There is no one-size-fits-all standard zoom for everyone, and while a kit lens will be fine for some users, others might need to move on or use something different.
Opinion
This is where I offer thoughts on developments in photography and video, some of the context behind news stories and industry events, and how these might impact photographers.
Why are kit lenses getting worse?
It’s as if the makers of full frame mirrorless cameras have suddenly realized that there’s no point making mirrorless cameras smaller if the lenses are as big as ever. So there’s a trend now to make compact zooms for these cameras to cut down on the overall system size. That’s great. But in making these kit lenses compact, have they also made them next to useless?
How hard can it be to find an all-manual camera with actual DIALS?
We all know that any DSLR or mirrorless camera can offer both manual exposure and manual focus. What I’m actually asking is how many cameras offer these as external controls like old-fashioned film cameras? The answer, depressingly, is almost none.
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.
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.
The whole camera news cycle is broken: here’s why
Once upon a time (as all the best folk tales begin), camera launches were simple. A maker announced a camera, the secret was out, you could buy it straight away – or at least order it. Now, after years of reporting on camera launches and reviewing cameras, I do think that the whole camera product cycle has slowly but inexorably descended into chaos.
I’m waiting to review the Canon EOS R6 II, but why am I not more excited?
The Canon EOS R6 Mark II is an interesting camera for a number of reasons, but it’s not really lighting my fuse. I’m waiting for a loan sample from Canon, I’ve been told it’s not far off and for the sake of politeness I’m keen to see it. But I’m not too worked up.