Category Archives: Meta

2023 in Pictures

Introduction

laowa 35mm 0.95 worlds fastest lens review bokeh 42mp 61mp laowa venus optics venuslens fullframe contrast resolution bokeh optical vignetting fall off
Sony A7III | Laowa 35mm 0.95 | f/8.0

We always tell you about new gear here, but at the end of the day lenses are just tools needed to take nice pictures. Martin and I went through all the pictures we took in 2023 to choose our 10 favorites. You can find those pictures here with a bit of additional information, for which there is not always a place in the gear reviews.

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Used Lens and Camera Shopping Guide for Japan

Introduction

Sony A7rII | Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 | f/4.0

If you are looking for used lenses or cameras, Japan can be a real dream destination. Having already been there two times myself I know from first hand experience that it isn’t easy to locate some of the more interesting stores though. My Finnish expat friend Juha Kannisto – who is living in Tokyo – has been helping out photographers from all over the world for years already when it comes to this topic.

I thought it would be useful to collect all this knowledge and turn it into an easy-to-access article, so here we are.

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If you like something, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is good

Introduction

ms-optics ms-optical ism sonnetar f/1.0 f/0.95 fast noctilux angenieux leica m10 24mp 42mp review sharpness bokeh vignetting
Leica M10 | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f/1.4

…and only because something is good you don’t have to like it either.

I am an active member of several photography boards (Fred Miranda, DSLR-Forum, Leica Forum) and in addition to that plenty of Facebook groups and in a moment of weakness I might even have a look at the comment section of a Sonyalpharumors post. And of course I am also taking care of our own Discord community since early 2023.

What got me thinking and ultimately motivated me to write this piece: how useful is it to ask random people what lens you should buy?

The more time I spend on those boards (and I am trying to spend less time there), the more I think asking these questions there is pretty much pointless. Why is that?

Continue reading If you like something, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is good

Photoshop Ai: What can it do for you?

Introduction

By now I am pretty sure all of you have already heard of ChatGPT, Midjourney or any of the other artifical intelligences you can now talk to or make use of. Where it got interesting for me, was in early 2023, when Adobe released a Photoshop Beta version with AI features and staggering capabilities. Over the past months I have been using it (for professional work and private stuff) so I wanted to show you some examples where it was useful to me and also how it works.
One thing is for sure, this will vastly disrupt image editing workflows.

Continue reading Photoshop Ai: What can it do for you?