Gear is important
It probably is the most important component of a travel blogger’s life.
Camera Lens Reviews
Fujifilm
Canon
Canon 50mm F1.2 Review
A NEW SERIES, THE CANON RF MOUNT!! Today, we went ahead and stepped up the series to full-frame. The 50mm F1.2
Camera Lens Comparisons
Fujifilm
Software
Transparency
In August of 2023, after this website started exceeding around one hundred people per day, (after only two years of part-time work), I decided I needed expand the rather rudimentary rating template for these reviews. (It was originally these four categories below, but it didn’t follow any of the specific information) This followed a late 2022 push for standardizing the review portion, which you can see in each table of content in the blog posts. Here are the qualifications I now use in an effort for transparency and consistency in ratings. I hope this helps. -KS
Ranking Template (August 21, 2023)
- Price (Out of 5)
- Is this lens fairly priced?
- Can this item be found on the used market for at least 20% off MSRP?
- How does the price compare to the body? (For example: It may not make sense to purchase a $4,000 lens for a camera ecosystem in which the most expensive body only costs $2,000.)
- Overall pricing Concerns
- Price/Performance Ratio
- Reliability (Out of 5)
- Color Fringing, Bokeh Balls, Sharpness (including center sharpness and center to corner performance), Distortion, Vignetting, Bokeh Transitions
- Functionality (Out of 5)
- Is this a niche lens?
- How is the autofocus experience? If it is a manual focus lens, what is this experience like?
- Trade-offs (For example, an F4 lens should probably have optical image stabilization.)
- Is it able to be used for what it’s designed for? (Again, the 18-120mm F4 by Fujifilm is designed to be a video-first lens. However, a weird warp in the corner while zooming negates the advantage of the power zoom.)
- Style (Out of 5)
- Does this lens look good?
- How does the overall build quality feel- EX. materials, paint, does it show fingerprints, etc. ?
- If it’s designed to be waterproof, is it?
- Will the lens last over time?
- Lens Body/Camera Balance
Lens Review Templates (Started Fall-ish of 2022… Added throughout 2023..)
- Quick Facts
- Table of Contents
- Who is this lens designed for?
- What other lenses exist that cover this focal length?
- Dials, Switches, Buttons, and More
- Build Quality
- Bokeh and Bokeh Balls Review
- Autofocus Tests
- Image Quality
- Distortion
- Vignetting
- Color Fringing (Purple and Green)
- Macro Performance
- Sunstars/Starbursts/Flaring
- Is this lens good at what it is designed for?
- Sample Images
- Pros and Cons
- Final Rating