The Phoblographer designed our reviews with photographers in mind first, not necessarily gearheads. We were founded on the idea that photographers use cameras and their gear in real-life situations — not in the lab. To that end, our testing is done in the field and uses camera gear in a way that most other photographers use them. Here, you can find the various reviews that we’ve done over the years.
How We Do Our Reviews
The Phoblographer’s reviews are in no way sponsored or paid for. In fact, they never have been. Instead, we specifically tell manufacturers that they have no say in our reviews at all. If they have qualms with that, we offer them the option of respectfully going our separate ways. Our reviews are done independently with trained journalists that have a photography background. Our entire Reviews team has to meet certain criteria, such as being able to deliver photos devoid of camera shake with an exposure of over one second long. They also need to meet physical fitness requirements, such as being able to do long walks with packed camera bags on their backs. Their overall health also needs to be suitable for testing gear in inclement conditions.
All reviews are edited in-house by the Founder and Editor in Chief of the Phoblographer. The Reviews Editor provides guidance on how we do things in-house.
Notable Facts
Here are some notable facts about the Phoblographer’s Reviews
- We’ve done the most independent real-world lens reviews of any currently standing photography publication. We’d even argue that our lens reviews rival a place like Pop Photo was back in the day.
- The Phoblographer has done the most reviews of camera bags of any standing photography publication. Lots of photographers come to us to find these and are then more understanding of how we apply our ethics in the industry to these products.
- The Phoblographer has completed full guides to the various film manufacturing companies. These include Kodak, Fujifilm, CineStill, Lomography, and others.
- We’ve reviewed every mirrorless camera ever made. In fact, we were one of the biggest proponents of the mirrorless future back in the 2010s. These days, we believe in photographers first and algorithmic content creators last.
- The Phoblographer’s high ISO camera tests are done using printers. We believe that photographers shouldn’t forget about prints. To that end, we also still review printers. Our prints are done at 17×22 inches at ISO 6400 with considerations taken into place for no editing, available paper sizes, types of paper being used, etc.
- Our lighting reviews skew mostly towards flash and strobe as of early 2023. We still believe that there’s magic that happens when you use a flash instead of a constant light or even an LED. We acknowledge that they’re getting better, but photography is also all about feeling. Otherwise, lighting is lighting. How many people can really tell the difference between one light and another unless you use it in person?
We hope you enjoy navigating through the work we’ve been doing for almost two decades.