The 4 Best APS-C Cameras, And The One to Skip

While full frame cameras are popular, APS-C have not lost their appeal. The format has repeatedly outnumbered full frame cameras in many camera sales charts, as they have become more innovative in recent years. With camera prices increasing, an APS-C is quite ideal for beginners…

How Are You Supposed To Get The COVID Vaccine Now? An Explainer....

How Are You Supposed To Get The COVID Vaccine Now? An Explainer. “If you are not in one of the 16-ish states requiring a prescription for a COVID vaccine, you should be able to self-report a condition and receive your vaccine.” 💬 Join the discussion on kott…

Help the Phoblographer Get to 2,000 Members

In 2025, we're trying to get to a minimum of 2,000 subscribers as part of our membership program! Capture One is discounted for members! The New Phoblographer membership is now based on our website. Yes, we moved away from the app. It was a bittersweet move -- but what we're off…

The Persisters

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, British American artist Jo Hay began a series of engaging portraits called Persisters “that depict contemporary, trailblazing women in pursuit of civil rights and justice”. Pictured above are her paintings of Letitia James, Elizabeth…

“I almost admire the confidence it must take to tell people what...

“I almost admire the confidence it must take to tell people what to do online. But I long for the days when the internet wasn’t just lists of bossy self-optimisation plans.”

Meet the Man Doing a 10-Day, Self-Supported Swim Across a 140-Mile Lake

Shane Schieffer is attempting to swim the entire 140-mile length of Lake Powell in 10 days, self-supported. Yeah, that means he’s dragging 215lbs of gear behind him on a paddle board while he swims. He’s documenting the whole thing on Instagram; here’s a video where he e…

Pneumatic elevators

I’m the tube a bunch right now (cooking something new and borrowing desks, thanks!) and one of the frustrating bits of the commute is going street level to underground. Escalators are slooooow. (Whereas being static on trains is fine as I can tap blog posts with my thumbs wh…

The Rise of the Traveling Third Space. “Traveling third spaces are not...

The Rise of the Traveling Third Space. “Traveling third spaces are not physically fixed; they move across cafes, malls, restaurants, and host various programming for a singular community in a particular city.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Is the Fujifilm X Pro 1 Still a Good Camera in 2025?

I still remember the hype when the Fujifilm X Pro 1 was launched and how I was stuck in an office at B&H Photo not being out there to play with it. This camera changed everything. I completed our review and even updated it. And I held onto this camera until late 2023 when I…

Ars Imago Introduces The M-BOX For Faster Film Development

If the Lab-Box was about freeing you from the darkroom, the new M-Box is about freeing your hands as well. Ars-Imago has announced the M-Box, a motorized accessory designed for the Lab-Box daylight tank. This add-on allows film photographers to automate agitation during developm…

The Official Map of the Star Wars Galaxy

Lucasfilm recently released an official map of the galaxy that Star Wars takes place in. And it’s huge. The map is slightly interactive; you can zoom and scroll it, but you can’t search or, say, click to highlight all the star systems featured in Andor. But you can do man…

A thoughtful essay about e-bikes as a metaphor for AI, augmentation vs...

A thoughtful essay about e-bikes as a metaphor for AI, augmentation vs amputation, and the bargain of innovation. “We often consider what technology promises to enable for us, without considering what it will almost certainly disable.”

From Lewis Hine, a photograph of Clyde Bradford. Hine’s photos of child...

From Lewis Hine, a photograph of Clyde Bradford. Hine’s photos of child laborers resulted in some of the first laws in the US against child labor. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Some Pix and a Few Words About IIW

I wrote for Linux Journal from 1996 to 2019, and have been involved with IIW since I helped start it in 2005. So, in an effort to help substantiate a future Wikipedia article on IIW, I wanted a list of all my Linux Journal contributions mentioning “IIW” and/or “Internet Id…

U2 and a Harlem Choir Sing ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’

In 1987, choir director Dennis Bell arranged a version of U2’s #1 hit I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For for his choir, the New Voices of Freedom. After hearing a recording of the arrangement, U2 asked Bell & the choir to join the band for an upcoming show at Madis…

A list of 29 heroes and interesting people that few people have...

A list of 29 heroes and interesting people that few people have heard of. I’ve only heard of one or two of these folks. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

How the Reto Pan Revives a Dying Format

I think the Reto Pan is a fantastic camera with lots of great reasons for you to want to shoot with it. Finally, I mean, we’ve got a 35mm compact camera that goes between panoramic format and standard format. That’s awesome. When I started this review on June 6th, I was so h…

The Japanese Camera Manufacturers are Scared. And They’re Pretending Like They’re Not

I've been saying, perhaps more prominently than other camera reviewers and journalists, that the camera industry needs a shake up. Those who are saying it, have only really been saying it recently. And many of the other publications perhaps won't say it because they don't want t…

The Nikon Zf Comes in Silver and Adds Film Grain

Today, many photographers are getting what they asked for: the Nikon Zf in silver. We reviewed the camera in 2023 and found it to be really one of the best Nikon cameras out there. Everyone wanted a silver edition, and now it's here. Additionally, Nikon is giving the camera the…

The Baltimore Museum of Art is exhibiting Amy Sherald’s American Sublime show...

The Baltimore Museum of Art is exhibiting Amy Sherald’s American Sublime show after Sherald pulled it from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery due to attempted censorship. I saw this in NYC; it’s fantastic. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Cursed Number

The Thousands of Atomic Bombs Exploded on Earth

From Orbital Mechanics, a visualization of the 2153 nuclear weapons exploded on Earth since 1945. 2153! I had no idea there had been that much testing. According to Wikipedia, the number is 2119 tests, with most of those coming from the US (1032) and the USSR (727). The large…

New Perk for Phoblographer Members!

I'm very, very happy to announce the Phoblographer's partnership with Herbs and Kettles Tea -- a specialty tea company that's bound to keep photographers happy and continuously going when they're editing, shooting, etc. Beyond that, tea is often considered better for your health…

3books, a site that features the books recommended by guests at the...

3books, a site that features the books recommended by guests at the end of each Ezra Klein Show podcast. Built by my pal Michael Sippey. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Great interactive feature on how former world record holder Max Park solves...

Great interactive feature on how former world record holder Max Park solves the Rubik’s Cube. You scroll through his slow-motion solve — he makes 12 moves in the first second. “It’s like playing chess at the speed of ping pong.” 💬 Join the discussion…

I loved this: The History of The New Yorker’s Vaunted Fact-Checking Department....

I loved this: The History of The New Yorker’s Vaunted Fact-Checking Department. “The writer had already engaged in the charm and betrayal inherent in reporting. We were in the harm-reduction business.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →