The Monster Adapter LA-KE1 gives Pentaxians a way to use many of their K-mount lenses with full AF on Sony E-mount mirrorless bodies. Mike Tomkins looks at how it performs.
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Mike Tomkins
DPReview Contributor
Lives in
Knoxville, TN, United States
Works as a
Freelance writer and photographer
Joined on
Aug 20, 2001
About me:
Previously the Senior Reviews Editor at Imaging Resource, Mike Tomkins caught the photography bug around the age of 12, when he received a Kodak Cross as a childhood Christmas present. Growing up as an expat kid in Hong Kong, there was no shortage of interesting subjects, and he quickly outgrew the limitations of a basic 110 camera. A passion for TTL viewfinders was ignited when he stepped up to his first SLR, a Praktica BX20. An early proponent of digital photography, he nonetheless wasn't willing to sacrifice a proper viewfinder in the quest to move on from film. A network engineer living in the United Kingdom at the time, Mike settled on the first camera that truly fit the bill: Sony's legendary Cyber-shot Pro. Not only did that camera launch him into the world of digital photography, but it also turned out to be the start of a new career. Back-and-forth correspondence with Imaging Resource publisher Dave Etchells to pool info on the Sony quickly turned into a job offer, and Mike joined the IR team as News Editor in January 1999, becoming Senior Reviews Editor by 2014. With IR beset by financial difficulties from late 2019, Mike switched to freelancing for DPReview from early 2020. Now settled in Knoxville, Tennessee, he and his son Geoffrey are blessed to be but a stone's throw from a million photo opportunities in the picturesque Smoky Mountains. |
Editorial content
The Nikon Z 24-70mm F2.8 S is an all-rounder fast zoom for Nikon's mirrorless system. With a versatile focal length range and a fast aperture for low light photography and blurry backgrounds, this lens promises sharp imagery and smooth bokeh with minimal aberrations. How does it actually perform? Find out in our full review.
If you're looking to speed up your editing workflow, few pieces of hardware can make complex masking, brushing and cloning jobs easier than a digital pen. We look at Xencelabs' latest offering, the Pen Tablet Small.
Exposure Software's latest release, Exposure X7, offers impressive editing performance and great image quality along with a solid feature set that gives Adobe Lightroom a run for its money (but without the monthly subscription). Get all the details in our review.
Nik Silver Efex Pro 3, one of the standout components of Nik Collection 4, is a black-and-white conversion tool that goes far further than the grayscale or black-and-white tools built into all-in-one photo apps. For some users, this app alone might be worth the cost of the whole collection – find out for yourself in our review.
The Nikon Z 14-24mm F2.8 S is a worthy addition to the company's lineup of high-end F2.8 zooms, offering great image quality in most every respect. Get all the details in our full review.
Sigma's designed-for-mirrorless 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS 'Sports' lens provides great image quality across a wide zoom range – get all the ins and outs of how this lens performs in our field review.
ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 is a fully-featured alternative to Adobe's Lightroom for Windows users. So how does it compare? Read our detailed review to find out.
Panasonic's Leica DG Vario-Summilux 25-50mm F1.7 ASPH is a fast zoom lens aimed at photographers and filmmakers using Micro Four Thirds camera bodies. Read our review to find out how it performs.
The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4.0 Pro is a compact, high-end lens designed for photographers using Micro Four Thirds camera bodies. Does it live up to its billing? Read our review to find out.
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| Elephant Procession by PTSC from Elephants Unlimited | Old Mate by old shutter bugger from People Photography 2022 | Date by CarlosU from I get a Long | under construction by hozho from Under Construction | Anna's Hummingbird-5575 by vbuhay from Color me Wild - Shades of Green |
