Photography Review

"Your Experience and Views"

This section is intended to provide photography reviews on equipment, products and services as experienced by you, the photography enthusiast.

There are numerous websites and magazines providing detailed product specifications and test reports. These are fine but they are becoming predictable and are usually prepared by top professionals.

Nothing wrong with that but are you ever left wondering if any ordinary photography enthusiast has actually used the equipment and what they thought of it?

A long lens put to the test in very low light.

The newly released telephoto lens from Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO caught my attention with its design and expected performance.

An innovative feature which is extremely helpful in overcoming a big problem of digital photography - Limited Dynamic Range. (The camera's inability to record everything the human eye sees from very dark to very light.)

I was just about to buy the Apple Case for my new iPad when I came across this alternative. Real leather, better protection, great value. I bought one.

Since recommending a new book in our Library "Insect Photography - Art and Techniques" by John Bebbington FRPS, a full review has been written by a member of the Royal Photographic Society - Robert Hawkesworth FRPS. Robert concludes - I can thoroughly recommend this book to everyone who wishes to start a new area of Nature Photography.

Earlier this year Olympus announced their new camera, the Olympus E-M5. It is the first of the digital versions, or some say update, to the much loved OM series. Ghene Snowdon is a photographer based in London. Specialising in creating beautiful and contemporary photographs on location. This is her reaction to the camera.

It's no secret that I am an Olympus Fan. I've been using their gear for 35 years, it's always delivered quality results and has never let me down. A recent trip required me to travel light - only enough space for one camera and one lens - my Olympus PEN and its new 14-150mm lens.

David Noton has produced another outstanding book which anyone who aspires to produce images that come close to his gems cannot afford to miss. Full Frame addresses the essentials which so many other books leave out - how to visualize and plan for a great photograph. If you'd like to learn by seeing David put his skills into practice but his schedule of workshops does not suit you then his superb new DVD - Photography in the RAW - is for you.

Master Photographer John Bebbington FRPS is no newcomer to Better-Photographs.com. Some of his superb photographs are in our Gallery and he has written a popular masterclass on Close Up Photography. He recently tried out the new Pentax K-5 on some of his favorite subjects and was very impressed by the results. Click here to see his full review, including the camera's video capabilities.

Renowned wedding and portrait photographer Damien Lovegrove has just released his latest DVD, "Speedlight Mastery". Like all his DVDs, this one is packed full of first rate advice and ideas delivered with Damien's characteristic enthusiasm. By following it, your approach to using the simple speedlight is likely to change for ever.

Thinking I had enough camera equipment and that I would be very unlikely to change to a different system (yet again), I let all the Micro Four Thirds hype pass me by. But then I was asked to try an Olympus Pen. Bother. I'm liking it and I'll be doing a review of the Olympus E-P1 in the New Year. I mention this now because you might like to take a look behind the scenes at the filming of the new TV ads featuring Kevin Spacey and enter the prize draw.

Top landscape photographer John Perriment has been using a Benbo Mk 1 tripod for years. Recently, a new Giottos model grabbed his attention. Click here to read his views about how they compared when in use on location.

photography review Having found that the longest focal length lens for my camera did not have the "reach" I needed for certain subjects and that it was beyond my financial means anyway, I decided to acquire one of the new Swarovski telescopes together with an adaptor for an SLR camera (Olympus E-System in my case). This gives me the 35mm equivalent of a 3200mm lens when used with my 2x converter. Click Here to read my full review.

Digital Recorders and Voice Recognition Technology have come a long way since their introduction in the 1990's. Olympus and Dragon Systems - arguably the best of both worlds - have come together to produce a handy tool for anyone needing to take notes or compose text in an easy, productive way. Click Here to read a full review by renowned novelist and keen photographer - Melinda Hammond.

The author of one of our masterclasses , John Bebbington FRPS has been using the image stacking software - Helicon Focus to produce some amazing Photomicrographic Images. Click Here to read his full review.

Have you used some photography equipment and have something to say about it - good or bad? Why not help other photographers by telling them about it on this site?

Click here to contact me, the Editor.

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