Archive for Reviews and buying advice

Choosing your first dSLR

It's nearly December again, which means that the retailers are rubbing their money-grabbing little paws in glee, in anticipation of making a killing over the holiday season. Be that as it may, fact remains that there's a lot of choice out there, and whether you're buying your first camera, or whether you're out shopping for a friend of family member, you might need a hand. Welcome to the Photocritic guide to entry-level dSLR cameras: What should you be looking for, what should you be buying, and why? It's all in our handy shopping guide, right here...

Read all of Choosing your first dSLR (36 comments so far)

Insure your camera stuff!

Insurance for your camera equipment - I can barely think of a less exciting topic, to be honest. In fact, I highly recommend you skip this post, because it's going to be hideously boring. Before you to, though, I'd like for you to think about one little thing: "If your camera vanishes today, can you afford to buy a new one?" If the answer's yes, great, go look at amazing photography to spark your inspiration. If not, read on...

Read all of Insure your camera stuff! (10 comments so far)

TinEye.com photo search engine

You know how it goes - you want to find a photo of the Mona Lisa, so you go onto Google Images, you type in Mona Lisa, and you get hundreds of results. But what if you have an image, and you want to find out what it is of? Or what if you want to find out where else on the world wide interwebs this image is used? Cue Idee's Tineye.com, an image search engine. We decide to take it for a spin...

Read all of TinEye.com photo search engine (one comment so far)

Buying a camera abroad

There's lots of reasons for why you might want to buy a camera on foreign shores - perhaps you forgot to bring your own camera (idiot!), there's something wrong with the camera you brought (it happens), or you're taking advantage of the fact that you're paid in British Pounds, the US dollar has tanked massively recently, so you can get the bargain of a lifetime by buying that sparking SLR you've had your eye on for a few month across the pond. In recent years, if you're looking to buy one of the high-end or mid-range cameras, it has been cheaper for me (living in London) to fly to New York to buy a camera, than to walk down the street to my local Jessops to do the same - so you can either save a bundle by shopping online, or you can get a 'free' trip out of it. Sounds tempting, right? Of course it does - there are a couple of things you should be aware of, though...

Read all of Buying a camera abroad (4 comments so far)

Picking an SLR camera

Back in April, I did a Top 15 entry-level camera round-up, and it's one of those posts where the comments stayed relatively calm, but I got tonnes of e-mail afterwards, with suggestions, comments etc. I was surprised at the level of passion people had about that one single article, but it got me thinking: I love trying to come up with interesting ways of doing photography, but what if people really want some buying advice? I discovered long ago that this particular blog isn't really the place, but still... I figured I could do better than a top 15... So I decided to launch a new website to help you out.

Read all of Picking an SLR camera (8 comments so far)

Review: Understanding Shutter Speed

"Photography has to be enjoyed by looking at pictures", my arts teacher used to say, back when I still listened to teachers. I agree with the man, but I'm also a geek, and I love understanding things. I'm the kind of guy who enjoys knowing why the engine makes more noise and the car goes faster when I press the fast pedal on a car. I like to understand how a satellite works, and why it can make movies appear on my TV. And I love to understand how a photograph works. There's been a lot of books written about photography throughout the years (I had a stab at it myself...), but to be perfectly honest with you, a lot of them are complete and utter rubbish.

Read all of Review: Understanding Shutter Speed (2 comments so far)

Canvas printing

There's web galleries, there's your mum's photo printer, and then there is this... One of the most beautiful ways of presenting photographs has to be getting your photos transferred onto canvas. The cool thing is that you can get quite creative what you do on a canvas - just ask Rembrandt & co! There are a lot of companies out there who are offering the service these days, but I recently stumbled across one that stands out from the crowd with its snazzy Web 2.0 interface and its glorious prints.

Read all of Canvas printing (3 comments so far)

Photocritic’s Christmas Gift Guide

It's that time of year, and all that, so I thought I'd put together something of a christmas list: What can you get your photography-addicted buddy for the holiday season? But first, let's help the readers of this post with a poll. Here's your chance to tell people what you'd really like! {democracy:12}

Read all of Photocritic’s Christmas Gift Guide (2 comments so far)

Digital SLRs drop under £300

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that my trusty Canon Digital Elph S500 had gone walkies. "What?" I hear you ask, "Isn't this guy supposed to be a proper photographer? What the hell is he doing with a compact camera?". The answer to that, really, is quite simple: I often find myself in situations where carrying a full-size camera around would be uncomfortable, unnecessary, or even downright dangerous. As such, I decided to buy the then-top-of-the-line Canon compact camera. Interestingly enough, in this round of research, I discovered that yes, if I wanted a shit-hot digital compact, I needed to shell out some serious dosh. I ended up paying (Yes! Paying! Obviously, the camera manufacturers haven't noticed Photocritic well enough to send me free cameras yet. The scoundrels!) £300 for what is undoubtedly the best compact camera I've ever used: the 10 megapixel Canon Digital Ixus 900 Ti. It's got lots of pixels, a battery that lasts and lasts, an amazing screen, and a body of titanium, so it can take the next few years of abuse. Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered on the T3 website that digital SLR packages have dropped to under £300!

Read all of Digital SLRs drop under £300 (9 comments so far)

Review: The Lensbaby lens

A good while ago (see this post), I discovered the phenomenon of the lensbaby lens. Basically, it's a bendable lens that you can use for creative effect. It means that you get what essentially is a tilt/shift lens which allows you to work with creative selective focus, extreme macro photography, and lots of creative freedom. I recently got my grubby paws on a Lensbaby, and ever since, I've been a complete convert. I recently spent 4 days exploring Madrid, and despite of having a lot of expensive glass, I ended up only using the Lensbaby lens throughout the whole trip.

Read all of Review: The Lensbaby lens (14 comments so far)