The Phoblographer

The Phoblographer

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  • The Best Weather Sealed Wide Angle Lenses Under $1,000
    We’re streaming daily on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and Spotify!
    There are tons of wide angle lenses out there. More importantly, there are a lot of great ones. But not many are under $1,000. And even less of those are weather sealed. These days, that’s the goal for lots of photographers. And luckily, we’ve reviewed a ton of wide angle lenses. So we dove into our archives to find the best weather sealed wide angle lenses. Most importantly, we’ve found some of the most affordable ones and put them in this roundup.
    How We Picked These Lenses
    Trust me when I say that we tried to find more zoom lenses. We really, truly tried. As the founder and Editor in Chief of this website, I take a lot of pride in our lens reviews. By far, we’ve got the most lenses reviewed in a lifestyle format of any publication out there right now. And when constructing this list, I went all the way back into early 2018 to look at the lenses we’ve reviewed. The truth is that there aren’t that many wide-angle weather-sealed.
    Also, we know that Tamron has a bunch of good weather sealed wide angle lenses. But the one we’ve got in this list is arguably the best.
    Sony 20mm f1.8 G
    In our review, we state:
    “The Sony 20mm f1.8 G also features weather-sealing, which means you can take this lens out into the rain with no problems at all. I took it out with me, and the heavens opened up out of the blue, and it just kept on working with no issues at all. The focusing ring has just the right amount of tension, and the size of it makes it easy to use. The aperture control ring is, as you would expect, much smaller than the focus ring, but it feels great. Leave the click mechanism turned on, and you get very satisfying clunks as you turn it. When you put the Click switch to off, you get a smooth spinning, completely silent aperture ring, which makes it ideal for video work. Overall the Sony 20mm f1.8 G won’t disappoint in the build quality department.”
    Sample Images
    Buy Now: Around $899
    Fujifilm 16mm f2.8 R WR
    In our review, we state:
    “As you can see from the lead image of this blog post, the Fujifilm 16mm f2.8 R WR lens is weather sealed. Granted, we’ve put our gear through much worse weather before. Fujifilm’s cameras and lenses, when stated to be weather resistant via the the WR designation, are often pretty great. During our usage of the Fujifilm 16mm f2.8 R WR lens, it never failed. However, Spring in NYC hasn’t yielded us a whole lat of rain so far. so we didn’t get to do a major torture test in a real world testing condition. Photographers who mount this lens to their camera for travel work will be happy to know about its sealing abilities. However, due to the size, it’s probably best suited for the X-T3 and Fujifilm X Pro 2 than it is for the X-H1. The XH1 tends to be chunky, and so the 16mm f1.4 R WR could be better suited to it ergonomically.”
    Sample Images
    Buy Now: Around $399
    Nikon 24mm f1.8 S
    In our review, we state:
    “The Nikon 24mm f1.8 Z was used extensively in the rain. In fact, we kept it out for a few hours and it kept working. I was very thoroughly impressed previously with how good the build quality of Nikon’s lenses are, but this blew me away. Photographers who need to shoot in less than ideal conditions will feel relieved that this lens will keep working. “
    Sample Images
    Buy Now: Around $996.95
    Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD
    In our review, we state:
    “Well, we did some pretty crazy things with the Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD in the rain. During our testing period, it survived heavy rainfall in NYC during the summer. In fact, we purposely took it into the rain more than once. It continued to work without issue.”
    Sample Images
    Buy Now: Around $899
    5 min
  • Is This Extra? PhotoWhoa 5100+ Lightroom Photo Presets Bundle Review
    We’re streaming daily on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and Spotify!
    Lightroom presets are good for more than just faster photo edits. Presets can serve as creative fodder when you’re stuck. They can introduce new effects you never thought to try. Presets can also keep the style consistent across an album or photo story. And so, if Lightroom presets can be used for more than just one thing, it makes sense to have more than one preset. Like, 5100+ Lightroom Photo Presets, right?
    The 5100+ Lightroom Photo Presets Bundle from PhotoWhoa is bound to have presets that suit your work and style. But, you’ll have to sift through thousands of badly named presets to find ones best suited for your work. If you don’t remove the ones you don’t like, you’ll end up stunting Lightroom’s performance speeds. (And, let’s face it, Lightroom needs all the speed boosts it can get.)
    Features
    The 5100+ Lightroom Photo Presets pack is divided into 37 sets based on the genre the presets were intended for or a certain style. The set includes:
    30 Dream Lightroom Presets
    33 Horror Film Lightroom Presets
    45 Insta Blogger Lightroom Presets
    50 Sports Lightroom Presets
    50+ Duotone Lightroom Presets
    50+ Newborn Lightroom Presets
    50+ Urban Retro Lightroom Presets
    60+ Outdoor Lightroom Presets
    60+ Portrait Lightroom Presets
    80s Lightroom Presets
    90 VSCO Lightroom Presets
    90+ Moody Lightroom Presets
    95 Monochrome Lightroom Presets
    100 Film Look Lightroom Presets
    100 Skin Retouch Lightroom Presets
    100 Summer Travel Lightroom Presets
    100 Warm Lightroom Presets
    100+ Lifestyle Blogger Lightroom Presets
    100+ Nostalgia Lightroom Presets
    100+ Winter Story Lightroom Presets
    120 Real Estate Lightroom Presets
    120+ Fashion Lightroom Presets
    140 Black & White Portrait Lightroom Presets
    140+ Blogger Lightroom Presets
    140+ HDR Lightroom Presets
    140+ Premium Lightroom Presets
    150 Summer Lightroom Presets
    150+ Urban Lightroom Presets
    240+ Wedding Lightroom Presets
    260 Magic Lightroom Presets
    260+ Food Lightroom Presets
    300 Premium Lightroom Presets
    300+ Film Wedding Lightroom Presets
    300+ Vintage Film Lightroom Presets
    500+ Wedding Dream Lightroom Presets
    The set focuses on presets for the entire image, rather than tucking some of those 5,100 inside the brush tools. This is a bit unfortunate since some of the skin retouching presets would have been better used as a brush instead.
    I don’t mean to state the obvious, but that’s a lot of presets. While I didn’t spend months trying each one, I still found several I really liked. Some of my favorites were tucked in the portrait and film inspired collections, but I also found a few gems in unexpected places, like the pack of 80s inspired presets. I largely use presets for color and contrast in my own work, and there are a few dozen that do well with both.
    Several presets I tried were also quite odd. One turned the clarity all the way down for that smudge-on-the-lens look. One did nothing but turn the clarity down -5. Several adjusted the white balance, which should really be avoided in presets. (White balance adjustments in presets don’t take into consideration what the original setting was. Unless the photo was shot in the same lighting conditions, you’re going to get a very blue/orange/purple/green image.)
    “I don’t mean to state the obvious, but that’s a lot of presets. While I didn’t spend months trying each one, I still found several I really liked.”
    Reviews Editor Hillary Grigonis
    As with any presets, you have to really look at what the preset is doing to your image. I suggest making any tweaks and saving them as a new preset. For example, some film-inspired presets add grain, which you obviously wouldn’t want to use if you already shot at a high ISO. Others have the effects applied on a gradient or radial gradient, which you’ll want to locate and move to the proper position in the image.
    While I liked several pr...
    9 min
  • Love Shooting in the Rain and Snow? These 35mm Primes Are for You
    We’re streaming daily on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and Spotify!
    If you can only carry one prime lens in your bag, we can list dozens of reasons why it should be 35mm. 35mm primes are perhaps the most versatile prime lenses out there. 35mm primes are perfect for street photography, documentary photography, weddings, portraits, events, food photography, and so much more. When you throw in weather sealing, 35mm primes become even better. After the break, we’ll share five 35mm primes that can go with you into the toughest storms. If you want to get shots others shy away from when the storms hit, these 35mm primes are for you.
    These 35mm primes are seriously tough. No matter how hard the rain, how cold it is when it’s snowing, or how hard the wind blows, these lenses will not let you down. They’re rugged. They have rapid autofocus motors. They have brilliant optics, and they render gorgeous colors. Grab one of these 35mm primes, and you’ll be able to shoot no matter what the weather is doing.
    Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD
    In our review, we said:
    “The Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD is incredibly well built despite feeling plasticky. Tamron’s weather-sealing claims did not disappoint; we subjected it to torrential downpours and freezing temperatures. No matter the weather, the Tamron 35mm f2.8 worked without fail.”
    Paul Ip – Former Reviews Editor
    Buy now: $299
    Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN
    In our review, we said:
    “The mount is sealed with a rubber gasket. In addition to that, there are seals throughout the body of the lens. If I took it out into the rain, I’d be confident in the Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art DG DN’s ability to shrug it off.”
    Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief
    Buy now L Mount: $1,499
    Buy now Sony E: $1,424.74
    Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f1.8 S
    In our review, we said:
    “Nikon claims that the Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f1.8 S is “extensively sealed against dust and moisture,” so we obviously had to put those claims to the test. We put the lens through a mixture of inclement weather conditions throughout the streets of New York City as well as in nature up in Cape Cod during late Fall/early Winter, and it never experienced any issues.”
    Paul Ip – Former Reviews Editor
    Buy now: $690
    Pro Tip: These 35mm primes love being outdoors, and they love the rain and snow. If you want to learn how to get the most out of your new lens, there are guides that will help you create gorgeous images no matter what the weather is doing.
    Fujifilm 35mm f2 R WR
    In our review, we said:
    “The lens is also weather-sealed, which means that it’s really designed to do work for the photographer that demands more from their gear. Pair it with the X-T cameras, and you’ll not only have a fast focusing combination but one that can stand up to the rain.
    Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief
    Buy now: $399
    Tamron SP 35mm f1.4 Di USD
    In our review, we said:
    “It has full weather sealing and survived being drenched in the rain here in NYC. If it survived this, we’re sure it’s going to survive whatever you put it through.”
    Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief
    Buy now Canon EF: $699
    Buy now Nikon F: $699
    4 min

About The Phoblographer

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The Phoblographer champions authenticity in its product reviews and holistically throughout its conversations with photographers.