One of the smallest and lightest Canon DSLRs is the Rebel SL2, announced in June of 2017 and retailing for $549, body only. The SL2 also goes by the names “EOS 200D” and “Kiss X9” outside the US market. Despite the camera’s small size, Canon packed a lot into the SL2, including a tilt-flip touchscreen, dual pixel autofocus, and the company’s newest 24 megapixel sensor. This detailed review covers everything you need to know about the SL2.
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Kodak Aerochrome Film Reborn? A Review of the 550nm Infrared Filter
When Ilija, owner of Kolari Vision, emailed me regarding his introduction of the 550nm infrared filter this past winter and shared some of the initial images taken with it, I was intrigued. I had used various models of Nikon DSLRs converted for infrared photography since 2007, relying primarily on the 720nm filter. Over the years, however, I slowly began to develop an appreciation for those filters affording more faux colors. In April, I took the leap and had Ilija convert…
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Nikon D3400 Review
This is a detailed review of the Nikon D3400, the newest entry-level DSLR in the Nikon lineup (as of June 2018). The D3400 uses a top-of-the-line 24 megapixel DX sensor, which is capable of capturing very detailed and high quality photos. But it isn’t all perfect – the Nikon D3400 has noticeable compromises, especially in its handling and menu options. Is it still worth buying? Below, we’ll cover everything you need to know to make your decision.
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BenQ SW320 Monitor Review
As photographers, we spend quite a bit of time post-processing images. During this process, making sure that we are looking at calibrated displays is extremely important, because it allows us to ensure that the images are edited properly and consistently. Unfortunately, high-quality displays are not cheap, and anything on the lower-end is often too big of a gamble, so finding the right monitor that has a good balance of price and performance is a challenge in itself. Thankfully, some companies…
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Huawei Mate 10 Pro Camera Review
We are continuing our assessment of some of the latest mobile devices from different manufacturers, and this time we are going to dive deep into the photo capabilities of the new Huawei Mate 10 Pro. This smartphone was supposed to be marketed and sold by AT&T in the USA, after the company signed a large deal with the Chinese manufacturer (which happens to be the third largest smartphone maker in the world), but sadly, AT&T withdrew from the deal right…
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Sony Xperia XZ2 Camera Review
Without a doubt, the photography industry has been shaken by the rise of smartphone photography. The highly competitive market of smartphones has also been overrun by many options from a variety of different manufacturers. The Android platform dominates smartphone sales, having a whopping 87% market share – an impressive number when compared to the 12% that iOS represents. With Android being an open platform compared to iOS, it attracts many manufacturers from all over the world, including Sony. While Sony…
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Canon T7i / 800D Review
This is an in-depth review of the Canon Rebel T7i (also known as the EOS 800D and the Kiss X9i), the newest in Canon’s long line of Rebel DSLRs. These cameras have been a staple of Canon’s system for years, starting with the original “EOS Digital Rebel” in 2003. The newest T7i improves upon its many predecessors by adding a faster frame rate, better autofocus, and Canon’s newest generation aps-c sensor. It retails for $750 body only and $800 with…
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Synology DS1618+ Review
Without a doubt, the rise of high-resolution content has been putting a lot of pressure on content creators to seek for faster and larger capacity storage. Just a decade ago, it was hard to imagine using up a terabyte of space, and today we already have single hard drives that can hold up to 12 TB of storage. As we battle our ever-increasing storage needs, the need for a storage solution that is capable of consolidating our data, while keeping…
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Nikon D5600 Review
This is a detailed review of the Nikon D5600, the newest of Nikon’s advanced entry-level DSLR cameras. The Nikon D5600 packs a lot of impressive features and settings into what is meant to be a “consumer” DSLR, and the result is quite good – but not without flaws. Do the benefits outweigh the problems? In this Nikon D5600 review, we will cover everything you should know before deciding on the camera for yourself.
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Fuji XF 50mm f/2 R WR Review
This is an in-depth review of the Fujifilm XF 50mm f/2 R WR lens. Announced in January 2017, the lens is the third in the line of compact, and weather sealed f/2 lenses made for Fuji’s line of X-series cameras. It joins its XF 23mm and 35mm cousins. This short telephoto (76mm full-frame equivalent) is about half the size and weight of Fujifilm’s 56 mm f/1.2 R lens, and also half the cost! This versatile lens focuses extremely fast so…
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Canon 80D Review
This is an in-depth review of the Canon 80D, a midrange DSLR released in 2016 and intended for photographers who want a more advanced camera than an entry-level Canon Rebel. We have been testing the Canon 80D extensively over the past couple months, and the takeaway is clear: It is a very solid camera, even in 2018. On top of that, the 80D also represents a good value on today’s market at $1000 new, which is less than other cameras…
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DJI Mavic Air Review
This is a detailed review of the DJI Mavic Air drone used for aerial photography and videography. As I was deciding on what gear to bring for a trip to New Zealand earlier this year, my biggest dilemma was whether to take a drone with me or not. The thing is, while I love the idea of being able to take images and videos from unique vantage points, my biggest struggle with drones so far have been their large sizes…
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TerraMaster D2-310 Hard Drive Enclosure Review
Depending upon the number of images or videos you have, you might need to rely upon external hard drives for much of your daily photography work. The biggest issue, though, is that this can result in a significant slowdown compared to editing photos via an internal drive, especially SSD or flash storage. What are your options? One possibility is to use an external hard drive enclosure capable of RAID configurations, letting you speed up your storage or mirror the information…
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Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E VR AF-P Review
In this in-depth review of the Nikon AF-P NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR lens, we will take a close look at what this full-frame lens has to offer when used on modern Nikon DSLR cameras, go over its features and compare it to its predecessor. The Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E VR AF-P was announced in July of 2017 as a major update to the existing 70-300mm lens design, optimized for high-resolution camera bodies, and armed with the latest optical technologies. Sporting…
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Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM Review
Introduced in 1999, the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM has long been regarded as a benchmark in Canon’s lineup in terms of image sharpness and focusing performance. At the time of its introduction, the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS replaced the very successful EF 300mm f/2.8L USM which was one of Canons best lenses. With this update, Canon gave the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM a wholly new optical formula with one fluorite element and two UD-glass elements along with…
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WD My Passport Wireless SSD Review
One of the challenges of photographers who work in the field is to make sure that their data is always fully backed up. While many photographers rely on either keeping two copies of their images on different memory cards, some prefer to manually back up their work using a laptop or a dedicated backup device. For a number of years now, Western Digital has been providing backup solutions specifically aimed at photographers and the new WD My Passport Wireless SSD-series…
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Gnarbox Review
As photographers, we heavily rely on computers to store, edit, backup and export our work. While it is nice to be able to work from home or from our offices, many of us have to count on using more portable solutions in the field. As a result, those of us who frequently travel to remote locations often end up using portable laptops. However, laptops are large, heavy, fragile and they require power to work for more than a few hours.…
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IRIX 11mm f/4 Review
This is an in-depth field review of the ultra-wide full-frame Irix 11mm f/4 lens released in 2017. I have tested the more expensive and heavier Blackstone version, but since the Firefly version features an identical optical design, all conclusion made in the review hold for both versions. This glass is the widest rectilinear lens for full frame DSLR cameras. Only the Canon 11-24mm f/4L gets equally wide. Shooting with such an extremely wide lens brings a whole lot of practical…
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Alien Skin Exposure X3 Review
This is an in-depth review of the Alien Skin Exposure X3 software for culling, managing and post-processing images. A couple of weeks ago, Spencer wrote the first article of our “Lightroom Classic vs. Other Software” series. In his article, he compared Lightroom to Alien Skin’s Exposure X3. I’m following his article up with a more detailed take on Exposure X3. Here I will dive a little bit deeper into the user experience I have had with the program while using it…
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Nikon D7500 Review
This camera works. That was my thought after testing the Nikon D7500 for two days of sub-freezing photography in Rocky Mountain National Park – only taking breaks from the cold while driving from one location to the next – in conditions that are the very definition of a field review. We’ve now been testing the D7500 at Photography Life for several weeks, but the 48 hours of intense shooting at Rocky Mountain solidified things. This DSLR packs a serious punch,…
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