Photography News

The temperatures are slowly dropping which means it's a good time to start thinking about cold weather photography.

Photo by David Clapp - www.davidclapp.co.uk

 

What To Wear

Layers are key as lots of thinner layers will trap more warmth than a single thick coat, plus you can always take a layer off if you get too warm! Always wear a waterproof outer layer and don't forget your scarf and a hat that covers your ears. Even though they can be a bit annoying, gloves are a must too and if you don't want to spend time removing them every-time you want to adjust your camera, invest in a fingerless pair, or a set that have a mitten part you can pull over your fingers when not using your camera. If your gloves are made of wool or fleece, do note that they do get very wet easily and this can lead to your hands becoming cold rather quickly. Wear boots that are waterproof, warm and most importantly have a good grip. Carry spare socks too as having wet feet, particularly when it's cold, isn't a fun experience.

 

Carry Food And Drink

If you're planning on heading out in the cold for a few hours, always take some food and drink with you. A small flask of something warm such as tea, coffee or soup can be warming on particularly cold days.

 

Always Tell People

Make sure someone knows where you are heading and when possible, take someone with you. If you are heading out on your own always write down where you'll be as people have a habit of forgetting things if you just tell them verbally.

Do double-check you have your mobile phone with you (and that it's charged) before leaving the house as telling people where you're going won't be much use if they can't get in touch with you.

 

Your Gear

Even though modern gear copes rather well in all temperatures do still take spare batteries as they can lose their charge quicker in cold weather. Do remember that aluminium tripods become very cold to the touch in winter, so you may want to fasten it to your rucksack rather than carrying it in your hands.

Even if you're going to a location you know well it's still a good idea to pack a map and compass (even if you do have a smartphone!) and a remote shutter release will come in handy when you find yourself shivering. If you don't have a remote release consider using your camera's self-timer so shake doesn't spoil your shot. Increasing your ISO will also help keep shutter speeds higher.

 

Do Your Research

Don't push yourself too hard if you're planning on going for a walk and do try and find out what the terrain will be like at your chosen location for example,  is it muddy? Do surfaces become slippery after a cold night? Etc.

As days are shorter, do take drive times as well as how long it will take you to walk there and back (if you are) to your chosen photography spot into consideration as you don't really want to be walking back to your car in the dark! If you are planning on shooting a sunset, a head torch will be more useful than a hand-held one as it'll mean your hands are still free.

Check the weather regularly for a few days before your shoot as well as while you're out as weather, particularly up in mountainous areas, can go from fine to terrible quite rapidly.

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Photo by David Pritchard

 

Gear:

• Wide angle lens – overall atmospheric shots of the market
• Zoom lens – shots of people and produce
• Camera that works well at higher ISOs – Christmas markets look particularly good in the evening so a camera which gets good results at the higher end of the ISO spectrum would be handy to have
• Tripod – If you can squeeze one into the crowds it will make your life a lot easier

Technique:

Festive markets are bursting with Christmas colours so make sure you take advantage of this. Late afternoon or early evening are the best times to visit as the dark sky against the festive lights create a magical atmosphere. Christmas wares on colourful displays look great so take the time to stand back and use a small aperture to get a stall's full collection of produce in. You may have to wait until almost closing time if you don't want people in your shot but shoppers, particularly if they're interacting with stall holders, can add to your picture. Just remember to be polite, ask if it's OK to photograph them and their stall and don't get in the way – it's a business after all so if they ask you to move on politely do so.

If there's room to get close to the gifts on offer look out for baubles and other decorations dangling from the stalls. They can make great macro shots, particularly if they're glittering against a background you've thrown deliberately out of focus. Adding a little flash can help quicken the shutter speed which can be a big help when working in low light.

As your market will probably be outdoors, watch your exposure as it can alter drastically between the walkways and under the stalls which can cause your shots to be underexposed. Keep an eye on your white balance too as street lights can look rather orange. You'll probably find it's best to bracket most of your shots, taking a shot above and below the correct exposure. Try standing back and shooting enough shots to stitch together as a panorama to show people the whole scene.

There's no doubt that the market will be bustling so there will be ample chance to capture some shots of people wrapped up in their winter gear, carrying plenty of shopping bags filled with Christmas gifts. Try using a slower shutter speed to blur their movement as they walk through your frame. If any lights are swaying or there are fairground rides these will also work well blurred into colourful lines of light.   

 

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As we're heading towards the time when we climb up into the loft to drag out the Christmas decorations and lights, we thought we'd show you how you can add interest to portraits with the help of a few Christmas lights. This technique can also be used outdoors at night with street lights or cafe lights etc. You just need to get the lighting right on your subject.

Bokeh Christmas light shots are popular and rightly so as this technique can help you create some really beautiful indoor portraits. It can take a little experimentation but as you don't need much kit or props, it's a technique everyone can have a go at and it's a lot of fun!

Any camera where you can control the aperture will be fine for this technique, however a camera with a bright aperture, say a f/1.4 - f/2.0 compact camera would be ideal. If you use a mirrorless or Digital SLR it should be easier to achieve the effect.

The brighter the lens you're using the more impressive the effect should be, making a lens and the larger the sensor the greater the effect will be too.

Your Christmas lights need to be placed on or against a dark background and you need to position your subject or model as far away from the background as possible, while still keeping the lights in the background.

To keep the black background as dark as possible, switch off your room lights and use a smaller, portable light to ensure your subject is correctly illuminated. We didn't use the studio flash for this, instead we just used the prop lighting, but any lighting should be suitable, and incandescent lighting will give the subject a warm feel.

 

Make sure you position the model light towards your subject at an angle, so as to not throw any light from this front light onto the background area.

Occasionally the lights in the background (if bright) can confuse the camera and cause it to under-expose the subject, so it's important to try and get the foreground lighting nicely balanced.

You may need to be careful with white balance settings, so shooting in RAW will help if you have any problems or you could use a grey card and manually set white balance based on the model's lighting. We used a white card to manually set the white balance, with the model holding the card in front of her face where the strongest lighting was.

You need to use your lens at its widest aperture to focus on the subject or model and keep the Christmas lights as far away as possible for increased blur / bokeh effect in the lights.

Keep the model or subject closer to the camera and adjust your framing depending on where you want the lights and the subject to be lined up / arranged. The closer the subject to the camera, the closer the focus distance is, and the more the camera and lens will throw the background out of focus (see the example below). â€‹

You can alter the shapes of the Christmas lights with Bokeh kits or you can use black card and a pair of scissors to change the shapes that appear. You need to decide on a shape, cut it out of the card then fasten the card around your lens like you would a lens hood.

Different lenses will give different effects as well, for example you could use an old lens with an adapter on an SLR to see what different lenses do.

   

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Photo Month Forum Competition  

 

14–17 January 2026 • Novotel London West, Hammersmith

Trade Show 15–17 January – FREE ENTRY

The UK’s most exciting photography Convention is back — bigger, bolder and packed with more inspiration, education and industry powerhouses than ever before.

 

The 2026 London Photo Convention & Trade Show brings thousands of photographers together under one roof for four days of hands-on learning, live demos, exclusive deals, and world-class speakers. If you’re serious about your photography — this is where you need to be.

FREE Trade Show: 15–17 January — Meet the Biggest Brands in Photography

Get ready for three electric days on the Trade Show floor, with leading camera and lighting brands showcasing their latest kit. Expect:

• Hands-on access to the newest cameras & lenses
• Live demonstrations from top pros
• Expert advice from manufacturers
• Show-only offers and exclusive discounts
• Retailers showcasing must-have accessories

Whether you're upgrading, testing, comparing or just curious — the Trade Show is 100% free to attend and absolutely packed.

 

 

Over 200 Hours of Training with Masterclasses & Superclasses

If you're hungry to learn, the Convention’s education programme is unmatched.

Masterclasses

Dive into a huge lineup of practical, inspiring and business-boosting sessions covering:

• Portraits • Weddings • Lighting
• Wildlife • Macro • Post-production
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Top photographers, award-winning educators and industry leaders share the techniques and insights that elevate your photography fast.

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Want hands-on training with the best in the business?

The Superclasses deliver small-group, practical workshops with some of the most respected names in the industry. Limited spaces — these sell out fast every single year.

 

 

The Photography Event You Simply Can’t Afford to Miss

If you want to improve your skills, grow your business, network with other creatives and immerse yourself in the world of photography — this is your event.

 

Join thousands of photographers for the ultimate start to 2026. 14–17 January • London Trade Show FREE Masterclass Passes & Superclasses available now

 

Book your tickets now!

 

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The intent of this small zoom lens seems very clear, that is, a compact form factor that is ideal for travelling light, yet with no compromise on image quality. It sits well on the new compact Fujifilm X-T30 III camera body, offering a very significant move upwards from smartphones. Versatility in a compact form. Aiming at beginners, although obviously perfectly usable as a compact alternative for more experienced photographers and videographers,  it all looks the part but will the lens deliver the quality that it aspires to? We couple it up with the 26.1MP X-T30 III to test its mettle and find out.

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Handling and Features

The lens is indeed very light, weighing in at just 125g, measured without caps. No hood is provided, but the 49mm filter thread affords the means to attach one if desired. This is always a good idea, not only to protect from flare but also to add some protection against impact to the front of the lens. 

It is physically small, especially when retracted for carrying or storage,  measuring 61.9mm x 37.5mm. If we forget to extend the lens ready for use, the camera will display a message to remind us. Set at 13mm, the measurements are 61.9mm x 55.6mm. Set to 33mm, this becomes 61.9mm x 57.2mm, still extremely compact.

 

 

13-33mm is on the face of it, an unusual choice of focal lengths, but makes perfect sense when we see the “35mm-format equivalent” becomes 20-50mm. In terms of field of view, this is an ultra-wide to standard lens.

There are a few controls, just the manual focus ring followed by the wider zoom ring. Focal lengths of 13mm, 16mm, 23mm and 33mm are clearly marked and are close to the actual values. The Fuji X mount is plastic, which is fine with such a light lens and should be expected to give good service. The fit is certainly smooth and positive.

AF is fast, accurate and virtually silent. Focusing is down to 20cm, giving a maximum magnification of 0.25x (1:4) at 33mm. This is usefully close, not quite to macro distances but nonetheless very practical and versatile. It is also useful that the closest focusing is available at the longest focal length, allowing more space for lighting and also ensuring the front element is not almost touching the subject.

 

 

Optical construction is 10 elements in 9 groups, including 4 Aspherical and 3 ED (Extra Low Dispersion). The lens diagram on the Fuji website seems to indicate that in reality, this is 3 aspherical, 2 ED and one Aspherical ED. Pedantry aside, the important thing is how this relates to image quality, and we shall see the details of this below. To aid bokeh, there are 9 blades to the diaphragm, helping to create a rounded aperture opening.

One missing feature is WR (Weather Resistance), which is a pity, but this is a low cost XC lens and that is part of the trade off against cost. There is a shake reduction in the form of optical OIS, and the quoted benefit is 4 stops. This is not as spectacular as some, but still very useful. One interesting point, found out by this reviewer the hard way, is that the instruction book tells us to switch OIS off when using a tripod. Very often with newer cameras/lenses, this makes no difference whatsoever, but in this case they really mean it. Having shot all the resolution shots once, it was obvious that it all had to be done again with OIS switched off.

Having learned that reading and believing the instructions might be a Good Idea, in all other respects, the time spent with this lens was extremely enjoyable and totally hazard free. It works exactly as expected, reliably and smoothly. Now let's see how this translates into the technical performance.

 

 

Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR Performance

At 13mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/3.5 right through to f/11, very good at f/16 and just fair at f/22 as diffraction really bites. The edges are less sharp, but still very good from f/3.5 to f/5.6, good at f/8 and f/11 and fair at f/16 and f/22.

At 16mm, central sharpness is outstanding from f/3.9 to f/8, excellent at f/11, very good at f/16 and good at f/22. The edges lag behind, but are good at f/3.9, very good from f/4.5 to f/8, good at f/11 and fair at f/16 and f/22.

At 33mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/6.3 to f/11, very good at f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are good at f/6.3, very good at f/8 and f/11, good at f/16 and fair at f/22. 

The performance is geared very much towards the centre of the field, but if middle apertures are used, then there is plenty of sharpness centre to edge and images look crisp.

Distortion is almost perfectly rectilinear, measuring just -0.84% barrel at 13mm, -0.26% barrel at 16mm and -0.12% barrel at 50mm. It is almost certain that this is achieved by using the camera and lens in combination and applying suitable correction, but what matters is the end result and the end result is very impressive.

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS MTF Charts Previous Next

How to read our MTF charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges.

For this review, the lens was tested on a X-T30 III body using Imatest. Want to know more about how we review lenses?

 

CA is very well controlled, especially at the centre. There is a bit of a peak at the edges, wide open at 33mm, but otherwise it is unlikely that further correction will be needed.

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Chromatic Aberration Charts Previous Next

How to read our CA charts

Chromatic aberration (CA) is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a X-T30 III body using Imatest.

 

Bokeh is pleasant, very acceptable but not exceptional. Busy backgrounds could perhaps be rendered a bit more smoothly than they are. For some subjects, this may not matter too much.

Flare is minimal, even with bright light sources in frame, despite the lack of a hood. 

Vignetting is impressively low and visually not intrusive. At 33mm, it is close to zero.

 

Aperture 13mm 16mm 33mm f/3.5 -0.9     f/3.9   -1.2   f/4 -0.9     f/4.5   -1.1   f/5.6 -0.7 -1   f/6.3     -0.3 f/8 -0.6 -1 -0.3 f/11 -0.6 -1 -0.3 f/16 -0.6 -0.9 -0.3 f/22 -0.5 -0.9 -0.3

 

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Sample Photos Previous Next

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Aperture range Previous Next

You can view additional images in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own reviews, photos and product ratings.

 

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Value For Money

The [AMUK]Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS|Fujifilm+Fujinon+XC+13-33mm+f/3.5-6.3+OIS[/AMUK] lens is priced at £329, which is excellent value. If bought as part of the X-T30 III camera kit (£999), then the effective price for the lens is just £170, an absolute bargain.

There is no direct alternative for Fuji X mount, but a number of prime lenses do exist, mostly fast optics with much higher price tags. A few stand out as a means of establishing the price point:

• [AMUK]Fujifilm XC 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ|Fujifilm+XC+15-45mm+f/3.5-5.6+OIS+PZ[/AMUK], £239
• [AMUK]Fujifilm XC 35mm f/2|Fujifilm+XC+35mm+f/2[/AMUK], £159
• [AMUK]Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO|Laowa+Argus+33mm+f/0.95+CF+APO[/AMUK], £439
• [AMUK]Samyang AF 12mm f/2|Samyang+AF+12mm+f/2[/AMUK], £339

The new lens is pitched at a very fair price, and becomes a no-brainer, a real bargain when included with the X-T30 III body.

 

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Verdict

If we want or need to travel light, but without compromising on quality, then the Fujifilm XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS lens could be just perfect for the job. It is light, compact, fast and reliable in operation, easy to handle, and stretches the wide end of the zoom range to a very useful 13mm (20mm equivalent). OK, it's not perfect, edge sharpness does lag behind central sharpness. Even so, this is partly because the centre is pretty much universally excellent or even outstanding, so what might be considered a very high edge performance is somewhat eclipsed. Overall, images look crisp edge to edge, so in the real world where we are not constantly pixel-peeping, it is very satisfactory.

Probably the biggest negative for me is the lack of weather resistance, but then those who are routinely shooting images in sunnier climes than the UK will probably not see that as a problem.

Considering the aim of the X-T30 III with this new lens is a beginner's kit, then  it is hard to find fault with this super little lens, which as a result is Highly Recommended.

 

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Pros

• Excellent to outstanding central sharpness
• Very low CA
• Modest vignetting
• Close focusing
• 4 stops OIS
• Low distortion
• Keenly priced
• Compact and light

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS Cons

• No weather resistance
• No hood provided as standard

 

[REVIEW_FOOTER]R_features=4|R_handling=5|R_performance=4|R_value=4.5|R_overall=4.5|A_level=4.5|A_text=Highly Recommended – A versatile, compact ultra-wide to standard zoom that performs well at a very keen price level.|E_id=8027[/REVIEW_FOOTER]

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