Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

We review the new Wraith 15L Photo Messenger Bag from our maniacally creative friends across the pond.

My 35mm f/2.8 Tokina AT-X M35 PRO DX Macro was discontinued in 2010, but I’ve always liked it because it’s small, it focuses quickly and it’s extremely sharp. It’s for Nikon cameras with APS-C size sensors and was a constant companion for my now-retired 12-megapixel Nikon D90. So I decided to see how it performed on my full-frame Nikon Df. Man, did I get a surprise!