Jon Sienkiewicz

Fujifilm’s family of digital cameras has some amazing features, but a couple of the most useful controls are a bit tricky to figure out. The owner’s manual is no help, either, and the way they function is counterintuitive—for me at least.

In the late 1980s Canon introduced a 135mm f/2.8 autofocus lens that featured selectable softfocus. In addition to delivering dreamy out-of-focus images on demand, it’s also tack-sharp and extrapolates up to the equivalent of a 216mm f/2.8 when used on a crop-frame Canon.

Polarizers reduce glare, let you see under the water and darken blue skies. We all know this because we’ve read those weary descriptions hundreds of times. Those benefits are just low-hanging fruit. The real benefits of a polarizing filter are…

For the legions of photographers who used film cameras in the past, a screw-in type photo filter is as normal as fingerprints on an iPhone. But for those who started their photographic journey with a digital, even the word filter can be confusing. Does it plug into Photoshop or screw into a lens? Are they like the AA filter that covers an imaging sensor, or do they fit in a Mister Coffee? If you don’t own any filters, you’re missing some fun. Here’s a quick guide to buying one for your DSLR camera.