Photo Accessory Reviews

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.

We put three brands of UV filters through a very basic, real-world test. The brands we tested are K&F Concept, Urth and Okko. Never heard of them? Us neither, before this. Here is our report.

If you’re like us you’re always on the lookout for a photo accessory that can make picture taking better, easier or more fun. Here’s a roundup of 10 items we’ve recently spotted.

It’s Friday and I just ordered a set of 9 color graduated filters from Amazon for $26.59 in 67mm. Cheap, no? Amazingly, the 52mm set is $4 cheaper. Part of me says, “What can you expect from a $3 filter?” But the optimistic little devil sitting on my other shoulder whispers, “How bad can they be?”

Read on to learn whether this buy turned out to be a bargain or a bagel.

The monitor you look at every day when you edit video and digital images should be as good as your camera, otherwise you may not truly be producing the output you envision. Calibration is a must, but a reliable, high performance display is indispensible.

A spring shower can interrupt power. A lightning strike can fry your electronics with 300 million volts. And a sudden, severe drop in voltage can burn an electric motor crisper than a bug in a hot skillet. These very real potential disasters can cost you money, time and possibly your precious digital images. Here’s a list of seven devices that might save your bacon.

Looking for photo gifts that are a little different for the photographers in your life? Start here with our list of the 7 greatest new and/or unique photo gifts in the universe. If you are into digital photography or cameras of any sort yourself, odds are you’ll find something on this list of photo gifts that you’ll want to call your own. We did.