Field Report: Tamron Made the Perfect Zoom Lens for Fujifilm

I’ve been a Fuji shooter for a long time. In fact, the X series system is teetering on being a decade old. For years, the staff and I have far preferred their prime lenses. And from what we know of the lenses you folks buy, so have you! But this year, things changed. A lens came out for Fujifilm that majorly altered things. The Tamron 18-300mm f3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD arrived and things changed a lot. Now, Fujifilm users have a fantastic, all-in-one lens that can do everything they need. Taking a vacation soon? Well, you might want to have a look at the perfect zoom lens for Fujifilm cameras.

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Brian Bowen-Smith Frames Pandemic America in a Beautiful Vintage Ford

“I actually never even thought about looking at the world through my car until the pandemic,” photographer Brian Bowen-Smith tells us. “It’s a 1958 Ford F100 that can’t sit too long so every once in a while I will take it out for a spin…When I was photographing my neighbor I noticed that it looked really cool through all of the windows because of the curves.” And that’s how BBS Drivebys was born. So Brian took his truck and went on a true road trip around America during the pandemic. The result is a timeless look achieved by shooting with his Leica.

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Photographer Ben Franke on the Thrill of Parkour Photography

“Safety is the number one priority when shooting and I always leave it up to the athlete if they want to do the jump or not,” Photographer Ben Franke tells us about photographing parkour. Ben, like many other photographers, loves his Leica. His work is proof that the decisive moment isn’t just limited to the M-series. But there’s an entire backstory to how Ben gets his shots. And as he tells us, there can be a long time between getting the location and the shoot just right.

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One Lens for Portrait Photography: How to Make the Most of a Single Lens

The goal of every photographer is to pair down their kit. For years, we’ve recommended prime lenses. And for simplicity, we often stick to primes. But zoom lenses like those made by Tamron have been stellar in the past few years. And if you only wanted one lens for portrait photography, you’d need to think carefully about what you’d pick. Recently, we tested two that are truly stellar. And one of them is genuinely bound to amaze portrait photographers that want one lens for portrait photography.

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Tamron Lens Instant Savings are Here! These Lenses Right For You

The Tamron lens Instant Savings are back, and it includes more than just the Sony FE lenses this time! Tamron’s lenses are already a great price, but now they’re even lower! If you’re a Sony camera user, then you’ve probably read all that we’ve said before about Tamron’s great value. Their Sony FE lenses are lightweight, useful, compact, fast to focus, and have weather resistance. The latter point is really their strongest, we’ve seen less sensor dust than with many other lenses. What’s more, they’ve got great image quality too. Plus, some of the lenses can be had for your DSLR! Take a look at the instant savings below.

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How to Keep Your Camera Lenses Working Like the Day You Bought Them

Fact: your lenses are often more important than your camera. What’s more, the condition of your lenses will really matter when it comes to image results. With today’s high-resolution cameras, the slightest imperfections can be picked up easily. Spotting lens and sensor dust is pretty simple. But all that dust can affect how your camera and lens perform. We’re going to teach you how to care for your lens, like the ones from Tamron, to keep them operating just like the day you got them.

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How to Shoot Fashion Photography with the Leica SL2-S

Conformity is boring. I embrace leaning into what makes you tick, especially if that means living outside of that proverbial box. This was a mantra that I believed wholeheartedly to the point that I almost flunked out of art school for refusing to conform. I think that’s why I love fashion photography so much. It’s all about finding your own voice, embracing the unconventional, and reaching for the stars. Combining beautiful clothing with the capabilities of the Leica SL2-S makes breaking the rules all the more fun.

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Why I Let Go of One of the Best Fujifilm Lenses and Cameras

The staff at The Phoblographer adore their Fujifilm camera. Three of us own products for the system. Two others are considering switching over. And for the past decade, I’ve basically bought new Fujifilm lenses or cameras each year. I’ve accumulated a lot. Over the past year, I decided it was time to pare down. We all do it! We all end up buying a new lens or sometimes a new camera that we don’t use often. So, I got rid of them. Well, I didn’t get rid of everything; I paired it down to just the necessities.

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How to Get More Out of Your Beautiful Leica M Lenses

For generations, Leica lenses documented many of the world’s most iconic moments. They were the perfect tool for this. They are compact and have a great tactile feel. Also, they give the photographer all the information necessary to know what will be in focus. The lenses told you how far away to focus. The depth of field scale told you how much to stop the lens down. And today, they’re used for both professional work and by passionate photographers who adore the craft. The Leica M lens can take the next evolutionary path, though: being adapted.

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A Simple Tip to Get More From Your Leica RAW Files in Capture One

Are you using this trick?

The Leica RAW files from the Leica SL2-S and the Leica SL2 are pretty great. But they can be made even better. These cameras use the Adobe DNG Raw format. And in Capture One Pro 21, you can get even more from the images you shoot. Do you shoot portraits? Or products? Or anything that really requires you to be careful with the colors? Then you’ll want to try this trick in Capture One Pro 21.

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How to Use the Leica SL2-S for Photojournalism: A Guide

We’re streaming daily on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and Spotify! You can also listen to it right here on The Phoblographer.

The Leica SL2-S has quickly become one of my favorite cameras. It’s got character, it feels great, and more importantly, it’s far different than all other cameras on the market. If a lot of cameras on the market are boring you, then the Leica SL2-S is probably what you want. It’s one of the reasons I picked it up. I’ve been using it for almost a year for various tests and shoots. I really like it.

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Fine Art Photographer Jennifer McClure on a Photographer’s Nightmare

“I had some big issues in my life that I needed to process, and photography was a way for me to do that,” explains fine art photographer Jennifer McClure. “I didn’t set out to work in fine art, but I am happy that I landed here.” Jennifer is based in NYC and has profound advice on getting out of a photographer’s worst nightmare: the creative rut. We’ve all spoken to photographers who hit this obstacle and don’t know where to go. Typically, we treat ourselves harshly and beat ourselves up. But Jennifer used a completely different approach. Her words and teachings are bound to get someone experiencing a rut very interested in her process.

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How Photographer Christopher Michel Makes Stunning, Soulful Portraits

All images by Christopher Michel and used with permission. Be sure to check out his website.

“How important is that photo of you with your parents?” asks photographer Christopher Michel when asked about portraiture. “I’m guessing pretty darn important…Photography is a kind of alchemy – photographs almost always become more valuable over time.” Mr. Michel’s words ring true for lots of us these days after coming out of some very difficult times. For Christopher, making portraits is a collaborative process. As he tells us, the aim is to always create soulful portraits.

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The Best Kit for the Traveling Documentary Photographer

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It’s time to travel again! Parts of the world are opening back up, and folks are eager to explore again. Bringing along the right camera can sometimes be confusing. We’ve done a lot of traveling over the years, and we learned that some gear just holds up better to sudden changes than others. It’s fair to expect your camera gear to handle changing conditions the same way your phone can. And of course, it’s obvious that you’d want the best image quality. So, we put together a great kit for you that will have the documentary photographer covered for most situations.

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The Cameras of Professional Photojournalist Cheriss May

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“I love people, and I’m inspired by telling stories of people who are change-makers,” explains photojournalist Cheriss May to us in an interview. “I want to do this with dignity and respect of who they are, not what I want them to be…This allows people to relax and to be their authentic self.” Cheriss is a highly lauded photojournalist. But she’s also heavily involved in the photography community. And more importantly, she’s choosy about her gear. So we talked to her about what cameras she’s got in her camera bag!

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Want Vivid Colors? These Tamron Lenses are the Best Way to Get It

Tamron Lenses are at a great price right now, but only for a limited time.

It needs to be said: the photo industry creates a whole lot of sterile-looking lenses. The past two decades have engineered the soul out of photography. But with Tamron lenses, you’ll get a bit of that spark back. These lenses have beautiful, vivid colors. They’re also very sharp. What’s more, many of them are built exceptionally. But the cherry on top of all that is the affordable prices. Want to make your Sony a7r IV have better colors than you’ve ever seen? Try one of these lenses. 

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Automatic Photo Editing Is a Sham? PhotoWorks 10.0 Begs to Differ

You think that automatic photo editing can’t bring good results – think again. 

Here you are, back from your latest photography gig, exhausted and wired. But hey, those pictures you took aren’t going to edit themselves, right? So you sit down and work till the wee hours of the morning because the photos are due soon. Don’t you think there is a better way to edit photos that wouldn’t include overstraining yourself? Well, good news – there is. If you don’t want to toil for hours while post-processing your pics, consider switching from a manual editing approach to auto. 

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The Passionate Street Photographer: How to Zone Focus a Lens

The pandemic gave way to loads of new passionate photographers, and we’re here to share how to document the world’s reopening.

Surely, modern autofocus is fantastic. But there’s nothing like the pride of getting a shot because you zone-focused the lens beforehand. Have you ever shot a photo you were happy with just the way it was? It probably didn’t need any post-production. It was an authentic moment that you captured. And most importantly, you did it, not the camera or the lens. You can achieve these Jedi-like powers with zone focusing. 

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Creating Long Exposures with a Phone Has Never Been Easier

The Sony Xperia 1 II makes long exposures a piece of cake.

Long exposure photography is a genre that once required big, bulky cameras. Now, you can create jaw-dropping long exposures with nothing but a phone. The Sony Xperia 1 II is a smartphone with the abilities of Sony Alpha cameras. including a manual mode. These features make creating long exposures incredibly easy. After the break, we’ll show you how to capture stunning long exposures using nothing but the Sony Xperia 1 II.

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This Is the Best Time to Get Into Film. Here Are Great Cameras to Choose

If you’ve never experienced the smell of a roll of Kodak Tri-x being wound into your camera, give this a shot.

Summer is nearly here in the US. And there’s never been a better time to get into film! There’s a plethora of great cameras out there, and there’s a ton in great shape at KEH. These cameras are some of the best ways to experience CineStill, Lomochrome Purple, and much more! Best of all, these cameras rank as some of the best ever made. Check out our list below!

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