The Phoblographer

Years ago, we published an article called This Is Why Your Pictures Suck. To date, it’s one of our most popular articles. And it contains brutally honest advice from long-time photographer and podcast host Ibarionex Perello. He’s interviewed tons of photographers over the years who share their frank opinion on things. But since its original publishing in 2013, things have changed. You all have become better photographers for sure. Everyone, however, can deal with a little bit of exposure therapy. We’re not attacking anyone with our own hatreds or motivations. I’ve been on the receiving end of those, and they’re awful and moronic. So trust us, this isn’t that. They’re just plain facts. Here is why your photos suck.

You Haven’t Looked at Other Photographers and What They’re Doing (But Don’t Plagarize)

Each time I work with a new model, I go to my Behance profile and look at my mood boards. My staff knows that, many nights, I sit in bars alone scrolling through various places and rounding up story ideas. But I also try to round the ideas that speak to my creative self. At later points, I revisit these ideas and figure out better ways to express myself. It’s true, the reviews staff doesn’t always push themselves. And we don’t do that because if we did, we would alienate our audience. If I constantly reviewed cameras doing the multiple exposures and painterly methods I do, it wouldn’t always be a good test of the products. So instead, I reserve the best stuff for sponsored content and special projects.

Many times I look at what other photographers are doing and adapt their ideas . I’m not plagiarizing. I’m creating my own ideas, adding my own elements, choosing my own locations, etc. Moodboards and storyboards are meant to develop concepts. The true magic happens when you communicate with your subjects or you create your own ideas.

But to do that, you need to ask yourself a lot of questions. We’ll get to that later, and they’ll help you understand why your pictures suck.

Gear Matters, But Not as Much as You’d Think

Gear absolutely matters. I don’t shoot with Sony that often because they don’t have a multiple exposure mode as of the writing of this article. I don’t shoot with Fujifilm to capture wildlife often because Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic do it better. I don’t pack my Canon cameras and lenses when I want to pack lighter. And most of all, I don’t shoot digital when I want a very specific look. The gear you use matters for sure. But there are workarounds at times. I could do the multiple exposures in photoshop or using the Union app on my phone. I could suck it up and just bring my Canon cameras. And I could do the antiquated thing of choosing a focusing point to photograph a bird.

You can totally shoot a portrait with an 18mm lens, but you’ll need to adapt to what it lets you do. You can absolutely shoot a portrait with it, but you won’t get the same render that a 50mm lens will deliver. Trust us; if you don’t think outside of the box, all you think is that your pictures suck.

All You’re Doing Is Hitting the Shutter and Letting the Camera Do the Work

I see this happen way too often. Lots of photographers machine-gun shoot portraits. Why? Why not have intention before you hit the shutter button? Why not manually select the white balance? Why does everything need to be super sharp? What’s wrong with motion blur to create a different effect? I mean, the point of shooting in manual mode is to get a specific look. If you’re not using that, then you might as well shoot in another mode. This is one way to make sure that you don’t think your pictures suck at the end of a shoot.

Photoshop Isn’t Photography

We’ve said this a ton of times. I’ve gone as far to argue that Ansel Adams isn’t known for his photography, but for his chemistry and the darkroom work he’s done. Photoshop isn’t photography, it’s a totally different skill. If you’re compositing photos together, you’re not a photographer. You’re a photo editor.

Why not work ...

We’ve just updated our Canon EOS R review after a long time. You can see it here. No, Canon hasn’t given it any major new firmware updates for a little while. But instead, Capture One 22 has given the Canon EOS R a whole lot more usefulness. Indeed, it’s truly now one of the cameras no one should sleep on. What’s more, this is truly insane as it’s nearly the end of the life of the Canon EOS R. But in the end, it works almost as well as the Canon EOS R5 for portrait shooters. And if you like to tether, this is going to be a camera that’s very hard to beat.

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The Canon EOS R was introduced back in 2018, and it’s now nearly at the end of it’s life. It got a number of very good upgrades. When firmware 1.4 was introduced, the Canon EOS R leapt forward light-years ahead of what it was. The autofocus performance was suddenly able to hold its own with Sony cameras. As time went on, the firmware and camera just seemed to get even better. In low light, the Canon EOS R is very hard to beat. And for portraiture, it’s still really tough to beat. The autofocus performance is just fantastic and can hold its own with the Canon EOS R5.

That’s part of what makes this update so incredibly fascinating. We didn’t at all think that Capture One 22 would provide support for a camera that old. But sure enough, it did. Wireless tethering is something they touted more for the Canon EOS R5 than they did with the Canon EOS R. However, the Canon EOS R can be an exceptional studio camera to shoot portraits with this new tethering solution. That’s not to say that it wasn’t already, but shooting tethered can make things move a whole lot faster on a production set.

In our update we said:

“Update: In December 2021, Capture One 22 gave the Canon EOS R wireless tethering. To do this, you just need to update to the latest firmware and have Capture One 22. Then, using more or less the same process presented in this video, you can tether with Capture One 22.

With this update, the Canon EOS R becomes incredibly powerful. You’ve got a solidly built, weather-resistant camera that can use great lenses like the Canon RF 50mm f1.2 L. You’ll get fantastic image quality when shooting portraits or anything else. And if you find that you can’t afford the Canon EOS R5 but you just want to shoot portraits, you’ve got most of the Canon EOS R5’s functionality right here. When you shoot a photo, it takes a couple of seconds to beam a RAW photo to a computer. For the record, I have Verizon FiOS in NYC with 1GB up and down. I’m shooting to a 2019 iMac fully spec’d out. If you’re one of those newer photographers that machine gun shoots their portraits, you may be disappointed. But if you shoot old-school and shoot a single photo, have a model change the pose, and then shoot and other photo; you’ll be all set.

The Canon EOS R is probably nearly at the end of its life. But realistically, Canon gave us a brand new camera towards the end. We can’t really complain.”

Better yet, the Canon EOS R is at a fantastic price. We invite you to go check out our Canon EOS R review and judge for yourself.

The pandemic turned photographers back to film in droves. If you’re looking for the best film SLR cameras to choose when you’re just getting into film, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve reviewed a whole lot of them over the years that we’ve been around. And more importantly, The options that we’re choosing in this list suit a slew of criteria. A lot of them have mechanical shutters. Some of them don’t, but then we recommend that you not spend an arm and a leg. But most importantly, we’ve done full and thorough reviews on all these cameras. Dive in with us!

The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear that we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Table of Contents

Pro Tips on Choosing the Best Film SLR for You

Pentax Spotmatic: Access to Incredible Lenses

Standout Features

Nons SL42 Mk 2: Give Your Old Lenses New Life

Standout Features

Canon EOS Elan 7: The Best Film SLR Camera for Canon EF on a Budget

Standout Features

Mamiya RB67 Pro S: An Incredibly Versatile Camera

Standout Features

MiNT SLR 670-S: Yes, It’s an SLR

Standout Features

Minolta Maxxum 7: Sony Fam, Here’s Your Best Film SLR

Standout Features

Leica R6: The Affordable Leica. No, We’re Not Kidding

Standout Features

Contax NX: The Best Film SLR with Lenses to Match

Standout Features

Pro Tips on Choosing the Best Film SLR for You

We’ve used tons of film cameras and we’ve even reviewed lots of film emulsions. Here are tips on choosing the best film SLR for you:

No, your mirrorless camera lenses won’t adapt to the film camera. But you can do the opposite.

Whenever possible, try to go for a camera with a mechanical shutter. Some of these listed have just that. If the battery stops working, then you’ll still be able to keep shooting. To us, this helped us choose some of the best film SLR cameras on this list. But with some mounts, it just isn’t possible.

At the moment, we’re not including anything for Nikon F mount. It gets insanely complicated and is worth writing a blog post in and of itself. Besides, there are so many that could make this list of the best film SLR cameras for a beginner.

When travelling, consider putting your film in a bag that will be hand checked. Don’t run it through the XRay; the strength tends to vary from machine to machine to airport to location.

Modern film photography is much different than it was in the past. The frame rate means nothing because film is expensive. The autofocus is nowhere as good as modern mirrorless cameras. But what’s more important is how durable these film cameras actually are.

Check the viewfinder and diopter. If you wear glasses, you’ll need something that lets you see clearly.

SLR stands for single lens reflex. This means that you can see what the lens sees. It’s very useful when using things like graduated ND filters.

Pentax Spotmatic: Access to Incredible Lenses

Standout Features

This Pentax has an M42 screwmount. It can adapt a ton of different lenses. But what’s more important is how big and bright the viewfinder is. I’m legally blind, and I could see through it with little struggle. Oh, plus it’s affordable.

In our review, we state:

“The Pentax Spotmatic is pretty much all metal. Considering that there are virtually zero electronics to deal with you won’t have any sort of issues with the build overall. If you’re one of those people who knows Sunny 16 really well or can carry around a light meter on their phone and figure stuff out from there, then t...

Owning a Leica is often revered as having achieved a certain level of success amongst photographers. It’s what many, myself included, aspire to attain. Out of all of the 50mm lenses on the market today, Leica’s lineup of 50mm has easily been my favorite. The Leica 50mm f0.95 Noctilux is the brand’s flagship lens. It’s also one of their most expensive lenses.

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The 50mm Noctilux is a perfect focal length for many photography applications. However, the price is unattainable for most photographers. Is the image quality worth the price? Keep reading to see if the cost of ownership is justified.

Table of Contents

Too Long Didn’t Read

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Tech Specs

Innovations

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Focusing

Ease of Use

Image Quality

Bokeh

Sharpness

Lens Character

Color Rendering

Extra Image Samples

Edited

Unedited

Conclusions of the Leica 50mm f0.95 Noctilux Lens

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long Didn’t Read

Leica’s 50mm Noctilux f0.95 is one of the best 50mm manual lenses on the market that many photographers cannot afford. At $12,795.00, it is a status symbol. If you can afford it, you will enjoy the images you can create. Make sure to book a hand massage afterward because it is much heftier than Leica’s other lenses.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Versatile focal length

Great in low light

Lovely contrast

Sharp with plenty of bokeh

Exceptional build quality

Cons

It is pretty heavy and not very comfortable

The lens is costly

Razor-thin focus at f0.95 when shooting close up

Gear Used

We tested the Leica 50mm f0.95 Noctilux lens with a Leica M10-R body and a Broncolor Siros L monolight.

Tech Specs

Tech specs are from the LensRentals listing.

Angle of View: 47 degrees

Aperture: f0.95-16

Autofocus: Manual Focus Only

Brand: Leica

Diameter: 2.9”

Length: 3”

Filter Size: 60.0mm (nonrotating)

Filter Style: Nonrotating

Focal Length: 50.0-50.0

Elements/Groups: ⅝

Hood Included: Yes

Image Stabilization: No

Item Type: Lens

Lens Type: Normal Range

Max Aperture: .95

Maximum Magnification: .059x

Minimum Aperture: 22.0

Minimum Focusing Distance: 3.3 feet

Mount: Leica M

Weight: 1.5 lb

Innovations

The Leica 50mm f0.95 Noctilux lens is the fastest 50mm aspherical lens for the 35mm format. A floating glass element reduces many aberrations, yet the images still have character. From a design standpoint, this isn’t the most cutting edge. It is a much beefier version of what we already know and appreciate from Leica.

Ergonomics

At first glance, you will notice this looks like a heftier version of Leica’s other compact 50mm lenses. The Noctilux fits in the palm of your hand nicely. The added weight of the extra glass and metal is quite noticeable. It weighs almost three times as much as its Summicron counterpart.

The 50mm Noctilux follows the classic Leica-M formula. The depth of field ring is positioned closest to the camera body. Next is the textured focusing ring. The click-style aperture ring is a combination of textured and smooth metal. Unlike some of Leica’s other offerings, there is no finger rest on this lens.

The built-in lens hood is located at the end of the lens. Twist it to extend it or retract it. The Noctilux has a 60mm filter thread.

I appreciate how Leica uses contrasting textures in their lens designs. Adjustments become second nature and are easy to make without leaving the viewfinder.

Build Quality

The Leica 50mm f0.95 Noctilux is a premium lens. An all-metal housing and ample use of glass make this lens feel solid. It is a beautiful lens and is built like a tank. Although it isn’t officially weather-sealed, Leica has assured us that it’s built with weather sealing in mind.

The lens handled wonderfully in bitter cold temperatures and moderate snowfall. I did not encounter any fogging. The optics were the same as they were in much balmier weather.

Focusing

Achieving manual focus with this lens is relatively simple. Utilize the viewfinde...

You’ve probably heard of the Brenizer Method a lot in the past few months. And in truth, it’s a super fun method that can give you results that you couldn’t have made otherwise. At least, you could’ve have done these without a medium format camera, large format camera, or wider super-fast aperture lens. In this post, we’re going to dive into posts that we’ve done on the Brenizer Method over our years of publishing. We’ll showcase photographers who’ve done it, how to do it, the history, and more.

Who is Ryan Brenizer, the “Creator” of the Brenizer Method?

Photographer Ryan Brenizer enjoyed a pretty great time rising among the ranks almost a decade ago. His business is still strong, and he more than deserves the success he’s had. For the record, he’s a wedding photographer that’s been based in NYC for years. And he’s always been experimental. The Brenizer Method came about when there was an emphasis on some of his unique portraits. Years ago, he used to use long lenses with a wide-open aperture and then created panoramic portraits. Ideally, his photos would be 9 images stitched together.

Ryan didn’t exactly create the Brenizer Method, but he resurrected it at a time when DSLRs were actually becoming really good to use. The panoramic portrait stitch method had been around for many years beforehand. Proliferation amongst social media made it come back again.

Which Photographers Have Done the Brenizer Method?

Because we believe in the rights of photographers, we’re citing those who have used and talked about the Brenizer Method in their work. We’ve interviewed these photographers, and you can see more of their work in our hyperlinked interviews below:

“My first two years of photography I relied very heavily on Photoshop to create my images with a lot of compositing. These days I like to get as much in camera as possible and only play around with colors. But I tend to always expand my images using the Brenizer Method as a way of controlling the whole scene. Sometimes the background itself really adds to a story and I like to think of each part of the photo like a canvas. You have to paint each part individually before it comes together as a whole.” – Sarah Loreth

Sarah doesn’t really shoot anymore these days, but her work helps to really show what’s possible with the Brenizer Method. Creating an image like this is pretty much impossible to do without the Brenizer Method. And back in 2015 when we interviewed her, super-fast wide-angle lenses weren’t around.

Another way of doing it is the way that Anthony Chang did it. In our interview this was said:

“I love the Brenizer method (or bokeh panorama/bokehrama) because I love shallow depth of field and I love having a wide-angle of view. Nothing more than that to be honest. I didn’t buy a F0.95 (I have the Mitakon 50mm F0.95 for those curious) lens so I can shoot at F8. I want it so I can shoot at F0.95 and get that shallow depth of field. With this method I can get unbelievably shallow depth of field with that wide field of view that would other wise be impossible. Personally I just love the aesthetic of a panoramic photo, I love that crop and framing you get with it.”

Anthony really embraces the idea of the panoramic portrait. Instead of just shooting 9 photos around the subject, he goes fully into the left and right sides. It creates a cinematic look!

Also be sure to check out the work of Mark Sapps.

What is the Brenizer Method

Essentially, think of it as a panoramic portrait method. You’re taking a bunch of photos and stitching them together in Photoshop or Capture One. You’re creating the look of a super-fast aperture wide-angle lens. In 35mm full-frame photography, it isn’t really possible. But you can create this look with medium format film straight out of the camera.

How do You Do the Brenizer Method?

The photo above will really, really help you see how the Brenizer method is done. It looks like cubism, right? The truth is that this photo was created back in 2014. During that ...

Your new camera isn’t just meant for capturing scenes. The reason why you get it instead of a phone is to get a lot more from the capabilities. So we’re rounding up a bunch of things you should try with your brand new camera. Have you considered multiple exposure modes? What about a less crunchy HDR mode? And can your phone do long exposures with as much efficiency? Give some of these a try!

Multiple Exposure Mode

The multiple exposure mode on your camera can do so many cool things. It lets you be so much more creative with your camera than simply just capturing things. You’ll add layers. Plus, it’s going to be a fun creative challenge. At the moment, mostly all cameras have a multiple exposure mode in them except for Sony and Leica cameras. There are various ways of doing them too. There’s Additive, darks priority, lights priority, and average. Plus you figure out how many images you want to work with by experimenting. Some systems even give you an overlay to that you’ll get an idea of what you’re creating.

Go give it a try!

Using Long Exposures to Capture Movement.

Timelapse mode is very fun, and so is video. But there’s huge potential with long exposures. Lots of photographers try to go for the fastest exposure possible to freeze the motion in front of them. But why not exaggerate the movement? If you’re photographing a dancer, maybe try a slow shutter speed and second curtain flash. Shooting street photography? Why not stay in one spot and shoot a long exposure of people going by?

Do something different!

A Custom JPEG Profile

There’s nothing wrong with shooting RAW and JPEG. Sometimes you don’t need to shoot RAW quite honestly. It’s nice to have them just in case. But if all you’re doing are minor edits in Lightroom or Capture one, you might as well set it up in-camera to begin with. Why spend all the extra time in front of a computer? Instead, spend it shooting more. When you’re done, just beam the images to your phone.

With systems like Fujifilm cameras, you can use customized presets. The folks over at Fuji X Weekly have a lot of great ones.

Take off Exposure Preview/Live View Setting Effect

Cameras by default come with the exposure preview and live view setting effect on. Take it off. Believe it or not, it will affect so much in the performance. The darker your scene is, the less light will hit the sensor. It’s like walking outside at night wearing sunglasses or walking into a dark bar with sunglasses. Does it make sense? No. If you take the setting off, your camera will be able to focus a lot faster in low light. We’ve personally seen this on review tests.

That doesn’t mean that exposure preview isn’t useful. It’s super useful. But what’s often better is just knowing how to look at a scene and know the exposure.

Use the In-Camera HDR Mode

This isn’t done enough, but it can be really useful. Your camera has the ability to shoot in HDR mode of some sort. Some folks say that it limits what’s possible in post-production or it isn’t as good as editing later on. But that can also depend on how you expose and meter the scene. What I’ve seen, for example, is Fujifilm sensors render more in the highlights than Sony sensors. Sony definitely brings more out of the shadows.

“I wanted to have the experience of shooting Aerochrome at least once while I still had the chance,” the photographer Jason De Freitas tells me. He bought his first rolls in 2018, saving them until he found a landscape worthy of the now-famous discontinued infrared-sensitive film and its signature magentas and hot pinks. In the end, he packed his bags and traveled to New Zealand’s South Island, known for its towering peaks, lush rainforests, and secret waterfalls.

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“One particularly memorable moment was my Gertrude Valley hike,” the artist remembers. “It was quite a difficult hike (for me at least), especially the very steep sections towards the peak, but the payoff was absolutely worth it. The vantage point was one of the best I’ve ever experienced, and it made me immediately forget about how difficult the journey was.”

Stretching out before him was Milford Sound, first discovered by the Māori people more than a thousand years ago. In his photographs, the land is drenched in reds and plums, transforming into the surface of another planet. We asked De Freitas, who also specializes in analog astrophotography, about his foray into the mystical world of infrared.

The essential Gear of Jason De Freitas

Bronica SQ-A

Zenzanon PS 50mm f/3.5

80mm f/2.8

Hoya orange YA3 filter

De Freitas tells us,

“All of my Aerochrome photos have been taken with my Bronica SQ-A. It’s a 6×6 medium format camera, which is why all of these images are square format. I’m a big fan of this camera, as it’s quite a bit more portable compared to most 6×7 medium format systems, and it has never let me down. I use the Zenzanon PS 50mm f/3.5 and 80mm f/2.8 with this camera, which gives an equivalent 35mm focal length of about 28mm and 44mm, respectively.

“One of the most essential pieces of equipment when shooting Aerochrome is filters. The film stock is sensitive to the regular color spectrum, but its sensitivity also extends into infrared frequencies. It is especially sensitive to blue light, and therefore a filter is needed to balance out the blues with the infrared that shows up as reds, magentas, and pinks. It is typically shot using a yellow, orange, or red filter to give varying hues and contrasts. The choice is purely subjective, and I use a Hoya orange YA3 filter for all my Aerochrome images.”

Phoblographer: You’re well-known for your astrophotography, but these images capture the magic of terrestrial landscapes. How did you get started in landscape photography?

Jason De Freitas: Astrophotography was my original motivator to start learning photography, but it made much more sense to learn general photography techniques before investing in such a gear-heavy genre. I really started to focus on photography after I had moved from a large city to a smaller coastal town here on the east coast of Australia. Landscape photography was just inevitable. I enjoy exploring the areas around me and discovering scenic landscapes.

Phoblographer: How did you get your hands on this supply of Aerochrome, and how much do you have left?

Jason De Freitas: In 2018, it was still quite easy to find online, but I was completely aware that it was in limited supply (the price makes that very obvious). When I developed my first rolls of it, I immediately fell in love with the film, so I decided to buy more of it. It’s now significantly harder to find; I have about twenty rolls of it left in 120 as well as some 4×5 sheets in my freezer that I’m saving for a future project.

Phoblographer: What brought you to New Zealand’s South Island, and what makes this place particularly well-suited to infrared photography?

Jason De Freitas: The South Island really is a landscape photographer’s dream, and it was very different from a lot of the landscapes where I live. Incredible mountains and valleys everywhere you go. That’s what drew me there, and, on a personal level, that’s why infrared ...

The Canon EOS R5 is the company’s first major professional mirrorless camera, and it’s wonderful!

There was a time when I was angry at Canon. But when the Canon EOS R launched, that anger subsided. It was a nice entry into the serious mirrorless camera world. But the Canon EOS R5 is arguably the camera they should have launched at the start. This camera can easily become the bread and butter of any professional photographer using it. It can also be a great tool for a multimedia shooter. Better yet, the hobbyist photographer who is passionate about the craft will enjoy what this camera can do. There has been a lot of wrongful bashing of the Canon EOS R5 on the web. And in this review, we’re going to talk to the practicality of it all. Note that before you go on, we’re not sensationalizing things just for clicks. If you’re a shooter that left Canon for another system, we’re probably going to tell you a few things you don’t want to hear. So, please keep your superiority complexes in check.

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This review has been updated in December 2021.

Table of Contents

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used with the Canon EOS R5

Canon EOS R5 Tech Specs

Canon EOS R5 Ergonomics

Canon EOS R5 Build Quality

Canon EOS R5 Ease of Use

Canon EOS R5 Autofocus Performance

Canon EOS R5 Image Quality

JPEG Output

RAW File Versatility

High ISO Output

TimeLapse Shooting

Extra Image Samples from the Canon EOS R5

Canon EOS R5 Review Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Pros and Cons

Pros

Well built

Excellent battery life

So intuitive for a Canon shooter

Feels very good in the hand

Image stabilization is pretty much second to none

Wonderful menu systems

Excellent details

Weather sealed

Reliable

Canon’s Mobile App connection setup is as simple as ever

Doesn’t overheat with short clips

Wifi sending of full HD video is pretty fast

High ISO RAW files hold a fair amount of data. There’s great dynamic range and colors, but the noise is a bit painful.

Wireless RAW file transmission with Capture One 22

Cons

The joystick is in an odd spot

In some ways feels like an old 60D, but it’s totally not

I personally feel the magnification button is in an odd spot

Can’t transfer 8K video via Wifi

4K movie clips shorter than 30 seconds take a while to send, and then ultimately don’t end up on your phone

High ISO Raw files above 12,800 tend to get a bit messy

The price is a bit high at $3,899

Gear Used with the Canon EOS R5

We tested the Canon EOS R5 with the:

Canon RF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM

Canon RF 50mm f1.2 L USM

Samyang 85mm f1.4 AF

Profoto B10

Canon EOS R5 Tech Specs

In Brief:

High Image Quality featuring a New 45 Megapixel Full-frame CMOS Sensor

DIGIC X Image Processor with an ISO range of 100-51200; Expandable to 102400

Dual Pixel CMOS AF covering Approx. 100% Area with 1,053 AF Areas

Subject tracking of People and Animals using Deep Learning Technology

In-body Image Stabilizer can provide up to 8 stops of Shake Correction

Dual Card Slots for CFexpress and UHS-II SD Memory Cards

Built-in 0.5″ 5.76 Million Dots OLED EVF with 120fps refresh rate, Vari-angle LCD Touchscreen

2.4/5Ghz Built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Technology

Full Specs taken from the LensRentals Listing

45MP Full-Frame Sensor and DIGIC X Processor. The Canon EOS R5’s newly designed 45MP full-frame CMOS sensor works in tandem with the DIGIC X processor to produce high-resolution stills and video with plenty of speed. The native ISO range of 100-51,200 can be expanded to 100-102,400, making this camera suitable for working in a wide range of lighting conditions.

8K30 RAW and 4K 120 Video. The EOS R5’s 45MP sensor makes internal DCI 8K 30 fps RAW capture possible, in addition to 4K recording at up to 120 fps in 4:2:2 10-bit with Canon Log and HDR-PQ. Please note that DCI 8K is the only format in which you can shoot RAW with the R5—every other resolution offers All-I or IPB compression. External HDMI output supports clean 4K output...

The Canon EOS R6 won my respect with an impressive autofocus system that excels even with fast subjects and tricky lighting. But, that system just got an upgrade. Earlier this month, Canon released firmware 1.5 for the EOS R6, which adds vehicle detection, among other improvements. I downloaded the latest Canon R6 firmware to see how the new features hold up.

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Firmware Updates to the Canon EOS R6

According to the Canon Update page, Firmware Version 1.5.0 incorporates the following enhancements and fixes:

1. Improves head detection performance to support helmets or goggles in winter sports.2. Adds [Vehicles] selection to [Subject to detect] selection in the [AF] tab to support the detection of automobiles and motorcycles in motorsports. Adds [Spot detection] when [Vehicles] is selected as the helmet of the driver or rider.Detection may not be possible for ordinary passenger cars or bicycles, or for motorcyclists performing stunts or kicking up dirt and dust.3. Improves detection performance for eye detection when: -there are shadows on the face.-hair is hanging over the eyes.4. Adds support for torso detection of a person. If the eyes, face or head are hidden or cannot be detected, a person’s torso will be detected and tracked continuously.5. Adds the ability to import manual white balance (MWB) data from the Quick Control screen when capturing still images.6.

Eliminates the center press operation of the multi-controller to prevent accidentally transferring images during FTP transfer.7. Adds the ability, when using EOS Utility for remote shooting with two cards inserted, to set the recording method and to select which card to be recorded to.8. Adds [Suppress lower frame rate] to [Smooth] in [Disp. performance], enabling the shooting screen to be displayed with less drop frame rate even in dark locations.9. Changes the default value of [FTP server] → [Passive mode] to [Enable].10. Improves operation stability during FTP transfer.11. Optimizes controls of In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) when using specific EF lenses not equipped with the image stabilization function.12. Fixes an issue, in which noise occurs along the edges of bright subjects when using Canon Log for movie recording.

Firmware Version 1.5.0 is for cameras with firmware up to Version 1.4.0. If the camera’s firmware is already Version 1.5.0, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

Testing the New Canon EOS R6

First off, with this new firmware update, you’re getting almost Canon EOS R3 level-performance at a much cheaper price point. Our full review’s findings explain this more. And you can check out our Canon EOS R3 review as well.

The list of new features in the update is 12 items long, with the last seven of those focusing on tweaking the user experience and fixing bugs. For example, Canon says that FTP transfer stability has improved and IBIS controls have improved with some EF lenses that do not have stabilization built-in.

The brunt of the new features, however, goes to Canon’s Dual Pixel autofocus system. For faces, Canon says that eye detection has improved when the eyes are in shadow or partially obscured by hair. And if the face isn’t even in the frame, the autofocus system will now lock on to the torso instead. Face detection also gets a boost for people wearing helmets and goggles.

Arguably the biggest feature in the update is the addition of vehicles to the subject detection system. Vehicle detection is programmed for things like race cars and motorbikes, so the feature will work better than with something like a passenger van (though it can still work on those vehicles too). It’s turned on in the menu and available in the tracking AF area mode. A spot detection option in the menu tells the camera to focus on the driver rather than the vehicle itself.

I downloaded the latest firmware, then tested the new features on an ATV rider. We’ve upda...

Leica is synonymous with pristine image optics and a price tag to match. Most of their lenses are on the wish lists of photographers worldwide. Their Summicron lenses are at a price point that most have to save up for. The 75mm Summicron was a hit, so naturally, the Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux lens has to be notorious, right? With a price tag of $14,295.00 we would sure hope so! Keep reading to see if the low light performance and incredible bokeh justify the cost.

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Table of Contents

Too Long Didn’t Read

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Tech Specs

Innovations

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Focusing

Ease of Use

Image Quality

Bokeh

Sharpness

Lens Character

Color Rendering

Extra Image Samples

Edited

Unedited

Conclusions of the Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux Lens

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long Didn’t Read

The Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux lens is a gorgeous lens that produces incredible portraits. Bokeh is serene, and the sharpness is extraordinary. At $14,295.00, it provides some of the best optics that many photographers cannot afford to buy.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Beautiful Bokeh

Very sharp

Gorgeous rendition with lovely contrast

Excellent build quality

Cons

It is pricey

The lens is hefty

It is not very comfortable to hold for long shoots

Gear Used

We tested the Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux lens with a Leica M10-R body and a Broncolor Siros L monolight.

Tech Specs

All tech specs are provided by the LensRental listing.

Autofocus: Manual Focus Only

Brand: Leica

Diameter: 3.0”

Focal Length: 75.0-75.0

Hood Included: Yes

Image Stabilization: No

Lens Type: Normal Range

Max Aperture: 1.0

Minimum Aperture: 16.0

Minimum Focusing Distance: 2.8 feet

Mount: Leica M

Innovations

The design of the Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux lens isn’t revolutionary. It takes inspiration from the previous generation and attempts to create perfection. Two aspherical elements remove most aberrations and imperfections. However, it is one of the only lenses of its kind.

Ergonomics

The Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux lens is the largest 75mm lens in the M-mount lineup. It encompasses the palm of your hand and weighs almost 2.5 times more than the Summicron version. Its weight and size would probably be better paired with an SL2 series.

Its design follows the tried and true formula that Leica m-mount shooters love. At the base of the lens, you will find the smooth depth of field ring. Next is a textured metal focusing ring. Then comes the click-style aperture ring located just before the built-in lens hood. Twist it to either extend or retract the lens hood. The 75mm Noctilux houses a 67mm filter thread.

There is no finger rest on this lens. There is a metal plate on the bottom to easily attach to a tripod plate. It’s also nice to balance on a flat surface when the shot allows for it.

The pairing of smooth and textured metal yields simple adjustments without your eyes ever having to leave the viewfinder.

Build Quality

This lens feels as exorbitant as its premium price tag suggests. The 75mm Noctilux is very heavy, thanks to the design’s substantial use of glass and metal. It is not officially weather sealed. However, Leica has assured us time and time again that their lenses are designed with weather-sealing in mind.

The Leica 75mm f1.25 Noctilux handles fine in the winter months. Light snowfall and single-digit temperatures did not impact its performance.

Focusing

The 75mm Noctilux is a manual focus lens. You can opt to watch images slide into focus in the center of your viewfinder. Alternatively, you can utilize the live view mode on your camera. Regardless of your preference, achieving focus is easy.

Ease of Use

The biggest hurdles of Leica’s 75mm Noctilux lens are its size and weight. It is not comfortable to hold for long shoots, and my hands often needed a break. Additionally, the ergonomics of the lens make capturing slower shutter speeds a bit challenging without the use of a tripod.

Ot...