On February 7, 2023, Canon announced their latest RF mount mirrorless camera – the Canon EOS R8. The R8 is an intriguing camera for several reasons. While at first blush, the R8 may just look to be a slightly updated RP, Canon made some very interesting choices with regards to this new camera, and the…
Category: Shop Talk
First Impressions: Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift
I’m excited enough about today’s lens to throw some quick impressions out ahead of a full review. Laowa is the lens brand for Venus Optics, a relatively new optical company that has made quite a splash in the industry over the past 9 years by creating quality lenses that fill niches that the traditional lens…
More Film! This time, Medium Format
Last month, I wrote an article about getting back into shooting film. While I have enjoyed the process of shooting film on my 35mm cameras, the output isn’t quite up to my quality standards given what I’ve been used to with digital. As such, I thought more and more about picking up an old, affordable…
Dabbling with Film
I was born in the late 1970s and like many people my age, I grew up with 35mm film as the primary photographic medium for which to capture memories and light. While I didn’t get into photography as a serious hobby until the rise of digital photography in the early 2000s, I shot film for…
Canon RF 70-200mm f/4L IS vs. Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
First off: this is not a review. This is a simple test under controlled conditions to evaluate image quality of these two compact L-series telephotos. A full review of the RF 70-200mm f/4L IS can be found here, while my review of the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS can be found here. In November, Canon expanded…
First Impressions: Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD
Tamron has made some waves with their lineup of compact, and lightweight, yet high quality zoom lenses for Sony E-mount, offering excellent performance in a small package at a price point significantly lower than the native Sony options. The final piece of this puzzle is the brand new 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD. This has…
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 vs Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm f/4
Tamron just released their brand new 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD lens for Sony E-Mount, and it’s a very intriguing offer from Tamron. The lens retails for $899, which is $450 cheaper than the Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm f/4 OSS that is involved in this comparison, and a whopping $1,300 less than the equal aperture (but wider…
The Best Lenses – In My Experience
Last updated 2/14/21 What lens is best? I get asked this all the time, and there’s never really a right answer. “Best for what?” is what I usually reply, as the answer will depend on what the photographer wants to accomplish, what their budget is and what is important to them. Everyone will have a…