What were my Best + Worst purchases of 2025?
To complement tonight’s YouTube video and to follow the annual tradition, coming up are my best (and worst) purchases from the last 12 months. Cameras, lenses, photography related accessories plus a few bonus mentions.
Leica themed list
As a Leica specialist, YouTuber and model photographer, expect a Leica theme throughout this article. Products mentioned were new to me in 2025 but some date back as far as the 1960s.
Best and worst purchases of 2025
For each product mentioned I’ll link the related YouTube video and/ or blog post in case you want to explore the topic further. In no particular order, let’s jump into the list.
My best purchases of 2025
Let’s begin on a positive note, starting with my favourite buys in 2025 –
1 – Leica M4 (film camera)
If you saw my recent article on the Leica M4, I think of it as a Leica M3 with 35mm frame lines. That same amazing build quality, the same buttery smooth brass gears but better optimised for 35mm lenses.
I thought the two-piece film advance lever would bother me but I’ve not really noticed for day to day use. Great camera, it’s become my walkabout camera when I’m using 35mm lenses especially. (See my article on 28x 35mm lenses for further reading).
2 – Leica MDa (film camera)
Next, my favourite ‘throw in a bag Leica camera’, not that I throw anything. It’s so nice to own a Leica M body that I don’t need to worry about (especially now it’s been CLA’d by Alan at CameraWorksUK).
See my full Leica MDa write-up but in brief this is blind Leica so best suited to 35mm and wider lenses for zone focusing (or with the Leica Visoflex housing). I enjoy both. The camera is so light I just love it.
*For a viewfinder, my first choice is the Light Lens Lab silver metal finder as it matches the camera perfectly.
3 – Leica M7 0.85 (film camera)
Next on the list is another Leica film camera. I pick the Leica M7 not so much because it’s the M7 but for the 0.85x viewfinder. Leica made a few camera models with the optional 0.85x finder – M6 TTL, M7, MP. All current production Leica M film cameras have the standard 0.72x finder so you are limited to buying used.
I don’t think the Leica M7 is a camera for life due to the electronics but with my aging eyes I do appreciate the 0.85x higher magnification finder for improved focus accuracy.
If you love shooting with say a fast 75mm lens like the Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f1.5 VM lens, add the Light Lens Lab 1.4x magnifier and the 75mm frameline almost fills the viewfinder (and you get ninja-like focusing accuracy!) Love this for fast 50s + longer.
4 – Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4 lens
My most used 35mm lens of 2025, especially on film. The compact and lightweight Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4. Great from f2 and the only drawback is the lack of filter thread.
My solution to this is to fit a 35mm round metal vented hood (like for the Leica Summicron 35mm f2). I then drop in a classic Series VII yellow filter inside the 2-piece hood and now the lens both operates as needed and looks super sexy.
5 – Mandler 35mm f2 lens (“KOB” Homage)
This is the new kid on the block for Leica fans, and is currently still quite elusive outside of China and Indonesia. Mandler tells me that they are working on an International online store so stay tuned and I’ll share updates in the monthly Leica newsletter.
The Mandler 35mm f2 lens is a homage to the Leica Summicron 35mm f2 v4 “King of Bokeh”. As you’ll see in the YouTube video, both lenses can produce a similar look but the Mandler is sharper in the centre whereas the Leica is optimised for sharper edges.
Mandler lenses come with a plastic rectangular hood plus round metal vented hood but I find myself using the premium looking metal rectangular hood from SquareHood.
6 – Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f3.5 lens
New for 2025, the Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f3.5 has fast become one of my favourite lenses for travel. Unlike many cheap pancake lenses that have been made over the years, this one is optically excellent.
The 35mm Skopar pairs so nicely with my mentioned lightweight Leica MDa camera above. I just add the Light Lens Lab silver metal finder and for a sunny day this setup is so good to zone focus (and just Sunny 16 metering).
My hack for the Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f3.5 lens is to press fit a 39mm (E39) filter into the lens hood. (I secure the filter with a piece of tape). This then lets me use the common size 39mm filters with this lens. (Note, the filter thread is the same as the 40mm Heliar and 28mm Skopar so I use the same filter kit on all three lenses).
For me, this lens is the ultimate 35mm lens for travel if you use a Leica M camera (and shoot in bright conditions).
7 – TTArtisan 75mm f2 AF lens
You’ve probably gathered by now that I love simple metal and glass manual focus lenses such as those made for Leica M mount. With that said, occasionally it’s nice to be lazy and just use an autofocus lens. As a portrait photographer this is especially useful if I need one hand free to hold a light or reflector.
When a company can make a high quality lens with beautiful rendering in a reasonably compact size AND at an affordable price, this is gold. TTArtisan stuck gold again with their new TTArtisan 75mm f2 autofocus lens for Leica L mount. (I think it must have been a hit for them as you can now buy the lens in silver too).
The TTArtisan 75mm f2 is a fantastic lens for portraits especially. Even at f2 it can be a little sharp for model photography so I tend to pair the lens with K&F Concept magnetic filters (their black mist filter takes the edges off the sharpness).
8 – Wotancraft 4.5L Mini Rider
If you’re a fellow cyclist and a photographer this might be the bag for you. Regular readers will know that I love my Wotancraft bags for Leica cameras. I use their 18L backpack for all my trips and usually a 3.5L sling bag for day to day. The new Wotancraft 4.5L Mini Rider is as nice as their 3.5L bags but with a bit more space. (You know I’m often testing lenses so I often have a bag full of gear). 4.5L is a really nice sweet spot size.
For cyclists, the main advantage of the Mini Rider over their earlier designs is finally we now have a second detachable strap that can be attached to keep the bag in place on your back. Something I was asking for when the original Pilot series bags were released.
Full disclaimer, I’ve not yet used the bag to do my planned cycle around Budapest taking photos, but now I have the correct gear I hope to in 2026. (I love Budapest so usually run or hire a bike to see the city).
9 – Thypoch Simera 50mm f1.4
As historically a 50mm guy, it’s strange to only have one 50mm lens in this list. One lens that keeps impressing me is the Thypoch Simera 50mm f1.4. I love the rendering from their Simera line. (The 35mm Simera is also fantastic too and I use it for some YouTube videos).
What makes Thypoch Simera lenses special is multiple factors –
- Warm rendering is beautiful for portraits and video (even if I usually do B&W)
- The smooth swirly bokeh is very pleasing to isolate your subject
- Simera lenses often focus closer than 0.7m (with soft stop)
- Optically the lenses are sharp from wide open but not harsh
- Simera lenses have cinematic flare (I boost it further with mist filters)(Below)
The 50mm lens specifically feels lightweight and is a pretty looking lens. I use it more than my Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4 ASPH for the above mentioned reasons. (and Thypoch often have great deals on their Thypoch homepage!)
10 – Viltrox K60 LED tubes
As a model photographer I love lighting almost as much as the cameras I use. Lighting is so important for portraits that I get really excited when I discover a new product. Over the years I went from using the first bike LED lights to light models, runner head torches to light portraits and finally companies started making LEDs for photography.
In the last 5 years alone LED lights have evolved so much. We now have high power RGB lights at affordable prices and new designs like these LED tube lights.
The Viltrox K60 LED tube light kit are LED RGB lights that come with slide-on barn door grids. These things are fantastic to emulate daylight and I use them a lot for my YouTube videos and portraits. The image below was lit with the Viltrox K60 LED lights during one of my London workshops.
Bonus mentions
Next, I just want to give a quick shout out to the following items which have all been a big hit with me in 2025. (Some items are not strictly linked to photography but are to my photographer-YouTube lifestyle).
1 – Super clamps
Super clamps are made by various brands but the ones I found first were from SmallRig. These jaw-like clamps can support your light, camera, iPhone, reflector to a fence or railing with ease. Perfect in areas where tripods are not permitted such as Central London.
I pair super clamp with a SmallRig mini ballhead or articulating arm to allow me to angle the mounted item as required. Clamps come in various sizes and prices. Cheap ones are fine to mount a phone but I use the more premium robust ones if mounting heavier gear such as a camera.
2 – Professional C stands
If you have a home studio I highly recommend professional C stands to mount your lights, backgrounds etc. For location shoots I often combine the arm and grip head of a C-stand with a big regular stand for easy portability. C stands are also much nicer to work with than trying to make do with poor quality stands that keep failing. Recommended!
3 – Small 5in1 reflector (with grip)
I’m sure every budding photographer own s 5in1 reflector but the key learning point for me was the variants that come with a rigid plastic grip. Regular reflectors are great but they are less easy to mount (unless using a specific reflector grip arm).
By using a compact reflectors with a plastic grip they both fit in my travel bag easily and I can mount to a tripod or railing with ease using the mentioned super clamps. The exact model I bought was the K&F Concept small 5in1 reflector with grip.
4 – Red strap watch
Slightly off topic, but as I always wear watches in videos, I’ll give it a quick mention. In addition to liking pretty cameras I enjoy nice looking watches too. I love the colour red and that works with my Leica theme so I’ve always lusted after the perfect watch to wear on a red band.
Finally I found this watch at a reduced price used on eBay so I grabbed it. For watch fans, it’s an Arita porcelain dial automatic watch from Seiko. This Seiko Presage watch has the hand made porcelain dial which catches the light so nicely.
5 – Carbon travel tripod
Exclusive bonus tip for the blog! In 2025 I finally found my perfect travel tripod which I use as a light stand and reflector stand. Very compact, extends to 2m+ with extension tubes and being a tripod it works great on uneven terrain compared to a regular light stand. The exact model I bought after much research was the FotoPro X-Aircross 3 Lite.
6 – Rode VideoMic Go II
Lastly, for any fellow YouTubers, another blog exclusive. I’ve always struggled with my YouTube audio and the problem changed over the years. First my voice was so scared to talk to camera it locked up and made me sound sick. People often commented, get better soon! After 100+ videos my voice began to relax a little but then I had issues with various microphones.
Next came Ai voice editing so I tried that and often it made me sound worse not better. Finally I bought the Rode VideoMic Go II in 2025, boomed in up close to my face and FINALLY I sound less terrible. For me the Rode VideoMic works better than my Blue Yeti podcast mic and Rode Wireless Go II lav mics for audio quality.
It only took me 550+ YouTube videos to get there! :S
My worst purchases of 2025
None of the products I’m going to mention are bad as I do my research before buying but I’m not using them as much as I’d hoped.
1 – Panasonic Lumix S9
I bought the Lumix S9 mostly for video and in this department it doesn’t disappoint. Where it falls short is for photography. Having no viewfinder option was a huge mistake by Panasonic.
Yes I can use it for photos (and I do from time to time), but proper cameras have viewfinders so I almost always pick up something else instead when taking photos. On the upside, it can be found at a great price used and it’s far smaller than cameras with the same sensor like the Lumix S5IIX etc.
2 – Full video rig
You may remember over the summer that I built a video rig to work with both the Lumix S9 and Leica SL2-S. It’s brilliant but there are three problems for me.
First I’m a photographer not a video guy so if I’m using my time to making cinematic videos then I’m not taking photos. I found it negatively impacted my film photography too as I was shooting less film.
Second, from my YouTube data, viewers don’t care if the video is shot on a fancy rig or recorded on my iPhone. You seem to be there for the information not creative camera angles and the data backs this up.
Lastly, the size. If you’re a video shooter you will be well aware of the size of the kit required. Massive video rigs just don’t fit in my 18L Wotancraft bag that I travel with multiple times a month. As most of my YouTube content and photography is shot overseas, I usually pickup my smallest gear each time.
Plug – check out my new Travel Guide eBook to see how I travel with ease!
3 – Leica SL2-S camera
You know I love my Leica cameras and the Leica SL2-S is no different. The only reason I include it here is because it duplicates the abilities of my original Leica SL Typ 601.
If we exclude the improved video aspect the biggest advantage of the SL2-S over the original SL is the USB-C charging. I love having one less battery charger to carry! Other than that, I’m happy with either my SL or SL2-S for photos.
4 – Sirui anamorphic lenses
Even as predominantly a portrait and model photographer, it’s always interesting to explore different genre. One rabbit hole I went down in 2025 was using anamorphic lenses for both photos and video.
I got multiple Sirui Anamorphic lenses in Leica L mount. Sirui lenses offer a reasonably inexpensive entry point to the world of anamorphics but they don’t comply with my travel requirements. (They always have great ideals so check out the Sirui website).
Anamorphic lenses are almost always big and heavy so I just don’t consider them when packing for my overseas trips. I can carry 3 compact Leica M mount lenses for the size of 1 normal sized anamorphic lens.
Using anamorphic lenses definitely give your video footage that instant cinematic look but my YouTube views were no higher than videos shot with standard spherical lenses (or an iPhone). The video topic is more important than how pretty it looks (from the data).
*Anamorphic lenses can be fun for photography. I shot a series of images with the Blazar Mantis anamorphic lens (one sample below).
5 – Panasonic Lumix 85mm f1.4
If you’re looking for a lightweight high performance autofocus fast 85mm lens for Leica L mount then consider the Lumix 85mm f1.4. For portraits I would pair it with a K&F Concept black mist filter. (Their new magnetic filters are particularly easy to use).
So if the Lumix 85mm lens is so good, why is it on my list? Two reasons. First, I tend to prefer M lenses on L mount cameras, either smaller, with more character, or ideally both. Second, I often find 85mm too long for my regular portraits as my eyes tend to see 50mm.
Most anticipated product of 2026
Looking ahead to 2026, what am I most excited about? Of the lenses I can speak of, my pre-ordered Light Lens Lab 35mm f1.4 AA must be top of the list. This is a remake of the legendary Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 Double Aspherical.
If you are bored of modern perfect plain vanilla rendering then this lens might be for you. To me it’s the 35mm character lens to accompany the Light Lens Lab 50mm f1.2 “1966”. Both lenses offer that perfect blend of character and excellent performance (stopped down).
What’s on your Christmas list?
At the time of writing, we have Christmas just around the corner. It might be too late to ask Santa for any of the mentioned items but at least it gives you some inspiration and food for thought for 2026.
Treat yourself!
If you want to treat yourself or a loved one to a little something, consider picking up one of my photobook zine bundles (while stocks last). I only printed 15-30 copies of each book design so some have almost sold out.
Best and worst – On YouTube
To see visuals of the mentioned items check out the YouTube video. Comment on the video, what was your favourite purchase of 2025?
Find out more
To learn more about any of the mentioned gear check me out on YouTube. If you prefer written format add your email to receive the Leica newsletter. Still not sure what to get? Request a 1:1 zoom call and I can help you with your specific gear needs.
To support my work please consider joining Patreon and if you’d like to meet me face to face to chat lenses check out my Leica workshops. Have a great Christmas!
Previous years
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