I’ve spent years reviewing camera gear, lenses, and accessories, but travel itself is a constant companion in this work. Long flights, multiple connections, and the inevitable luggage carousel scramble mean that the suitcase you choose matters almost as much as…
Thypoch has been one of the more intriguing new lens makers out of China in large part because of their unconventional approach. Viltrox has muscled onto the scene by sheer force of wills, standing up to the big brands and…
Tamron has proven to be the zoom king in the mirrorless era, releasing a number of popular and commercially successful zoom lenses for a variety of camera makes. They have released relatively few prime lenses (mostly leaving that space to…
I’ve noted over the years that Nikon’s marketing strategy at the typical prime focal lengths (35mm, 50mm, and 85mm) is a bit unconventional. In the past the usual strategy was entry level (F1.8), mid-tier (F1.4), and premium (F1.2) options. But…
Until this point, the Viltrox EVO series has been fairly predictable. The series has been a winning combination of compact size, rich features, excellent optics, and a reasonable price. Across the three full frame (35mm, 55mm, and 85mm) lenses and…
Before I shot DSLRs, and then mirrorless, there were ‘bridge’ cameras. I used multiple bridge cameras because of the great appeal of having better image quality than a ‘point-and-shoot’ camera (and more telephoto reach) while not having to deal with…
Just a couple of years the number of native 135mm lenses on Sony E, Nikon Z, and L-mount could be counted on one hand, but first Samyang (my review here), then Viltrox (my review here), and with a big splash,…
The Sony a7RV was already one of the most complete high-resolution cameras on the market when it launched. It took the excellent 61MP sensor and refined nearly everything else—ergonomics, AF, video, buffer depth, and flexibility with MRAW options—into a truly…
The Viltrox EVO series has hit the sweet spot for a lot of people. First came the 85mm F2, then the 35mm and 55mm F1.8 full frame options, each of which has proven to be both critical and commercial successes.…
The Viltrox EVO series has hit the sweet spot for a lot of people. First came the 85mm F2, then the 35mm and 55mm F1.8 full frame options, each of which has proven to be both critical and commercial successes.…
The newer lensmakers that were making manual focus lenses last year are all moving on into autofocus this year. This is the first time that I’ve reviewed an autofocus lens from Brightin Star, and they’ve created an interesting one –…
Sony’s relationship with teleconverters on their mirrorless E-mount platform has been, well, difficult. While in many ways Sony E-mount has been the most open platform in the history of photography, Sony essentially chose two primary areas to “put a thumb”…
Sometimes companies surprise you. I’ve been waiting for an autofocus zoom lens to come from one of the Chinese lensmakers, fully expecting it to be Viltrox or perhaps Sirui. Instead it comes from a very unexpected source – new lensmaker…
Lens design often becomes othodoxy. 70-200mm telephoto zooms “always” have fixed aperture of F2.8 or F4, but 70-300mm or 100-400mm zooms are “always” variable aperture. 70-200mm zooms are internally zooming, but 70-300mm or 100-400mm zooms are always externally zooming. There…
My journey continues as I familiarize myself with Nikon’s important catalog lenses. Today’s stop is in the wide angle department, where I’ll cover the less expensive of Nikon’s two S-line wide angle zooms – the Nikkor Z 14-30mm F4 S.…