Category Archives: Uncategorized

November Deals

Introduction

Christmas is around the corner so everyone wants to sell their goods in November. The industry came up with a bunch of stuff like Single’s Day and Black Friday and many camera and lens manufacturers are also using this opportunity. In this article I will collect the deals I think are actually worthwhile.
Update: Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom Bundle Deal is still available and its price has been further reduced from 74 to 70€.

Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop

1 year subscription for 70€ instead of the usual 142€ on Amazon.de (affiliate link)

Make sure to tick the “One-Time-Purchase” (“Einmalkauf” in German) box!

Deal still available!

Most websites push all kinds of software “deals”, but here you rarely find those. Why is that? Because most of them are not good deals, especially the software related ones. Margins on Preset packages, Tonal mask Addons, Luminar, Topaz and whatnot are huge and this is the sole reason people push those, not because they are actually good products. But I will never recommend you something that I wouldn’t want to use myself.

What I actually am using myself (and constantly so) is Adobe Lightroom + Photoshop.

As was already the case the last years there is a Prime Day offer for all the Amazon Prime members that are using the Lightroom+Photoshop subscription. You can get a one year subscription for 70€ here (affiliate link) instead of the usual 142€.

Now probably you are like me and you already have the plan anyway and now comes the highlight: it even works if you already have the subscription. Order, get the discount code, click on “redeem” in the Amazon Email and the next billing month will be December 2025 instead of December 2024. Offer should be valid for everyone in the EU as well as the UK. This is the link where you can redeem your code after you bought it.

If you haven’t done so, this is also a good opportunity to try out the latest AI-based generative fill I already talked about here.

Laowa

Laowa’s “Mega Sale” started on November 11th and I am guessing it runs until November 30th. Many lenses are discounted, the following are the most attractive ones in my opinion:

9mm 5.6: M-mount for $629 and other mounts for $539
15mm 2.0: All mounts for $579
90mm 2.8 Macro 2x: All mounts for $449

Thypoch

The campaign runs from November 11th until December 3rd.

When ordering from the Thypoch Webshop you can use the codes “phillipreeve Simera” and “Phillipreeve Eureka” to get 15% off of the 28mm 1.4 and 35mm 1.4 Simera and 17% off of the 50mm 2.0 Eureka and get additional free shipping.

TTArtisan

The Double Eleven Sale runs from November 10th to November 18th.

Viltrox

Viltrox’ Black Friday Bonanza is running from November 21st to December 2nd.

There are also a lot of discounts on accesories, Monitors are 20% off, COB Series Lights are 30% off, Light Sticks are 25% off and lens mount adapters are 25% off as well.

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Review: TTArtisan Dot Sight

Introduction

TTARTISAN Dot Sight - open

In this review I am going to look at something else than a lens for a change, namely a dot sight. So what is it used for?

According to TTArtisan, they developed this dot sight mainly because of the photographer’s shooting needs. Bird photographers and astrophotographers have a very narrow angle of view when using a telephoto lens, which makes it difficult to quickly target the shooting area. The dot sight is close to the normal angle of view of the human eye, which helps photographers quickly target the shooting area.

Well,  If you photograph birds in flight or any fast-moving subjects, a dot sight for your camera could be an aid to you. let’s have a look!

camera-icon2I tested the dot sight on a 24 Mp Nikon Zf (Product images Nikon Z 7 II)
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!

All the bird pictures in this review were taken using TTArtisan Dot Sight for targeting the birds.

Sample Images

Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3
Nikon Zf | TTARTISAN Dot Sight| Sigma 100-400 f/5.6-6.3

Continue reading Review: TTArtisan Dot Sight

Lens & Accessory Summer Sale

Many of us here at the Phillipreeve team acquire too many lenses (and sometimes also accessories) and with some of the manufacturers it also isn’t easily possible to return the review samples after we reviewed them, therefore a bunch of stuff is for sale.
Update September 6th, 2024: added new item

I will ship to all european countries and all prices are without shipping. If you live in Germany you can add 7€ for shipping, within EU should be around 17€.
Payment is possible via Paypal or Bank Transfer.

I will only ship insured with DHL. If you want to come to Stuttgart you can also check out the lens you are interested in in person and we have a little chat.

All the items come without warranty.

If you are interested, leave a comment with your Email address (it will not be visible to the public) and I will get back to you.


The following items are former review samples:


AstrHori 50mm 2.0 E

astr hori sony fe 50mm 2.0 fullframe lens contrast resolution 33mp 42mp 61mp sharpness vignetting a7riv a7rv a9 bokeh portrait compact
AstrHori 50mm 2.0

The same exact lens from this review.

This lens has only been used for the review and is in as-new condition.
Update: comes with retail box and both caps.

29€ + shipping


The following items are from my personal collection:


 

MS-Optics 57mm 2.0 Petz

This lens has only been used for the review and is in as-new condition. Comes with full retail packaging and accessories (as shown in the picture).

Rangefinder coupling is calibrated for f/2.0, infinity hard stop is also calibrated.

Pictures taken with this lens can be found here.

749€ + shipping

Continue reading Lens & Accessory Summer Sale

Review: TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X

Introduction

TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X on Nikon Z7ii

TTArtisan has made a new version of its T/S 100mm Macro 2X, which I reviewed almost one year ago. It received only positive feedback for its optical qualities except for its flare resistance, with some reservations about handling and its limited tilt/shift effect. Now, as they had promised, they have come with a variant without any tilt/shift functionality, i.e., a short telephoto with 2X macro capability and the possibility to be used as a portrait lens with nice bokeh, if it is as good as the first version was. Let’s have a look!

camera-icon2I tested this lens on a 46 Mp Nikon Z 7II (Sample images Nikon Z 7 II, Nikon Z fc, and Nikon Z f)
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!

Sample Images

Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/11
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/11
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/11
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X | f/2.8
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X |
Nikon Z7ii | TTARTISAN 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X |

Continue reading Review: TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X

Review: TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED – Small Portrait Lens with Great Potential

Introduction

TTARTISAN Review test TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED aps-c nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE fujifilm Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z 7 z 7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f

 

TTArtisan, one of the Chinese lens manufacturers known for its consistent quality, has primarily produced full metallic, manual focus lenses. However, they have recently released a few autofocus lenses. Their latest creation is the AF 56mm f/1.8 ED, a compact APS-C portrait lens. Let’s take a closer look at it!

Sample Images

TTARTISAN Review test TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED aps-c nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE fujifilm Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z 7 z 7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f
Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8
TTARTISAN Review test TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED aps-c nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE fujifilm Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z 7 z 7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f
Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8
TTARTISAN Review test TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED aps-c nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE fujifilm Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z 7 z 7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f
Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8
TTARTISAN Review test TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED aps-c nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE fujifilm Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z 7 z 7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f
Fujifilm X-S10 | TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED | f/1.8

Continue reading Review: TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 ED – Small Portrait Lens with Great Potential