DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

Search

Submit A Story

Hands On

Hands on with Alice – AI & smartphone-powered Micro Four Thirds camera

by 3 Comments

For those who haven’t followed Alice’s story over the last couple of years, Alice is an AI-powered Micro Four Thirds camera that works with your smartphone. The smartphone is used both as the display for the camera as well as powering its AI features. It was announced in September 2020 and later came to Indiegogo. While shipping was expected to begin in the Summer of 2021, backers are still waiting to receive their cameras to this day.

Photographer and YouTuber Jimmy Cheng, also known as RED35, travelled to visit the Alice HQ to take a hands-on look at the camera and see what it could do. It’s long overdue, and past examples shown off in campaigns are believed to have been non-functional concept prototypes. Now, though, it looks like it can finally do all (or at least much) of what it promised.

Here’s how the new Fujifilm XF 50mm f/1 R WR performs for photography and video

by Add Comment

Now that the new Fujifilm XF 50mm f/1 R WR is finally released, aren’t you curious to see how it performs? What’s the autofocus like? How does the lens perform when the aperture’s wide open? What does the bokeh look like? What about video capabilities? Well, we have brought together a few great hands-on videos that should answer all of your questions.

The Zeiss ZX1 might finally be close to release after Adobe adds support to Camera Raw

by Add Comment

It’s been a minute since we last heard anything about the Lightroom-powered Zeiss ZX1 camera. Almost a whole year, in fact. It was first announced rather quietly at Photokina 2018 last September followed by a brief hands-on in December, but since then it’s been radio silence.

Now it looks like it might be one step closer to actually being released after support for its DNG files was added to the latest Adobe Camera Raw 12.1 update.

This is the first hands-on look at Zeiss’s new Android-powered ZX1 with built-in Lightroom

by 1 Comment

When Zeiss announced the Android-powered ZX1 back in September, It was met with a bit of a mixed reaction, and a lot of questions. No card slots? Why put Lightroom in a camera? Can the screen even be calibrated? How does the CC subscription factor into this? And, is it actually any good?

Well, Zeiss have put out the first video covering the use of the new camera. To do so, they enlisted the help of German freelance photographer Sabrina Weniger, in the streets of Düsseldorf’s Little Tokyo.

A hands-on look at Canon’s new EOS R mirrorless camera’s video features

by 4 Comments

Well, that’s it, the two big die hard DSLR manufacturers have now both announced their new full frame mirrorless cameras. Nikon’s Z6 & Z7 have received a bit of a mixed reaction. Will Canon’s new EOS R see the same warm reception? Well, only time will tell, but for those who like to complain, it looks like Canon have left the door ajar.

The guys at Syrp managed to get their hands on the new camera for a couple of days, along with the full complement of new RF mount lenses. They also got hold of Canon’s new trio of EF mount adapters. Yes, there’s three of them.

Here’s what everybody thinks of the new Sony A7R III

by 1 Comment

One of the biggest releases these days is certainly the new Sony A7R III. On paper, this full frame mirrorless  “speed demon” is really promising. We’ve featured the announcement, and now, as expected, the first impressions are coming in.

We have prepared a round-up of the hands-on impressions, so you can see from a few sources what photographers think of this camera. Judging from the hands-on previews, it seems this camera is as promising in the real world as it is on paper.

Nicky Bay’s Review of the Venus Optics 15mm Wide Angle Macro Lens

by 1 Comment

[Editor’s note: we recently covered the announcement of this lens and shared a hands on review, but this one provides a more in-depth look at it. Many of you will remember Nicky from his spectacular UV macros of arthropods]

Venus Optics sent me an early pre-production copy of the Venus Optics LAOWA 15mm f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro, the world’s first ultra-wide angle macro lens capable of magnification up to 1:1, and I have been dabbling with it in the past week to publish a first look for this one-of-its-kind lens.

Wide angle macro photography is a rarely explored genre of macro photography, largely due to the lack of readily available equipment or accessories to allow one to focus up close with a wide-angle lens. It is also a difficult beast to tame due to the short working distance. Composition and lighting can be very different from mainstream macro photography but once you get the hang of it, the resulting perspectives can be mind-blowing and very well worth it.

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts