Matt Williams

I’ve been an Olympus and Micro Four Thirds user since I purchased a used E-M5 in 2016. I love Olympus, and like many others was sad to hear the news when the company’s photo division came to an end. There was a lot of speculation and anxiety over what JIP would do with the business, but the rebranding to OM Digital encouraged confidence. Since then, I have eagerly awaited the new company’s first camera. And now we have it: the OM System OM-1.

We can spend hours poring over buying guides and recommendations for the fanciest, most expensive pieces of kit to complete our bag as photographers, but in all that excitement, there is one crucial piece of our arsenal that can be overlooked. It hardly qualifies as a bell or a whistle and no one will drool with envy at the sight of it, but it is absolutely one of the most important purchases you will make: the camera strap.

Vintage lenses are more popular than ever, thanks in large part to the mirrorless revolution as well as affordable, high-quality cinema and hybrid video cameras. These lenses are regularly “cine modded” for video use due to their unique character and less clinical rendering, (sometimes) affordable prices compared to cine lenses, helicoid-driven focus with hard stops, and physical aperture rings (which are often de-clicked).

While visiting a friend recently, I noted that his teenage daughter’s walls were lined with Polaroids of her and her friends. I expressed some surprise and inquired about what got her interested in instant photography. She tilted her head and smirked at the question, and I soon understood why. The term “instant photography” struck her as curiously redundant.

Looking to get started in photography but feel overwhelmed at the huge number of different camera models on the market? The daunting feeling can be an obstacle as you try to dive headfirst into the art form, but you have come to the right place: we have selected the best cameras for beginners looking to dip their toes in photography without breaking the bank or getting in over their heads.

The past decade has seen an explosion of film users. Whether this is driven by a sense of nostalgia, or a desire to experience the past (for those too young to have shot film earlier in their life), for the simplicity, or perhaps because some celebrities have taken to shooting film, it doesn’t really matter. The reality is likely a combination of many factors.

While there are many advantages to buying a brand new camera -- including a manufacturer warranty and, well, the fact that it’s never been used by anyone else -- there are likewise a plethora of reasons to buy cameras on the used market.

Leica has finally officially revealed the M11 Rangefinder, letting us finally put all the rumors of what we may or may not expect to rest. Now that it's here, what has five years of development given us?

Film has experienced a bit of a resurgence in the past decade and we've seen a proliferation of never-before-made film stocks and even brought some back from the dead. But if you want to get started in film photography now, you'll need a camera. So where should you start?

One of the most exciting advancements in digital photography over the last several years has been the rapid increase in the ability to shoot and edit RAW photos.

As cameras have rapidly evolved over the last decade, so have the requirements to get the most out of them. Specifically, what a photographer should care about when it comes to a computer has gone from simple, to somewhat complicated and often nuanced.

As an art form and a technology, photography’s youth is only matched by its blisteringly rapid advancement. This creates something of a paradox for us as enthusiasts and professionals, where the history of the medium we so love can feel both short and overstuffed. Neither condition is conducive to any one camera gaining, let alone maintaining, a sense of permanence or constancy.

From importing, to organizing, to the editing process itself, few tools have the capacity to define a photographer’s workflow like Adobe’s Lightroom. Of the program’s many indispensable features, the ability to create user presets ranks quite high: it offers photographers the ability to lock in preferred looks, adjustments, and settings for rapid implementation across multiple images. Better still, these presets are readily shareable, allowing users easy access to the settings required for virtually any desired result without going through the hassle of creating them themselves.

Over the last fifteen years, physical photography has become a rarity, even a luxury, for the everyday citizen. Modern cell phones have provided average folks with all the camera power they could ever need. Social media has rendered the storage and sharing of visual memories a strictly online affair. As with most recent innovations, the price for increased accessibility has been paid for in tangibility. What was once common has become quaint, what was universal is now bespoke.

Thanks to the smartphone camera, we can capture any memory we choose, at any time, but they’re more vulnerable -- and temporary -- than ever, but they all feel more temporary than ever. This is the modern paradox.

Seasoned photographers know that the search for the right laptop comes down to far more than a list of individually impressive specs. The perfect laptop for photo editing will not always be the one with the most bells and whistles, because perfection here is about so much more: usability, ease, intuition -- all the things that combine to create not just powerful imagery, but a powerful workflow as well.

Just after the Christmas of 1904, a group of lucky children nestled into their seats at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London for a night of whimsy and wonder. There, they witnessed the first adventure of a boy who could never grow up, clad in autumn leaves and cobwebs. Their eyes expanded with delight as he entered the room of children just like them, on a mission to retrieve a friend.

Not many people own a 4x5 camera let along actually use them, which makes Lomography's new LomoGraflok 4x5 Instant Back particularly interesting. It allows those with 4x5 Graflok-equipped large format cameras to shoot with Fujifilm Instax Wide film It's niche, but should appeal to a very small, but passionate, group of photographers.

Whether you are a working professional or a weekend hobbyist, the thrill of using truly exquisite gear is unmatched. We all work with what we have while salivating over what we cannot, and no matter how old we get, fancy toys never lose their luster. Do we need them? Probably not. Will we ever purchase them? Not likely. Will we spend hours staring at them? You bet. Nothing is as intoxicating to a photographer as good, outrageously expensive glass.

It was the kind of summer day that your mind instantly recalls when you hear the words “summer day”. Warm, sunny, gorgeous. William Meredith’s daughters, as was their habit when a day felt this good, lounging in the backyard, sunning in their swimsuits. All was peaceful -- until the girls entered the house, warning their father of an intruder in their backyard.

In early August, a new photography-based subscription-only social media app hit the iOS App Store. Called Glass, it touts itself as a new, distraction-free home for photographers that is focused on one thing: your photos.

I find it incredibly fun to use older, especially unique, digital cameras both as a challenge and for sheer enjoyment.

A lot of words have been written and exchanged about the difference between -- and possible advantages or disadvantages of -- CCD (charged-couple device) and CMOS (metal oxide semiconductor + active-pixel sensor) camera sensors. What really is the difference between them?

You've probably heard it before: a great tripod is one of the most valuable investments you can make as a photographer. Conversely, one of the worst investments you can make is buying a mediocre or straight-up bad tripod.