Category: Featured

The Fun Fujifilm X100VI Alternative: X-E5 + Thypoch 21mm f3.5

I’ve owned every X100 since the X100T. The VI is the first one I skipped. Here’s what I’m shooting instead: the Fujifilm X-E5 with a Thypoch Ksana 21mm f3.5 on a Kipon helicoid adapter. It’s about a 31mm equivalent, it focuses close enough for macro work, and the camera stays small.
Thypoch Black Friday Sale 2026: Up to 33% Off Simera, Ksana, and Eureka Lenses

Thypoch started its Black Friday sale early this year. It runs October 20 through December 3, 2026, with discounts of up to 33% on Simera, Ksana and Eureka lenses at the official Thypoch store. Here’s what’s on sale and which lenses I’d actually buy.
Thypoch Ksana 35mm f/2 ASPH Review – A Great Everyday Lens

The Thypoch Ksana 35mm f/2 ASPH is one of the most interesting compact M-mount primes to hit the market recently. While Thypoch’s f/1.4 Simera series is built for speed, this second lens in the Ksana line delivers a highly portable, everyday-carry form factor without sacrificing modern optical precision. It sits alongside classic vintage Summicrons and…
Thypoch Simera 28mm f1.4 Review & Sample Photos

Quick verdict: The Thypoch Simera 28mm f1.4 is one of my favorite M-mount lenses and the coolest 28mm I own. It’s fast and well built, with a creamy, slightly glowing look at f1.4 that sharpens up by f2, and consistent sharpness across the frame stopped down for street and landscapes. I’ve shot it extensively on…
Thypoch KSANA 21mm f3.5 Review & Sample Photos

Quick verdict: The Thypoch Ksana 21mm f3.5 is the minimalist’s choice in the Thypoch lineup: premium build, a focus tab that’s great for street photography, excellent flare resistance and CA control, and moderate center sharpness. Corners and edges soften, vignetting is persistent but mild, and bokeh can get busy. If the 28mm is the workhorse,…
Viltrox Z2 Flash Review & Sample Street/Lifestyle Photos

Viltrox is rewriting the script on compact lighting. While their larger flashes, like the Spark Z3, are about robust features and “cyberpunk” aesthetics, the newly released Viltrox Z2 takes a more minimalist approach. This ultra-pocketable unit trades raw power for an incredibly discreet, sleek, and modern form factor that feels perfectly at home on the…
Fujifilm X-E5 Review: Their Best Camera So Far

Quick verdict: The Fujifilm X-E5 is the camera I’d pick right now for APS-C street and lifestyle photography, especially with the XF 23mm f2.8, putting the X100VI’s 40MP sensor and IBIS into a small interchangeable-lens body with a film simulation dial. The quirks are a dangerous front control wheel, a small EVF, slow image review…
Adapt Leica M-Mount Lenses to Fujifilm (The Right Way)

The Fujifilm X-Series is built around the philosophy of tactile, analog-style shooting. With physical dials and film simulations, these cameras practically beg you to slow down. But as Fujifilm’s modern sensors have evolved, they can sometimes render images with a hyper-perfect, clinical digital edge. If you want to introduce some organic character back into your…
Viltrox TCL-X100VI Review | A Budget-Friendly 50mm Upgrade

Quick verdict: The Viltrox TCL-X100VI turns the X100VI into a capable portrait camera with a 50mm f2-equivalent view, for less than Fujifilm’s own TCL-X100 II. It costs you some of the camera’s compactness, and wide open it can look slightly softer than the native lens, but it saves you carrying a second body. For the…
Thypoch Simera 75mm f1.4 Review & Sample Photos

Quick verdict: The Thypoch Simera 75mm f1.4 is a serious M-mount portrait prime: very sharp corner to corner (sharper than the Voigtlander 75mm f1.5), with accurate color, great saturation and contrast, and excellent build quality. Expect minor CA wide open in extreme situations, some flare at certain angles, a little distortion and more weight than…