Gear Acquisition Syndrome is a standing joke in the photographic community. It describes photographers who are constantly buying new gear instead of spending their time actually taking photographs. Well, I think it’s time to stop sneering and start accepting.
I need the extended depth of field of crop sensors more often than the shallow DOF of full frame
Often – very often, in my opinion – the shallow depth of field of a larger format can be a nuisance. It’s a nuisance for landscapes, for interiors, for close-ups and for any other kind of image where you want objects at different distances from the camera to all look adequately sharp.
Do you really need autofocus for video?
What a stupid question, you’re probably thinking. Would we have a trillion words written a day on the latest camera autofocus tech if we didn’t need it? The thing is, it all depends on who you ask – and whether you’re talking about vlogging or filmmaking. Because there’s a difference.
Canon and Nikon’s APS-C mirrorless lenses: strategic error or clever upsell?
Back in the days of Nikon and Canon DSLRs, both makers had APS-C cameras backed up by extensive ranges of APS-C lenses. You could buy an APS-C DSLR and stick with it for good. That’s not happening with their mirrorless replacements.
Who says mirrorless cameras are best for video?
Mirrorless cameras are only ‘better’ if you load the argument in favor of what they can do well and ignore the things they can’t.
Joby Wavo Air review
Verdict: 3.8 stars The Joby Wavo Air is a very comprehensive wireless two-mic kit with optional plug-in lavalier mics thrown in for less obtrusive wearing for interviews and the like. The mics and receiver come already paired and come with clips and attachments for hotshoes, tripods legs, clothing and even a magnetic lanyard. But there’s no supplied carry case for all these mics, cables and gadgets and the instructions are very basic – and describe a power status display that I still can’t find.
I finally traded in my Olympus MFT… for a bigger one
Yes, the 12-40mm was a bit big on the E-M5 body, but I would get used to that. I thought. Well I didn’t. So I got the screw-on grip for the E-M5 III which made it better to hold with bigger lenses. It helped, but then it felt like a small camera made artificially big.
Does anyone mind if I ask a question about the Panasonic Lumix S5 II?
Yes it looks marvellous. Yes, everything is better. Yes, it does everything we wished the original Lumix S5 did, notably phase-detect autofocus. But how come it can still only record 4K 60p in a Super35 crop? Why are we still putting up with this in 2023 in an apparently semi-pro video camera?
It’s like the Fujifilm X100V is a cult camera now, so why did I sell mine?
I bought the X100V as a ‘street’ camera and then found it wasn’t especially good at it – or at least in the way I like to shoot.
Canon EOS RP pros and cons
So nearly three years on from the original launch, here are my current thoughts on the Canon EOS RP, in the light of cameras that have come along since then, which all help to put Canon’s ‘starter’ full frame mirrorless camera into proper perspective today.