Articles written by Simon Burn

Leica producing their own black and white film comes as no surprise to me. It actually makes complete sense considering the popularity of vintage Leica film cameras in recent years and the rebirth of film photography. As someone who started out shooting black and white film, this is rather exciting news.

I’ve been a fan of SanDisk’s portable Extreme Pro SSDs for many years. When I travel with my laptop, I take a couple with me so I can back up my photos and videos each day. The ones I’ve been using transfer data up to 2,000 MB/s (sustainable read and write speed). They’re also very durable, with good water and dust resistance (IP65).

I must confess, in my 40 years as a photographer, I’ve never once used a fisheye lens. I’ve not seen the point. When I was younger, I thought the idea of a distorted image was silly. But recently, I’ve become bored with my photography. I’ve been looking to try new things and explore more creative ways of shooting subjects like landscapes, street, and travel. As I pondered how I might achieve this, Laowa called.

I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the best prime lens to use in recent years, as I’ve wanted to keep my gear to a minimum. Not so much to save on bulk or weight when taking it on a trip somewhere, but more to simplify my photography. I like just having one or two prime lenses. It forces me to work a little harder and look a little harder for compositions. That, to me, is what photography is all about. We should put a little effort into our craft and enjoy the process as we do it.

For landscape photography, summer is a curse. Harsh, bright light and blue skies give some photographers nightmares. They stay inside and read Fstoppers articles. Probably. No one really knows—they keep so quiet. Maybe they should read this article, because summer just so happens to be a fabulous time of year to grab a camera and wander into town for a spot of street photography.

Landscape photography has become boring. How many more photos do I have to scroll through on social media of the same old locations? Those must-have photos of the red houses in Hamnøy, Lofoten; the waterfall at Kirkjufellsfoss, Iceland; the lone tree at Buttermere in the Lake District. It’s like looking through a schoolboy’s stamp collection. Every kid has exactly the same stamps because they’re the easiest ones to find and buy with your pocket money.

We like to buy ourselves little luxury indulgences once in a while that make us feel good—something as small as a fancy bar of Swiss chocolate, or maybe a new piece of jewelry or a designer shirt. So my thinking is, why not do that with camera accessories? It makes sense. After all, you’re likely to use your camera more than you’ll wear a shirt, and too much chocolate is bad for you. When I treated myself to my Leica Q2 Monochrom, I did just that. I bought the perfect luxury accessory for it: a Hawkesmill strap, proudly handmade in England.

I have two photography scenarios that maybe you can relate to. I like to travel and spend a day or two exploring a new destination but don’t want to carry much—maybe a couple of lenses, some filters, and spare batteries. What I do carry is heavy enough that a backpack makes sense, making photography easier. If I pop out for a few hours to wander around doing street photography, I have one little camera and lens, a filter, and a spare battery. I may have my reading glasses and phone too. I only need a small bag for that, where I can stow the camera if the weather gets bad. Otherwise, the camera is around my neck, so the bag is virtually empty.

A circular polarizer (CP) and a mist filter are two filters that, in my opinion, everyone should own. And PolarPro makes some lovely CP and mist filters. I’ve been using their CP for the past couple of years. From travel photography to tabletop food photography in the studio, it’s a great filter. So, with an already great CP and mist filters to their name, why did PolarPro launch new versions?