stitched many panoramas, including those I took with my Canon 24 mm TS lens by shifting the lens from side to side. The TS lens gives easy-to-stitch frames. One uncontrolled element that remains in that case is the parallax shift because the lens position changes. Although that may go unnoticed in landscape panoramas, it is still there.
