Wandrd’s Magnetic Camera Straps Are Here and the New Features Just Click

Almost every camera strap on the market from a couple dozen brands right now makes use of links that make it a lot easier to connect the camera to the straps. This smart yet simple solution made straps a lot more efficient, and WANDRD's take on the quick-release camera strap has a few extra features that make it better.

 

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We want to see your most unique photo edits

Welcome to the November installment of the Critique the Community! This month's critique theme is going to be "Unique Edit," and we want to see your best photographs that were brought to life with a new or unique editing style or specific editing software.

Why the Best Forest Photos of the Day Were Steps From the Truck

You drive out to a waterfall the day after a downpour, expecting a torrent, and find the creek almost dry. A blown plan like that tests how quickly you can switch to a backup spot, and how much you can pull out of an ordinary forest scene later with focus stacking in Photoshop and some careful masking in Lightroom.

 

The Budget SG-image AF 55mm f/1.8 Is Sharp Corner to Corner by f/2.8

A standard prime is often the second lens people buy, and on Nikon Z, the inexpensive autofocus options have long trailed what Sony E shooters can pick from. SG-image, a brand mostly known for small pancake lenses, now offers a 55mm f/1.8 autofocus prime with a metal body and a look that suits retro-styled cameras.

 

Kodachrome Ended in Parsons, Kansas: Dwayne's Photo Ran the Last Roll on January 18, 2011

In the last week of December 2010, a railroad worker named Jim DeNike drove from Arkansas to Parsons, Kansas, and loaded a dozen boxes holding nearly 50,000 slides into an old maroon Pontiac. He had sent Dwayne's Photo 1,580 rolls of Kodachrome and paid $15,798 to have them developed, borrowing against his father's retirement account to cover it.

The Feature Nikon Never Shipped

Every camera owner has their own list of things they wish their camera could do—features that seem easily achievable with a simple software update. Normally, that list dies quietly the moment a camera leaves the manufacturer's support cycle.

What 30,000 Free Doritos Commercials Can Teach You About Spec Work

Doritos once got more than 30,000 Super Bowl commercials made by fans, and most of the people who made them got nothing. If a client has ever asked you for a free test edit, a sample shoot, or a quick concept before they commit, you've been offered a smaller version of the same deal.

 

Lumix vs. TTArtisan vs. Viltrox: Why the Priciest 40mm Isn't the Clear Winner

Panasonic, TTArtisan, and Viltrox all make a compact 40mm autofocus prime for full frame L-mount cameras, and one of them costs noticeably more than the other two. When three lenses share a focal length and a mount, the choice comes down to build, rendering, and how much each extra dollar changes what ends up in your files.

 

High-Speed Sync vs. Global Shutter for Flash Portraits in Bright Sun

Shoot a flash portrait at f/1.2 in midday sun and you run into a wall fast: most cameras stop syncing with a flash somewhere around 1/160 to 1/250 s, and anything faster leaves dark bands across the frame. Sony's a9 III and its global shutter offer a way past that wall, which puts high-speed sync, the usual workaround, in an interesting spot.

 

You Don’t Need a Macro Lens for Mushroom Photography. There, I Said It.

There is a tendency in photography to believe that if we want to photograph a particular subject, we need to buy the equipment designed specifically for it. Want to photograph wildlife? You need a long telephoto lens. Want to photograph the night sky? You need a fast wide angle lens. Want to photograph mushrooms? You need a macro lens.

But do you really? 

Why One Superzoom Might Be All You Need on a Long Hike

The OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO covers the same range as a 24-200mm zoom on full frame, so it raises an obvious question if you hike long distances with a camera: can one lens stand in for the three you usually carry?

Why a Rained-Out Race Is Worth Photographing on Film

A storm that cancels an event usually sends everyone home, camera included. On a long trip, the days that fall apart often produce the frames you end up keeping, and with film you won't know which ones worked until the rolls come back.

 

Why the Panasonic Lumix S1RII Is a Great Buy for Everything but Sports

The Panasonic Lumix S1RII pairs a 44-megapixel full frame sensor with 8K video for about $3,300, and that sensor isn't stacked, so it reads out slowly. If you shoot both stills and video, that one design choice shapes nearly everything about how the camera behaves in your hands.

 

Why It's OK to Come Home From a Landscape Shoot Empty-Handed

Watch enough landscape videos and you start to believe the professionals walk out at golden hour and come home with a portfolio image every time. That belief shapes how you judge your own outings, and how hard you are on yourself when the sky catches fire and your card holds nothing you want to show anyone.

 

The Luminar Fall Update Has Some Powerful New Tools

Luminar has released a solid fall update with some new features and some enhancements. The update is free to current owners and can, of course, be purchased by photographers who are interested.

 

This new update is version 1.29.0. The update should appear automatically, or you can click "Check for Updates" in the Luminar dropdown menu.

Chasing a Vivid Fog Bow and a Golden Gate Bridge Shot Years in the Making

Fog in the San Francisco Bay Area can bury a scene in seconds and hand it back a minute later with trees, towers, and light arranged in ways you won't see again. Shooting it well means working quickly, reading the direction of the light, and resisting the urge to stick with the first composition that looks good.

 

The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro Is Sharp in the Corners Wide Open

The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro sells for $829, and it brings a metal body, weather-sealing, and a clicked aperture ring at that price. Few focal lengths stay on a camera as long as a 35mm does, so how a lens like this behaves wide open, in the corners, and while tracking a moving subject affects a big share of everything you shoot.