Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

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Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Jan 07, 2022  | 

Want to kick the New Year off right? Do the five things on this list and vanquish some nasty surprises that may be lurking in the calendar ahead.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Dec 31, 2021  | 

Lucky Camera Straps are handmade in Australia to fit you and the individual way you carry your camera. The new Quick Release System is the fastest we’ve seen yet, and is reinforced with cut and abrasion-resistant Dyneema webbing.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Dec 24, 2021  | 

Got a new camera? Great feeling, no? Here are 10 camera accessories to enhance your photography pleasure. A few of them are downright necessities.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Dec 17, 2021  | 

Need a portable drive for those massive files you’re making as a content creator? Or perhaps a reliable backup drive to sidestep disaster when your computer melts like a Marshmallow Peep in a 1500W microwave? Two or three big names dominate the external hard drive offerings at online retailers, and it’s tempting to just pick one with the size and price that appeals the most. Here’s a better plan: the Mercury Elite Pro Mini Portable Drive from OWC, a company that’s been providing computer gear for professionals for 33 years.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Dec 10, 2021  | 

Remarkable new design makes the PGYTECH OneMo Camera Bag extremely useful for all occasions. Compact, splashproof (IPX4) and drone-friendly, it also has a very friendly price.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Dec 03, 2021  | 

Like many obsessive hobbies, photography has its share of widely-believed falsehoods. We’ve all been guilty of repeating some fiction, partly because many of the fables are so damn believable. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these myths from a new angle.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Nov 26, 2021  | 

Time to hit the Reset Button and put your notions of Image Quality on Pause. In our everyday lives as photographers we prize sharpness, saturation, acutance and absence of aberration when we idealize the images we want to capture. Now it’s time to recognize that images that are blurred, smeared, warped and otherwise traumatized can be beautiful.

Lensbaby lenses produce images that are intentionally unsharp, because optical aberrations can be beautiful. In a word, a Lensbaby turns blur into bliss.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Nov 19, 2021  | 

The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom for Sony E (Model A036) won the prestigious EISA Award for 2018-19 and is highly regarded as a fast, sharp option for Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras. Three years on, Tamron announces the G2 (second generation) Model A063 with the same zoom range and aperture.

What’s been improved? We look at the two zooms side-by-side with a critical eye.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Nov 12, 2021  | 

When does a camera bag become a burden? The instant you find yourself thinking, “I don’t think I’ll drag this big thing along next time.” The bags in this trio can be worn from a belt, slung over the shoulder or stuffed into a larger pack to organize the cargo. And despite their petite size they hold a lot. In today’s world of smaller cameras and lenses, a snug bag may be just what you’re looking for.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Nov 05, 2021  | 

Vanguard is an international company that sells camera bags and photo backpacks, high quality tripods, binoculars/sporting optics and an assortment of camera accessories. The Vanguard VEO Range 36M Messenger Photo Bag is just one of the many camera carrying solutions they offer. 

How does the VEO Range 36M compare with other products in its price range? And how have they managed to differentiate themselves in this congested and aggressive product category?

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Oct 31, 2021  | 

DxO just announced PhotoLab5 and FilmPack 6, and we had the chance to explore the software for a few weeks before the release. PhotoLab5 is more than just an incremental upgrade over the previous version. For the first time ever, DxO PhotoLab supports Fujifilm X-Trans sensors (but requires purchase of FilmPack 6 to apply Fujifilm Film Simulations).

FilmPack 6 is hugely exciting – it’s the first upgrade to the DxO FilmPack series since 2015. In FilmPack 6, DxO introduces an intriguing new feature they call “Time Machine.” Here’s a careful look at this new approach to creative image editing.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Oct 29, 2021  | 

Tamron just announced the 18-300mm (27-450mm equivalent) zoom for Sony and Fujifilm cameras. It’s Tamron’s first lens in Fujifilm X-mount and their 15th for Sony mirrorless (counting both full-frame and APS-C camera models). Measuring less than 5 inches long, focusing closer than 6 inches and selling for $699, there’s a lot to like. Here’s our hands-on review of the 18-300mm in Sony mount complete with several sample images.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Oct 27, 2021  | 

Our maniacally creative friends in England have been at it again. Fresh on the heels of introducing their first-ever camera bags, 3 Legged Thing has updated their entry-level Punks line of tripods to version 2.0. The Punks lineup includes Corey, Travis, Brian and Billy. We found Billy 1.0 (now known as ‘plain old Billy’) to be highly reliable and easy to use. But now Billy 2.0 has joined the stable. How does this interloper compare with the incumbent, and should we care?

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Oct 22, 2021  | 

The Hasselblad 907X 50C camera is so different from the sorts of cameras most of us shoot with, I feel like I almost need a new vocabulary to describe it. If a visitor from Area 51 handed me the device used on their planet to take pictures, I’d expect it to strongly resemble this ‘blad. It is at once familiar and yet radically different. Using it made me feel like I was at Disney’s World of Tomorrow exhibit, sampling the future and finding it surprisingly intuitive.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Oct 15, 2021  | 

The full name in the product listing is X6 Portable Ultra Mini HD High Denifition [sic] Digital Camera Mini DV Support 32GB TF Card with Mic USB Flash Drive for Camera. It costs less than $11

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