Rod Lawton

Rod Lawton

Freelance contributor

Rod is an independent photographer and photography journalist with more than 30 years' experience. He's previously worked as Head of Testing for Future’s photography magazines, including Digital Camera, N-Photo, PhotoPlus, Professional Photography, Photography Week and Practical Photoshop, and as Reviews Editor on Digital Camera World.

Articles by: Rod Lawton

The A to Z of Photography: Telephoto

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography We all know telephotos magnify distant subjects but there’s more to these lenses than meets the eye.

Fujifilm Instax Square SQ6 goes analog

By Rod Lawton published

Fujifilm’s new party-friendly Instax goes old-school, ditching the digital hybrid setup of the SQ10.

Fujifilm's new update just broke the X-T2 – here’s what you need to do

By Rod Lawton published

The v4.0 firmware update for Fujifilm’s X-T2 mirrorless camera looked great but has brought major issues.

The A to Z of Photography: Shutter speed

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Shutter speed is used both for basic exposure control and for creative photographic effects.

Sony Alpha A7 III vs A7R III: 12 key differences you need to know

By Rod Lawton published

Sony A7 III or A7R III? We take a look at both contenders in our in-depth Sony Alpha A7 comparison.

The A to Z of Photography: Raw

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Photographers love raw files, but what are they, what do they do and why do they matter?

Fujifilm X-A5 review

By Rod Lawton published

Fujifilm has designed the X-A5 to be the perfect step up from a smartphone.

Manfrotto Pro Light FastTrack-8 Sling Bag review

By Rod Lawton published

A sling bag and camera strap combined? What kind of crazy idea is this?

Hahnel ProCube 2 review

By Rod Lawton published

If you've got multiple cameras or batteries, this could become an essential accessory.

Fujifilm Instax Share SP-3 review

By Rod Lawton published

Its prints are half the size and cost ten times more than regular lab prints. So what’s the point of the Instax SP-3?

The A to Z of Photography: Quick release

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Quick release plates are used on tripod heads to make it easy to attach and remove your camera.

The top 10 sights at The Photography Show 2018

By Rod Lawton published

We had crowds, we had blizzards, but at The Photography Show 2018 we also saw some amazing camera kit.

The A to Z of Photography: Program AE

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography It’s the simplest automatic exposure mode on your camera, but maybe it’s not as dumb as it seems?

The rear of a camera displaying an overexposure warning on an image

The A to Z of Photography: Overexposure

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography What is overexposure, why is it such a problem for digital cameras and what can you do about it?

The A to Z of Photography: Noise

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Noise is the bane of digital photographers, but what exactly is it, and what can you do about it?

Lightroom CC vs Lightroom Classic CC: 10 key differences

By Rod Lawton published

Photographers have a tough choice, as there are now two versions of Lightroom to choose from.

Get started with your new camera: 12 key settings

By Rod Lawton published

If you’ve got a new camera, here’s our guide to the essential settings you need to get right before you start shooting.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC review

By Rod Lawton published

Adobe has updated its pro photo cataloguing software with a cloud-first approach, but it brings some tricky decisions…

The A to Z of Photography: Metering

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Camera metering systems are now incredibly sophisticated, so why do we still need different metering modes?

The A to Z of Photography: Low-pass filter

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography What is a low-pass filter, and why is not having one on the camera sensor regarded as a selling point?

The A to Z of photography: Kelvin

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Kelvin is a measure of ‘color temperature’, the scientific terminology for white balance.

Affinity Photo 1.6 comes with a raft of performance tweaks

By Rod Lawton published

Affinity Photo 1.6 brings stabilized brushes, performance improvements and a new 'light' user interface.

The A to Z of photography: JPEGs

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Here's everything you need to know about the standard file format for digital images.

The A to Z of Photography: ISO

By Rod Lawton published

The A to Z of Photography Discover how your camera's sensitivity to light is measured, and when you should increase your camera's ISO setting.

Pentax K-70 review

By Rod Lawton published

Hey, we’re still here! Pentax elbows its way into the enthusiast DSLR market with its tough new outdoor camera.

Other versions of this page are available with specific content for the following regions: