Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

Need a portable drive for those massive files you’re making as a content creator? Or perhaps a reliable backup drive to sidestep disaster when your computer melts like a Marshmallow Peep in a 1500W microwave? Two or three big names dominate the external hard drive offerings at online retailers, and it’s tempting to just pick one with the size and price that appeals the most. Here’s a better plan: the Mercury Elite Pro Mini Portable Drive from OWC, a company that’s been providing computer gear for professionals for 33 years.

Like many obsessive hobbies, photography has its share of widely-believed falsehoods. We’ve all been guilty of repeating some fiction, partly because many of the fables are so damn believable. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these myths from a new angle.

The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom for Sony E (Model A036) won the prestigious EISA Award for 2018-19 and is highly regarded as a fast, sharp option for Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras. Three years on, Tamron announces the G2 (second generation) Model A063 with the same zoom range and aperture.

What’s been improved? We look at the two zooms side-by-side with a critical eye.

Vanguard is an international company that sells camera bags and photo backpacks, high quality tripods, binoculars/sporting optics and an assortment of camera accessories. The Vanguard VEO Range 36M Messenger Photo Bag is just one of the many camera carrying solutions they offer. 

How does the VEO Range 36M compare with other products in its price range? And how have they managed to differentiate themselves in this congested and aggressive product category?

Tamron just announced the 18-300mm (27-450mm equivalent) zoom for Sony and Fujifilm cameras. It’s Tamron’s first lens in Fujifilm X-mount and their 15^th for Sony mirrorless (counting both full-frame and APS-C camera models). Measuring less than 5 inches long, focusing closer than 6 inches and selling for $699, there’s a lot to like. Here’s our hands-on review of the 18-300mm in Sony mount complete with several sample images.

The Hasselblad 907X 50C camera is so different from the sorts of cameras most of us shoot with, I feel like I almost need a new vocabulary to describe it. If a visitor from Area 51 handed me the device used on their planet to take pictures, I’d expect it to strongly resemble this ‘blad. It is at once familiar and yet radically different. Using it made me feel like I was at Disney’s World of Tomorrow exhibit, sampling the future and finding it surprisingly intuitive.

By now you’ve caught on that Adobe updates, refines and improves Photoshop Elements every fall, adding more and more rich features each year. The 2022 version is the most powerful ever, and possibly the best dollar-value-bargain in the world of digital photo editing.

Should you upgrade from an earlier version? Read on to find out what we think.