Photography Gear News

Who doesn't love free stuff? Visual Supply Co has been churning out Photoshop and Lightroom-compatible film presets for some time now. To date, they've released seven different 'Film Packs' each containing presets that mimic both classic and contemporary film stocks. Now, they're offering one for free. Read more

In many users' pockets consumer-level digital compact cameras have been replaced by smartphones. The cameras of the latter don't usually have zoom lenses or xenon flashes but image sensor technology has been rapidly improving and clever software processing helps rival, and in some cases even surpass, image quality of dedicated cameras. Add large high-resolution screens for image framing and viewing along with the ability to add special features and new shooting modes by installing apps to the mix, and it's no surprise that for many the smartphone camera has become an important piece of photographic equipment. 

On this page we have listed, in no particular order, our current favorite smartphone cameras for those who are looking to buy their first smartphone or upgrade their current device. We are aiming to continuously update this article as new reviews are being added to the site. At the bottom of the page you will also find a chronological list of all smartphone camera reviews that have been published on DPReview Connect since we started the site in 2012. 

The Fujifilm X100T offers seemingly small improvements on its predecessors, the cult classic X100 and X100S. Its 16MP X-Trans CMOS II sensor and fixed 35mm equiv. f/2 lens are now accompanied by an all electronic shutter mode with increased 1/32000sec maximum speed, redesigned hybrid viewfinder and an upgraded 1.04m dot rear LCD.

Canon's new EF 11-24mm F4 L wideangle zoom lens is Canon's widest ever rectilinear zoom by some margin, and might even challenge Nikon's venerable 14-24mm F2.8 as the tool of choice for landscape, property and architectural photographers.

The lens is constructed from 16 elements in 11 groups. Four of those elements are aspherical, one is of ultra low-dispersion glass and another is 'super' ultra low-dispersion. External elements are fluorine coated, while inside surfaces have sub-wavelength structure coatings to minimize internal reflections that cause flare and ghosting. If all of this makes your heart race you'll know exactly how we felt when a reviewable sample arrived in our office last week. 

Note that we will be adding more images to this gallery over the coming days.

See our Canon EF 11-24mm F4 L USM samples gallery

After the launches of very successful A series 1.4/35 and 1.4/50 lenses people were wondering what Sigma would present next. There were rumours about 135 mm, 85 mm and 24 mm models and those who bet on the last focal length were the closest to the truth. In February 2015 the Sigma A 24 mm f/1.4 DG HSM was shown and already in March its first specimen were delivered to different testers. We would like to thank the Sigma ProCentrum company for a speedy delivery of the final model of the lens for testing purposes; the results you can find in the following chapters– enjoy your reading!

During the introduction of the NEX system, Sony followed a rather erratic strategy regarding the introduction of new lenses. It seems as if they have learned quite a bit in the process because they are much more focused when it comes to the new FE mount. Following high-end standard- and tele-zoom lenses plus a few fast prime lenses, Sony has just released a new ultra-wide zoom lens - the Carl-Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS. Thus with this lens we'd say that the FE system has reached minimum viability in terms of completeness now. Technically the Zeiss lens can be used both on APS-C and full format E-mount cameras although most buyers will certainly come from the latter group. It's certainly not a cheap lens - given the Zeiss brand name nobody expected this really - but the pricing (around 1500US$) remains at least on a sane level.

A little while ago we reviewed the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R - a great if not even awesome lens. However, it seems as if Fujifilm saw some extra potential here. Thus they took the same design, added an apodization filter and named the whole thing Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R APD. Now on paper this may not sound like a big deal ... a filter ... but by doing so they injected magic into the lens! An apodization filter smoothes the bokeh's outlines which is big, really big especially in difficult scenes with harsh contrasts. And lenses such as a 56mm f/1.2 are really meant to be used at fully open aperture for separating an object from the rest of the world. Unfortunately the extra glory comes at a price - the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R is already fairly expensive at 1000US$ and the APD adds an extra 500US$ to the bill.

Nikon just got star struck with the new D810A. As a long time Nikon photographer working as a professional photographer with a passion for astrophotography, I was really excited when this new camera was announced in February this year. Could it be the answer to all my dreams?

China-based manufacturer Yongnuo has produced what looks like a near-clone of Canon's well-liked EF 35mm f/2, a lens that dates back to 1990. With a couple of minor exceptions (one of which being the brand name on the front of the lens) the Yongnuo lens looks very similar to Canon's 25-year-old prime, but at an attractive price of ~$115. Read more

Another lens from Fujifilm's roadmap is making its way to retailers, and that's the XF 16mm F1.4 R WR wide prime. This lens, equivalent to 24mm, has a nine-blade aperture, flare-reducing Nano-GI coating, and a minimum focusing distance of 15cm/6 in. There's also a manual aperture ring and depth-of-field scale. Being a WR lens, the 16mm is also sealed against weather and dust and can function at temperatures as low as -10C/+14F. 

The XF 16mm F1.4 R WR will be available next month for $999.95.

Phones that have a camera have evolved much in recent years, but they do not always achieve quality images from the first attempt, excluding a DSLR quality. Below you can learn how to get better quality

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 II follows-up on the groundbreaking original E-M5 and brings extra control points (a lot of them) a 40MP high-res mode, better video, improved image stabilization and a host of other refinements, large and small. We've been shooting a lot with the E-M5 II over the past few weeks, and that work has culminated in a full review, with our usual combination of studio and real-world tests. 

There's quite a number of rather exotic third party manufacturers out there. Some come and go whereas others are here to stay. Samyang, a Korean manufacturer, is clearly in this 2nd group. In fact they are also OEMing their lenses to "brands" such as Bower, Rokinon or Walimex. During the recent years Samyang provided a fairly large number of interesting lenses for both mirrorless and DSLR systems. Their lenses lack an electronic coupling as well as AF which prevents them from entering into the mainstream so far. However, the optical quality of their products is often impressive and up there with the big boys. Their latest product (as of this review) is the Samyang 135mm T2.2 ED UMC CINE DS. As the name implies, it is optimized for smooth (step-less) aperture and focus transitions which is important for movie makers (hence the "CINE"). However, the lens is also available in a conventional, photography-centric incarnation (Samyang 135mm f/2 ED UMC) featuring distinctive aperture clicks, a shorter focus path and differently designed control rings. However, the optical design remains the same so the our findings are applicable to both variants.
Some users may be confused by the rather unfamiliar T2.2 vs f/2 naming convention. The T-value simply describes the light transmission characteristic whereas the f-value is equivalent to the numerical ratio of focal length and aperture diameter. In real life terms, it doesn't really make much of difference. The T-value is simply more common in the movie arena.

While we were at CP+ 2015 in Japan, we met with Tamron, and the company was kind enough to lend us their newly announced 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD. In Nikon mount, no less. Why the big deal about it being Nikon mount? Because that means we can attach it natively to the Nikon D810 - the highest-resolution DSLR currently on the market (until the Canon EOS 5DS and 5DSR show up in June). 

15-30mm is a wide range for a full-frame zoom, made more impressive by the inclusion of vibration compensation (VC). The wide F2.8 aperture and inclusion of VC do mean the lens is rather heavy and bulky, weighing 1100g, 100g heavier - and physically wider throughout the lens barrel - than the Nikon 14-24 F2.8... 

The Sony Alpha 7S is a full-frame interchangeable lens camera sporting a 12.2MP CMOS sensor. It is identical in body design to the Sony a7 and Sony a7R, but don't let that fool you. Unlike the other two, the a7S is specially geared toward video and low-light shooters. It's capable of 1080/60p video with full-sensor readout and can turn out uncompressed 4K footage to an external recorder over HDMI. Should serious videographers invest in one? Take a look at our full review.

If you have a DSLR, there is a good chance you have or had a 50mm prime lens in your camera bag,  After all, the 50mm standard prime lens is one of the most popular prime lens because of it's close to human eye vision angle and it's relatively affordable price. There are quite a few different…