News / Reviews & Previews

CES 2013: Canon's PowerShot N, with its 'either way up' design and Creative Shot processing filters, is one of the most unusual cameras we've seen for some time. Canon's talking about it as a companion to a smartphone, and to this end it includes Wi-Fi connectivity and the ability to upload photos and videos to social media. We've had the chance to handle one briefly, and have prepared a quick first impressions article to give an idea of how it works.

The Kata Digital Rucksack 467-DL is the flagship model in the company's new D-Lite backpack range, which is geared towards the 'on-the-go amateur' photographer. It packs in a lot of features, including space for a full DSLR kit and 17in laptop at a reasonable price. If you're in the market for a backpack that will get you through most shoots without breaking the bank, then the 467-DL might be for you. Read our review for more details. 

Earlier this year Sigma outlined a new vision for its product line-up, with lenses to be split into three categories: Contemporary, Sports and Art. The 35mm F1.4 DG HSM is the first release in the latter, and is designed to offer a relatively affordable alternative to the camera manufacturers' equivalents. It works on both full frame and APS-C cameras, and will be available in mounts for all major brands. In our latest review in partnership with DxOMark, we take a detailed look at how it performs, including test data from all of its closest competitors to see how it measures up. Click through to find out what we thought.

The holiday season is upon us once again and with all the sales and special deals around at the moment, this is a great time to start thinking about getting a new camera. Maybe for a loved one, maybe just as a treat to yourself. In this article, we'll be looking at the current field of enthusiast zoom compact cameras, and examining their relative strengths and weaknesses to help you make your buying decision. Click through for a link to our 12-page article.

Just Posted: Our review of the Sony Alpha SLT-A99. The A99 is Sony's flagship SLT camera - featuring a 24MP full-frame sensor and dual AF system, along with the level of build and direct control you'd expect from a range-topping model. We've put the A99 through its paces in a variety of situations, including an investigation of how its AF depth control performs in challenging shooting conditions. We've also looked at the advantages the SLT system and articulated screen bring to a camera at this level, as well as looking at their downsides. Click here to find out what we concluded.

Just Posted: an extensive update to our Fujifilm X-E1 preview. With a sensor and imaging pipeline that is identical to the X-Pro1's the X-E1 promises much of the X-Pro1's fun in a more compact and affordable package. We've been working with a production sample X-E1 for a couple of weeks and we've been working towards a full review, which we hope to publish early in the new year. In the meantime we've added seven pages to the preview, including our studio test shots and a sample gallery. Click through for a link to the expanded preview, including our 49-image real-world sample gallery. 

Just Posted: Our review of the Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, prepared in partnership with DxOMark. In the last of our mini-series examining superzoom lenses for SLRs, we take a look at how Tamron's contender compares to its Sigma and Nikon counterparts that we reviewed recently. This type of all-in-one travel and 'walkaround' lens is enduringly popular, but how does this two-year-old design stand up against its brand-new competitors?

Just Posted: an extensive update to our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 preview. We've been working away towards a review of the RX1 that we received recently. With its full frame sensor and 35mm F2 lens, it's a camera that's generated a lot of excitement amongst photographers, so we wanted to publish more detail of its performance and behavior. We've added eight pages to the preview, including more detail about its handling and interface as well as our studio test shots, a sample gallery from the production camera and our first impressions of shooting with it.

Just Posted: Our Canon PowerShot G15 review. The G15 is one of the latest wave of updated enthusiast compact cameras and it follows this season's trend of gaining a brighter lens and CMOS sensor in the process. It still offers a 28-140mm equivalent lens range but its maximum aperture range has been pushed to F1.8-2.8 - a whole stop faster, throughout its range, than the older G12. It's lost that camera's flip-out screen but has lost bulk in the process and has retained that rarest of things - an optical viewfinder. Will this makeover of the G-series formula be enough to win back its place at the top of the heap? Read our review to find out.

Just Posted: Our review of the Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. The latest version of Sigma's stabilized superzoom is smaller and lighter than the existing non-macro version, yet is able to add improved close-focus performance, helping it compete with the similarly-sized Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 VC PZD. These long-range all-rounders are a popular choice, so we've had a look at how Sigma's latest performs. We've also added DxOMark's test data for a selection of its competitors, to give a sense of context.

We've just published a review of Panasonic's flagship super-zoom camera, the Lumix DMC-FZ200. The FZ200 goes back to its roots, offering a constant-aperture zoom range, like the FZs of old, but in most other respects it's similar to its well-regarded predecessor the FZ150. Features include a 12MP MOS sensor with a maximum ISO sensitivity of 6400, Raw shooting, and automatic panorama and HDR modes. We collaborated with Jeff Keller of the Digital Camera Resource Page to bring you this review of the FZ200 - click through to find out what we thought. 

We've just published our 23-page, in-depth review of the Nikon D600. Aimed at enthusiasts, the Nikon D600 offers a 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor and a 39-point AF system adapted from the D7000. In many other respects, it owes a lot to its considerably more expensive cousin, the 36MP D800. When we previewed the D600 we were impressed by its image quality and how many features it offers for the money. So how does it fare when put through our rigorous studio and real-world testing? Click through to find out.

The Kata Revolver-8 photo backpack's unique selling point is its roulette-style revolving lens compartment, which is designed to let you get access to your glassware in seconds, during a busy shoot. This backpack sits at the more expensive end of the camera backpack spectrum, so does its unique revolving design justify the price premium? Read our review to find out.  

Just Posted: Nikon D5200 in-hand preview. We've been able to spend some time with Nikon's latest mass-market DSLR - the 24MP D5200. At first glance it's nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, the D5100, but beyond the sensor, it also gains the 39-point AF system and 2,016 pixel metering sensor from the D7000. This represents a significant step up for this class of DSLR. It also has the option to join the 'connected camera' set, with the option of a clip-on Wi-Fi unit. Is this enough to keep the D5200 relevant amongst its smaller mirrorless rivals?

We've had our hands on Canon's latest zoom, the EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM, for a couple of hours and prepared a quick preview. It's clearly designed primarily as a 'kit' lens for the EOS 6D, but of course will work just as well on Canon's other full frame bodies such as the EOS 5D Mark III, as well as APS-C cameras on which it will offer a 38-112mm-equivalent range. In our preview you can read more about the lens and its features, including its unusual macro function, and see how it compares in size to Canon's other L series standard zooms. 

Carbon fiber is recognizable by its distinctive 'woven' appearance and useful because of its impressive strength-to-weight ratio. This makes it a great choice for structures and products that need to be light and portable, but capable of supporting a lot of weight. For this reason, carbon fiber is all the rage in the high-performance world of motorcycles, cars, boats and also photography. Manfrotto's 290 Series is aimed at photographers on a budget. Should the Manfrotto 294 CF be on your shopping list? Find out in our review.

Just posted: Our review of Nikon's latest superzoom for its DX format SLRs, the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. In the first of our series of lens reviews produced in partnership with DxOMark, we take a look at the longest-range zoom currently made for any interchangeable lens camera system. By current standards it's large and heavy for its class, and expensive too, but does its imaging performance make this all worthwhile? Read our review to find out.

Just Posted: Our review of the Pentax K-30 16MP DSLR. The K-30 continues a Pentax tradition of building cameras around a strong photographer-friendly feature set. It may be less expensive than the much-loved K-5 but it gives up very little in terms of specification - it has a 100% viewfinder and a level of weather sealing unique at this point in the market. Nor does it skimp on software features, including intervalometer, distortion correction and image processing filters. So do these features add up to the perfect mid-level DSLR? Read our review to find out.

Updated: We've just added our resolution and menu pages to our hands-on preview of the Nikon D600. These latest pages have been added to the preview as we work towards the full review. Our final analysis of the D600's image quality will come later, but for now, click through to see for yourself how Nikon's newest 24MP DSLR performs against our resolution chart in both JPEG and Raw modes. 

Just Posted: Our Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 review. The latest of our collaborative reviews with Jeff Keller of The Digital Camera Resource Page is of Panasonic's enthusiast compact. The LX7 retains the bright lens and small body that have become the hallmarks of the series but adds more direct control than its forebears, including a dedicated aperture ring. Underpinning it all is a new 10MP CMOS sensor - moving on from the CCDs used in the LX5 and 3. Do all these changes help restore the Lumix to the top of the enthusiast compact pile? Read our review to find out.