Lots of new photography gear (with some surprises in the mix) found new homes during July 2020.
Wow, this month has just flown by, and while things are still crazy out in the world, it is nice to see and know that we are still practicing photography (safely, I hope). There have been some exceptional deals on both cameras and lenses throughout July, and you have been taking advantage of the savings. After the break, we will share the most popular photography gear that has been snapped up during July 2020.
There’s really no surprise that Fujifilm and Tamron top the list of popular photography gear this month. The Fujifilm X-T3 has dropped in price to just $999, and the excellent, yet very affordable Tamron f2.8 prime lenses are still only $299 each! While we are not surprised by this, we are delighted to see a little more diversity this month when it comes to camera sales. Check out the most popular photography gear for July below.
Table of Contents
Fujifilm X-E3
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great battery life
- Wifi
- Very fast autofocus
- Touchscreen
- Simple interface, perhaps too simple
- Feels nice in the hands
- Same great image quality as the other cameras
Cons
- The touchscreen can be a pain to use
- Ports for video shooting are not great
- It’s about time that Fujifilm implements an image-stabilized sensor
- Face and eye detection tends to suffer a bit in low lighting
Buy now: $499
Fujifilm GFX 50R
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great image quality
- Excellent high ISO output
- High speed sync with the Profoto Air system is a delight
- Autofocus isn’t all that bad
- Weather sealing is top notch
- Lightweight
- Not that large overall
- The ergonomics are very good
Cons
- This system really needs lenses faster than f2
- The autofocus could still use some revamps
Buy now: $3,499
Pentax K1 II
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Enough weather sealing to last a lifetime
- Rock solid build quality
- Easy to read LCD Screen
- In Body Image Stabilization / Pixel Shift
- Gorgeous 100% coverage viewfinder
- Excellent image quality
- Dual SD Card slots
- Great battery life
- That little light above the lens mount
Cons
- Only 33 focus points
- Autofocus system won’t win any races
- Extremely heavy
- No touchscreen
Buy now: $1,796.95
Nikon Z6
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Comfortable hand grip
- Excellent Electronic Viewfinder with 100% frame coverage
- EVF protrudes from the camera body, minimizing contact between your nose and the rear LCD
- Top display shows you all of your settings at a glance
- Intuitive touchscreen rear LCD
- Solid battery life when using newly designed EN-EL15b batteries
- Robust weather sealing
- Works with most existing Nikon F mount lenses using the Nikon FTZ adapter
Cons
- Single XQD card slot may be a deal-breaker for photographers with certain workflows
- Colors on the rear LCD were inconsistent when compared to EVF
- Autofocus performance, while better than the Nikon Z7, still leaves much to be desired
- Certain settings were oddly organized within the menus
- There is way too much settings information displayed on the rear LCD, often getting in the way of you framing your shot
Buy now: $1,796.95
Fujifilm X-T3
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Brand new 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 Sensor
- Brand new X-Processor 4 Image Processor
- Excellent weather sealing
- Very solid build quality
- Excellent image quality
- In body RAW processing with built-in film simulation profiles
- Versatile RAW files
- Amazing video capabilities
- Dual SD card slots
Cons
- Battery life can use some improvement
- Lacks in-body image stabilization
- Low light performance is improved over the previous generation X-T2, but hit rates during high-speed low light situations still leave much to be desired
Buy now: $999
Fujifilm 10-24mm f4 R OIS
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Solid metal construction with a large rubberized zoom ring
- Built-in image stabilization and a smooth aperture ring
- Sharp images and vibrant colors
Cons
- Fairly heavy. It works better on a larger camera like the X-Pro1 than the X-E2, its smaller counterpart.
Buy now: $699
Tamron 70-180mm f2.8
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Affordably priced
- Small footprint
- Lightweight
- Robust weather sealing
- Good image quality overall
Cons
- Lacks image stabilization
- Inconsistent autofocus performance
- Limited manual controls
- Noticeable vignetting and distortion, particularly toward the long end
Buy now: $1,199
Fujifilm 35mm f2 R WR
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great sharpness
- Nine aperture blades make the bokeh as good as it can be
- Small size
- Weather resistance
- The fastest focusing lens that Fujifilm has offered as of the publication of this review.
Cons
- Just F2…a refresh to the 35mm f1.4 actually would have been more appreciated and pushed the system ahead overall
Buy now: $399
Sigma 16mm f1.4 DC DN Contemporary
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Fast aperture
- Weather sealing to a point
- Fast autofocus performance for the most part
- Nice bokeh
- Sharp, surprisingly sharp
Cons
- To be honest, nothing
Buy now Canon EF-M: $399
Buy now M4/3: $385
Buy now Sony E: $369
Tamron 20mm f2.8 Di III OSD
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Well built
- Affordable
- Nice colors
- Tamron is embracing Mirrorless with a small and lightweight offering.
- Weather sealed very well; it survived a few hours in the rain.
- Autofocuses quickly
Cons
- This is one of the most heavily distorted lenses we’ve tested in a while. You can use that to your advantage, or you can correct it in post
Buy now: $299