I went to a vintage camera swap over the weekend, and as I was geeking out over the tables of film cameras, one style in particular caught my attention: brass accents. But now film brand Lomography has read my mind. The Lomomatic 110 Panthera is an analog camera with a brass body and leopard print pattern that feels like it stepped out of the 1970s.

The Panthera color launches alongside the Ladybug, a glossy red camera with, as the name hints, black polka dots.

Both the Panthera and the Ladybug are refreshed designs of an existing film camera, the Lomomatic 110. The 110 format is arguably an easier entry into film photography because 110 film is built into a plastic cartridge that pops into the back of the camera rather than learning how to correctly spool 35mm film.

The Lomomatic 110 mixes that smaller film format with a 23mm lens – that lens is built from glass, so it should have better sharpness and clarity than the plastic lenses from disposable film cameras.

The Lomomatic 110 shoots with auto exposure, but photographers can also choose from f/2.8 or f/5.6 aperture using buttons at the top of the camera for more control. The camera uses zone focusing, as well as an ISO control to match the film that’s loaded inside.

The camera also brings back another iconic retro feature from old compact cameras: a sliding design. But rather than sliding one piece over the lens, the end of the camera slides out to open the lens, which also helps to make the film camera a bit smaller when not out shooting.

I shoot with film becuase film is fun – and having a wild, retro design elevates that experience. The Panthera isn’t Lomography’s only brass body 110 camera either, joining the earlier Lomomatic 110 Bellagio, which is still available.

The Ladybug joins several other color options at a $119 / £109 / AU$189 / CA$159 price point. Because the Panthera uses brass, it sits at a slightly higher price than the earlier Bellagio at $189 / £169 / AU$289 / CA$259. Film and a battery (one CR2 required) is not included.

The new Panthera and Ladybug color options are available to order from Lomography.

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The 110 format seems to be on trend lately – even Camp Snap and Yashica have launched a digital camera made to look like a 110. Take a look at the best film cameras, or dive into the 110 film format.

Camp Snap cameras are first known for the screen-free design – but the wide variety of color options may be a close second. Now, the screen-free brand’s first video shooter is getting its first set of custom colors. The Camp Snap CS-8 is getting three new color options.

The Camp Snap CS-8 is a digital video camera inspired by retro Super 8 cameras, down to the trigger-style shooting and oversized shape. The original launch mixed a classic black wrap with silver accents.

Now, the popular screen-free camera will gain three new color options in addition to the original black: Espresso (brown), Champagne (off-white), and Rose (pink). The new colorways also change up the accent color. Rose goes pink on even the shiny accent pieces, while Champagne goes for a gold hue instead of silver, and Espresso opts for white accents.

The launch brings a more custom look to the popular retro video camera while maintaining the same 2.7K resolution and five customizable video filters as the original.

But perhaps even more interesting is that Camp Snap is also dropping a major hint as to just how popular the CS-8 has been. The camera has sold $20M (about £15M / AU$28 / CA$28M) over an 11-month period, according to Camp Snap, which feels quite impressive for a camera that retails for $199 / £147 / AU$302.

The retro camcorder has also been spotted in the hands of several celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Alix Earle, Selena Gomez, Joe Jonas, and the US Men’s Hockey team.

Screen-free cameras have been rising in popularity, and now several brands have launched versions of cameras built for unplugging. The $20 million in sales hints that the screen-free trend is a pretty significant one.

When I shot with the CS-8, I loved how the footage felt immediately like an old memory. The small sensor isn’t built for modern videos – though the aspect ratio dial is – and the video footage feels just as retro as the camera looks.

The downside of that Super 8-inspired design is that packing one on a trip does take up quite a bit of room, but the retro dials are a charming trade-off.

The new Camp Snap CS-8 colors will be available alongside the original black from the Camp Snap store.

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Take a look at the best screen-free cameras or the best video cameras.

I don’t often find myself agreeing with super-basic cameras that tout extreme simplicity in the same vein as instant cameras, because, like instant cameras, they typically end up being one-use-and-done kind of devices with customers.

However, this forthcoming Super8-inspired video camera that is designed not only to replicate the nostalgic aesthetic of the legendary film cine camera, but also to be super intuitive with only the bare essential features. It looks to borrow heavily from the Camera Snap CS-8 cine-inspired camcorder that was launched last year, with both its looks and functionality.

The Aura6 is currently a Kickstarter project set to launch on October 13, and its creators are really touting the whole less-is-more approach. The camera, which is an obvious tribute to Kodak Super8, features a record button, an optical viewfinder, a built-in lens, and a detachable mic. That’s it – no LCD screen, no settings menu, and no switching between recording modes.

And while none of that stands out as anything truly different to what we’ve seen in countless point-and-shoot cameras over the years, it’s how the camera processes the digital footage that I really like.

The Aura6 only records up to 6-second clips and a “roll” can only be up to three minutes long, with the creators saying this is to “keep you in the moment.” But where the magic seemingly lies is the in-built functionality that automatically compiles your clips in the order you shot them into a final movie.

This, for me, is what could see the Aura6 could be a handy first foray into filming, or even a fun device for more experienced filmmakers looking to capture moments without being in “pro” mode. I have to say, I can really see the appeal with this camera, especially as it’s seemingly a perfect social media content generator.

While the device is geared toward simplicity, and a more premium-looking finish could put people off, the overall build of this camera does, to my eye, reflect throwaway cameras to an extent. Hopefully the $215 early-bird price means that it is sturdier than an instant film camera and has good longevity.

Anyway, the Aura6 goes live on Kickstarter October 13 at 12pm EST / 5pm BST Lisbon (Portugal) time. Are we about to see a flurry of more Super8-esque nostalgic short movies flood Instagram? Maybe…

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Here’s our pick of the best film cameras as well as our roundup of the best cameras for filmmaking, which only includes digital models.

The world's leading digital photography magazine, Digital Camera launched in 2002 and has been helping photographers of all skill levels to improve their images ever since.

Every issue is packed with technique tips, tutorials, inspiring images and expert buying advice, plus the latest news and equipment reviews, as well as a selection of bonus gifts (see below).

November's Digital Camera has everything you could possibly want to know about lens filters. Our cover feature is a filters masterclass from top pro photographer Karolina Konsur, supported by eight pages about long-exposure photography and a lens filters buying guide – more about these later.

Accompanied by a selection of her epic images, Karolina explores how the conscious use of filters improves control over light, movement and contrast while preserving the natural character of the landscape.

Outdoor photographers keen to find out more should turn to page 62.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to Digital Camera magazine and get the magazine delivered to your door every month. Choose between a print or digital subscription, or a bundle of the two.

All print subscribers to Digital Camera magazine can now access digital back issues dating from 2009 (when using iOS) or 2012 (when using the Pocketmags Magazine Newsstand app or the Pocketmags website).

Our Photo Skills projects section starts on page 41 and will help you become a better photographer.

Highlights this month include how to make a model sports car look like the real thing, using the forced perspective technique (pictured, above), and getting into the spirit of Halloween season by shooting spooky old graveyards.

Other projects include learning how to shoot starling murmurations, with landscape photographer Pawel Zygmunt (pictured, above), and with the festive season on the horizon, how to capture fireworks.

Plus, photographer Shubhodeep Roy discusses his photo zine The Second Skin, an exploration of the ancient Hindu folk festival of Gajon.

Other highlights in November's Digital Camera

This month's Digital Camera Apprentice reader challenge sees us head to the county of Essex in the UK, where Heather Tweedie photographs a horse and a model mentored by pro photographer Elizabeth Ebsworth.

Elizabeth is known for her fine-art approach to equine imagery – see what Heather learns from her, by turning to page 8.

The second strand of November's filters theme, Camera Clinic focuses on long-exposure photography.

"Keep the shutter open and see the world differently," says imaging expert Will Cheung, and he shows you how to do just that from page 82.

Glean his tips for which filters do what and how to use them in the field, learn from his perfect examples of long-exposure imagery and be inspired by the range of subjects you can shoot with a super-slow shutter.

November's Hotshots showcases the category winners from the Event Photography Awards 2026.

This not-for-profit competition was founded to highlight the importance of great photography to the international events industry.

Over 2,300 images of events held all around the world were entered in the Event Photography Awards 2026, from photographers in over 20 countries.

And a new Black & White Award – sponsored by Digital Camera magazine – was introduced for 2026. View our pick of the winning entries, from page 74.

British fine-art and advertising photographer Peter Dazeley has just published his fourth book.

London: Secret and Hidden Places takes the reader into some lesser-seen locations in the capital city, from ancient to modern and much in between.

Discover more about the book, and go behind the scenes of some of its standout images, in our interview from page 120.

Digital Darkroom editing tutorials for November walk you through a range of creative techniques for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Affinity.

Essentials (pictured, above) shows how to use Displacement Maps in Photoshop to create realistic water reflections, while Fundamentals focuses on using Lightroom to bring photos to life when the sun has set.

Also in this month's Digital Darkroom, the Get the Look tutorial (pictured, above) explains four simple Photoshop techniques for giving golden season shots a colourful boost.

November's Kit Zone section of camera and lens reviews commences with a full test of the Sony RX10 V bridge camera.

Updated for the first time since 2017, the new model retains the same 24-600mm equivalent lens and sensor from the RX10 IV but adds a new image processor, plus controls that will be familiar to Sony Alpha users.

Could this be the ideal all-in-one travel camera for your needs? Turn to page 108.

Also on test is the Tamron 16-30mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2, hitherto only available for Sony E-mount but now also offered in Nikon Z fit.

We also review ON1 Photo RAW 2026, a leading all-in-one photo organizer, editor and effects tool.

Concluding November's filters theme, we round up the best-in-class and best-value Neutral Density and Graduated Neutral Density filters, plus polarisers. You can find these from page 116.

The latest issue of Digital Camera comes with an unrivaled selection of digital gifts 

November's bonus gifts include nine photo tips cards, five video tutorials and five packs of software extras for Photoshop and Lightroom.

Here's the full list of the bonus gifts bundled with issue 313 of Digital Camera:

• Nine new photo tips cards covering landscapes, wildlife, astro – and more!
• 38 minutes of video tutorials for Lightroom, Photoshop and Affinity
• 29 bonus software extras (Actions, presets, and displacement maps)
• 250-plus-page Camera Buyer’s Guide e-book full of buying advice

Subscribe now

Every issue of Digital Camera magazine is packed with tips, techniques, pro advice, reviews, news and inspiration.

Don’t forget that you can subscribe to Digital Camera magazine and get the magazine delivered to your door every month. Choose between a print or digital subscription, or a bundle of the two.

All subscribers to Digital Camera magazine can now access digital back issues dating from 2009 (when using iOS) or 2012 (when using the Pocketmags Magazine Newsstand app or the Pocketmags website).

You can buy limited back issues of Digital Camera magazine in print at our Magazines Direct secure store.

Alternatively, there is a range of different digital options available, including:

• Apple app (for iPad or iPhone)
• Zinio app (multi-platform app for desktop or smartphone)
• PocketMags (multi-platform app for desktop or smartphone)
• Readly (digital magazine subscription service)

A photography show with 'Photokina' is coming back to Cologne starting next year, but I really don't think it's going to be like the mind-boggling international melting pot that I remember from years gone by.

Photokina brings back fond memories for me and the whole of the photography industry that is both old enough to remember it and wasn't too intoxicated at the many VIP events. Indeed, it was at the show (or a nearby beer hall) that I first met some of the team I now work with here at DCW.

The original Photokina was enormous, and took place every other year for seventy years until COVID struck. Starting 2027, it will apparently be back, but actually as an extension to another German camera show.

Koelnmesse, the old Photokina's venue in Cologne, and Ringfoto, the camera retail group, have agreed a deal bring Imaging World from its existing home in Nuremberg to the vast Koelnmesse exhibition centre for 24-26 September 2027 with the name "Imaging World inspired by Photokina."

So does that mean there is going to be a Photokina again – and why would that matter so much anyway?

Well, not exactly.

Imaging World – the main part of that event name – is not a new event.

Imaging World has taken place twice before; this year in the Nürenberg Messe (the TIPA awards ceremony was part of that event). Many have seen it as an attempt to revive the gap left by the legendary Photokina show, which many of us in the trade can't help but miss.

Nuremberg, though, is in southeast of Germany, 210 miles from Cologne in the northwest. The show was aimed at consumers, and not just photographers but videographers, content creators, filmmakers and streamers.

Photokina, though, was the hub of the industry for decades, a trade show with international trade buyers, distributors and professional photographers the core demographic.

It was the largest photography fair in the world for 70 years, and toward the end more consumers did arrive, as the DSLR boom took off. Photokina occupied most of the Cologne venue (or Köln/Koeln as the Germans spell it, hence Koelnmesse), which is the fourth largest in the world, with around 1,250 exhibitors in its heyday, and 812 in 2018 – the last before the permanent cancellation in 2020.

The nostalgia that I experience for Photokina has never left, and clearly bringing the name back is a play to bring back more international industry members to the event alongside the well-served – but less inclined to travel – consumers.

Without Photokina, The Photography & Video Show – which is held in London and Birmingham on alternate years – became the biggest in Europe focused on imaging, while Paris Photo is the largest leaning into art and publishing. The Photography Show, with around 250 exhibitors, is over twice the size of the last Imaging World, which had around 100 exhibitors.

In other words, whatever the venue, Imaging World has its work cut out to emulate the photokina I remember. The industry does not do all its business face to face any more, but people who actually use the equipment like to get hands-on and meet creators.

The Photography Show attracts most visitors from the UK. Unlike trade shows with long-distance international travel, many attend for only one day. A regional exhibition with educational events.

That means I also find myself wondering what happens to the audience Imaging World has already built up when it moves across Germany. Will they travel with it? This is clearly a gamble for the organizers.

"Messe" roughly translates as trade fair or exhibition, and most of Germany's partially autonomous regions have a large, competitive exhibition centre (including four of the ten largest in the world).

The unwritten story here could well be one of regional competition, but it certainly won't mean 200,000 square meters of joyful industry chaos is coming back.

Size isn't everything, though – the name 'Photokina' will mean a lot to many people. Just how many remains to be seen.

The Sigma 16-300mm f/3.5-6.7 DC OS | Contemporary is finally coming to Nikon Z mount. Digital Camera World reviewer Matthew Richards said this APS-C all-in-one zoom lens ticked all the right boxes for a ‘superzoom’ when he reviewed the Canon RF version back in 2025. But, as is often the case, a Z-mount variant has taken a while to come into fruition.

That all changes today. APS-C Nikon photographers can take advantage of the world’s first mirrorless lens with an approximate zoom ratio of 18.8x, delivering a 35mm equivalent zoom range of 24-450mm. From wide-angle to super-telephoto, this ‘one-and-done’ lens will cover everything from landscapes to wildlife.

It also boasts a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2 at 70mm for frame-filling close-ups, while Sigma’s High-Response Linear Actuator motor is designed to produce “exceptionally fast, smooth and accurate autofocus”. A boon for a super-telephoto lens like this is optical image stabilization, providing up to 6 stops of stabilization at the wide end and 4.5 stops at the telephoto end.

There’s also a rubber gasket around the mount to provide some weather sealing, which Sigma rates as dust- and splash-resistant with a water-repellent coating. According to Sigma, communication speed optimization and the lens’s AF drive have been specifically designed for the Z mount.

The lens is also designed to minimize flare and ghosting, as well as focus breathing. It comprises 20 elements in 14 groups, including 1x 'F' Low Dispersion, 4x Special Low Dispersion, and 4x aspherical elements. The aperture is controlled via a 9-bladed diaphragm, with a max aperture of f/22-45, while the filter sports a 67mm thread.

This lens brings the total of Sigma lenses available for Nikon Z mount to four, with the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN | C, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN | C and Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN | C also available. The Sigma 16-300mm f/3.5-6.7 DC OS | Contemporary will have an RRP of $769 / £599 and is set to launch on November 5.

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Check out the best Nikon camera and the best Nikon Z lenses. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

A video of the original Doom running on a Hasselblad X2D 100C has appeared on Reddit by rrRadium and has been published on YouTube by Andrea Pizzini. I guess all Doom players aspire to go medium-format eventually.

Having reviewed the Hasselblad footage, I was initially suspicious due to a visible cable connection, not to mention Hasselblad's locked operating system. However, rrRadium has published a link to a variety of assets on GitHub strongly indicating that this is a legitimate project. Pretty neat!

As always, though, it's important to remember that any unofficial firmware update or any attempt to change the architecture of your camera's operating system could brick the camera and potentially void any existing warranty.

Remarkably, this isn’t the first time somebody has come up with the idea of porting the classic 1993 PC game to a camera. Earlier this year, I reported on footage of the game purportedly running on a Nikon Zf, but there was some doubt as to whether or not it was possible to run the game on Nikon’s locked software, presenting the possibility that the video could be camera trickery.

Later in the year, Digital Camera World reported on the very real possibility of playing the legendary first-person shooter on a Canon EOS 550D, via custom firmware called Magic Lantern.

But why do this in the first place, and why Doom? Well, the code for Doom is open source; it’s ancient in software terms, so it can run on almost anything with a computer in it, and it’s one of the most famous video games of all time. As such, there’s a bit of an internet subculture of getting Doom to run on anything and everything. And I mean anything: from calculators to pregnancy tests.

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Here's the Digital Camera World review of the Nikon Zf and the Hasselblad X2D 100C II. Plus, check out the latest camera news.

If you're in the market for a 27-inch monitor, there's no shortage of options. So in such a crowded market, how does a brand stand out from the crowd? The answer comes in four letters: OLED. This screen tech has been popular in the television sector for many years, and laptop manufacturers have also been using OLED displays for some time. But their entry into the desktop monitor sector has been much slower, as the vast majority of standalone monitors still use conventional LCD panels. This hesitancy by monitor manufacturers seems odd, as the advantages of OLED are clear: hugely improved contrast, far deeper blacks, improved brightness uniformity, and the potential for excellent color space coverage. Thankfully ASUS now embraces OLED tech in many of its desktop monitors, and the ProArt Display OLED PA279CDV Professional Monitor looks like a fine example. Let's see if it can live up to expectations...

Features

The PA279CDV uses a 26.5-inch, 4K OLED panel that boasts an excellent 99% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, color accuracy to a deviance of just Delta-E <1.5, and 1000 nits of peak brightness. You also get handy extras like USB-C connectivity with 96W power delivery to a linked laptop, and a scratch-resistant coating on the screen surface claimed to be 2.5x more resilient than that on previous-gen QD-OLED panels. Being part of ASUS' ProArt Display range, the monitor is targeted squarely at creatives and imaging professionals demanding top class color accuracy and consistency, but the panel also runs at a higher than average 120Hz refresh rate, so it shouldn't shame itself during gaming sessions.

OLED displays offer a lot of image quality upsides, but they do introduce one potentially serious downside that isn't a concern for LCD monitors: screen burn-in. If an OLED monitor displays a static on-screen element for prolonged periods - something like the Windows task bar, for instance - a faint ghost of it could get stuck, or 'burned in', to the screen, staying visible even after the monitor displays a completely different image. To guard against this, the PA279CDV has ASUS OLED Care, which includes several screen-saving measures like Image Protection, which dynamically detects and identifies the task bar, logos, and video edges, reducing the brightness around them to minimise the risk of burn-in. The screen is also able to automatically reduce screen brightness if it detects you're not in front of it, further limiting the potential for burn-in.

Value

The PA279CDV currently sells for $699/£649. On the one hand that's quite a lot, when you consider that ASUS' own ProArt PA279CRV - an IPS LCD monitor, but also 27", 4K, with 99% DCI-P3 coverage and factory calibrated to an accuracy Delta E <2 - costs just $399. However, OLED screen tech is still relatively rare in this sector, and naturally commands a premium. You'll struggle to find a comparably-specced 27" OLED monitor for less than $550, while models with higher refresh rates can go north of $900, making the ProArt PA279CRV fairly priced.

Build & handling

ASUS' ProArt monitors are designed for professional creatives, not gamers, so they feature a clean, simple design. The PA279CDV's panel has very slim top and side bezels, being less than 2mm thick. This is a little deceptive though, as the edges of viewable display area are set in a further 5-6mm from the bezels themselves. Even so, this is far from a deal-breaker. The panel itself is very thin, thanks to being OLED. OLED tech does away with the need for separate backlighting, so the panel itself can therefore be slimmer.

ASUS’ on screen display menus are clear and easy to navigate. A tiny joystick is positioned on the bottom bezel, with six direct-access buttons alongside. The joystick isn't the most responsive I've used (BenQ's monitor joysticks are better, despite usually being placed on the back of its displays) but it gets the job done.

The stand included with the PA279CDV is fairly typical in this sector - a fairly large, solid metal base plate with a matte finish, and a simple upright with a slot in the middle for cable management. Build quality is good, and the stand gives a reassuringly solid support for the display panel. The stand can swivel 90 degrees to enable portrait orientation, and unusually it can swivel both clockwise and anticlockwise. There's also a generous 13cm of height adjustment, although I found the maximum height about 3cm too low for my preferred viewing position.

Physical connectivity is good, with three USB-C ports (one being the main port for laptop connectivity with Power Delivery, one a standard USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, and the third enables the built-in auto KVM that allows you to control two connected laptops or PCs with a single keyboard and mouse). There are also 3x USB-A ports, a pair of DisplayPort 1.4 sockets, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm audio pass-through socket.

You even get built-in stereo speakers, but don't get too excited, as their audio quality is thin and they don't go very loud. I've yet to test a monitor with built-in speakers that sound halfway decent, and sadly the PA279CDV is no exception.

Performance

Most high-end LCD monitors I test usually appear very similar to the naked eye, but the OLED PA279CDV is in a completely different league. As soon as the Windows desktop loads, the extra contrast and color vibrancy is far beyond anything I've seen from even the very best consumer LCD monitors. At first it almost hurts your eyes, the intensity is that strong. However, once you get used to it (and lower the brightness!), the image quality from a conventional LCD monitor looks muted and lacklustre by comparison. And thanks to the lack of separate backlight (OLED pixels emit their own light, individually), you don't have to worry about uneven contrast consistency or backlight bleed - the entire display area has a feel of purity about it that you don't get from an LCD panel. 'Stunning' is an over-used word, however in the case of PA279CDV, its image quality truly deserves that description.

But while the PA279CDV passes a subjective viewing test with flying (and very vibrant) colors, you simply cannot rely on the human eye to test outright color accuracy, or other display attributes like color gamut coverage and brightness uniformity. To do this you need a device called a colorimeter, and it's here I turn to the Datacolor Spyder Pro, which is capable of analysing OLED displays, not just LCD.

Lab results

Color gamut:

ASUS quotes 100% sRGB and 99% DCI-P3 coverage, and I was able to more-or-less equal these claims. ASUS doesn't advertise AdobeRGB coverage, but I measured it at 92% - not the best I've seen, but still respectable.

Color accuracy (before calibration):

Color accuracy (after calibration):

The PA279CDV comes factory calibrated to an accuracy of Delta-E <1.5 from ideal color. For perspective, most factory calibrated monitors are set up to be within a less stringent Delta-E <2 tolerance. Our particular review sample tested at Delta-E <1.31, which is within ASUS’ claim. However, I was expecting slightly better accuracy after testing some laptop OLED screens that managed to score less than Delta-E <1. But once I took the time to manually calibrate the PA279CDV, it returned a stellar accuracy of 0.69.

Brightness and contrast:

ASUS quotes a peak screen brightness of 1000 nits, though it's worth remembering that this figure only applies when displaying HDR content, and even then only to a maximum of 3% of the total screen area. The maximum brightness that the entire panel can emit is advertised at 250 nits, though I recorded 292. That may sound a little disappointing when plenty of LCD monitors are capable of 350+ nits, but the numbers don't tell the full story. As the black depth is so low, contrast is therefore sky high, making the screen appear much brighter to the eye. During my time with the PA279CDV, I found a comfortable brightness setting to be around 33% - anything over 50% felt uncomfortably bright to look at for long periods in an indoor environment with modest ambient lighting.

Brightness uniformity:

Color uniformity:

Thanks to doing away with a separate backlight, OLED display panels have the potential to excel when it comes to color and brightness consistency across the entire screen area. Thankfully the PA279CDV lives up to expectation here, as it produced one of the best color consistency results I've ever recorded. As for brightness consistency, well that was better still, with only a 2% deviation between the brightest and dimmest screen regions.

Verdict

I'm fortunate enough to review a lot of high-end IPS LCD monitors, and to be honest I've got used to a certain image quality standard from them. A colorimeter is usually required to separate the best from the rest, as you'd be hard-pressed to see much of a difference with the naked eye. However, the same definitely cannot be said about the ProArt Display OLED PA279CDV. Thanks to its OLED screen tech, this is a display that will blow you away from the moment it powers on: its contrast, vibrancy, and overall image clarity are so obviously superior to any IPS LCD monitor I've previously tested.

But this is a monitor designed for color-critical image and video editing, so its image quality can’t just be eye-catching; it also needs to be accurate and reliable. Fortunately the PA279CDV doesn't fall short when it comes to color accuracy, or indeed any other image quality metric I measured. Laptop users will also appreciate the USB-C connectivity with Power Delivery for one-cable laptop connection.

Bad points? Adobe RGB color space coverage could be better, and there's no hardware calibration or built-in colorimeter, so to keep the screen calibrated you'll need do this manually with a separate monitor calibrator (the obvious choice would be ASUS’ own ProArt CaliContrO MCA02 three-in-one colorimeter). However, these are minor gripes that are far outweighed by the jaw-dropping OLED image clarity.

Ultimately, is the ProArt Display OLED PA279CDV worth around twice the price of a comparable IPS LCD monitor? My answer is an emphatic yes.

Check out our full guide to the best monitors for photo editing

It was a case of first time lucky several times over for Marc James at the Event Photography Awards 2026… the US-born photographer topped two categories, and bagged the Event Photographer of the Year crown.

James's 'Headless Chicken' photo (pictured above) won the Behind the Scenes category while 'Old Friends' was judged to be the best Conferences & Corporate Events image.

And he also took home a check for US$1,350/£1,000/AU$1,900 as Event Photographer of the Year, an additional accolade for having won the Best Portfolio Award.

The Event Photography Awards (EPA) is a not-for-profit competition and showcases the importance of great photography to the international events industry.

For 2026's edition, professional and amateur photographers in over 20 countries submitted more than 2,300 images of events that took place around the world.

18 core categories make up the EPAs and a new Black & White Award was introduced for 2026, sponsored by Digital Camera World magazine.

Another newcomer for 2026 was the accolade of Event Photographer of the Year, awarded in conjunction with the Best Portfolio prize.

View the current and past winners of the Event Photography Awards here.

The ceremony at the Central Hall Westminster in London, UK, was attended by more than 250 guests, but we managed to track down Marc James at the reception afterwards to find out more about his two category-winning photos…

'Headless Chicken' – best Behind the Scenes photo

James was working at the World Halal Food Festival at the London Stadium in the UK, and came across an interesting scene.

"Once in a while, the universe aligns and the stars come together," he explains. "This just came up right in front of me and all I had to do was click the shutter.

"The photograph tells it all: it was a very, very hot day and I felt so bad for this poor young girl. She had worked hard and was suffering.

"I thought it was a fun and cheeky photo but I didn't think it would be so crowd pleasing.

"It's a fun photo, but there was stiff competition – so many great artists entered this year's competition, and there were plenty of great photographs for the judges to pick from."

But there's more to event photography than pointing and shooting. Photographers work very hard to find the right light, notes James, and an angle that will flatter the subject.

"We work very hard to design shots for our clients, and do everything we can to get the best shot possible."

His professionalism and attention to detail saw him go home with more than one award from the Event Photography Awards 2026, though…

'Old Friends' – best Conferences & Corporate Events photo

Another assignment saw James documenting the pre-show networking drinks at the Georgian Group Architecture Awards held at Inner Temple, London, UK.

It was a jovial environment, remembers James, as people were catching up with friends they might not have seen for a while.

"I was set up to take another photograph a little to the right of the two subjects, and out of the corner of my eye I saw these men having a touching moment.

"In my head, it seemed that they'd had a long friendship. You don't see this amount of connection at a lot of corporate events, people showing genuine emotion.

"For a pair of senior men they're quite tactile – you'd think they would be the most stoic, hands-off, people in the room.

"I was glad my exposure was correct and I was able to take the shot very quickly. And there's a lovely symmetry with the lady in red in the background.

"The Inner Temple [in the heart of London's legal district] is a gorgeous venue, too, really well lit and very historic. I was honored to have gotten that job."

But winning this trophy might never had happened… had James's wife not encouraged him to submit it to the Event Photography Awards.

"Initially, I wasn't going to enter it. My wife has got a good eye and is my official photo picker.

"She knows quality when she sees it, and pushed and pushed me to enter it, but I was a bit reticent.

"Looking at the other high-quality entries to the Corporate Events category, I didn't think that 'Old Friends' had a huge chance, but she insisted and I'm glad I listened to her."

Event Photographer of the Year

But there was another gong on the night for James. Having won two categories, come runner up overall and having had many photos shortlisted, he won the Best Portfolio Award, which this year came with the additional accolade of Event Photographer of the Year.

Based in London, James is originally from the US and had a previous career before taking up photography.

"As you can probably hear, I'm not from these parts, but from just outside Boston, MA, and I worked in finance before becoming a photographer.

"My wife and got married around the time of Covid and were waiting for our UK visas to be approved.

"I had an epiphany and didn't want to regret anything later in life, so I decided to give photography my all.

"I jumped in with two feet and was very, very lucky to find some really good mentors who believed in me from the start.

"It was a steep learning curve but with effort, perseverance and a lot of support behind me, it has been a fun ride so far."

Click here to see more of Marc James's photography.

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Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries this fall.

Deep in the bowels of a dark wine vat, Spanish photographer Juan Miguel Ortuño Martínez clicked the shutter, capturing the moment a winery worker, Pedro, cleaned the enormous apparatus from the inside.

The image went on to win the 2026 Louis Jadot Wine Photographer of the Year, regarded as the major wine photography contest worldwide, and which forms part of the World Food Photography Awards.

With the 2027 award now open for entries, Juan Miguel has shed light on how, while working in near-total darkness, he created his commended image.

“The light was extremely scarce and that was the greatest difficulty in getting the shot,” the photographer told the competition organizers.

Juan Miguel used a Canon R5 with a Canon 24mm lens at f/1.4, ISO 6000 and a shutter speed of 1/12sec, explaining that he pushed the equipment to its “absolute limit” to recreate the atmosphere.

“The atmosphere was entirely real,” said Juan Miguel, who deliberately chose to only rely on the scarce light filtering through the vat entrance from a lamp outside.

“It was the light falling on the central figure, and if he had moved a few centimeters he would have melted into the darkness and the image would have lost much of its interest,” Juan Miguel explained.

The judges agreed, with Decanter magazine's Patrick Grabham, a judge for the 2026 World Food Photography Awards, naming the image his favorite from that edition of the event.

"It's a beautifully observed photograph. I love the use of light and the way it draws in the viewer,” he said.

The 2027 Louis Jadot Wine Photographer of the Year competition is now open. Head to the official website to see all World Food Photography Awards contest categories and entry requirements.

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Bright telephotos tend to be heavy optics, but Sigma’s newest lens is a 50-120mm with an f/2.8 aperture that’s less than 10 cm / 4 inches long. The Sigma 50-120mm f/2.8 DC OS Contemporary is a bright, compact zoom built for APS-C cameras, debuting in Sony E, Fujifilm X, and Canon RF mounts.

The October 08 launch completes Sigma’s Contemporary “holy trinity” series alongside the 10-18mm f/2.8 and 18-50mm f/2.8. But Sigma says that even all three lenses in a camera bag together still weigh less than 1kg / 2.2 pounds.

The new 50-120mm acts as a 75-180mm lens in full-frame equivalent, trading the more standard 70-200mm range for a design that’s built to match the compact design of APS-C bodies. The lens weighs in at 390g / .85 lbs.

Sigma says that the new lens raises the standard for APS-C constant zooms. The lens uses a high-response Linear Actuator autofocus motor, alongside Sigma’s latest stabilization tech that brings 6.5 stops of stabilization at 50mm and 4.5 stops at 120mm.

The lens is an external-style zoom, which means the length of the lens changes based on focal length. But the company says that the lens was built to minimize focus breathing for video shooters.

Like the other two lenses in the trinity, the 50-120mm skips out on the focus mode switch and stabilization switch for a more minimalist design. The design still manages to fit in weather-sealing and an oil-repellent coating at the front.

Part of the allure of the APS-C format is the more compact body designs – but those smaller cameras tend to feel unbalanced with larger lenses mounted on the front. While there are plenty of first-party and third-party full-frame 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses built for full frame that will work on APS-C, there are relatively few made specifically for the more compact sensor format.

Fujifilm has the XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR, but that lens is more than twice as heavy and nearly twice the cost. Sony has the 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS and the 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS, but neither lens has a constant f/2.8 aperture. Canon’s closest APS-C lens is the RF 75-300mm f/4-5.6.

The new Sigma 50-120mm f/2.8 is notably missing a mount: the Nikon Z. While the new APS-C zoom doesn’t include Nikon’s mirrorless bodies, today Sigma also announced that the existing Sigma 16-300mm f/3.5-6.7 DC OS Contemporary will be arriving for the Z Mount in November.

Perhaps the most appealing part of the new Sigma 50-120mm f/2.8 could be the price. The 50-120mm lens is set to retail for $799 / £699 – which converts roughly to AU$1,326 / CA$1,317.

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The Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD is a fantastic compact zoom lens – but the unusual lens was only available for the Sony E-Mount when it launched in the fall of 2022. That’s changing as Tamron brings the lightweight lens to the Nikon Z mount for the first time this month.

The Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens earned a 4.5-star rating in tests for the Sony E-Mount variation, but the lightweight full-frame lens will be available for the Nikon Z mount beginning on October 22.

The 20-40mm lens has a narrower reach than the more standard 24-70mm, but the trade-off is a much lighter, more compact design. The Nikon Z version will come in at 380g / 13.4 oz, taking up an 88.7 mm / 3.5-inch slot inside a camera bag.

The unusual 20-40mm focal length makes the lens a bit harder to directly compare with Nikon’z existing lenses. But the Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 does come in at a lighter weight than the Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S. It weighs nearly twice as much as Nikon’s tiny 24-50mm f/4-6.3, but comes in only slightly longer – and with a constant f/2.8 aperture.

At 20mm, the lens is wide enough for some landscape shots as well as vlogging and selfies, while the long end adds versatility for portraits and snapshots.

Like the earlier E-Mount version, the lens packs in a Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive or VXD autofocus motor that’s built for speed and precision. The lens can focus as close as 6.7 inches / 0.17m from the front of the lens for close-ups.

The lens is built with weather seals, protecting the 12 optical elements on the inside from dust and moisture. A USB-C port supports the Tamron Link accessory for controlling the lens using a mobile app.

The Z Mount variation of the Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD will arrive on October 22, retailing for $729 / CA$999, which is about £551 / AU$1,046.

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Chargers are not typically the most exciting accessories I get to review, but Anker is doing its best to change that. In recent generations it has increasingly experimented with displays on its larger power banks and desktop chargers.

The Anker Nano Charger brings that idea down to one of the smallest products Anker makes. It is essentially a compact 45W USB-C wall charger with a tiny color screen on the front, which can show information including live charging power, charging mode, temperature status, and, with supported devices, the device model and battery level.

The question is whether any of that information is actually useful, or if this is just putting a screen on something that was perfectly fine without one?

Specifications

Price

The Anker Nano Charger costs $39.99 / £34.99 / €42.99, though Anker is also offering a temporary discount on its store for early adopters (at the time of writing).

That puts it at a slight premium over Anker’s standard Nano 45W charger, which is not surprising considering the screen and additional charging modes. Anker's cheaper charger is also frequently available bundled with a USB-C cable.

I don’t think the premium for the Smart Display version is unreasonable, but if all you want is to get power into your phone as quickly as possible, you can save some money by skipping the display entirely.

Design & Handling

I really like the overall design of the Nano. It is very small, feels well-made, and actually looks quite cute for a wall charger. The little screen dominates the front, and the interface also includes a few playful animations alongside the useful charging information.

Although I didn't get off to a winning start with the display. When I first plugged the charger in, I immediately thought my unit was broken because everything on the screen was upside down. Obviously, I had not read the instructions.

It turns out holding the small touch-sensitive control for two seconds rotates the screen by 180 degrees. Problem solved, and an important reminder that occasionally reading instructions can be beneficial. A single tap cycles through the various information screens, while a double tap on the mode page switches between Auto and Care charging.

All my complaints are about the UK version of the charger, so US readers can skip the rest of this section and be smug with your simpler (if less safe) plugs.

The US version has clever folding pins that also rotate, making the charger much easier to pack and to plug in. The UK/EU version has the usual chunky plug permanently sticking out of the back. I appreciate that fitting rotating UK pins is impossible, but I have used enough chargers (including from Anker) with folding UK/EU pins. For a small "Nano" device, this feels like a miss.

This also means that the USB-C port is always positioned on the bottom of the UK charger. This can be awkward when using wall sockets close to a desk, counter, or floor.

I also dislike how much regulatory information is printed across the top of my UK sample. I know this is the law, and the information has to go somewhere, but it is usually hidden a little more elegantly. Here it is quite prominent on top of what is otherwise a very clean product.

Performance

The screen is obviously the headline feature here, and I found it useful, although I am not sure it is really a necessity for everyone – it really depends on how much you obsess over your charging speeds.

Beyond just displaying the output, there are two main charging settings: Auto and Care. Auto lets the charger adjust power based on what your device requires, while Care deliberately takes a gentler approach designed to reduce charging temperatures and battery stress. Anker says Care Mode can keep the phone battery up to 5°C cooler.

I mostly charge my phone overnight, so Care Mode suits me perfectly. I don’t need my phone charging at maximum speed while I am asleep. But if I suddenly realize I am about to leave home with 10% battery remaining, it takes only a couple of taps to put the charger back into its faster Auto mode.

It is additionally useful if you live in the Apple ecosystem. When I connected my iPhone 17 Pro Max, the charger recognized what I had plugged in and could adapt the charging speeds for the device. This is not universal, though. My Pixel phone charged perfectly well, but the charger did not recognize it by model.

But I genuinely like being able to glance at the charger and see what is happening. I could watch my devices charge at close to their maximum speeds when the batteries were low, before the power gradually reduced as the charge level increased. Is that needed though? Probably not.

The maximum 45W output is a useful sweet spot. It is enough to cover the maximum charging speeds of most mainstream phones, tablets, cameras, and accessories.

It can even charge something like a MacBook Air without much trouble. A MacBook Pro will also take power from it, although 45W isn’t enough to keep up with the more powerful model doing sustained heavy work. For browsing, writing, or light editing, however, it can still be a useful emergency laptop charger.

Verdict

I have used chargers with displays before, I like knowing exactly what my devices are drawing, and it is particularly useful when testing different cables or devices and wondering whether they are actually charging as quickly as they should. Auto and Care modes also make good use of the additional intelligence.

There are still a few things I would change. Device recognition should work with more hardware, and the UK design loses all of the cleverness of the US design and feels like an afterthought.

But underneath all the smart features is simply a very capable little 45W charger, and the premium over a conventional charger is small enough that I think the added information and control are worth paying for.

Alternatives

Scanning film at home can be expensive. Dedicated scanners can cost the same as dropping dozens of rolls off at the lab for scanning. However, the Lomography DigitaLIZA Max aims to make this a lot more affordable.

What separates the Max from the cheaper DigitaLIZA+ is the included smartphone stand, which means you can also turn your phone into a film digitizer. The kit supports 35mm, 120, 110, and 127 film, including less conventional formats such as panoramas and frames incorporating exposed sprocket holes. Lomography has also updated the backlight to a CRI 97 panel.

Getting quality film scans with a capable smartphone sounds like a dream, but is this setup actually good enough to earn a place in our best film scanners guide?

Specifications

Price

The DigitaLIZA Max originally launched in 2022 for $99, but the current US price has risen slightly to $109.90. At the time of writing, Lomography lists it for £84.90 in the UK, €99 in Europe and A$159 in Australia.

I think that still represents very good value, particularly if you are curious about digitizing your own film but aren't quite ready to commit several hundred dollars to a more serious setup. Importantly, most of what you need is already in the box, with your phone providing the most expensive part of the system.

There is a cheaper DigitaLIZA+ if you know you only want to scan using a digital camera, although for the relatively modest extra cost I think the Max's smartphone stand makes the complete kit considerably more versatile.

Design & Handling

The DigitaLIZA Max arrives as a neat little package of components, and getting everything assembled is refreshingly straightforward. Nothing here feels particularly luxurious, and there is a fair amount of plastic, but everything feels sturdy and secure enough for what it needs to do and about right for the price.

I would have liked some kind of storage case or sleeve in the box, though. There are quite a few individual pieces once you include the masks and holders, and these are exactly the sort of things I can imagine slowly disappearing unless you keep everything together.

The film holder attaches magnetically to the base, which makes assembling and dismantling the setup quick, although I would have preferred slightly stronger magnets.

The film masks also sit on top of the lightbox underneath the holder, which then prevents the holder from attaching directly to the base magnetically, so it can slide around. I think a slot or some other method of fixing this mask directly into the holder would have made the whole arrangement feel much more secure.

The 35mm mask itself is also a fairly tight fit around a standard frame, which requires some careful positioning if you want to make sure you capture everything. The corners of the opening are slightly curved as well, and I had a few negatives where the image extended marginally farther than the mask allowed, meaning I had to make a decision about cropping during the scanning process rather than afterward.

Once the film is loaded, however, the wind-on mechanism works very well. It is smooth enough to make moving through a strip of negatives quick, but precise enough that lining an individual frame up with the mask never became frustrating.

Mounting a phone is similarly simple. The clamp is built into the stand, and I had no trouble getting different phones securely positioned above the negative. If you would rather use a proper camera, the smartphone stand can be removed entirely, although you then need your own tripod or, preferably, a copy stand to keep the camera square with the film.

The backlight can be powered by two AA batteries, which makes the whole setup genuinely portable. I found that it really does need relatively fresh batteries, though, as the panel became noticeably dimmer when I tried using older cells.

You can alternatively power it over Micro USB, but that connection already feels somewhat antiquated in 2026, and there isn't even a cable supplied in the box. I suspect quite a few people have reached the point where finding a spare Micro USB cable involves digging through a drawer of long-abandoned wires.

Performance

There is no such thing as a universal "DigitaLIZA Max image quality". The DigitaLIZA Max itself is really only one half of the scanning equation, because the quality of the final image depends enormously on what you point at the negative.

I initially tried scanning with an iPhone, but I didn't have much success with its macro capabilities at the distance and framing required by the setup. I got considerably better results using the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, whose 50MP 3x camera gave me much stronger close-up images and allowed me to fill far more of the frame with the negative.

The backlight and film holder combo performs really well. It kept the film flat enough for me to achieve consistent images; illumination was even across the frame, and I couldn't see any meaningful shift in color from one part of the negative to another (this version uses a CRI 97-rated light source).

I experimented with photographing an entire 35mm frame, including the film borders, rather than cropping tightly to the image area. Even when allowing the surrounding lightbox into the shot, I was still able to get good results, with only a small amount of light bleed appearing around the edges of some particularly dark images.

The supplied 35mm mask does an excellent job of cutting that stray light when you don't want the border included, although its very tight opening and slightly rounded corners are a bit odd.

Using a smartphone isn't going to give you quite the same sharpness or fine detail as a good digital camera paired with a proper macro lens, but for images I wanted to post on Instagram or other social platforms, the better phone scans were easily good enough, and the convenience of being able to get an image from a negative so quickly is the biggest part of the DigitaLIZA Max's appeal.

If I were digitizing a negative because I wanted to archive it at the highest quality possible or make a large print, I would still get out my mirrorless camera, macro lens, and tripod. But the Max gives you that option as well.

Whichever device you use, I would also strongly recommend capturing RAW files wherever your camera or phone allows it. Negative conversion inevitably involves fairly significant adjustments to color, contrast, and exposure, and having the extra latitude of a RAW file makes that process considerably easier.

All the photos in this review were converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Verdict

I enjoyed using the DigitaLIZA Max because it takes something that can otherwise become very complicated and makes it very manageable. Loading and advancing film is straightforward, the backlight is excellent, and capturing with a smartphone is incredibly simple.

It isn't completely polished. I would like the film masks to lock into place more securely, stronger magnets would make the whole assembly feel more solid, and Micro USB really should have disappeared by now. A simple case to keep all the individual pieces together would also have been welcome.

Those issues don't undermine what the DigitaLIZA Max does well, though. For around $100, you can digitize several different film formats using equipment you already own, and with a capable phone I got results that I was more than happy to use online. When I need more, I can swap the phone for a proper camera.

Alternatives

Power banks have become surprisingly complicated. Not all that long ago, the most exciting feature I could reasonably expect was a second USB port. Now Anker is putting color displays, intelligent charging, and even active cooling systems into batteries small enough to carry around in my bag.

The Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro sits right at the top end of Anker's newest generation. It packs a 10,000mAh battery, 25W Qi2.2 magnetic wireless charging, 45W USB-C input and output, a smart display, an adjustable kickstand, and Anker’s SnapCool active cooling system.

It is effectively the successor to the Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K), which I reviewed back in 2024 and which remains one of my favorite magnetic power banks. That model already offered a useful display and kickstand, but was limited to 15W wireless and 27W wired charging. The new model boosts those figures to 25W and 45W respectively while actually coming in slightly smaller and lighter.

It also adds that headline fan. Faster wireless charging generates additional heat; excess heat can cause phones to throttle their charging speed and can decrease battery longevity over time. Anker has therefore built a miniature active cooling system into the power bank to try to keep temperatures under control and sustain faster charging for longer.

But does all this extra engineering make any meaningful difference? I have been using the MagGo 2 Pro with both the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Google Pixel 11 Pro XL to find out.

Specifications

Price

The Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro costs $109.99 in the US and £99.99 in the UK at the time of writing, and is available in four colors.

This is an expensive power bank. There are countless 10,000mAh batteries available for considerably less if you just want a simple no-frills charging brick. However, looking purely at capacity does the MagGo 2 Pro a slight disservice, as there are not many rival power banks currently combining 25W Qi2.2 wireless charging, 45W wired charging, active cooling, a display, and an adjustable stand in one device.

Whether those features are worth around $100 is going to depend heavily on how often you actually use them and how fast you really need to charge your phone. If you're happy to just plug your phone in via a cable, there are significantly cheaper and more powerful alternatives.

Design & Handling

Anker has been doing this a long time now, and the design feels very polished. At 220g, it isn’t exactly featherweight, but 10,000mAh magnetic power banks never are. Interestingly, despite adding the cooling system, Anker has managed to make this generation smaller and lighter than its previous MagGo 10K, which weighed 250g.

With the battery stuck to the back of a phone, it becomes quite chunky, but it's still relatively easy to get my hand around the whole phone and battery and still reach the entire screen, although this will vary depending on your hand size. I also only have the larger iPhone Max and Pixel XL sizes to test, which the MagGo fits nicely onto, but smaller phones will feel more dominated by the power bank.

I genuinely think every magnetic power bank should have a kickstand. The MagGo 2 Pro’s stand is particularly good. It folds neatly into the back of the power bank when not being used and can be adjusted between 0 and 80 degrees. I find myself using the stand even when I'm particularly concerned about charging, which is probably the best endorsement I can give it.

Like the previous generation, there is a smart display on the edge that cycles through information including charging status, remaining battery, battery health, and temperature. A small button alongside the display lets you switch screens and change charging modes.

The cooling fans are behind a fine-mesh grille protecting the fans and air intake, which should stop stray objects in my bag from physically getting into it. But I do wonder how it will fare after months of being exposed to all the collected debris that accumulates at the bottom of my bag, but a week of testing isn’t enough to answer that.

Anker does at least include a rather nice leatherette-style carry pouch, which might prove more useful than it initially appears if it keeps some of that dust away from the vents.

There is also a braided USB-C cable in the box. It feels good quality, although it is very short, which limits its usefulness unless your charger is sitting immediately beside the power bank.

Performance

In my testing, the 25W Qi2.2 wireless charging from the MagGo 2 Pro proved impressively quick. I tested it with both an iPhone and a Pixel 11 Pro XL, and I could charge each once, with around a quarter of the tank remaining.

Interestingly, the display actually reported charging at up to 29W at one point on the Pixel in extreme charging mode. That is slightly curious, given the power bank itself is officially rated for a maximum 25W wireless output. I am not sure if you can push the charging slightly higher, or if this was just the screen being a little overenthusiastic.

Anker heavily positions the MagGo 2 Pro around recent iPhones, with its compatibility information specifically highlighting the iPhone 13 through iPhone 18 families. It managed to successfully detect both my iPhone and my Pixel, but the screen didn't display the exact model (though I am not 100% sure if it is meant to).

The smart recognition features were less impressive with the Pixel; the display simply identified it as a generic “Google Device.” It doesn’t affect charging whatsoever, but Pixel support feels comparatively basic despite it supporting the Qi2 standard.

The fan is pretty audible. I wouldn’t call it loud, but it is definitely noticeable. I work from home, and with the power bank charging on my desk beside me, I found the constant fan noise surprisingly distracting. However, in a café, train, or pretty much anywhere with ambient noise, it wouldn't be such an issue.

There is a Silent mode in the settings, accessed using the small side button. This does exactly what it says and stops the fan, which solves the noise problem. Of course, it also turns off the active cooling, which rather undermines the reason for spending more money on this model instead of buying one of Anker’s cheaper magnetic power banks.

I am also not completely convinced the cooling has the dramatic effect I expected. Even with the fan running at full strength, my phone still became noticeably warm. That doesn’t mean the fan isn't doing anything; managing temperatures is about preventing excessive heat, and I certainly wouldn't say the heat was ever excessive, but I had perhaps expected a more obvious difference over my non-fan-equipped power banks.

Recharging the power bank is quick. Using a 45W charger, it took me roughly an hour and fifteen minutes to bring the power bank back from empty to full. The display mostly hovered around 42W and 45W during the fastest part of the recharge, which broadly tallies with Anker’s claim of reaching 80% in 52 minutes, with charging naturally slowing toward the top of the battery.

The 45W USB-C connection is also a significant upgrade over the previous model’s 27W output and makes it powerful enough for tablets and plenty of smaller laptops – although 10,000mAh might not get you very far.

Verdict

I really like the Anker MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro for a lot of reasons. It looks great, the kickstand is really useful, the 25W Qi2.2 charging is quick, 45W USB-C gives me a fast and more efficient wired alternative, the display is useful, and the 10,000mAh capacity provides enough power to comfortably get a phone through another day.

However, while the cooling fan does keep the temperature down, it's not by enough to really persuade me that I need this more than another non-fan Qi2 power bank. The fan noise is also a bit of an irritant, although it can be disabled.

The MagGo Power Bank 2 Pro is pretty expensive, but if you want one of the most complete and sophisticated magnetic power banks on the market, then look no further.

Alternatives

It looks like Patrick Star has a real-life counterpart, as marine scientists have released images of a starfish closely resembling the beloved Bikini Bottom-dwelling character from the children’s cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants.

According to the researchers – a combined team of marine scientists from various Argentine institutions led by Dr. Daniel Lauretta – the image was also live-streamed at the time of creation, August 2025, to an audience of nearly 4 million viewers, “propelling the starfish to global fame.”

The photo of “Patrick Star,” which, in reality, was a bright orange sea star in the genus Hippasteria, was snapped during a 20-day expedition of the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon, a chasm in the ocean floor off the coast of Argentina reaching depths exceeding 3,500 meters.

While “Patrick Star” may have become a global sensation, he wasn’t the only superstar sighted. Throughout the expedition, the scientists, working from aboard the research vessel Falkor, used a remotely operated vehicle, named SuBastian, to discover 57 new species previously unkown to science, unlike "Patrick Star".

These included 20 copepods – tiny crustaceans found in the deep-sea sediments – and 22 echinoderms – the group that includes sea cucumbers and crinoids.

Among the echinoderms was “Loki” (Peniagone sp.), a striking horned sea cucumber photographed and filmed alive at 2,577 meters, which resembled the Norse god thanks to its pair of horned appendages.

The 2025 expedition marked the first in-situ observations of the Mar del Plata Canyon’s deep seafloor, enabling scientists to determine the diversity and distribution of its biological communities.

According to the Schmidt Institute, which provided the research vessels, a host of the newly discovered species were further studied using taxonomic analysis during a workshop in Buenos Aires this summer.

The team led by Lauretta is now planning a follow-up expedition to begin in February 2027, this time targeting a different submarine canyon expected to have “high levels of endemism.”

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Yashica just unveiled a pocketable point-and-shoot – and the new Crew feels made for photographing friends like it's 2005. The Yashica Crew is a budget point-and-shoot camera built around a 180–degree flip screen and 6x optical zoom lens.

The Yashica Crew’s list of specifications feels made for the trend of shooting with older digital compact cameras from the start of the new millennium. The resolution is 13MP, but the sensor is the small 1/3.06-inch type – the same size found in budget cameras like the Camp Snap CS-Pro and the Instax Pal 2. The camera can also upsize shots to 24MP or 36MP, but 13MP is the native resolution.

But while the Crew may use a small sensor, it still manages to fit in a lens with 6x optical zoom in the classic retracting style of point-and-shoots. That’s paired with a three-inch screen that flips up 180 degrees for selfies.

The name “Crew” hints at who Yashica sees buying this camera. The Crew is meant for photographing outings with friends without using the same device that comes with social media feeds and notifications.

The Crew also supports video, shooting native 2.7K, 30p by default but supporting up to 4K60. An LED light, rather than a photo-only flash, is also built in.

Those features are tucked into a camera that’s only about 2.6cm / 1 inch deep and weighs about 126g / 4.4 oz. That small design means that the camera uses the microSD card format.

While the Yashica Crew reminds me of the Y2K camera trend, there are a few modern features inside, including face detection autofocus and USB-C charging.

Yashica has opened pre-orders for the Crew on its website, with the point-and-shoot retailing for $168.20 / £126.78 / AU$240.94 / CA$239.06. Shipping is expected to begin on October 26.

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The growth of AI has been met with trepidation among the creative community – but Japan’s biggest camera makers agree that AI-generated content is sparking an entirely different trend: the growth of the dedicated camera and a shift towards prioritizing the experience of photography over technical specifications.

Japanese business publication Nikkei Shimbun recently interviewed executives from Canon, Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm. Despite discussing camera trends with four competing brands, there’s an overarching trend that Japan’s biggest camera makers seem to agree on.

Camera makers believe that the rise of AI-generated content, along with trends towards a more retro film-like look, is actually driving more people to pick up a dedicated camera over simply shooting with a smartphone. The camera market saw healthy growth last year, but the biggest growth was in the fixed-lens compact category, which rose nearly 30 percent.

But with AI slop driving more people to pick up dedicated cameras, the reason behind choosing a certain camera is also shifting. The experience that a camera offers is becoming increasingly important in the era of AI and smartphones.

Camera makers are seeing an increased priority on the physical controls and the style of the camera. Casual photographers shifting from a smartphone are often looking for a camera that’s more fun to shoot with – and the design and physical controls are a big part of that. The rise of screen-free cameras is a key example of this trend, along with the continued rise in retro cameras.

Generated content is known for being overly perfect and inauthentic, and that’s creating a push towards a more traditional camera experience, both in the camera’s design and the look and feel of the images. More and more camera makers seem to be pushing the in-camera colors through film simulations, photo styles, and in-camera LUTs.

Camera makers have long been engaged in the megapixel race and the push to beat out competitors' specifications. Manufacturers aren’t dropping out of this race anytime soon, not for pro models geared towards serious photographers.

But the camera industry is once again welcoming the average consumer who just wants to snap some photos of daily life, and this sort of photographer may care more about the experience than the megapixel count.

Photographers have already seen evidence of this push with experimental cameras like the Fujifilm X Half and the viral success of low-resolution cameras like the Kodak Charmera.

The rise of the smartphone decimated the market for casual shooters looking to take snapshots of daily life. Thanks to wariness over AI-generated content and a rising trend for a more screen-free lifestyle, this camera category is returning with a vengeance.

Canon is looking to build a more diversified camera line, including retro styling

In the interview, Canon said that younger consumers are discovering the joy of shooting with a dedicated camera. Canon hinted that it’s been exploring more stylish compact cameras and cameras that create a more film-like look as a result.

But Canon executives also recognize that the people who are picking up cameras are becoming increasingly diverse. The camera industry isn’t solely focused on professionals and hobbyists but is shifting to welcome the customer who just wants to take photos of daily life.

Canon says it's looking to create a more diverse line of cameras in order to reach the wider range of consumers picking up a dedicated camera.

Canon also says it recognizes the growth of video and hybrid shooting, saying that it plans to expand V-series lenses.

Nikon is increasingly looking beyond just stills

Video remains a particular focus for growth for Nikon, the interview hints, particularly after the acquisition of RED. Nikon executives hinted that Nikon’s optics and imaging have opportunities to grow by looking at multiple forms of content.

On the topic of AI, Nikon says that it's exploring the possibility of using AI beyond autofocus applications, such as choosing the best images and the newly implemented AI-built tools for auto white balance.

Sony’s entertainment division could help inspire cameras

The interview suggests that Sony may be looking to take advantage of its diverse range of businesses across movies, music, and gaming and use that expertise towards future camera launches. Cameras can also be a form of entertainment – and Sony also mentioned exploring spatial experiences, such as VR spaces.

Sony also says that AI can be a creative tool to aid in tech like autofocus subject detection and pose estimation. But Sony is also pushing for a “digital birth certificate” for recognition of in-camera authenticity.

Fujifilm’s push for film simulations and retro designs is working

Fujifilm’s sales have been steadily rising, and part of that is the brand’s focus on retro camera designs and film simulations. Both features work well with the growing trend of people shifting from smartphones to cameras that are fun to shoot and carry more authenticity than AI-generated content.

As far as using AI in cameras, Fujifilm executives said that AI should be treated more like an assistant aiding in things like autofocus, and not creating images.

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The iPhone 18 Pro Max arrives as Apple's yearly update to its best camera phone formula, sitting alongside the smaller but identically equipped iPhone 18 Pro, and arriving just before the company takes a swing at the folding form factor with the forthcoming iPhone Duo.

The headline upgrades are centered around its new A20 Pro processor, improved battery life, a smaller Dynamic Island, and, most importantly for Digital Camera World readers, new Photographic Styles alongside a variable-aperture 48MP main camera.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was already one of the best camera phones available, and some of the best video capabilities of any smartphone – in fact, it has been our benchmark in guides such as the best phone for video recording. But with both significant software and hardware changes this year, can Apple's latest still retain its crown?

Specifications

Price & Availability

The iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 / £1,299 / €1,599 / AU$2,299 for 256GB, with 512GB, 1TB and 2TB versions also available, although, as ever, Apple's storage upgrades come at a significant premium.

iPhones were already expensive phones, and Apple has added $100 to the launch price compared with the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro Max. But this isn't entirely down to Apple; thanks to the ongoing memory shortage, there have been price rises across top devices this year.

Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL and Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra also launched this year at $1,299 for 256GB (although the latter contains more camera hardware for that price), but Apple is firmly amongst mainstream flagship pricing rather than being an outlier on its own.

But do I think anyone with an iPhone 17 Pro Max should upgrade? The biggest photographic change is the variable-aperture main camera, and as I'll get into below, I don't find that nearly useful or exciting enough to justify spending another $1,299. But if you are coming from older iPhone models, then there is a lot more value to be found.

Design

If you put the silver iPhone 18 Pro Max next to last year's model, you might struggle to tell which is which. Apple has kept almost exactly the same design, right down to the dimensions – so much so that iPhone 17 Pro Max cases even fit the new phone. Not that I am disappointed; I liked the iPhone 17 Pro Max design, and I still like it here.

The colors have changed, with Burgundy replacing Cosmic Orange as the headline option, alongside Glacier (a light metallic blue), Silver and Black. I like the burgundy, but I don't love it. It isn't remotely as in-your-face as last year's Cosmic Orange, which some people will no doubt appreciate, but as the signature color for this generation, it feels a little underwhelming. I actually prefer Glacier and Silver, although in some lighting they are perhaps a little too close together in tone, while black is there for anyone who wants to play it safe.

Apple has also stuck with an aluminum unibody rather than returning to titanium, accompanied by Ceramic Shield 2 and an IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating. I have some reservations about that decision after living with my iPhone 17 Pro for the last year, which has picked up a fairly impressive collection of scratches and nicks across its frame and rear panel.

The body measures 163.4 x 78 x 8.75mm and weighs 249g, which is up from 233g for the previous Pro Max.

The physical controls haven't changed either, including the Camera Control button, which I continue to dislike, not just on the iPhone but also on its many Chinese copycats. I find the combination of presses and swipes fiddly enough that it is almost always easier for me to simply use the controls on screen. I also press it accidentally all the time. I am waiting for Apple to find the "courage" to take this one away.

However, I do really like the Action button, and I find it is considerably more useful for quick functions that actually suit how you use your phone.

The screen is fundamentally very similar to last year's. It is a 6.9-inch 2868 x 1320 Super Retina XDR OLED with ProMotion up to 120Hz, a 3,000-nit rated outdoor peak brightness and Apple's new anti-reflective coating. There have been changes behind the scenes to improve battery efficiency with new LTPO+ tech, while the most visible difference is the Dynamic Island, which is around 35% narrower after Apple moved part of the Face ID hardware beneath the display.

I have also seen discussions online around the screen looking worse than the one on the 17 Pro Max, but having compared the two side by side, I can't really spot any meaningful difference in quality.

Camera Performance

Apple's rear camera system remains built around three 48MP cameras covering 13mm, 24mm, and 100mm equivalent focal lengths, with 2x and 8x options generated from sensor crops.

The big change is that the main camera adds a physical six-blade variable aperture with f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4 settings.

Variable aperture is intriguing, as the concept of buying a mirrorless camera without a physical aperture is laughable. However, on a phone, I just remain unconvinced by it.

I have used similar systems on phones from Xiaomi and Huawei with even larger sensors and didn't think they lived up to the hype there either. On a sensor this small, the majority of everyday photographs simply don't show enough difference in depth of field between aperture settings for me to care.

You really only start to see it when focusing close to a subject. That makes it potentially useful for close portraits with the main camera, although I don't personally think 24mm is an ideal focal length for close-up portraits in the first place. I just really struggled to find any practical uses for the variable aperture when I was out shooting. If I wasn't testing the phone for review, I don't think I would ever use it.

Computational photography has also removed some of the reasons I might otherwise want a physical aperture on a phone. Portrait modes are now incredibly good at faking shallow depth of field, while computational long-exposure and light-trail modes mean I don't need to stop a lens down to force a longer shutter speed.

I also don't love how Apple handles the manual aperture selection. Apple has finally added proper Pro Controls for aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and a histogram to its Camera app, which is a welcome move, but getting to the aperture controls still feels more buried in menus and more complicated than it needs to be.

The more useful part of the new aperture is actually the fact that the main camera can now open to f/1.48, compared with f/1.78 on the previous generation, allowing more light to reach the sensor. That is a tangible benefit for low-light shooting, even if it isn't as exciting as watching physical aperture blades move.

For outright image quality, while I don't think the iPhone 18 Pro Max takes the best photographs you can get from a phone, where Apple continues to excel is reliability. Some rival phones can look absolutely spectacular when everything falls into place, but I have more confidence in the iPhone that whatever I point it at will come back as a usable photograph. Colors are generally accurate and true to life, exposure is extremely dependable even in awkward or harshly lit scenes, and there is excellent consistency when moving between cameras.

Chinese manufacturers have pushed much harder on camera hardware, with larger sensors, higher-resolution telephoto cameras, and collaborations with established imaging brands for camera processing. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra, for example, combines a 1-inch-type main sensor with Leica tuning and a 200MP telephoto camera, and it can simply extract more quality than the iPhone, but I don't love Xiaomi's processing every single time. There is a lot to be said for the "iPhone look".

The 4x telephoto is particularly good, and the 8x crop still holds up remarkably well without an immediately obvious collapse in quality.

But beyond that, Apple starts to fall behind. Digital zoom tops out at 40x, and Apple's processing at extreme zoom levels isn't in the same league as the AI-assisted systems offered by Google, Samsung, and the Chinese manufacturers.

The ultrawide is also very good overall, although I have noticed more muddiness in harsh lighting than I get from the main or telephoto cameras, with dynamic range seeming a little less convincing. If I start pixel peeping, it isn't as crisp as the other lenses either, although at normal viewing sizes it looks perfectly good.

Macro remains one of my biggest frustrations because the iPhone still switches to the ultrawide camera for close focusing rather than embracing tele-macro. I really do not like the perspective that ultrawide gives close-up subjects, and if macro is something you take seriously on an iPhone, I would invest in an accessory such as Moment's 75mm Macro lens for a more natural working distance and perspective.

The big software feature for Apple's camera this year is Photographic Styles, its answer to the growing demand for more stylized images straight out of camera – think Fujifilm film simulations. Most of Apple's presets are very good; a few wander a little too much into obvious "filter" territory, but if you are bored of the standard iPhone look, there is a lot to experiment with here.

Apple has expanded the system with additional tone, saturation, texture, and grain controls, and you can create some very cool results. This isn't quite as in-depth as LUTs or even Fujifilm's system, but there is a lot of promise if you're willing to play around enough with the settings.

However, if you are after the most "film-inspired' looks, then there are still plenty of third-party apps I prefer.

Video has always been one of Apple's strongest suits, and I think the iPhone 18 Pro Max is still top of the pile.

Standard iPhone video is beautifully balanced, with accurate colors, very dependable exposure, and excellent matching when switching between lenses, something a surprising number of otherwise brilliant camera phones still struggle with. Apple's HDR processing can be heavy, but I rarely find it aggressive enough to ruin the image.

Stabilization is also the best I have used on a phone. And more serious filmmakers get a frankly ridiculous range of options, including 4K 120fps Dolby Vision, ProRes, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, genlock, and 4K 120fps ProRes recording directly to external storage.

My only real complaint is that the standard Camera app still doesn't give creators enough control over settings. If you want to get properly involved, you can switch to Final Cut Camera or Blackmagic Camera, both of which reveal just how powerful the iPhone can be as a filmmaking tool, but they introduce a fairly steep learning curve (and an additional app). I would love it if Apple had a revamped Pro mode where controls were just more in reach.

Apple has also fitted four studio-quality microphones this year. I am not sure how many serious creators are relying on their phone's internal microphones when wireless systems are so easy to carry, but if you leave your mic kit at home, it is certainly useful to know the built-in option is more capable.

Phone Performance

Apple has been difficult to beat for outright smartphone performance since it began designing its own processors, and the A20 Pro keeps that advantage intact. Built on a 2nm process, it combines a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, and dual 16-core Neural Engine, while Apple claims up to 40% more GPU performance than the A19 Pro.

My Geekbench 6 results put the iPhone 18 Pro Max at 4,653 for single-core and 12,511 for multi-core performance. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra scored 3,659 and 11,305, respectively, so Apple still holds a small advantage, although Qualcomm does have a new chip since the last Galaxy.

Numbers aside, the phone feels incredibly quick. Everything from day-to-day navigation to editing and exporting video happens almost instantly, and I can scrub through huge video files without stuttering. There is already far more processing power here than the majority of owners are likely to need, but photographers and filmmakers working with large RAW files, 4K video, and increasingly demanding AI tools can actually make some use of the headroom.

Battery life has improved too. In my normal mix of web browsing, streaming, messaging, and photography, I get around a day and a half before needing to charge. Particularly impressive is Apple's much smaller cell is competing remarkably well with Chinese manufacturers that are putting enormous silicon-carbon batteries into their flagship phones.

There hasn't been much change to Apple OS. iOS 27 continues to refine Apple's Liquid Glass interface, which is probably sensible as it's been a pretty divisive visual change. Apple doesn't publish an exact number of guaranteed OS updates for the iPhone, but its historic support is among the longest in the industry, so I have very few concerns about the 18 Pro Max remaining useful for years.

The biggest new software push is, inevitably, AI. Siri's AI (or Apple Intelligence) is more capable and uses more on-device processing alongside Apple's Private Cloud Compute, while Photos gets tools including Spatial Reframing, Extend, and a more powerful Clean Up function.

There are also some interesting developments around image authenticity. Apple's new Reference Image feature can record data alongside a photograph, allowing an original reference to be compared with edited versions. Apple is also adding support for Google's SynthID later this year so AI-generated or AI-edited images can carry an invisible watermark. All of which should help in the fightback against AI-slop.

Final Verdict

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is a fine update; it's Apple refining an already very good phone. Not all the additions, I think, are worthwhile, but none of them detract from an incredible device.

For photography, there are phones I would choose ahead of it if image quality were my greatest concern, and Apple's headline variable aperture hasn't changed photography nearly as much as the marketing would suggest. Yet there is a lot to be said for how dependable the iPhone is. I can pull it from my pocket, snap away, and the photos will just look good. It remains a very capable everyday camera even if it isn't the outright stills champion.

But for video, I think it is still the phone to beat. The consistency between lenses, excellent stabilization, accurate color, and huge choice of professional codecs and formats make it my first choice for recording on a phone.

However, I just wouldn't upgrade from an iPhone 17 Pro Max for it, as the 17 is already just such a good phone, and I don't feel the 18 Pro Max adds quite enough. But for anyone coming from an older model, the iPhone 18 Pro Max remains one of the best camera phones you can buy right now.

Alternatives

A professional photographer who goes by the name u/wildyouth116 on Reddit has posted their setup, with many surprised to find that they regularly use a whopping 10 bodies. But what’s even more curious is the cameras in question.

Despite having a cutting-edge Nikon Z8, the photographer also uses five DSLR cameras: two Nikon D850s, two Nikon D780s and a Nikon D200. As well as four film cameras: Nikon FM2, Nikon F100, Nikon F6, and what appears to be a blacked-out Nikon N80.

One commenter suggested that a second Nikon Z8 would replace the four DSLRs, but the professional photographer explains that they use two bodies at a time for events and commercial shoots, so they like to have backups if the worst should happen.

Interestingly, the pro mentions that they “prefer DSLRs for lowlight events, and most every day work [sic].” Presumably the Nikon D780 wins out here, but only because of its lower-resolution sensor. The Nikon Z8 is still a monster camera in low-light situations.

One commenter mentions gear acquisition syndrome (GAS), but the pro explains that they have completed 700 jobs in three years. That certainly takes its toll on kit, and indeed, the original poster says that during a seven-year career, they “have burned through at least 5 camera bodies,” continuing, “It's more of an expensive insurance policy in case one breaks, I have to send it in for maintenance, etc”.

Having at least one backup body is essential for professional photographers, and many do have more. If you’re shooting a wedding and your primary camera breaks, you’re expected to have a backup. And while 10 cameras might seem like overkill, four are film cameras. The meat of the setup is a pair of D850s and D780s and a Nikon Z8. A sensible collection of cameras, if you ask me.

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There are few cameras that are quite as much fun to give as a gift as a Polaroid. And right now, the Polaroid Now Generation 3 bundle has dropped to just $134.99 at Amazon, down from $159.99, saving you a very welcome $25.

For me, this is exactly the sort of camera gift that works whether you are shopping for a photography enthusiast, someone who simply loves taking pictures, or, quite frankly, yourself. Part of the appeal is that the Polaroid Now keeps instant photography wonderfully simple. This is a proper analog instant camera that produces those unmistakable full-size Polaroid photographs, and there is still something wonderfully satisfying about pressing the shutter and watching a physical photograph slowly appear in front of you.

The Generation 3 model also brings a few useful improvements that make it considerably easier to get good results. Polaroid has given it an upgraded two-lens autofocus system, while there are self-timer and double-exposure modes for when you want to get a little more creative.

But I think what makes this particular deal especially appealing is that this is a bundle rather than simply the camera on its own. You are getting the black Polaroid Now Generation 3 alongside 16 shots of color film, meaning whoever unwraps it can actually start shooting rather than immediately having to go out and buy film. And that makes a huge difference if you are thinking about this as a gift.

Instant cameras are one of those rare photography products that you don't necessarily need to be a photographer to enjoy. Take one to a party, family gathering, vacation, or Christmas celebration and suddenly everyone wants a photograph. Better still, rather than disappearing into a smartphone camera roll, you actually have something physical to hand over, stick on the fridge, or keep in an album.

That is part of the reason I still have such a soft spot for Polaroid. There are undoubtedly more technically sophisticated cameras out there, but that really isn't the point. The Now Generation 3 is about enjoying photography, slowing things down slightly, and creating something tangible from the moment you press the shutter.

At $159.99, I already think the camera-and-film bundle makes an attractive gift. At $134.99, saving you $25, it becomes considerably easier to recommend. If you have someone in your life who loves photography, nostalgia, or simply taking pictures with friends and family, I think this would make a brilliant gift.

Of course, there is also absolutely nothing wrong with gifting one to yourself. At $134.99, I certainly wouldn't judge you.

When Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson and others set up a photographic co-operative back in 1947, the legend goes that they named it after the oversized champagne bottles they liked to celebrate with. Nearly 80 years on, Magnum has returned to its roots, in a way.

Some of its photographers, including Mark Power, Emin Özmen, Rafał Milach, Bieke Depoorter and Cristina García Rodero, have been spending the summer in drinking holes across the continent. But they haven't been slacking; they've been on a job for Heineken.

The result is Europe's Living Rooms, a series that documents pubs, bars and tavernas in 11 European countries: the UK, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Poland, Austria, Italy, Belgium and Czechia (what we used to call the Czech Republic).

And while it's a commercial campaign – timed to coincide with research into how much tourists spend on beer – the images are nonetheless fascinating to me. Not least because they highlight exactly how differently documentary photographers tackle the same brief.

A range of approaches

Take Bieke Depoorter's shot of Café Pieper in Amsterdam, an establishment that's been running since 1665. Captured at blue hour with a slow shutter speed, the drinkers milling outside dissolve into ghostly blurs while the building, outlined in light bulbs, stays sharp. That's a clever of way of hinting at the centuries of customers who've passed through these doors.

Mark Power, in contrast, gives The Devonshire Arms in London's Soho a crisp, carefully composed treatment. Office workers cluster around high tables in bright sunshine in their shirt sleeves, and every hanging basket and cobblestone is rendered in sharp detail.

In a vaulted brick bar in Poland, Rafał Milach goes for bold symmetry, focusing on a huge glass chandelier that funnels the eye towards the drinkers at the far end. In Ireland, Enri Canaj finds three friends chatting in front of a sunlit sash window framed by glossy red shutters; a hang-out to die for.

Then there's Madrid, where fans in face paint and Spanish flag capes are caught mid-roar while watching the World Cup. The picture freezes each open mouth and raised glass, while an older drinker looks on with quiet bemusement.

Why Magnum works

It's these small moments which explain exactly why the beer brand went to documentary photographers rather than a typical advertising crew.

As Marine Mérindol, chief operating officer of Magnum Photos, puts it: "These are the details that so many miss if they are just passing through."

Documentary photography, she adds, "doesn't just illustrate a place; it witnesses it. These photographs capture something true about how people in Europe live and connect together.”

Whether Cartier-Bresson would have approved of swapping champagne for lager, who knows? But he and his fellow Magnum founders would surely have recognised the instinct to point the camera wherever people gather, raise a glass and forget their troubles for a happy moment.

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Retro camera fans have long been waiting for a refresh of the PEN series – and the latest trends from Japan suggest just how excited photographers are about the new OM System PEN.

Japanese photo retailer Camera Kitamura has shared the best-selling mirrorless cameras for September, a list that’s led by the Sony A7C II, the new OM System PEN, and the Sony A6700.

Both the Sony A7C II and the A6700 have been around for a few years and are regular attendees on Japan’s best-seller lists. But the camera in second place is a fresh launch.

The OM System PEN was only announced on September 09, with pre-orders initially not scheduled to begin shipping until late October. But only two days after the announcement, OM System Japan said that there had been so many orders that some may not get their camera until November.

The new 2026 PEN’s early success isn’t unwarranted. I’ve been shooting with an early review sample for a few weeks now. The compact retro design makes it the camera that I instinctively want to grab.

While the design may have been what first drew me to the new PEN, OM System’s new Micro Four Thirds shooter is also one of the most affordable mirrorless bodies with both in-body stabilization and weather sealing. It retails for $999 / £849 / AU$1,499 body-only, or $1,099 / £949 / AU$1,799 with a kit lens (which is what’s made the Kitamura best-seller list).

But perhaps the more interesting aspect of the latest list of best-sellers from Japan is that it’s the smallest sensor camera of the three major bodies announced in September that’s in the top three. The PEN was one of three major camera launches in September. Canon also introduced the EOS R8 Mark II, and Nikon also unveiled the Z5IIC. The R8 Mark II sits in fourth place on Kitamura’s list, while the Z5IIC didn’t make the top ten.

Looking at a single retailer in Japan isn’t going to be indicative of the camera market as a whole, but it’s interesting that of the three major launches last month, it’s the Micro Four Thirds shooter that’s dominating Kitamura’s sales. The trends list will be interesting to watch as those cameras begin shipping in October and November.

The OM System PEN, however, fell just behind the first-place Sony A7C II. Sony’s more compact full-frame mirrorless has been regularly dominating best-seller lists since its launch three years ago. Its compact design that still crams in a full-frame sensor has been well-loved, despite the camera’s age.

Compact designs seem to dominate much of Kitamura’s list. The Sony A6700 comes in third place, an APS-C shooter that’s small but fast.

The R8 Mark II sits in fourth place, with a new, more angular design inspired by the film Canon T80. The R8 Mark II still follows the trend of a more compact body design as a more entry-level full-frame, but unlike the original, the Mark II includes stabilization.

Another longstanding Sony favorite, the Sony A7 IV, sits in fifth place. That camera’s successor, the Sony A7 V, which has been dominating a number of best-seller lists since its launch, doesn’t show up until 8th place.

The only Fujifilm camera on Kitamura’s best-selling mirrorless list is the compact, budget-friendly Fujifilm X-M5. The X-M5 is both one of Fujifilm’s most affordable bodies and the smallest, though it lacks a viewfinder, and many features are geared towards hybrid shooting.

Two more Sony APS-C cameras sit on the list, the ZV-E10 II in seventh place and the Sony A6400 in ninth place. Both of those cameras are on the list for two-lens kits rather than the single kit lens options.

Canon rounds out the list with the EOS R6 Mark II in 10th place. While the camera has now been replaced with the Mark III, the R6 Mark II remains available at a lower price point than the newer model.

Kitamura Camera’s best-selling mirrorless cameras for September 2026

1. Sony A7C II
2. OM System PEN with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 III kit lens
3. Sony A6700 with zoom lens kit
4. Canon EOS R8 Mark II
5. Sony A7 IV zoom lens kit
6. Fujifilm X-M5 with XC 15-45mm kit lens
7. Sony ZV-E10 II double zoom lens kit
8. Sony A7 V
9. Sony A6400 double zoom lens kit
10. Canon EOS R6 Mark II

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There are some cameras that just make brilliant gifts, and I think the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo is right up there with the best of them. Even better, Amazon has just dropped the gorgeous brown version to $199, down from $234.95, saving you a very welcome $35.95.

And while I think this would make a fantastic gift for a loved one, I wouldn't blame you in the slightest for buying one for yourself.

The Instax Mini Evo has always stood out to me because it takes the fun of instant photography and makes it considerably more flexible. Rather than taking a photograph and immediately committing it to film, this is a hybrid instant camera, meaning you can see your shot first and decide whether it is actually worthy of using one of those precious Instax prints.

That alone makes it a much easier instant camera to live with, particularly if you're buying it for someone who loves taking photographs but doesn't necessarily want to burn through packs of film every time they press the shutter. But the Mini Evo is also just enormous fun to use.

Fujifilm gives you 10 different lens effects and 10 film effects, which can be combined to give you 100 different looks. You can play around with everything from soft focus and light leaks to monochrome, retro and vivid looks, giving the whole experience much more of that tactile, creative feeling that makes instant photography so enjoyable.

Then, when you have something you really like, you pull the wonderfully old-school print lever and turn it into a physical Instax Mini photograph.

There is also another reason I think the Mini Evo makes such a good gift: it isn't only useful as a camera. Connect your smartphone, and it can effectively become an Instax printer as well, allowing you to take photographs already sitting on your phone and turn them into physical prints.

That means even when you aren't actually shooting with the Mini Evo, it still has a reason to come out at parties, family gatherings, vacations, or just those occasions where having a real photograph feels that little bit more special than leaving another image buried somewhere in your camera roll.

And I particularly like this brown version. The combination of its retro-inspired design, physical dials, and classic-looking finish makes it feel like something you would actually be excited to unwrap.

At $234.95, the Instax Mini Evo was never the cheapest way into instant photography, but at $199 the equation changes considerably. You're saving $35.95 and getting a camera that combines digital photography, instant printing and smartphone printing in one rather lovely little package. That is exactly why I think it makes such a brilliant gift.

If you have a photographer, teenager, traveler, or simply someone who loves keeping physical memories in your life, I would have absolutely no hesitation putting the Instax Mini Evo on the gifting list. Although at $199, you might want to add your own name to that list as well. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones you end up buying for yourself.

A drone with an unnamed pilot has been flying around Delaware and dropping rolls of cash – up to $100 a time so far – on strangers. Videos of each drop, made "in an effort to spread positivity," are being posted to social media, and the most recent one seems to show a police officer accepting a cash drop with a thumbs-up!

According to the Daily Mail, the drone operator works in IT and goes out during lunch breaks and evenings to make his drops. At first he was using his own money, but he now runs a fund for the cash.

The drops include a roll of money and a card reading "You caught today's drop. Cash inside – it's yours," which goes some way to explaining why this video shows a man initially giving the drone the bird, but, by the end, circumstances have changed.

Wilmington, Delaware, where the pilot is from, had a lot of bad news, so he saw the drone as a means to spread a better feeling.

"Hopefully, [the cash drop] inspires people to be more kind to each other and spread kindness in their own way." he told The Mail.

I have to admit that, while it's a lovely story, and certainly nicer to hear about than the multiple gun crimes which have affected the area, I worry a little about how the regulators might see all the flying over people!

In one of the videos posted he admits in the caption, "the wind caught it and carried it away from [the originally intended target]. Somebody else spotted it first and intercepted the drop."

It ends up being a story showing two attempts and two pleased recipients, but it also highlights the risks.

For now, though, it doesn't seem like every police officer will be that worried – if this new clip is as real as it looks.

This was posted after the Mail's interview, and it appears to show a patrol officer receiving a cash drop from the drone.

"This drop happened to find someone with a badge." said the post's caption, and, though it went on to thank first responders, the rules might see it a little differently!

302 CashCopter got in touch with DCW to confirm that it was a police officer but clarify that: "The police officer received a random $20 drop, no different from our other drops. There was no request, conversation, pending investigation, or attempt to influence the officer. Suggesting it may have been intended to discourage police from identifying the operator assigns a motive that simply was not there."

A bribe would technically be a felony, and I initially said that it might be seen as an effort to discourage the officers from investigating.

Under US regulations a police officer isn't expected to enforce any breach of drone regulations, but would be expected to help the FAA find the name of the drone operator. For someone intentionally anonymous, that might be something they'd like to discourage?

It's certainly problematic, if not actually illegal. And it's not the only concern some have raised.

It's also worth noting that regs in the USA don't specifically prohibit drops unless they create an undue hazard.

There have also been a number of comments suggesting that the drops seem to often be aimed at students rather than those more in need.

"Why u only do on campus lol u gotta come to the apartments🤣🤣🤣"

A scan through the 302 Cashcopter feed suggests that this is being addressed.

Some, too, might find the idea of identifying people as "in need" just from aerial video as somewhat prejudiced, but the comments are lapping it up.

If you're interested in getting in the air yourself, check out my guide to the best drone for beginners.

I have tested plenty of gadgets over the years, but few have found their way into my everyday routine quite like the Birdfy Feeder Metal.

It has genuinely become my favourite garden accessory, and now Amazon has dropped it to just £135.99, down from £159.99, saving you a very welcome £24.

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Before reviewing the Birdfy Feeder Metal, I enjoyed seeing what birds were visiting the garden, but I never really knew what was turning up when I wasn’t looking. This completely changed that.

The built-in 1080p camera and motion detection work alongside the Birdfy app to capture visitors as they arrive, and I simply cannot get enough of logging into the app throughout the day to see who has stopped by. There is something strangely addictive about opening it up and discovering that a bird has been happily feeding away while you have been getting on with your day.

It has turned something as simple as putting bird food out in the garden into something I actively look forward to checking.

The feeder can also use AI bird identification to help recognise different species, while recordings are organised within the app so you can easily look back through the day's visitors. I have found myself checking which regulars have returned, spotting new arrivals and, admittedly, spending far longer watching clips of birds eating than I probably should.

When I originally reviewed the Birdfy Feeder Metal, one of the things that impressed me most was its construction. This doesn't feel like a flimsy smart gadget that happens to have a bird feeder attached. The metal body feels substantial, the adjustable perch can accommodate different-sized birds, and you have plenty of flexibility when it comes to mounting it on a pole, wall or tree.

But it is the camera and app that keep me coming back to it.

The 1080p footage is easily good enough for seeing your garden visitors up close, identifying different birds and watching their behaviour in a way that you simply don't get from looking through the kitchen window. It also means you don't have to be sitting watching the feeder all day to know what has been visiting.

At its usual £159.99 price, I already thought the Birdfy Feeder Metal was a fantastic bit of kit for anyone interested in garden wildlife. At £135.99, however, saving you £24, I think it becomes considerably easier to recommend.

It is still my favourite garden accessory, and I genuinely can't get enough of checking the app to discover what has arrived in the garden that day. If you love birdwatching, want to know exactly what is visiting your garden, or are looking for something a little different for the wildlife lover in your life, this is one Prime sale deal I would happily recommend.

There aren’t many lenses that could make me seriously consider changing camera systems, but the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM is one of them.

I have always had a huge amount of respect for this lens. Yes, it is getting on a bit now, and yes, Canon has newer RF glass that can outperform it technically, but photography isn’t always about which lens produces the best laboratory results. Sometimes a lens has character, and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L has bags of it.

That is why seeing it drop to just $1,349 at Amazon, down from $1,548.01, saving you $199.01, has caught my attention.

In fact, this is one of those rare deals that makes me look across the fence at Canon and think, perhaps I could be persuaded.

The appeal is obviously that f/1.2 maximum aperture, but for me this lens has always been about much more than simply letting in lots of light. There is a particular look to images shot wide open with the EF 50mm f/1.2L. The transition from sharp to out of focus can be wonderfully smooth; backgrounds simply disappear, and subjects seem to have that almost three-dimensional quality that is so difficult to describe until you see it.

It isn’t clinical, and I think that is precisely the point. There are newer 50mm lenses that are sharper. There are lenses with more sophisticated autofocus systems and optical designs that will undoubtedly look better when you start comparing charts. But there is a reason photographers still talk about this lens after all these years. It has personality, and in an age where modern lenses are becoming increasingly perfect, I actually find that rather refreshing.

And I think that makes this deal particularly interesting for Canon RF shooters, too. You might look at the EF mount and immediately dismiss it as an older DSLR lens, but I wouldn’t. Stick Canon’s EF-to-RF adapter between it and an EOS R-series body, and suddenly you have one of Canon’s most celebrated 50mm lenses sitting on a modern mirrorless camera.

Even allowing for the cost of the adapter, I think this represents some of the best value available if you specifically want that f/1.2 look. More importantly, I wouldn’t see the adapter as some unfortunate compromise you have to tolerate just to save money. This is a lens that deserves the respect of being used on modern cameras. The mount might belong to Canon’s DSLR era, but the images certainly haven’t suddenly become irrelevant because RF arrived.

There is also something rather appealing about putting a legendary piece of EF glass onto a modern EOS R body. You get the benefits of Canon’s current mirrorless cameras while still having access to a lens whose reputation was built over years of professional portrait, wedding, event and documentary photography.

At $1,349, it certainly isn’t an impulse purchase, but I think that misses the point. This isn’t a cheap 50mm that you buy simply because everyone should own a nifty fifty. It is a serious f/1.2 L-series prime with a distinctive rendering that photographers have loved for years.

And that $199.01 saving makes it considerably easier to justify. I don’t shoot Canon as my main system, but this is exactly the sort of lens that makes me want to convert. There are plenty of technically brilliant lenses around, but very few have built the reputation and character of the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L.

Even if I were already shooting RF, I think I would still be looking at this deal rather than automatically reaching for the newer alternative. Add the adapter, embrace the fact that you’re using an EF classic on a modern mirrorless body, and enjoy one of those lenses that reminds you why we become attached to particular pieces of glass in the first place.

Some lenses are simply tools. This one deserves a little more respect than that.

Some of the best photographs are spontaneous: the result of being in the right place at the right time. But at the other end of the spectrum, there are photographs that are purposely, meticulously staged. And that's the common theme uniting two new solo shows at CPW in Kingston, New York right now.

On the face of it, these pictures don't seem to have anything in common. In Pixy Liao's funny and intimate images, she and her partner act out a series of domestic scenes. Tanya Marcuse's, meanwhile, are dense, dark and unsettling concoctions of antlers, bones, roots, flowers and fire.

What unites them, though, is that neither photographer left anything to chance. Furthermore, both are packed with the kind of delicious detail that rewards slow, careful and inquisitive viewing.

Flipping the power dynamic

Liao, a Chinese artist who lives in New York, has been making staged self-portraits with her partner, the Japanese-born artist and musician known as Moro, for almost 20 years now. Typically, these images flip the typical power dynamics of straight couples, and of artist and muse.

In one, Moro lies semi-naked across a kitchen table between a plate of toast and half a grapefruit, a papaya on his hip, while Liao sits behind him with a spoon. In another, she carries him over her shoulder like a sack of laundry, through an impeccably tidy living room.

You'll notice the shutter release cable in almost every frame. Sometimes it's in Liao's hand, sometimes in Moro's. It's a neat visual joke, and means you're never sure who's in charge of the picture.

Titled Relationship Material, their exhibition at CPW – originally organized by the Art Institute of Chicago – brings together color photographs, soft sculptures and music videos from PIMO, the offbeat music duo the pair formed together.

Beauty and decay

Marcuse, who teaches photography at Bard College in New York, puts a lot of effort into planning her images too. For her series Woven: An Ecological Tapestry (2015-2020), she spent months gathering, arranging, painting, burning and transplanting natural materials to create vast tableaux of forest floor.

Characteristically, she combines things that never naturally appear together: spring growth in autumn landscapes, flowers and animals encased in ice, birds buried in the earth. The result is a world whose natural rhythms have been knocked out of sync, a commentary on climate change.

"Through these constructed ecologies, I attempt to hold together beauty and terror, reverence, and grief," says Marcuse. "Woven is a meditation on the fragile worlds we are in the process of undoing."

Eight key images from Woven are on show, alongside Frame, a 5 x 10-foot installation built from wood and found flora and fauna. The latter keep drying, decaying and decomposing throughout the run, making this one exhibition that rewards more than a single visit.

Pixy Liao: Relationship Material and Tanya Marcuse: Woven, An Ecological Tapestry are at CPW, 25 Dederick Street, Kingston, NY, until January 17. Also on show until November 1 is Closeness, a student exhibition by Phocus, Vassar College's photography club and community darkroom, exploring how the presence of a camera changes a moment. CPW is open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm, and admission is free.

I always think the best Christmas gifts are the ones people really want, but would probably never quite justify buying for themselves. And at just £118.99 in Amazon’s Prime sale, the DJI Neo fits that description almost perfectly.

Usually £145, the DJI Neo has dropped to just £118.99, saving you £26.01 on what is already one of DJI’s most affordable and approachable drones. At this price, I think it makes a fantastic Christmas gift, whether you are shopping for someone who has always wanted to try flying a drone or simply looking for an excuse to put something rather fun under the tree for yourself.

What makes the Neo particularly appealing as a gift is that it doesn’t feel intimidating. This isn’t a huge, complicated drone that requires you to become an experienced pilot before you can enjoy it. It weighs just 135g, can take off and land directly from the palm of your hand, and can automatically follow and film you using DJI’s intelligent shooting modes.

Despite its tiny size and relatively tiny price, it can also capture stabilised 4K video at up to 30fps, while its full-coverage propeller guards make it considerably less daunting for someone taking their first steps into drone flying. You can even control it through the DJI Fly app on your smartphone, so you don’t necessarily need to invest in a traditional controller straight away.

That combination is precisely why I think the Neo works so well as a Christmas gift. It is small enough to throw into a bag, simple enough for a complete beginner to enjoy, and capable enough that it doesn’t immediately feel like a toy once the novelty wears off.

And, of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with gifting one to yourself.

At £118.99, the DJI Neo is now inexpensive enough to become one of those slightly extravagant Christmas purchases that is actually quite easy to justify. Whether it ends up wrapped beneath the tree for somebody else or mysteriously arrives addressed to you, this is one Prime sale deal I would be very tempted by.

I always think the best holiday gifts are the ones people really want but would probably never justify buying for themselves. And at just $139 in Amazon’s Prime sale, the DJI Neo fits that description almost perfectly.

Usually $169, the DJI Neo has dropped to just $139, saving you $30 on what is already one of DJI’s most affordable and approachable drones. At this price, I think it makes a fantastic holiday gift, whether you are shopping for someone who has always wanted to try flying a drone or simply looking for an excuse to put something rather fun under the tree for yourself.

What makes the Neo particularly appealing as a gift is that it doesn’t feel intimidating. This isn’t a huge, complicated drone that requires you to become an experienced pilot before you can enjoy it. It weighs just 135g, can take off and land directly from the palm of your hand, and can automatically follow and film you using DJI’s intelligent shooting modes.

Despite its tiny size and relatively tiny price, it can also capture stabilized 4K video at up to 30fps, while its full-coverage propeller guards make it considerably less daunting for someone taking their first steps into drone flying. You can even control it through the DJI Fly app on your smartphone, so you don’t necessarily need to invest in a traditional controller straight away.

That combination is precisely why I think the Neo works so well as a holiday gift. It is small enough to throw into a bag, simple enough for a complete beginner to enjoy, and capable enough that it doesn’t immediately feel like a toy once the novelty wears off.

And, of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with gifting one to yourself.

At $139, the DJI Neo is now inexpensive enough to become one of those slightly extravagant holiday purchases that is actually quite easy to justify. Whether it ends up wrapped beneath the tree for somebody else or mysteriously arrives addressed to you, this is one Prime sale deal I would be very tempted by.

I have been testing quite a few video or cine cameras recently because – no pun intended – this is where all the action is at the moment. For various reasons, things have gone a bit quiet in terms of new mirrorless cameras, which are, as is now a popular phrase – ‘photo first’. In comparison, things seem to be ticking along very nicely in the world of cameras which are primarily intended for video applications – from social media posts all the way up to television or cinema productions. Both Canon and Nikon are really ramping up their video activities with Nikon, in particular, diving in at the deep end with its acquisition of RED, which is already a well-established name in professional cinema cameras.

However, the hot category at the moment can be loosely classified as the compact cine camera… as exemplified by Nikon’s ZR, Canon’s EOS R6 V and EOS C50 and Sony’s recently-arrived FX5… ultimately to replace the hugely popular FX3. The Canon and Nikon models are hybrid designs so they’re also well-equipped in terms of their stills capabilities… largely using the same sensors and processors as cameras in their systems that are more traditionally photographic. Video, of course, is an immensely powerful communications medium and everywhere these days – even on advertising billboards, once the exclusive domain of professional photography – so it’s not surprising that demand for higher-end ‘video-first’ cameras is increasing, but would you necessarily go down this route when the higher-end hybrid mirrorless cameras are also now so good at video?

A distinguishing aspect of the compact cine camera is its form factor, designed primarily to make for easier use with a gimbal or in a cage. To some extent these applications also dictate the control layout and the user interface plus – in most examples so far – the deletion of a built-in viewfinder. This primarily allows for a smaller, lighter, and more uniformly shaped camera body.

Yet an attraction of the compact cine camera is that it can be used handheld with all the mobility and spontaneity that this allows… which is when you’ll be wanting an EVF, right? So Sony is offering an add-on finder for the new FX5 and this looks like a good compromise solution because, for the times when you don’t need eyelevel viewfinding, you can simply take it off. ‘Smart’ hotshoes make the accessory EVF easy to do these days and I reckon it’s just what this camera needs so it’ll work as well for photographers as videographers.

An interesting aspect of the ZR is that its external control arrangement and largely monitor-based operation – ostensibly optimized for video – also work equally smoothly and efficiently when shooting stills. And, in this department, it’s pretty well the same as the Z6III except for the absence of a physical shutter (not such a big deal given the faster read-out speed of its partially-stacked sensor). With the option of an add-on EVF, would the ZR be a better buy than the Z6III? The cost of the accessory finder would reduce the current price difference, but for some photographers – especially those also shooting video for clients – the ZR could be the more flexible camera, not to mention its smoother operability compared to the old-school DSLR-derived mirrorless bodies.

It really was a revelation how nice the ZR was to use for photography – with the absence of a viewfinder being its biggest failing in this application – so perhaps if video is going to be a key driver of future mirrorless camera designs, it will actually be a positive for everybody. Flexibility and adaptability are the essentials of today’s professional imaging business – both for the practitioners and the equipment. And because of the widely varying demands now on them, these are the inherent design elements of this new breed of compact higher-end video cameras. Fitting whatever accessory component is needed for a particular application – an eyelevel viewfinder, for example – was the brilliance of Victor Hasselblad’s original modular 6x6cm SLR – and it could now also be the future of professional cameras… hybrid in both function and form.

If you needed any convincing that the Nikon ZR is as cool as it gets, this video of Aquaman himself getting a pair of all-brass Nikon ZR bodies from Nikon USA should do it. But far from a freebie, Jason Momoa will be earning his keep, using the ultra-portable cinema cameras on the road when filming the next season of his HBO Max Original documentary series On the Roam.

In a video posted on Momoa’s Instagram (@prideofgypsies), the actor and filmmaker can be seen opening a hard case to reveal the pair of custom-made bodies, and he can hardly contain his excitement, dropping a couple of expletives along the way: “These are amazing. Holy s**t,” he says, before adding “that is f*****g epic.”

A close-up of the cameras reveals that beyond the solid brass bodies, the rear of each camera’s LCD screen is etched with the same design as the compass tattoo on Momoa’s forearm. The Game of Thrones actor also comments on the cameras’ weight, owing to the solid-brass design.

But that’s not all; Momoa is also presented with a solid-brass cage from Tilta. This makes for a striking combination and will, of course, serve a very practical purpose when the cameras are rigged up for filming.

The standard Nikon ZR you or I can buy is already a notable camera. It puts RED's 12-bit cinema tech, like the Log3G10 curve and REDWideGamut, and Nikon's AF tech in the same body. The output is up to 6K footage at 60fps, whether the body is brass or not.

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Check out the best cinema cameras and the best Nikon cameras. Plus, if you like the Nikon ZR form factor but are more of a casual content creator, check out the recently announced Nikon Z5IIC.

It appears that Canon may be looking to expand its current lineup of non-L-series macro lenses for budget-conscious RF-mount shooters.

According to a new patent (publication number: 2026-155997) published by the Japan Patent Office on October 6, the company has at least devised a 90mm f/2.8, 100mm f/2.8, 130mm f/2.8, and 180mm f/4.0 prime lens featuring a distinct optical design from the company’s current L-series (Luxury) macro lenses, but that would still achieve life-size subject reproduction.

Currently, photographers navigating Canon’s full-frame mirrorless lineup face a divide in macro options. The accessible RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM offers everyday shooting but tops out at 1:2 (0.5x) magnification.

And the flagship RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM delivers sharp performance and 1.4x reproduction, but carries a steep price tag and is on the bulky side.

While there’s no saying which budget Canon could truly be gearing these patented designs toward, it would make sense if the lenses were affordable, lightweight, non-L primes capable of true 1:1 life-size reproduction without the weight or cost of L-series glass.

And according to the patent, Canon could be trying to solve this size and cost challenge with a nifty optical formula.

Instead of extending the front barrel during close focusing, the system contains a five-group structure with two counter-moving internal focus groups to achieve 1:1 magnification while suppressing focus breathing.

What’s more, a negative rear element group shortens the overall barrel length, while a simplified single-element front group comprising low-dispersion glass, in theory, would keep chromatic aberrations in check without adding unnecessary weight.

While patent filings never guarantee production, this latest publication does make it seem likely that Canon is actively developing 1:1 magnification lens offerings for its mid-range RF lineup.

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Here’s our macro expert’s take on the best macro lenses. You can also read our pick of the best lenses for Canon DSLRs

We rather like Voigtländer's Nokton 23mm f/1.2 lens for APS-C cameras - it's beautifully made, very sharp if you stop down to f/4, and can produce gorgeous bokeh wide open at f/1.2. The lens has been available for Nikon DX and Fujifilm X-series cameras for some time, but only in a black finish. But now Fujifilm X shooters have the option to pre-order a silver version of the lens, making it a perfect match for silver editions of cameras like the X-T5, X-M5 and X-E5. The pre-order price is currently $599, making it a handy $50 cheaper than the current black edition.

Both color options appear identical in every other way, meaning you get an all-metal barrel, and though there's no autofocus, there are electronical contacts enabling data communication with the camera body. Inside are ten optical elements, including a complex double-sided aspherical element and two ‘abnormal partial-dispersion’ glass elements that aim to minimize chromatic aberration. The 23mm focal length makes the lens ideal for street photography, equating to 35mm on a full-frame body. Despite the fast maximum aperture and solid build, Voigtländer has managed to keep weight down to 240g, so the lens feels right at home on a camera like the X-M5. Check out our full review for more details.

And that's not the only Nokton lens to get the silver treatment: the Nokton 35mm f/1.2 for Fujifilm X mount can also now be had in silver (the black version has been available since 2021). The lens features an almost symmetrical, Double-Gauss layout, which helps reduce optical aberrations over a large focal plane. It has 12 aperture blades for smooth, rounded bokeh, a minimum focus distance of 0.3 meters and a front filter size of 46mm. Expect to pay $649 for the silver version, which matches the price of its black counterpart.

Both the Nokton 23mm f/1.2 and Nokton 35mm f/1.2 can now be pre-ordered in silver from B&H.

Japan’s best-selling camera rankings often offer a deeper hint at what’s trending in the camera industry. But there’s one Sony camera that keeps popping up on best-seller lists, despite now being three years old: The Sony A7C II.

The Sony A7C II takes Sony’s 33MP full-frame sensor and crams it into a much smaller body than cameras from the A7 series. Part of that small design is placing the viewfinder in one corner, more like a rangefinder than an SLR. That, mixed with the fact that it’s also available in silver, makes the A7C II not just Sony’s most compact full-frame mirrorless, but arguably the most retro.

The Sony A7C II is a regular attender for best-seller lists, even as the camera ages. But the camera’s popularity means deals are often small discounts. The A7C II body-only has just dropped back down to the lowest price that the camera has seen in 2026 during the Prime Day deals.

The camera currently has a $400 discount on the body in the US. That’s the lowest that the camera has been since tariff price adjustments last year – though it’s not the only time the camera has sat at $2,098 this year.

The A7C II’s mix of an oversized sensor in an undersized design earns the camera a spot on Digital Camera World’s best Sony camera list. In the review, DCW’s Gareth Bevan said the A7C II is “still one of the best options for content creators looking for the smallest and most compact camera, while still getting pro-level features.”

The A7C II shares the same resolution as another Sony camera that continues to dominate charts: The Sony A7 V. Where the A7C II is built for portability, the newer A7 V is built to blend that full-frame sensor with speed, delivering a 30 fps burst speed as well as 4K60 video oversampled from 7K.

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Take a look at the best Sony cameras, or the best cameras for travel.

Viral cameras like the Kodak Charmera have brought tiny cameras back into the spotlight – but tiny cameras are far from a modern concept. In the mid-1950s, Leica built a half-frame 35mm film camera that measured only 10 cm – about 2.5 inches – tall.

The Leica Box camera is a prototype from the mid-1950s. The camera measured just 100 x 64 x 48mm – about 3.9 x 2.5 x 1.8 inches – and used a fixed tiny Leitz Summaron lens.

Despite the small size, the camera took 35mm film loaded using a special cassette system. The Leica Box shot in half-frame format, getting twice as many shots per roll. And while many modern compact cameras skip the viewfinder, the Leica Box still fit in a tiny optical viewfinder, a shutter speed dial, and an aperture ring around the built-in lens.

While the Box camera is tiny, the compact camera bears the classic styling that makes it look more like a miniature member of the longstanding Leica M system family. The camera was made with solid metal, finished with chrome and black vulcanite.

The Leica Box, sadly, never made it out of prototype stage – making it extremely rare to find one. But the Leitz Photographica Auction has what it believes is the only working Leica Box in existence. The only other Leica Box camera known to exist is in the Leica Museum, but it doesn’t work.

The camera’s designers appeared to have considered a few different lens options, including a 2.8 cm (28mm), 3.5cm (35mm), and a 5cm (50mm). The prototype up for auction used a fixed 3.5cm (35mm) lens, but the non-working version in the museum had a 2.8cm (28mm) lens.

The Leica Box, with serial number 000.01, will be up for auction beginning on October 29. Leitz Photographica Auction currently estimates the camera could fetch as much as €500,000 – or about $562,875 / £424,006 / AU$805,921 / CA$799,902.

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Love tiny retro cameras? You'll probably love the Instax Pal 2. Or, take a look at the best keychain cameras or the best film cameras.

Amazon has just dropped the Birdfy Feeder Metal to $175.99, down from $239.99, saving you a very welcome $64 on what has become my favourite smart gadget for the garden. I loved this clever bird feeder when I reviewed it, and at this reduced price I think it becomes even easier to recommend.

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Before testing the Birdfy Feeder Metal, I enjoyed feeding the birds in my garden but had never really thought about monitoring exactly what was visiting throughout the day. That changed remarkably quickly once I installed it. The built-in 1080p camera, motion detection, and Birdfy app mean you can receive notifications whenever something arrives, while AI bird identification can even help tell you exactly what species has stopped by.

What impressed me immediately was just how well made it is. The metal construction feels far more substantial than I expected from a smart bird feeder, while the adjustable perch can be moved to accommodate everything from smaller garden birds to larger visitors. Mounting is also flexible, with options for a pole, wall, or tree, and I found the whole installation process refreshingly straightforward when setting up my review sample.

The real magic starts once the birds discover it. I quickly found myself checking notifications to see which regular visitors had returned, while the app organizes recordings and bird activity in a way that makes the whole experience genuinely enjoyable rather than overwhelming. Image quality from the 1080p camera is more than good enough for identifying birds, watching their behaviour, and sharing clips with friends and family.

At $239.99, I already thought the Birdfy Feeder Metal was a fantastic device for bird lovers, but at $175.99 it is a particularly good deal. Saving $64 on my favourite smart garden gadget makes this one of the more unusual Amazon deals I would happily recommend, whether you want to discover what is visiting your own garden or are looking for a brilliant gift for the birdwatcher in your life.

I’ve shot with more than half a dozen screen-free cameras, and they each have their own unique quirks. But most of them have a small sensor and can't shoot video. But there is one camera that feels like unplugging yet still houses a larger one-inch sensor and video: The Fujifilm X Half.

The Fujifilm X Half technically isn’t a screen-free camera, as it actually has two: a more typical LCD screen plus a smaller one for swiping through different film simulations. But the X Half has a film camera mode that locks the screen, so I couldn’t look through my images until I had shot a full “roll.”

When I gave up shooting photos on my iPhone for a week with screen-free compact cameras, I found unplugging so liberating that I lasted nearly two weeks instead. The Fujifilm X Half was one of my favorites.

Screen-free cameras are a growing trend, and there are now quite a few of them to choose from. But cameras like the fantastic Camp Snap CS-Pro and the Flashback One35 V2 are meant to snap photos that look like early digital cameras with smaller sensors and lower resolutions.

The X Half feels like the “halfway” point between screen-free cameras and advanced compact cameras. The X Half has a screen-free mode, but the 17.7MP one-inch sensor beats cheaper options – and it still shoots video.

The real reason that I fell in love with the X Half, however, is because the film-like feel isn’t just in the camera’s “film” advance lever, retro dials, or screen-free mode. The photos from the X Half, while digital, still have a retro charm to them. There’s a built-in mode for creating light leaks or shooting with the softer look of a film lens. Or, the camera can shoot with one of Fujifilm’s iconic film simulations. The retro compact camera can even shoot double exposures.

The X Half is often misunderstood. It isn't a cheaper version of the viral Fujifilm X100VI, but rather something else entirely. It's meant to be a camera that's fun to shoot and doesn't need photo edits. The X Half is a camera for replacing my iPhone shots and feeling more unplugged, not a camera for replacing my mirrorless.

When the X Half launched, I thought the original $849 list price was too high, but that list price later fell down by $200. A temporary price drop during Prime Day brought the X Half to its lowest price yet in the US: $449. And even though Prime Day is now over, several retailers still have that lowest-ever price on the X Half.

I'm having a hard time resisting the temptation to add this deal to my cart!

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For more inspiration, check out the best screen-free cameras or the best retro cameras.

Amazon has knocked $92.70 off the Canon 12x36 IS III Image Stabilized Binoculars, bringing them down to $786.30 from their usual $879 price.

That is a very welcome saving on one of Canon’s most interesting high-magnification binoculars, particularly if you want extra reach without having to carry a tripod everywhere you go.

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The headline feature here is obviously Canon’s image stabilization. At 12x magnification, even small hand movements can become distracting, but the built-in stabilization helps calm that movement and gives you a much steadier view. It makes a real difference when you are watching birds, wildlife, aircraft, sporting events or anything else at distance.

The 36mm objective lenses also strike a useful balance between light gathering and portability. These are not tiny binoculars, but they remain considerably easier to carry than many large high-powered models, while still giving you enough magnification to pull distant subjects much closer.

I have always found image-stabilized binoculars particularly interesting because they solve one of the biggest problems with higher magnification optics. A conventional 12x binocular can look fantastic on paper, but if you cannot keep the image steady enough to see the extra detail, that magnification quickly becomes less useful. Canon’s stabilization helps you actually make use of that additional reach.

At $786.30, these are still premium binoculars, but saving $92.70 certainly makes them more tempting. If you have been looking for a powerful pair of binoculars for wildlife, birdwatching, aviation or long-distance observation, the Canon 12x36 IS III offers something very different from a conventional pair, and this Amazon deal makes them considerably easier to justify.

The King Island scrubtit is one of Australia’s rarest and smallest birds. So when award-winning wildlife photographer Brad Leue visited King Island's Boulder Wildlife Sanctuary, with the audacious ambition of photographing one, the odds were stacked against him.

Experts estimate that only 100 King Island scrubtits are left, a subspecies of the much more prevalent Tasmanian scrubtit. But at only 12cm in length and with markings that blend into their habitat, spotting one is extremely rare – and photographing one is even rarer.

Brad was well prepared. He analysed sightings of the birds to pinpoint potential hotspots and armed himself with his trusty Canon EOS R5 and 100-500mm super-telephoto lens. But with only a week in which to photograph the island’s wildlife, the clock was ticking.

A few days in and the scrubtit was nowhere to be seen, but on the fifth day, Brad’s luck changed. While operating by the coast and exploring the edge of a forest, a little brown job appeared. He told me: “In this type of environment, the targets are mainly small birds, so I had my camera set up for fast movement.” The scrubtit didn’t hang around: “I was only able to grab a few shots that were in focus before the individual ducked back into the forest.”

Thankfully, the encounter enabled Brad to capture two sharp images, which he sent to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy for confirmation. “I was confident I’d photographed the right species, but given how rare they are, I also had a bit of doubt.” Thankfully, it was a King Island scrubtit, making Brad a member of an exclusive club of photographers who have managed to photograph the rare bird.

When asked about the importance of photography for conservation, Brad told me: “We’re a very visual species. Through conservation photography, people can connect with some of the world’s most vulnerable species, allowing them to care and empathise on a much deeper level.”

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If you're interested in the role photography has to play in wildlife conservation, over 300 custom-made camera traps spread across an area the size of Cape Verde make important wildlife discoveries. Photography is at the heart of remarkable discovery of a new cat species – even if it was science that delivered the definitive proof. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days has delivered another tempting Insta360 discount, with the Insta360 GO Ultra Essentials Bundle now down to just $385 from $479.

That saves you $94 on one of the smallest and most versatile 4K cameras around, making this a particularly good deal for anyone who wants to capture footage without carrying a conventional action camera setup.

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The GO Ultra is all about making filming as effortless as possible. The tiny standalone camera can be worn or mounted in places where a larger action camera simply becomes awkward, making it brilliant for hands-free POV footage, travel, family adventures and those unusual angles that can instantly make a video feel more interesting. Despite its incredibly compact size, it can still capture detailed 4K footage.

That small size is really what makes the GO Ultra special. You can attach it using Insta360’s magnetic mounting system, clip it to clothing or position it in creative places without feeling like you are carrying a full camera rig. Pair it with the Action Pod and you also get a much more conventional shooting experience when you need it, along with significantly longer overall battery life. Insta360 rates the standalone camera for up to 70 minutes, extending to as much as 200 minutes when used with the Action Pod under its test conditions.

I also like that Insta360 has moved the GO Ultra to expandable microSD storage, which gives you far more flexibility than relying on fixed internal capacity. It supports cards up to 2TB, so you can carry plenty of storage for a day of filming without worrying about running out of space.

At $385, this is a very good price for such a flexible little camera system. Saving $94 takes a meaningful chunk off the regular cost, and if you want something genuinely tiny that can capture high-quality 4K footage without getting in the way, the Insta360 GO Ultra Essentials Bundle is one of the more interesting action-camera deals I have seen in the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale.

Amazon's October sale is now in full swing as we enter day two, and we have been having a look at the best Big Deal Day dashcam deals. So if you’ve been thinking about grabbing a new dashcam, this is your chance to grab a decent one.

I’ve been on the hunt for one myself, which means I’ve been deep-diving through the offers to find the best value dashcams out there. And luckily, this year’s Amazon October sale hasn’t disappointed.

• 🇺🇸 See all of today's best US Amazon camera deals
• 🇬🇧 See all of today's best UK Amazon camera deals

From simple plug-and-play models to fully loaded 4K dashcams with GPS and night vision, there’s something in the mix for every budget. Some of the biggest names in the game, like Nextbase and Vantrue - are offering real savings, making it the perfect time to upgrade your car’s protection or pick up your very first unit.

I’ve filtered out the fluff to bring you only the deals that are actually worth your money. These are the dashcams I’d trust on my own windscreen, and with savings this strong, it makes sense to act fast. Whether you're commuting daily or planning a road trip this summer, there’s real peace of mind to be had here.

Just remember - these deals are due to end at midnight October 7. So if a dashcam’s been on your wishlist, now’s the moment to make it happen.

🇺🇸 Best dashcam deals in US

🇬🇧 Best dashcam deals in UK

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Best Uber dash cams
Best budget dash cams

Amazon has knocked $200 off Canon’s creator-focused EOS R50 V kit, bringing the camera with the RF-S 14-30mm F4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens down to just $749 from $949.

That is a seriously tempting price for a compact mirrorless setup designed specifically with vloggers, filmmakers, and content creators in mind.

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The EOS R50 V takes the approachable nature of Canon’s R50 series and pushes it much further towards video. It is small, lightweight, and easy to carry, but still gives you the flexibility of interchangeable lenses and the image quality you would expect from a modern APS-C mirrorless camera.

Video is where this camera really makes sense. It offers strong 4K performance, Canon’s dependable autofocus, and controls that are geared towards creators who spend as much time filming as they do taking stills. Whether you are recording YouTube videos, travel content, social media clips, or simply documenting everyday life, it is a setup that feels designed to make the process straightforward.

The included RF-S 14-30mm F4-6.3 IS STM PZ is also a particularly good match for the R50 V. Its wide-angle coverage is ideal for filming yourself at arm’s length, while the built-in power zoom makes it much easier to achieve smooth, controlled zoom movements when shooting video.

At $749 for the camera and lens together, this Amazon deal makes the EOS R50 V considerably more appealing. Saving $200 on a complete creator-focused kit gives you a lot of camera for the money, particularly if you want something more capable than a smartphone without stepping up to a larger and more expensive full-frame setup.

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days is now in full swing, and one of my favorite deals of the entire sale has landed on what is still my favorite action camera on the market right now.

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 has dropped to just $309, down from $399.99, saving you $90.99 on a seriously impressive 8K action camera.
Just make sure you tick the on-page coupon before checking out to get the full discount.

I have used plenty of action cameras over the years, but the Ace Pro 2 is the one I would choose today. It gets the balance between image quality, ease of use, and genuinely useful features just right, rather than simply chasing bigger numbers on a spec sheet.

Its headline feature is 8K video, which gives you a huge amount of detail from such a compact camera. It also performs particularly well when conditions become more challenging, with strong low-light performance and excellent stabilization making it a camera I would happily take traveling, hiking, cycling, or pretty much anywhere I wanted to capture an adventure without carrying a larger setup.

I am also a huge fan of the flip-up touchscreen, which makes framing yourself far easier when vlogging or filming solo. Add Insta360’s smart shooting modes and increasingly polished software, and the Ace Pro 2 feels less like a conventional action camera and more like a genuinely versatile little content-creation tool.

At its regular $399.99 price, I already think the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is one of the strongest action cameras you can buy. At $309 in the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale, though, I think it is a steal. Getting my favorite action camera on the market, complete with 8K video, for just over $300 makes this one of the deals I would be seriously tempted by before the price goes back up.

Maternal instincts transcend all species, be it on land or below water, and at this year’s Ocean Photographer of the Year Awards (Ocean POTY), there were two particularly intimate scenes of a mother’s love for her young, both gaining commendation from the contest judges.

Underwater photographer Andrea Michelutti created both images in Anilao, a diving hotspot in the Philippines.

The first is of a harlequin crab resting at the entrance of a tubular sponge, carefully tending her cluster of orange eggs. The second is of a shrimp carrying a clutch of eggs, sheltering within coral branches.

Andrea Michelutti's gear and settings

• Sony RX100 VII (compact)
• Lens: 24-200mm f/2.8-4.5 (built-in)
• Marelux housing
• Marelux Apollo S strobes
• Focal Length: 29.10 mm (in 35mm: 79 mm)
• Exposure: 1/1000 sec; / f/11 / ISO 100

On shooting the harlequin crab, Michelutti told the contest organizers: “Capturing this rare moment of maternal care required several dives at the same site, waiting for the crab to emerge.”

And when it finally did, the diver used a snoot light – a specialized tube or optical device attached to an underwater strobe or flash to concentrate the light beam.

According to Michelutti, this isolated the mother crab from the “busy reef,” revealing an “intimate glimpse of life” hidden within the sponge. Michelutti also used this snooting technique to photograph the shrimp.

Andrea Michelutti's gear and settings

• Sony RX100 VII (compact)
• Lens: 24-200mm f/2.8-4.5 (built-in)
• Marelux housing
• Marelux Apollo S strobes
• Focal Length: 22.50 mm (in 35mm: 61 mm)
• Exposure: ISO 64 / f/11, 1/1000 seconds

The photographer explained how, this time, he placed the snoot light behind the coral to create the “fiery glow” surrounding the eggs. At the same time, the diver used a front light to reveal details of the mother shrimp’s body, taking care not to disturb what he called its “fragile habitat.”

Both of these endearing scenes struck a chord with the Ocean POTY judges. The vibrant image of the shrimp transporting her young placed second in the “The Ocean Unseen: Hidden Worlds” category. And the image of the harlequin crab protecting her offspring was a finalist in the same category.

Mitsuna Kawai's blackwater portrait of a ribbonfish among salps won the "Ocean Unseen" category at this year’s contest. But the overall title of Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 went to Julien Anton for his paternal scene of a father seahorse with his offspring.

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Here’s our pick of the best underwater housings for cameras and phones.

Amazon has knocked a substantial $199.01 off one of Canon’s most legendary lenses, with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM now down to $1,349 from its usual $1,548.01 price.

This is not the newest 50mm in Canon’s lineup, but that is almost beside the point. The EF 50mm f/1.2L has built a reputation over the years for its distinctive rendering, beautiful background blur, and unmistakable character.

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Its headline feature is, of course, that huge f/1.2 maximum aperture. It gives you exceptional control over depth of field and allows the lens to pull a subject away from the background in a way that slower 50mm lenses simply cannot match. It is particularly well suited to portraits, weddings, events, street photography, and low-light shooting, where that extra light-gathering ability can make a real difference.

What has always made the EF 50mm f/1.2L special, though, is not simply sharpness. There are newer lenses that will beat it on laboratory charts, but this lens has a look of its own. Wide open, it can produce wonderfully soft transitions between sharp and out-of-focus areas, with the kind of creamy bokeh and three-dimensional rendering that has made it a favorite among portrait and wedding photographers for years.

It is also built like a proper Canon L-series lens, with a reassuringly solid construction, fast USM autofocus, and the sort of handling that makes it feel right at home on a professional camera body. And while it was originally designed for Canon DSLRs, EF shooters are not the only ones who can enjoy it. With Canon’s EF-EOS R adapter, it remains a very attractive option for photographers using the company’s current mirrorless cameras.

At $1,349 in the Amazon sale, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM is still an investment, but this is not just another standard 50mm prime. It is a lens with real history, character, and a look that many photographers still actively seek out. Saving nearly $200 makes this legendary piece of Canon glass considerably more tempting, especially if you have always wanted to experience what an f/1.2 L-series prime can do.

When researchers in West Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire Taï National Park spotted vibrant orange, yellow, and black feathers, what followed looked almost like choreography. With one researcher with binoculars and another with a camera, the team managed to capture photos of a bird species that hasn’t been spotted for 13 years: The Ghana cukooshrike.

Field research fellows Paulo Ditzel and Stephanie Bartlett were nearing the end of a six-month, four-country expedition with the International Bird Conservation Partnership earlier this summer when they were scanning the trees for birds in Taï National Park.

Ditzel first spotted the bird and used his binoculars to relay the bird’s location in the tree canopy to Bartlett. “If I had seen that bird with anyone else, it wouldn’t have worked out,” Ditzel said, “and we would not have gotten a picture. We have this perfect little way.”

The Ghana cukooshrike spends much of its time in the canopy of Africa’s forests – which, combined with its vulnerable status as a species, means that one hasn’t been spotted since 2013. The new photos from the researchers recover a “lost” species and hint that conservation efforts in the region are working.

“I got a photo of the bird before I saw it,” Bartlett said.

As Bartlett took photos, the cukooshrike moved through the canopy along with some chestnut-capped flycatchers and a white-breasted nigrita. Dietzel ran back to the station to give the rest of the research team a chance to see the lost species as Bartlett continued to record the bird.

But by the time Dietzel returned, the bird had disappeared into the canopy again. The bird only reappeared again after most of the team had returned to the base, when the cukooshrike snatched a white caterpillar.

Director for The Search For Lost Birds John Mittermeier described the photos as “probably the best photos ever taken of this bird.” The Ghana cukkoshrike’s preference for thick canopies and vulnerable population makes it a rare bird to photograph.

Bartlett also captured what's believed to be the first videos of the species.

Birding in West Africa’s forests is often a challenge. “They’re scared of you,” Bartlett explained. “You don’t get close to them, and so often you have to use the camera as a tool for identification.”

Researchers are hopeful that the Ghana cukooshrike’s sighting suggests that conservation efforts in Taï National Park are working, while recovering the lost species indicates further efforts are needed.

Taï National Park is part of the Upper Guinean rainforest, an ecosystem under threat as logging and agriculture shrink the rainforest’s size.

In the 1970s, the Ghana cukooshrike was spotted frequently, with 20 sightings within just 62 days. But according to the Search for Lost Birds, in a nearly two-year survey in 2005 and 2007, the bird was only spotted two times. The last time the bird was photographed was in 2013.

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Amazon Prime Big Deal Days has delivered a huge discount on one of GoPro’s most exciting cameras, with the GoPro Max2 now down to just $299 from its regular $499.99 price.

That saves you a very cool $200.99 on GoPro’s flagship 360 camera, and at this price, it becomes a seriously tempting option for anyone wanting to experiment with immersive video.

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The Max2 is GoPro’s latest-generation 360 camera, capable of capturing true 8K 360-degree video using its dual-sensor setup. The beauty of shooting in 360 is that you do not have to worry nearly as much about framing while you are recording. Instead, you can capture everything around you and choose your composition afterwards, making it particularly useful for action sports, travel, motorcycles, skiing, cycling and adventures where pointing a conventional camera in exactly the right direction is not always possible.

GoPro has also packed the Max2 with features that make it far more than a novelty camera. It can capture 29MP 360 photos, offers 10-bit color and GP-Log for creators who want more flexibility when grading their footage, and uses six microphones to capture immersive audio. I also really like the replaceable glass lenses, which can simply be twisted off and swapped if one gets damaged – something that makes a lot of sense on a camera designed to be taken into some pretty demanding environments.

The real appeal, though, is what you can do with the footage afterwards. A 360 camera allows you to reframe your video into a conventional shot, follow a subject, create dramatic sweeping movements, or produce those almost drone-like invisible-selfie-stick shots that have become synonymous with modern 360 cameras. GoPro’s Quik app also offers AI-powered object tracking and editing tools to make turning all that footage into something shareable considerably easier.

At $499.99, the Max2 is a serious investment if you are simply curious about 360 video. At $299, however, this Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discount changes the equation considerably. Saving more than $200 on a current GoPro that can shoot true 8K 360 video makes this one of the more eye-catching action-camera deals I have seen in the sale, particularly for anyone who has been waiting for the right excuse to jump into 360 filmmaking.

Have you still got shoeboxes or draws full of old photos that you wish you could view on your computer and phone? You are not alone - lots of us have cherished memories on negatives or slides that we wish were digitized so that they can be seen and shared with family and friends. Some great deals on Kodak scanners in Amazon's Big Deals sale could be just what you need - but be warned the sale ends tomorrow.

There are lots of film scanner options around, but Kodak has made its name in this area with a range of all-in-one scanners, where you don't need a computer to get your images digitized. And what's more, they have built-in screens that are great for helping you find the best frames from your collection.

Check out our guides to the best film scanners and to the best slide viewers

The Nikon Z6 II has just received another price cut, dropping to $1,296.95 in the Amazon Prime sale and saving you $453. At that price, it represents excellent value for a full-frame mirrorless camera that still delivers a strong combination of image quality, speed, handling, and versatility.

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If you have been thinking about upgrading to one of the best mirrorless cameras but do not need the huge file sizes that come with a 40MP-plus sensor, the Z6 II remains a very compelling option. Its 24.5MP full-frame sensor strikes a great balance between detail, low-light performance, and manageable file sizes, making it equally well suited to stills and video.

I may be slightly biased as a former Nikon shooter, but the Z6 II is still a camera I would happily recommend. It is well built, comfortable to use, and capable enough for everything from travel and portraits to events, wildlife, and everyday photography. At this reduced price, it becomes an even stronger choice for anyone wanting a dependable full-frame system without spending flagship money.

The Nikon Z6 II builds on everything that made the original Z6 such a strong all-rounder, adding dual processors, a second card slot, and faster burst shooting. It delivers excellent full-frame performance without pushing you into the higher megapixel count or price of the Z7 II, while remaining a very capable alternative to the newer Nikon Z6 III.

Image quality is exactly what I would expect from Nikon, with rich color, plenty of detail, and files that are equally enjoyable to edit or share straight from the camera. The addition of a second card slot also gives the Z6 II a more professional edge, while its autofocus system does a very good job of tracking people and animals.

The 4K 60p video mode does come with a crop, but if, like me, you tend to shoot most footage at 24p or 30p, that is unlikely to be a major concern. At this new lower price, the Z6 II remains one of the most affordable and appealing ways to step into Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless system.

See our guide to the Best lenses for the Nikon Z6 II