Lots of photography gear found new homes during September.
Every month we take a quick look at the photography gear you, our readers, have taken home. You’ve all been busy during September, that’s for sure. Many of you are even on the same page, as many Sony and Fujifilm products have found new homes. For the first time in a while, even Canon made it to the list. There are plenty out there who love their primes from Tamron too. After the break, we will take another look at what photography gear you all have been favoring during September 2020.
Over the last few months, we have been keeping an eye on trends in photography gear. To no surprise, Sony and Fujifilm usually end up near the top of the list. They are typically followed by Olympus. However, this month, in our list of popular photography gear, Olympus has been replaced by Canon. Many of you have shown a keen interest in the new EOS R series cameras. Another trend we’ve seen is with prime lenses. This trend is still alive and well this month, too, with many adding fast glass to their collections. Take a look below at the top 10 photography gear items your fellow photographers have added to their collections during September 2020.
Sony A7r Mk II
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- The best image quality that weâve seen from a camera yet
- Surprisingly good high ISO results
- Very good RAW file versatility, but not the best
- Feels great in the hand
- Fastest autofocus of any Sony ILC camera body
- Improved battery life over previous generations
- 4K video is a nice addition
Cons
- Really, really want a direct joystick of some sort to move the focusing points rather than pressing a button and then moving them around
- Sony could use better weather sealing for a camera body this expensive
Buy now: $1,798
Fujifilm X100V
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Feels good in the hand
- Focuses quickly but the all wide tracking needs a revamp
- Beautiful overall
- We like this new ISO dial
- So simple to use
- Image quality is nice so far
- Built-in ND filter option
- With the right tweaks the autofocus can be very good for street
- Iâm finding autofocus with the OVF to be faster than with the EVF
- Touchscreen focusing is wonderful in protests
Cons
- Battery life drains too fast
- Could use a leatherette grip and not this plastic fantastic stuff
- The exposure compensation dial needs a lock button
- A Touchscreen menu is needed
- Maybe even a few more Fn buttons
- Viewfinder diopter adjustment doesnât lock
- When you set the camera to viewfinder only for shooting and LCD for playback, the menu system works only in the viewfinder.
- There are situations where Image Stabilization would really benefit this camera due to the quick âhit and runâ style of shooting
- LCD needs to adapt to lighting automatically
- Autofocus suffers in very low lighting and in zone setting
Buy now: $1,399
Canon EOS R5
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Well built
- Excellent battery life
- So intuitive for a Canon shooter
- Feels very good in the hand
- Image stabilization is pretty much second to none
- Wonderful menu systems
- Excellent details
- Weather sealed
- Reliable
- Canonâs Mobile App connection setup is as simple as ever
- Doesnât overheat with short clips
- Wifi sending of full HD video is pretty fast
- High ISO RAW files hold a fair amount of data. Thereâs great dynamic range and colors, but the noise is a bit painful.
Cons
- The joystick is in an odd spot
- In some ways feels like an old 60D, but itâs totally not
- The magnification button is in an odd spot
- Canât transfer 8K video via Wifi
- 4K movie clips shorter than 30 seconds take a while to send, and then ultimately donât end up on your phone
- High ISO Raw files above 12,800 tend to get a bit messy
- The price is a bit high at $3,899
Buy now: $3,899
Sony a6600
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Feels better than all other APS-C Sony cameras
- Itâs a mini a9
- The bigger battery is a very welcome addition. It gives lots of extra life
- Weather sealing is nice
- Image stabilization
- The combined weather sealing and bigger battery mean you can go all day on a single charge
- Lightweight and small-sized camera
- The quiet shutter in addition to the silent option
- A lot of buttons that help you get around some of the issues
- Fast-focusing even on the streets with continually changing light
- There is almost no reason to take it off of wide tracking and continuous autofocus
- Face detection for animals is very fun
- Low ISO detail retention in highlights and shadows is pretty good
Cons
- No lock on the mode dial
- Sony refuses to give us three direct control dials. Why?
- Sony refuses to put a joystick on the back
- No Dual Card Slots
- Face detection doesnât seem as advanced as the a7 and a9 series
- Sony still limits a photographer from having full use of the touchscreen in a way similar to Canon and Panasonic
- The screen is sort of low resolution compared to the full-frame cameras, and it really shows its age. Itâs not 2012 anymore.
- It needs a viewfinder that flips up
- Focus peaking on the APS C bodies used to be amazing, and now itâs crap
- Detail loss above ISO 3200. In fact, ISO 3200 and above is just not clean
- Why no USB C charging or port?
Buy now: $1,398
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 (if your workflow requires it)
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
The Ultimate 1000+ Sky Overlays Bundle
No matter how good modern cameras are, there are still times when you can’t capture the perfect scene. Do you expose for the sky, or do you expose for the foreground? This has been an issue for years. Fortunately, now with software, you can simply and easily replace any blown-out sky. Many of you have taken advantage of this great deal during September. For just $29, you can get over 1,000 sky replacements. You will be able to swap the sky in your image with a perfect replacement with ease. These overlays work with any software that uses layers.
Buy now: $29
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 weâve tested in a while. You can use that to your advantage, or you can correct it in post
Buy now Sony E: $299
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
Buy now: $399.99
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: $398
Buy now M4/3: $379
Buy now Sony E: $379
Tamron 24mm F2.8 Di III OSD M1:2
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Small footprint
- Lightweight (7.6 oz / 215g)
- Very robust weather sealing
- Excellent image quality overall
- Close minimum focusing distance
- Affordably priced at just US $349
Cons
- Plasticky build quality
- Quite a bit of optical distortion (although correctable in Capture One)
- Subpar autofocus performance under low light and low contrast conditions
Buy now Sony E: $229
