Sony has announced their upcoming mirrorless camera, the a5100. The tl;dr is that it's basically the a6000 in a more compact package. The a5100 has no electronic viewfinder or any physical control dials to speak of, but it does contain the same 24.3-megapixel CMOS APS-C sensor and BIONZ X image processing engine as the a6000. In other words, it still focuses on…
The features that set the Panasonic LUMIX GH4 apart from its much cheaper competition aren't the 16MP micro four-thirds sensor, WiFi connectivity, weather-sealed body, fully-articulated rear LCD, or even its excellent battery life. It's the fact that Panasonic managed to squeeze 4K video recording (!) into such a compact package. The non-video specs are still perfectly respectable, but I wouldn't pick it…
For photographers who treat their cameras like the delicate equipment they often are, our current recommendation is the Olympus E-M10 mirrorless camera. But if you need a shooter that can better withstand the elements and still capture amazing shots, you should check out the surprisingly affordable Olympus TG-3. This 16MP all-weather point-and-shoot is tough enough to handle being dropped from 7 feet…
After a very successful Kickstarter campaign back in January, Canadian bag makers VENQUE (pronounced Venk) have returned to Kickstarter to launch the newest item in their collection: the Campro DSLR Bag. Made from a durable, water-resistant fabric blend of their own creation—dubbed Quanta Fabric—the Campro is capable of carrying just about everything a photographer might need for a pro shoot: a camera…
If you liked the Olympus E-PL5 camera, you'll love the new(ish) Olympus E-M10. Despite its slim profile, the E-M10 produces quality images on par with entry-level DSLRs. Compared to the E-PL5, the E-M10 has better manual dials, better image stabilization, and the addition of an electronic viewfinder, all without adding much more bulk. It also has the added benefit of Wi-Fi connectivity,…
Hard Graft has just added two more straps to its camera accessory collection, something I wrote about a while back. The Instant Camera Strap ($127) is for the photographer who needs no bells or whistles. It's a simple, non-adjustable leather strap lined with a strip of non-slip wool where it rests around your neck or shoulder. The Re-Process Camera Strap ($166), on…
Yesterday I stumbled across Shoko Miyamoto's Etsy shop, where she sells a bunch of handmade camera straps. Her shop lists about 80 straps of varying fabrics, colors, and sizes (all of which are $33 + $3 worldwide shipping). These are my favorites: Glen Check Dark Blue (DSLR | Mirrorless) Green Mix Tweed (DSLR | Mirrorless) Brown Chidori Wool (DSLR | Mirrorless) She…
Ride North is a Kickstarter project by photographers Sebastiaan de With and Stuart Philkill. They will soon be embarking on a motorcycle road trip from San Francisco to Alaska, and documenting the entire journey. The Kickstarter is not intended to fund the trip itself—they've already saved up for that accordingly—but rather a set of high-quality physical prints and a photo book with…
Cinescope is an iPhone app that does one thing well: it lets you compose and shoot photos in any aspect ratio before saving them to your camera roll. It comes with several presets (2.39, 1.85, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1) but you can also create your own custom ratio—for example, 2:1. If you intend to post the photo on Instagram, Cinescope lets you embed…
A lot of iOS photo-editing apps offer only the most heavy-handed filters and presets, which can easily turn your beautiful shots into tacky monstrosities. Not so with the new Litely app for iPhone and iPad. Designed and developed by Cole Rise—the guy who made the Litely photo presets pack for Lightroom, Photoshop, etc—Litely for iOS lets you add beautiful, subtle color tones…
The KamPro Handle Kit is a handheld mount for GoPro HERO cameras that gives you tons of video-shooting flexibility. Here's what you get in the box: 1 Handle 3 thumb screws 2 threaded pivot arms 1 pivot arm 1 phone mount 1 threaded mount 1 cold shoe mount You can mix-and-match these pieces to create entirely different rigs. For example, the phone…
Hard Graft, makers of fine bags and other accessories, today unveiled their "Ocean" collection. Like their other products, these items are crafted from vegetable-tanned, hand-stained Italian leather and heavy-duty wool felt, but what sets the Ocean collection apart is that each piece is shaded a deep, gorgeous blue. They're really quite striking, but the wool felt's muted gray tones keep everything nicely…
To develop their new T-series camera, Leica teamed up with the design team at Audi, and boy is it a beaut. Each camera body is milled from a single block of aluminum and hand-polished for 45 minutes—no seriously, you can watch the entire process—resulting in the most Apple-like camera I've ever seen. Almost all of the Leica T's functions are controlled via…
These days, who wants to plug their iOS device into a computer to back up photos anymore? All of mine end up on Dropbox anyway, so why not cut out the middle man and upload the photos directly? This is where CameraSync comes in handy. Once you've set it up with your Dropbox account (other options include Flickr, Amazon S3, Google Drive,…
When our friend Ben Brooks reviewed the ONA Bowery bag, I was drawn to the photo of his camera because of the beautiful leather wrist strap attached to it. The next day, he put up a short review of that strap, which turned out to be made by a company called Tap & Dye. This wrist strap is made from full-grain cowhide…
Waterlogue is an iOS app that can make any of your photos look like gorgeous watercolor paintings. Similar to apps like Instagram, there are a handful of filters that can transform photos in various delightful ways. You can see some examples here. The app is super easy to use, fun to play with, and can add a little artistic flair to even…
If you've been shooting photos with the Micro 4/3 system for any amount of time, there's a good chance you've already known about (or even owned) the Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 lens. After all, it is by far the most recommended one for M4/3 photographers. But now there's a new competitor in town: the Olympus 25mm f/1.8 lens. It's smaller, it focuses faster,…
While the Sony NEX-5 series of cameras will soon be replaced by the Sony a5000, the even more popular Sony NEX-6 is about to have a successor of its own: the Sony a6000. The a6000 improves on the NEX-6 in almost every respect. The old 16.1-megapixel sensor has been replaced with an awesome new 24.3-megapixel CMOS APS-C model. It can burst-shoot at…
The Bowery bag by ONA can serve two functions: Standalone camera bag, big enough to hold a mirrorless camera, a lens, and a few personal items. Bag insert/organizer, wherein the entire thing (sans detachable strap) can be placed inside a larger bag for organizational and protective purposes. The bag is constructed from water-resistant waxed canvas, detailed with full-grain leather and sporting a…
As I've mentioned in the past, I do all of my writing and blogging from my iPad, using a combination of the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover and Editorial. I enjoy this setup for the most part, but the one aspect that still isn't 100% up-to-snuff is dealing with images in posts. There are various apps on the iOS App Store that tie…