Review recap: What we put to the test in 2024 (so far)
Photo: Richard Butler We're almost a third of the way through the year already! Here's a recap of the reviews and testing we've done this year so far, with more (and more and more) to come as the year goes on! April Panasonic S5II: Review Photo: Richard Butler The Panasonic S5II had the unfortunate luck of landing in our office right about the time we found out that our parent company planned to close DPReview in 2023, so it never went through our regular review process. We've been looking for an opportunity to review it ever since we joined forces with Gear Patrol last summer and finally found the time.Recent Videos The timing turned out to be good: Panasonic was able to provide us with an early version of the camera's new firmware (v3.0), so we were able to test it with the latest features. Read our review to find out why we think this camera is such a great all-around performer for enthusiasts and pros alike. Read the review Buy now:$1797 at Amazon.com$1798 at B&H Photo$1798 at Adorama Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G: Sample gallery Photo: Shaminder Dulai The Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is a relatively compact wide-angle zoom lens aimed at street and travel photographers. We were able to get our hands on the lens for a day and figured most readers would be curious to see some examples of street and architectural photography, so we hit the streets of downtown Seattle and ducked into the Seattle Public library when the weather turned ugly. See the sample gallery Buy now:$1198 at B&H Photo$1198 at Adorama March Sony FE 24-50mm F2.8 G: Sample gallery Photo: Eric Limer Sony's FE 24-50mm F2.8 G is a fast, compact walk-around lens for its full-frame E-mount cameras. We took it out in snow and sun in New Jersey to put it through its paces. In practice, we found that it makes for a light and portable package with convenient and satisfying hands-on controls and quick and quiet focus. See the sample gallery Buy now: $1,098 at Amazon $1,098 at B&H Photo $1,098 at Adorama Leica SL3: Initial review Photo: Richard Butler The Leica SL3 is a 60MP DSLR-shaped mirrorless camera built around Leica's L-mount. It brings a lot of technology from the Leica M11 models but also features a radically redesigned interface. In March we published our initial review. Read the review Buy now:$6995 at B&H Photo$6995 at Adorama Panasonic Lumix S 28-200mm F4-7.1 Macro OIS: Sample gallery Photo: Dale Baskin Panasonic's newest zoom lens, the Lumix S 28-200mm F4-7.1 Macro OIS, is so small that it just begs to be used for travel, so we took it on a trip to Japan to see if it lives up to its promise. It proved to be an outstanding choice, allowing us to cover a wide range of focal lengths without ever feeling like we were dragging around too much gear. We were pretty pleased with the optical performance, too. See the sample galleryBuy now:$898 at B&H Photo$898 at Adorama Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 II: Studio scene Photo: Brendan Nystedt As we enter the final phase of our Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 II review, we've added the test scene images to our image comparison tool. See the studio scene Buy now:$1897 at Amazon.com$1898 at Adorama$1898 at B&H Photo Sony a9 III: Sample gallery updated Photo: Carey Rose We updated our Sony a9 III sample gallery to include more sports and to get a feel for how effective its global shutter sensor is when combined with subject-detection autofocus in a variety of scenarios. And just to be safe, we also included some low ISO landscape images for those who want to evaluate image quality for other types of photography. See the sample gallery Buy now:$5998 at Amazon.com The Panasonic S5IIX goes to Japan: Sample gallery Photo: Dale Baskin We were working on our review of the Panasonic S5II when it came time for our annual trek to Yokohama, Japan, for the camera industry's annual CP+ trade show, so we took along the S5IIX for some additional testing. It was a joy to shoot and it did a great job of capturing the color and texture of Japan, from the streets of Tokyo to snow monkeys near Nagano. It also proved that its weather sealing was up to the task, operating for hours in pouring rain without missing a beat. See the sample gallery Buy now:$1997 at Amazon.com$1997 at B&H Photo$1997 at Adorama Panasonic Lumix G9 II: Review Photo: Brendan Nystedt The Panasonic G9 II is the first Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera to include phase detect autofocus and is based on the same body as the full-frame S5 II. It also comes with a surprisingly long list of video features. Read our full review to find out what we liked and what we didn't. Read the review Buy now:$1897 at Amazon.com$1898 at Adorama$1898 at B&H Photo Sigma 50mm F1.2 DG DN Art: Sample gallery Photo: Jeff Carlson The Sigma 50mm F1.2 DG DN Art is a comparatively lightweight prime lens aimed at travel, portrait and street photographers. Contributing editor Jeff Carlson immediately jumped on the opportunity to shoot a sample gallery with this lens, capturing sp
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
We're almost a third of the way through the year already! Here's a recap of the reviews and testing we've done this year so far, with more (and more and more) to come as the year goes on!
April
Panasonic S5II: Review
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
The Panasonic S5II had the unfortunate luck of landing in our office right about the time we found out that our parent company planned to close DPReview in 2023, so it never went through our regular review process. We've been looking for an opportunity to review it ever since we joined forces with Gear Patrol last summer and finally found the time.
The timing turned out to be good: Panasonic was able to provide us with an early version of the camera's new firmware (v3.0), so we were able to test it with the latest features. Read our review to find out why we think this camera is such a great all-around performer for enthusiasts and pros alike.
Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Shaminder Dulai |
The Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is a relatively compact wide-angle zoom lens aimed at street and travel photographers.
We were able to get our hands on the lens for a day and figured most readers would be curious to see some examples of street and architectural photography, so we hit the streets of downtown Seattle and ducked into the Seattle Public library when the weather turned ugly.
March
Sony FE 24-50mm F2.8 G: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Eric Limer |
Sony's FE 24-50mm F2.8 G is a fast, compact walk-around lens for its full-frame E-mount cameras. We took it out in snow and sun in New Jersey to put it through its paces.
In practice, we found that it makes for a light and portable package with convenient and satisfying hands-on controls and quick and quiet focus.
Buy now:
Leica SL3: Initial review
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
The Leica SL3 is a 60MP DSLR-shaped mirrorless camera built around Leica's L-mount. It brings a lot of technology from the Leica M11 models but also features a radically redesigned interface. In March we published our initial review.
Panasonic Lumix S 28-200mm F4-7.1 Macro OIS: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Dale Baskin |
Panasonic's newest zoom lens, the Lumix S 28-200mm F4-7.1 Macro OIS, is so small that it just begs to be used for travel, so we took it on a trip to Japan to see if it lives up to its promise. It proved to be an outstanding choice, allowing us to cover a wide range of focal lengths without ever feeling like we were dragging around too much gear. We were pretty pleased with the optical performance, too.
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 II: Studio scene
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| Photo: Brendan Nystedt |
As we enter the final phase of our Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 II review, we've added the test scene images to our image comparison tool.
Sony a9 III: Sample gallery updated
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| Photo: Carey Rose |
We updated our Sony a9 III sample gallery to include more sports and to get a feel for how effective its global shutter sensor is when combined with subject-detection autofocus in a variety of scenarios. And just to be safe, we also included some low ISO landscape images for those who want to evaluate image quality for other types of photography.
The Panasonic S5IIX goes to Japan: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Dale Baskin |
We were working on our review of the Panasonic S5II when it came time for our annual trek to Yokohama, Japan, for the camera industry's annual CP+ trade show, so we took along the S5IIX for some additional testing. It was a joy to shoot and it did a great job of capturing the color and texture of Japan, from the streets of Tokyo to snow monkeys near Nagano. It also proved that its weather sealing was up to the task, operating for hours in pouring rain without missing a beat.
Panasonic Lumix G9 II: Review
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| Photo: Brendan Nystedt |
The Panasonic G9 II is the first Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera to include phase detect autofocus and is based on the same body as the full-frame S5 II. It also comes with a surprisingly long list of video features. Read our full review to find out what we liked and what we didn't.
Sigma 50mm F1.2 DG DN Art: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Jeff Carlson |
The Sigma 50mm F1.2 DG DN Art is a comparatively lightweight prime lens aimed at travel, portrait and street photographers. Contributing editor Jeff Carlson immediately jumped on the opportunity to shoot a sample gallery with this lens, capturing spring cherry blossoms, portraits and some low-light photos for good measure.
Nikon 28-400m F4-8: Pre-production sample gallery
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| Photo: Dale Baskin |
We had an opportunity to try a pre-production version of Nikon's new 28-400mm F4-8 superzoom lens shortly before it was announced. Let's just say this lens really intrigues us, and we can't wait to get our hands on a production copy for more testing.
February
Hasselblad 907X / CFV 100C: Sample gallery
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Image: Hasselblad |
Hasselblad's CFV 100C medium format digital back brings most of the features of the X2D 100C to smaller form factor that's compatible with a wide range of cameras from the company's history. We paired it with a 907X camera / lens adaptor and XCD 28mm F4.0 and XCD 90mm F2.5 lenses to shoot a sample gallery.
Buy now:
Megadap ETZ21 Pro Sony-to-Nikon mirrorless lens adapter: Review
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| Photo: Dan Bracaglia |
After getting our hands on it, we can say that, as far as what’s currently available for Sony shooters wishing to dabble in the Nikon realm, there is no better option on the market than the Megadap ETZ21 Sony E-mount to Nikon Z-mount lens adapter.
Buy now:
Nikon Zf: Video reel update
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
Nikon's Zf is a full-frame mirrorless camera with classic styling, built around a 24MP BSI CMOS sensor. It's designed to mimic the look of the company's FM2 SLR from the early 1980s, meaning it effectively becomes a full-frame counterpart to the company's Z fc APS-C camera. In February, we updated our review with a video reel and impressions.
Buy now:
Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II: Studio scene
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
As we complete our Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 II review, we've run the camera through our recently revitalized studio test scene to see how it performs against the competition.
Buy now:
Fujifilm X100VI: Initial review
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
February finally brought us the X100VI, a photographers' fixed-lens camera that combines a stabilized 40MP APS-C sensor with a 35mm equivalent F2 lens. We had it day one, and have published our initial review along with a sample gallery. Unfortunately, those won't help you actually find one to buy.
Buy now:
OM System OM-1 II: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Shaminder Dulai |
The OM System OM-1 Mark II is a high-speed Micro Four Thirds camera based around a 20MP Stacked CMOS sensor. As the name implies, it's an updated version of the flagship OM-1, with a series of hardware and firmware improvements. In February we published a sample gallery to update our initial review.
Buy now:
January
Sony a9 III: Initial review
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
The Sony a9 III is the company's latest high-speed pro sports camera. It features a Stacked CMOS sensor capable of shooting at 120 fps and able to read all its pixels out simultaneously: the long hoped-for 'global' shutter. Our studio scene analysis shows that it comes at a cost.
Buy Now:
Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Shaminder Dulai |
Panasonic's Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro is a full-frame L-mount lens that's designed to be compact and lightweight, coming in at 82mm (3.2") long and 74mm (2.9") in diameter and tipping the scales at 298g (10.5 oz). Hands-on, we can confirm it is very tidy and light.
Buy now:
Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II: Sample gallery
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Photo: Dan Bracaglia |
Sony's 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens is smaller, lighter and more capable than its predecessor. Optical improvements come in the form of better corner-to-corner sharpness and a new close-focus distance of just 22 cm.
Buy now:
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Sample gallery
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| Photo: Jeff L Carlson |
When we published our iPhone 15 Pro Sample Gallery, we didn’t yet have an iPhone 15 Pro Max model in hand. In addition to boasting a larger 6.7-inch screen, the Max differentiates itself by having a 5x (120mm equivalent) telephoto camera with a clever tetraprism design. The iPhone 15 Pro’s telephoto camera, meanwhile, shares the same 3x (77mm equivalent) field of view as the iPhone 14 Pro. Is the extra reach worth the bigger physical size and higher cost?
Buy now:
Canon EOS R100: Review
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| Photo: Shaminder Dulai |
The Canon EOS R100 is an ultra-compact 24 Megapixel APS-C mirrorless camera with an RF mount. It is the cheapest way to enter Canon's mirrorless ecosystem, offering more flexibility than a smartphone.
Buy now:
Fujifilm XF23mm F2 R WR: Review
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| Photo: Mike Tomkins |
The Fujifilm XF 23mm F2 R WR is a very compact, portable, wide-angle prime lens for Fujifilm X-mount cameras. It makes a great walkaround lens and is well-suited for uses like travel and street photography, as well as things such as moderately wide landscapes and environmental portraiture.
Buy now:
Sony ZV-1 Mark II: Review
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| Photo: Shaminder Dulai |
The Sony ZV-1 Mark II is a vlogging-focused compact camera built around a 20MP Type 1 (13.2 x 8.8mm) Stacked CMOS sensor and an 18-50mm equivalent F1.8-4.0 lens. Besides the new focal length range, much of this camera remains the same as its predecessor, which was itself a competent pocket-sized video camera.
Buy now:
Tenba Axis V2 18L backpack: Review
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| Photo: Tim Barribeau |
The Tenba Axis V2 18L ($200) is a well-made, quietly competent but otherwise uninteresting backpack. Tenba has been in this industry long enough to know the basics of building a functional bag, but this simple black rectangle struggles to stand out against a field packed with more interesting, stylish, or specialized options like Peak Design's exceedingly versatile Everyday Bag or LowePro's hiking bag that happens to hold cameras well too.
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