I love photographing the stars, but my favorite lazy photographer astrophotography hack is to start a time-lapse – and then go to sleep. The GoPro Mission 1 Pro seemed ripe for such a shot.

GoPro says that the battery life is the best yet, and the larger sensor improves low-light performance, so I abandoned the newest GoPro on a beach overnight.

The Mission 1 Pro isn’t the first GoPro that I’ve used to photograph the night sky. I’ve previously set up my GoPro Hero 12 Black on a time-lapse during northern lights activity so I could move around and snap a variety of different compositions with my mirrorless camera.

I was surprised at how well the action camera then managed to capture the night sky – but in the past I’ve always used the GoPro Volta battery tripod in order to record a complete time-lapse from darkness to sunset.

Curious to see just how much the camera’s new 1-inch sensor and larger battery make a difference, I set the new Mission 1 Pro on a tripod just after midnight and started recording.

I set the camera to create a 4K timelapse, as I wanted more detail than FullHD but didn’t want a lot of noise with the starlight conditions. That meant the still images were around 8MP.

I set the camera up to use a slower 20-second shutter speed, to let in the most light and blur the lake. I programmed the camera to take a photo every minute, shooting both an assembled video and JPEG images, and then went to sleep.

Under these settings – and a hot summer evening – the Mission 1 Pro managed to record from about 00:20 to 05:30. That was long enough that I had to cut the last second off my video, as the battery lasted long enough to run just past sunrise and overexpose the last few frames.

That’s an impressive length of time for such a small camera to keep shooting without plugging into an external battery pack.

The still photos that the GoPro stitched into a video are equally impressive, coming from such a small camera and as 8MP shots. The stars aren’t quite tack-sharp, and I did pull up the shadows a bit to see more detail from the lake shore, but, I thought the shots were very good coming from an action cam rather than a mirrorless camera.

Yes, I could get more resolution by using 8K or shooting 50MP RAW photos – but I wanted to balance low-light quality and battery life. Considering the GoPro still recorded past sunrise, now I’m eager to try an 8K timelapse next.

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro feels like a natural evolution for the popular action camera maker. The camera still looks, feels and operates like a GoPro, but that boosted sensor and battery are a welcome change.

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I also tried out the GoPro Mission 1 Pro as a point-and-shoot camera. Read more about the best action cameras.

Producing a screen-free digital camera in 2026 is a wonderfully eccentric idea. Which is precisely why it appeals to me.

Of course, aside from the gimmick factor, omitting an LCD keeps production costs down. It’s allowed for a growing number of cheap and cheerful, low-effort point-and-shoot digicams like the popular Camp Snap 2 and Flashback One35 V2 to be brought to market and find engagement with an audience of younger, fledgling photographers.

For both seasoned shooters and newcomers alike, however, the inability to ‘chimp’ at captured images via a rear LCD (as there isn’t one) enables users to be more present and in the moment. Like we were in the analog film era, without even realizing it.

This form of ‘digital detox’ is something that, increasingly, we all seem to value – whatever our age or skillset.

At the higher end of screen-free photography options, there’s the Leica M11-D, which its maker argues allows for users to engage in a ‘purer’ form of photography. Even Fujifilm’s X Half compact has a Film Camera Mode that enables us to shoot ‘blind’.

It’s another way to rewind the clock to the perceived innocence of the analog era and get teens off their screens – something that, even without the bans on under-16s in the UK and Australia accessing social media, some were already gravitating toward.

Screenless digital compacts aside, pocket-money priced disposable film cameras like Fujifilm’s QuickSnap have also recently seen their own stock rise among the young. Surprisingly, today the single-use / disposable camera market is worth $1.15 billion is and expected to keep rising to $2.6 million within a decade.

The downside for users is that developing a roll of 27 snapshots can cost as much as buying the plastic, screen-free disposable unit in the first place.

Better, then, to invest in a screen-free digital camera on which an infinite number of shots can be taken without spending a small fortune – and then select only the best for print.

Like Instax and Polaroid instant cameras, there’s the anticipation of waiting to see how my captured images look when I’m shooting only with an optical viewfinder – and then having to connect the camera to a computer or smartphone to see them.

With these screen-free cameras, I’m automatically thinking less about the gear and more about the image – and that can only be a good thing.

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See if the best screen-free digital cameras can win you over with their distraction-free designs. Alternatively, you can go full old-school with the best film cameras and best 35mm film.

I’m a Canon professional photographer, so I'm a big Canon fan and I only shoot with EOS cameras. I still use Canon DSLRs for studio stuff and day-to-day photography when I don’t need an EOS R5 Mark II’s super-fast AI AF and I’m not shooting small moving targets.

But one of the reasons I like using full-frame mirrorless Canon cameras like the R6 Mark III is that they have a clever built-in 1.6x crop mode. I find this useful when I’m traveling light and only have one lens on my camera, such as during a recent city break in Madrid, Spain.

A quick flick to crop mode and 100mm becomes 160mm for a little more reach, to help me compose on distant subjects, parts of a scene or interesting elements of architecture.

Which is why I was intrigued by the Digital Telephoto Converter mode available on cameras like the full-frame EOS R8. This ‘Digital tele-conv’ mode is on the first page of the red shooting menu, just beneath the cropping mode/aspect ratio option.

I was excited to try it out and had high hopes, as there are 2.0x and 4.0x digital telephoto options, but I very quickly discovered that it has some big flaws.

While you can shoot RAW and use the crop mode, the Digital tele-conv is only available when you shoot JPEG (due to necessary in-camera interpolation) which already restricts the quality before we even get to digital croppage.

It also only allows you to use one central AF point (or box), which is fixed, and tracking frames are not displayed. Initially I found this was fine, until I realized that it affects metering for off-center subjects – as the above photos illustrate.

However, while clever in-camera interpolation somehow keeps the 2.0x and 4.0x images at 24MP 6000 x 4000 pixels at 350dpi, they are simply heavily cropped (or zoomed-in) – so image quality is, well, rubbish. Images look low-res and unsharp.

The Digital tele-conv can also be used in conjunction with the EOS R8's 1.6x crop mode to give you 3.2x or 6.4x magnification, but again – it’s just heavily cropping into an already cropped image, so quality drops off rapidly.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Digital tele-conv mode disappears from future EOS cameras. It’s not available on the EOS R5 Mark II for good reason.

If you need extra reach for Canon lenses, get a proper teleconverter (which Canon calls extenders) for your telephoto lenses. Canon Extenders are available in 1.4x and 2x in both EF and RF mounts, and will deliver far superior results to these digital in-camera crops.

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Take a look at the best teleconverters in 2026 to see how they work and what to look for. And of course, you can check out the best Canon telephoto lenses and best Canon superzoom lenses to get more reach without any optical compromise.

Dycam Inc was an American technology company based in Chatsworth, California. It was best known for developing and manufacturing the Dycam Model 1, which is widely recognized as the world's first commercially available digital camera.

Fujifilm had created and shown its Fujix DS-1P digital camera in 1988, in cooperation with Toshiba, but it was never commercially available – not even in Japan.

When the Dycam was released, in November 1990, $995 bought you a camera capable of taking 32 black-and-white, 8-bit images, each one just 376 x 240 pixels or 0.09MP. They were stored as highly compressed JPEG images, so as to fit all 32 into a single megabyte of memory.

And that memory was volatile, meaning that if the batteries went flat you lost your photos. But assuming your photos were still there, they could be uploaded to your computer using a cable.

The lens was a fixed-focus, 8.5mm (35mm equivalent), f/4.5 optic. It had a built-in electronic flash and an electronic shutter with speeds from 1/30sec to 1/1000sec (1/25sec when using flash), all packed into a very modern-looking, landline telephone-handset-style case in black plastic.

Power was supplied by two nickel-cadmium AA-sized rechargeable batteries, under the hood. Battery drain was fairly high, thus they batteries needed frequent recharging, so the camera came with a nifty recharging dock/stand.

Once charged, before you could take any photos, you had to connect your camera to a computer to download the software that made it run. Another reason to keep the camera charged!

The whole affair was pretty basic by today’s standards. But it beat the competition – because there was no competition!

The computer accessory company, Logitech, wanted to market a camera. It saw cameras as the next big thing in computer peripherals, so it licensed the basic technology from Dycam for one million dollars and set about creating its own software to run the camera.

The Logitech Fotoman-1 came out in mid-1991 with very similar specs to the Dycam, but a few differences. Because Logitech was originally a Swiss firm, rather than having it made under contract by Dycam, the Fotoman was made by the Swiss watch-making firm that had made its first mice.

The big, visible difference was that the Fotoman cameras came in an off-white shell, rather than Dycam’s black. Essential specs were identical to the Dycam, but Logitech offered improved firmware and software that offered additional features. The software was more frequently updated, too.

More importantly, though, Logitech had worldwide distribution channels, while the Dycam models were made and sold in the USA only. Thus, the Logitech sold a lot more than the Dycam and is often thought to be the first consumer-level digital camera. And it’s almost true!

Logitech’s brand recognition and aggressive marketing (free camera bag sent when you registered your purchase and similar promotions) also helped with sales.

Both cameras were classed as “consumer” cameras, but the high price (£499 in the UK) meant limited uptake. So, in the beginning, both were aimed at businesses such as real estate agents and insurance adjusters, who needed a quick turnaround.

Following the Model 1, Dycam continued to refine its technology with subsequent versions including Models 2, 3 and 4, before eventually expanding into more conventional designs.

Eventually the firm gave up on cameras and evolved into Tetracam Inc, which continues to operate as a specialist in multi-spectral imaging systems – particularly for agriculture.

Logitech abandoned the digital camera market after the Fotoman series, to concentrate on peripherals like mice and keyboards. It later became a leader in webcams, but never made or marketed a standalone digital camera again.

Read more of David Young's ongoing series on classic cameras, as well as his book A Brief History of Photography.

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Take a look at the best point-and-shoot cameras you can buy today.

Often in photography, less is more. And in the case of abstract images, such as this stunning close-up from Chris See Casas, a simplified composition can create drama.

"I am researching water photography for my thesis and stumbled upon an article teaching how to do creative macro photography," explains Chris. "I had this urge to try it immediately, and all sorts of creative juices flowed from there on."

Describing her thought process, Philippines-based Chris says: "I wanted a photo that would create greater awareness regarding the importance of every water drop in an interesting way – most of the photos I see of water drops are too formal.

"This is the main reason I chose to shoot it in macro. I discovered the use of long exposure creatively in the process."

In high-magnification images, careful lighting and exposure is of critical importance, since any imbalances are immediately noticeable in the tightly composed frame.

Chris encountered several challenges shooting this image. "The first was finding the proper equipment to produce crisp light streaks. I experimented with many kinds of reflective surfaces and lighting equipment – flashlight, mini pin light and pen light.

"I used the pen light in the end – it works in wonderful ways! Secondly, identifying the proper way to point the light at the subject.

"I did many trials before landing a good shot like this. Thirdly, time; a lot of it was spent experimenting to get a shot this interesting. Long exposure and macro photography combined requires lots of patience."

The end result was a shot that Chris feels is unique and impossible to exactly recreate. In her own words: "I cannot replicate this one. Ever."

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Browse the best cameras for macro photography, the best macro lenses and the best telephoto lenses.

Think Peak Design and you’re probably thinking photo bags and backpacks, and those clever Peak Design Slide camera straps with their quick-release mechanisms. However, the company also makes general travel luggage, outdoor gear, phone cases, wallets, and even gadget mounts for cars and motorcycles. The California-based outfit was founded in 2010 with a mission to ‘build happy and meaningful lives for the people that work there', and, hopefully, some of that meaningful happiness will spill over to people who buy their products.

Fast-forward to 2020, and the company launched its first and so far only tripod, in the somewhat revolutionary shape of a very distinctive travel tripod. We’ve reviewed it very favorably in both of its Peak Design Travel Tripod (Aluminum) and Peak Design Travel Tripod (Carbon Fiber) editions. The company designed and launched its first tripod off the back of a crowdfunding campaign, which is its go-to business method, and the result is undeniably one of the best travel tripods on the market.

The new Peak Design Pro Tripods inherit the innovative design and features of the original Travel Tripod and build them into a (mostly) full-sized range of kits. As such, the new models are available in Pro, Pro Lite, and Pro Tall versions, each of them aiming to be among the best tripods for photography, as well as being among the best carbon fiber tripods. As you’ve probably guessed, though, the Pro Lite is relatively lightweight and downsized, compared with the other two more full-sized sticks.

Peak Design Pro Tripod: Specifications

Peak Design Pro Tripod: Price

Full-sized, heavy-duty, carbon fiber tripod kits that are also reasonably lightweight and fold down small for the journey don’t come cheap. One of my all-time favorites is the 3 Legged Winston Pro 2.0 kit, complete with AirHed Pro Ball Head, which will set you back around $500 / £400 / AU$750. Then there’s the somewhat legendary Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber Tripod (legs only) for around $500 / £399 / AU$850, but it’s also available in kit options with various heads.

In that context, the Peak Design Pro Tripod kit looks pretty pricey at $900 / £800 / AU$1,500, whereas the Pro Tall is understandably even more expensive at $1,000 / £900 / AU$1,700, as there’s simply more of it, and the least expensive Pro Lite is still very dear at $800 / £700 / AU$1,400. On the face of it, none of these three tripods looks like they’re going to win any ‘Great Value’ awards, but considering the innovative, no-compromise designs, they could still be very well worth the money.

Peak Design Pro Tripod: Design & Handling

After decades of being a keen photographer, it’s very rare that a tripod walks into my studio and really grabs my attention. The Peak Design Travel Tripod did exactly that a few years ago, with sufficient wow-factor to make me actually open my mouth and say ‘wow’. Looking as super-skinny as a catwalk model, the tripod was designed with oval-profile legs that wrap around a triangular center column.

The net result is that the tripod is incredibly slim when folded, while also avoiding the time-consuming chore that you get with the vast majority of travel tripods. That’s because with the Peak Design and its integral head, you don’t need to fully extend the center column and swing the legs up to achieve a compact stowage size. All of these design facets in regard to the legs, center column, and head are inherited by the next-gen ‘Pro’ tripod range.

One notable difference is that the Pro tripods have four sections in each leg rather than five, which makes setup and takedown quicker and easier, as there are fewer leg section clamps to contend with. The leg sections themselves are made from the good stuff. Like anything else, carbon fiber isn’t all created equal, but this tripod is constructed from premium-grade 3k weave, 2x2 twill carbon fiber, along with CNC-machined and anodized 6061-T6 recycled aluminum for the ball head, hub, load hook and leg locks, rather than using any die-cast parts.

As with most tripods great and small nowadays, it’s not just the height of the legs that you can adjust, but also the angle from vertical. True to form, the Pro has three lockable leg angles when unfolded for use. The wider angles enable greater stability and resistance to the tripod toppling over when it’s set to a short operating height. Multiple angles also make it easier to work on uneven terrain and around obstacles.

The ball head is equally innovative as the tripod legs, and a crafty bit of design in its own right. The compact, integrated design helps to keep stowage size to a minimum, but it’s nevertheless full of clever tricks. A twist-action lock at the base of the head allows for super-fast release and locking of the ball and socket clamp. The only slight downside is that you have to raise the center column slightly to enable anything more than a slight range of tilting movement of the ball head, and to enable shooting at extreme angles and vertically upwards or downwards, as well as for swapping from landscape to portrait orientation shooting, unless you’re using an L-bracket.

While the ball head has a good range of adjustment if you raise the center column a smidge, there’s also a full 360-degree of independent lateral rotation, thanks to a separate panning lock. The panning mechanism has a marked scale and a lovely fluid feel, making the head well-suited to shooting video as well as stills.

One particularly nice touch is the bubble level. It protrudes from the outer circumference of the camera platform and also acts as the lock/release catch for the Arca-Swiss type quick-release plate. And to avoid any expensive accidents if you inadvertently knock the bubble assembly, there’s also a sliding safety lock with marked open and closed positions.

The QR plate itself is a fairly small, square affair, but you can use other plates if you feel the need. My only complaint about the supplied plate is that it can’t be fastened to your camera without the use of a hex key, but at least one is supplied with the tripod, as I’ll come to in a moment.

There’s more trickery down below. A weight hook is featured at the bottom of the center column and, unlike those that need endless twisting on a thread to fit or remove them, this one secures or releases with a spring-loaded lock and a one-third twist.

What’s more, with the weight-hook removed, the dual-sized hex wrench tool that’s stowed inside the center column pops halfway out by a further spring-loaded mechanism, while the use of magnets stops it from falling all the way out unless you actually tug on it. If my memory serves me rightly (and I’m pretty sure it does), the Peak Design Travel Tripod comes with an additional Mobile Phone Mount, but you can buy that separately for use with the Pro, at a cost of around $20 / £20 / AU$55.

Moving further down, right to the bottom of the tripod, sturdy rubber pads are the footwear of choice. Made from non-slip TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), they’re extremely durable and work well on most surfaces. For very soft or loose ground, you might be better off with metal spikes, and these are available as an optional extra, costing around $50 / £45 / AU$80.

Finishing with a flourish, the tripod kit is all wrapped up in a very nicely tailored and padded soft case with a single zippered opening and an adjustable shoulder strap.

Peak Design Pro Tripod: Performance

Peak Design points out that it developed the Pro range of tripods in collaboration with the renowned photographer and filmmaker, Jimmy Chin. It also says that they’re based on the groundbreaking architecture of Peak Design’s original Travel Tripod, but scaled up to offer significantly greater stiffness and maximum operating height. I’d say these comments are bang on and that, as I’d expect from a tripod co-developed by a photographer and filmmaker, it works well as a hybrid stick for both photography and videography. That’s mostly thanks to its clever head, which enables fluid panning as well as quick and easy ball and socket adjustments.

I’d also agree that one of the most crucial aspects of the Pro tripods is that you can shoot from a higher maximum height, as I found the Travel Tripod quite restrictive in this regard. Even so, the maximum height of the Pro tripod isn’t exactly towering at 168.4cm / 66.3 inches.

Being quite tall and liking to keep my shooting options as open as possible, I went for the Pro Tall version of the tripod, which extends to a more impressive 197.4cm / 77.7 inches.

The Pro Lite edition is certainly smaller and more lightweight for the journey, but only rises to a maximum height of 162.5cm / 64.0 inches, and has a lower payload rating of 15.9kg / 35lb, compared with the 18.1kg / 40lb of its heftier siblings.

It’s not just height that I’m interested in. I also like to shoot from really low angles sometimes, for creative effect. In time-honored tradition, the Pro tripods enable you to remove and invert the center column, thus shooting out from between two of the legs with the camera inverted, right down to ground level. That’s all well and good, provided that you don’t mind shooting with your camera upside down, which definitely isn’t preferable for videography.

A more convenient but more long-winded approach to ultra-low-level shooting is that you can tilt the ball head through 90 degrees, loosen a screw, and remove all but the very top of the center column. This enables you to shoot from as little as 15.9cm / 6.3in, 17.3cm / 6.8in, or 15.8cm / 6.2in above ground level, with the Pro, Pro Tall, and Pro Lite versions of the tripod, respectively.

Those specializing in videography rather than stills photography might like to go a little further with filmmaking features. Catering to these needs, Peak Design offers a Leveling Base for an additional $120 / £110 / AU$220. This enables you to level the head even if the tripod legs aren’t precisely leveled, so that your horizon doesn’t go on the slant when you start panning. And if you want to add a fluid tilt action to the head’s existing fluid pan abilities, there’s an optional Tilt Mod for $150 / £135 / AU$300.

Peak Design Pro Tripod: Verdict

I’ve tried many and varied Peak Design products, and they always give me a real feel-good factor. The company makes bold claims regarding the design, features, build quality, and performance of its Peak Design Pro Tripod range. I love it when products live up to and even surpass their billing, and that’s my experience of the Pro Tall tripod kit that I tested and immediately fell for.

Highlights for me are that the design neatly cuts out any wasted space, the specially profiled legs snugly wrapping around the center column for incredibly slimline stowage. The integral head also helps to keep packing size to a minimum, so everything’s neat and tidy. Better still, the tripod has super-fast setup and take-down times, apart from its fiddly tool-driven quick-release plate. Best of all, the kit gives rock-solid support for stills and video shooting, with a nice fluid panning feel for the latter, and remains really steady and stable even at its maximum height with all of the leg sections and center column fully extended.

The only catch, as far as I’m concerned, is the price. It’s a very expensive tripod by any standards, but I feel that Peak Design has really gone the extra mile with its no-compromise design and build, making the Pro range of tripods well worth the money.

Alternatives

As you probably know, mini camera keychains – especially Kodak keychain cameras – have been as popular as Pokémon cards lately. The craze first kicked off last year with the original Kodak Charmera, and since then everyone from Yashica to Insta360 has got in on the craze.

If you've somehow missed the trend, these keychain cameras are teeny-tiny compact cameras that are small enough to – you guessed it – fit on a keychain.

Their appeal is multifaceted. First and foremost, they're ridiculously cheap. Selling for about $35 in the US, they're affordable enough to be impulse buys and are perfect for gifting. Secondly, they're ridiculously cute and collectible. Coming in multiple colors and styles, there's a real "gotta catch 'em all" vibe.

But the Kodak keychain cameras added a third stroke of genius: blind boxes. Like a Labubu (or, indeed, a pack of Pokémon cards), Charmeras come in an unmarked box and you didn't know which of the six designs you were going to get (hence you're buying a box "blind").

I dunno about you but, as a child who grew up collecting things like stickers and trading cards, I'm a sucker for a blind box. And Kodak knew what it was doing by adding a "secret" seventh design – a super-rare version that you had a 1-in-48 chance of getting.

For a while, those secret Charmeras (with a transparent design) were being sold for $500 on eBay! The Millennium Edition Kodak keychain cameras also have a secret variant (in a very sexy chrome body) and Escura does the same with a "mystery" SnapRoll design.

However, while these keychain cameras are undoubtedly cute and collectible, it's fair to say that the image quality is far more about fun than fidelity.

If we take Kodak's keychain camera as an example, it packs a minuscule 1/4-inch sensor with just 1.4MP resolution. And there are some cheap knock-offs on Amazon with even worse quality.

So you're not exactly going to shoot a wedding on one of these, but it's a fun thing to have on your car keys or dangling from your bag – and they make perfect cameras for kids, too. I've tried out a bunch of them and, after some unscientific testing, these are the best keychain cameras I've used so far.

Best Kodak keychain camera

The one that started it all, the Charmera is the OG Kodak keychain camera – and thus, the one that set the bar. It's not a very high bar technically, though, with a tiny 1/4-inch sensor that maxes out at 1.6MP resolution for stills and FullHD 30p for video.

What is that good for? More than you might think, surprisingly! Obviously the images are never going to win you a photo competition, but they're about early era smartphone quality – an aesthetic which has a following among Gen Zers, for whom this is the "retro look" the same way that Polaroid and 35mm was retro for my generation.

Images are muddy but not devoid of charm, like shooting with a digicam from the late Nineties. They make for fun social media snaps, and the tinny video in particular has that vintage digital camcorder quality that some folks spend a lot of time layering LUTs and filters to replicate.

The rear screen is very small, making it tricky to compose images, though credit to Reto (the company that actually makes the Charmera) for including an optical viewfinder – which is even smaller and less useful, but is a nice nod to the old cameras like the Kodak Fling.

Something that my colleague Mike remarked on, which never occurred to me, is that the Charmera offers authentic retro charm – whereas the SnapRoll can only offer an imitation of retro brands.

Best film-style keychain camera

If you want a keychain camera that looks like a roll of film, the Escura Snaproll is by far your best bet – but there's more on offer than just looks!

The signature appeal of this camera is its design. Kodak's keychain cameras are cool just because they're small, but the SnapRoll is cool because it looks just like a canister of 35mm film.

Indeed, Escura has gone to great lengths to style the different SnapRoll variants after famous film stocks such as Kodak Gold 400 or Ilford Pan 400. Personally, I think that's even neater than a cute little rectangular box – and as someone who grew up shooting film, I much prefer the design of this to the Charmera.

It also boasts a bigger LCD screen, which makes it easier to frame and review your shots, and shoots both in a higher resolution and a square format – which is something that's always fun to challenge your compositions. Image quality is about on par with the Kodak, though I prefer the filters here – particularly the GameBoy-esque green filter, for which I have a soft spot.

However, video can only be captured in SD (720p) – though honestly, none of these keychain cameras take video that's very good by any conventional measure!

Best Kodak keychain camera for filters

The Charmera Millennium Editions are the second wave of Kodak keychain cameras, and possess the exact same technical specs as the original series.

What's different is twofold. First, where the OG Charmeras featured Eighties-inspired styling, the Millennium Editions features a Nineties aesthetic – with nods to things like pixel art as well as cult tech like Sony's MiniDisc, as you can see in the green one above.

(The "secret" chase variant even tips its hat to the iconic T-1000 from Terminator 2, with a liquid metal finish that's sure to have scalpers' eyes wide with anticipation.)

The other difference is also an aesthetic one, but for your photos: the Millennium Edition adds a new selection of frames and filters (including a neat Video Player frame, which looks like your photos are being viewed on something like RealPlayer or Media Player Classic).

While the original Charmera filters were pretty horrible (particularly the single-color options), here they're almost sophisticated. The new Pixel Filters offer a sort of duotone line art style – and the Coral in particular creates some very interesting results. If you enjoy creative filters, this is the one to go for.

Best keychain camera for creators

My hat is off to Insta360. Not only does it sell grips that turn the Ace Pro 2 action camera into a bona fide compact camera and even an instant camera, it also offers a housing that turns the Go 3S into a pro-level keychain camera!

That's what we've got here. The thumb-sized Go 3S slots into the Retro Viewfinder – a plastic sheath with a top-down optical viewfinder. And just like that, you've got a brilliant 4K keychain action camera.

Obviously this isn't the same sub-$50 proposition as the other cameras on this list, so some might see it as a cheat. However, if you want something keychain-sized that packs the power of a "proper" camera, this is the hands-down winner.

The Insta360 can shoot 12MP photos and 4K 30p video on a much larger 1/2.3-inch sensor, which delivers monumentally superior image quality. Seriously, it's in a completely different stratosphere – and also offers features like image stabilization, timelapse, slow-motion, open gate video and even pre-recording. It's even waterproof to 33ft!

Because there is no screen (although you can buy the Action Pod separately for about a hundred bucks, with a flipping 2.2-inch touchscreen) you'll need to pair the Go 3S with your phone – where there is an enormous amount of additional control available.

Best cheap keychain camera

If you just want something cute, cheap and photo-related to hang on your car keys or dangle from your camera bag, the Photo Creator Mini Cam is the one for you.

This keychain camera is essentially a glorified charm that takes pictures, but it's also ridiculously cheap. Right now you can find it for as little as $15 in the US and £6.50(!!!) in the UK, making it a perfect novelty purchase where images are a Brucie bonus rather than the point of the product.

And that's really the best way to think about the Mini Cam. Despite technically having more than double the resolution of the Charmera, the image quality is considerably worse for both stills and video.

However, there are a couple of unique upsides. For starters, this camera comes with a 1GB microSD card – so you can start playing with it right out of the packet. It also possesses a "flash" – although this is really just an LED that lights up, rather than anything that's going to illuminate a shot.

Again, that's really the case here: everything is for show. This is a cute little keychain camera that looks like a mini DSLR or mirrorless body, and it just so happens to be able to take photos and video. Ask nothing more of it and, for the super-low price, this is a fun little novelty item.

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Want something that's still small, but boasts better image quality? Check out the best compact cameras and the best point and shoot cameras for more powerful portable picture taking!

A fantastic opportunity for an established photojournalist to have their work printed in a custom photobook by a major UK publisher has returned for 2026.

Now in its second year, The Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence celebrates one lucky established photojournalist by teaming up with publisher Gost to print a custom book on the winning long-form project.

Based in London, Gost publishes visual arts books and has collaborated with the likes of Sir Don McCullin on his more recent works Life, Death and Everything in Between (2023), The Stillness of Life (2025) and the forthcoming Vietnam (2026).

Along with the book of their work, which will go on sale via Gost’s platform and be publicized in The Guardian, the winner will also receive a healthy £5,000 (approximately $6,700 / AU$9,700) to visit the printing facilities in Verona, Italy.

The Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence was founded in 2025 by the Ian Parry Memorial Fund, which also runs the eponymous, longstanding grant for emerging photojournalists.

The new award is named after the late photojournalist Tom Stoddart, whose celebrated career covering pivotal global events (such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa for outlets including The Sunday Times) spanned five decades.

Entrants to the competition need to be at least 18 years old and the project submitted should be near completion and extensive enough for publishing. A short personal biography along with a brief summary of the project should be included, as well as up to 40 images taken from the project.

Entries to the awards can now be made until September 30, 2026. Judging will take place in October with the award recipient announced November 30.

It costs £50 to enter the Tom Stoddart Awards for Excellence, with the important note that AI-generated imagery is not allowed. Visit the award official webpage for more information and to enter.

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The 2025 Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence winner was Laura Pannack, for her photo series documenting children's dangerous school journeys in Cape Town, South Africa. If you want to try your hand at photojournalism, documentary and reportage work, take a look at the best cameras for street photography and the best lenses for street photography.

Macro photography is recognizable by its characteristic shallow depth of field and tight framing. In the majority of close-up images, a single subject is isolated in the frame, with a sharp falloff in focus in front of and behind the subject.

This type of composition is fantastic for highlighting details and creating a bug’s-eye perspective. However, there are disadvantages to the macro point of view, namely a removal of context – a limit to situational coverage.

Sometimes we want to show how our subject fits into the environment beyond the frame edges, to tell our viewers a little more about it. And photomerging can provide an answer.

Traditionally, panoramas are associated with landscape photography – yet the widescreen format can lend a unique style to macro. Due to the specific challenges of the genre, however, we must adapt our approach to the shooting process.

As we will be rotating the camera, it's critical to observe the effect on focus placement and make adjustments. Fine control over focusing and exposure is necessary to produce an effective, engaging and successfully merged panoramic view.

For this technique, try using both a true macro lens and a telephoto zoom with a close-up function to see which gives more manageable results.

6 pro shooting steps

1. Set camera height

Start by lowering the tripod so that the camera is aimed at the subject from 90°. This reduces the impact of parallax issues during image stitching and increases depth of field over the subject.

2. Perform test pan

Decide exactly how much of the scene you want to cover and calculate where to start and end your pan movement, as well as how many images this may take to complete.

3. Lock exposure

Find the ideal exposure, then lock in these settings by switching to manual mode and entering the shutter speed and aperture values. This prevents brightness from changing between segments.

4. Focus first segment

Zoom in using Live View to focus the first segment. Here the subject was not visible in the first image, so the distance between it and the camera had to be measured and the focus estimated.

5. Pan and refocus

Shoot the first image and rotate the camera to shoot the second. Ensure the focus position is kept at the same distance relative to the camera to maintain sharpness over the subject.

6. Repeat and stitch

Using a smaller f-number will minimize focus changes between images, but you may need to reshoot several times to perfect focus placement. Turn on focus peaking to visualize the focal plane.

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Today, America turns 250 years old – which means the US predates the invention of photography by about 50 years. But while the camera didn’t exist to record the Founding Fathers, the oldest known surviving American photograph was taken only shortly after the invention of the daguerreotype in France.

Inventor Joseph Saxon was working at the US Mint in Philadelphia in the fall of 1839 when he experimented with a relatively new technology from Europe: he took a photo from a window, freezing the nearby Central High School in a small two-inch square. Exposing the photo took a full ten minutes.

Saxon, however, didn’t take the daguerreotype with a traditional camera. He exposed the daguerreotype, which is a copper plate coated with silver, inside a cigar box with a crude lens attached.

The first daguerreotype had been taken by Louis Daguerre only months earlier, in August 1839, using a camera obscura, a light-tight box.

Saxon's image is believed to be the oldest surviving American photograph, taken just a few months after the daguerreotype was introduced to the public by Louis Daguerre in 1839.

(Joseph Nicéphore Niépce is often credited with taking the first permanent photograph in 1826, but the daguerreotype made photographs more widely available.)

Today, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania owns the daguerreotype – but it doesn’t spend much time on display. If daguerreotypes are exposed to too much light, they fade to a mirror-like finish.

Shortly after Saxon took the cigar box daguerreotype, in October or November of that same year, Robert Cornelius took what’s widely believed to be the first American portrait (and the first self-portrait).

Cornelius took the photo of himself with a box and an opera lens, taking the photo outside because daguerreotypes required a several-minute exposure time.

While Cornelius proved the technology could capture a person’s likeness – if willing to hold still long enough – the first known photograph of a sitting American president wouldn’t arrive until a few years later, when John Quincy Adams was photographed in 1843.

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American photographers more or less invented color as a serious art form. William Eggleston's Memphis, Joel Meyerowitz's Cape Cod, Stephen Shore's road trips across a candy-colored 1970s USA.

Scottish photographer Niall McDiarmid is working in that same tradition, just on the other side of the Atlantic, and his new book, Colour, published by RRB Photobooks, makes the case that the hunt for great color hasn't got any easier since Eggleston's day. If anything, in his view, it's become harder.

Over 15 years of shooting mostly in London, McDiarmid has watched the palette of everyday British life fade toward taupe, gray and beige. In opposition to that trend, he's built an entire book around tracking down the places where it hasn't.

The result is pictures that feel almost defiant. A woman in a headscarf and an orange-hemmed coat walks past a Ferrari-red shopfront in Mayfair. A man in a burnt-orange sweater strides past a row of boiled-sweet shopfronts in Folkestone. A pair of red tights disappear up a museum staircase.

None of this is subtle, and that's the point. Like the color pioneers before him, McDiarmid isn't after a tasteful accent in an otherwise neutral frame. He wants the whole picture saturated, corner to corner; the way a lot of photographers are actively taught to avoid.

That makes Colour worth a proper look for anyone who's absorbed the modern orthodoxy that restraint equals sophistication. McDiarmid's argument, in his own words in the book's introduction, is blunt: "Color is dynamism and strength and passion. Color is life."

It's a rebuke to 15 years of minimalist interiors, taupe render and monochrome cars that, from his perspective, have drained the visual life and energy from British streets.

Technical lessons

The technical lesson here is a useful one. McDiarmid works almost exclusively in the flat, overcast light of an archetypal British day, the kind of light most photographers spend their lives trying to avoid or "fix" in post.

But flat light has an underrated advantage: it kills harsh shadows and enables color to read as pure, unbroken tone rather than being chopped up by contrast.

A red shopfront under hard midday sun gets carved into bright highlights and murky shade; the same wall under gray cloud stays one solid, confident block of red. It's the same reason product photographers use diffused light boxes rather than direct sun, applied out on the street.

The other habit photographers can learn from is his pairing of subject and setting. Time and again in Colour, a person's clothing echoes or collides with the color of the wall, door or shopfront behind them: an orange sweater against a yellow-and-red terrace, a yellow umbrella against a red Post Office sign.

That's not luck repeated over 15 years. It's a discipline of watching a location and waiting for the right person to walk through it. The classic Cartier-Bresson method, retooled for chromatics rather than geometry.

More broadly, there's also something a little "documentary" going on beneath the visual fireworks. McDiarmid isn't just chasing pretty walls; he's cataloging the shrinking number of places where color still gets to exist unapologetically, from Jerk Shack signage in Tooting to a resolutely green-tiled café in Wimbledon.

Read that way, Colour might be seen more as social record than pure aesthetics; a survey of a Britain that's steadily repainting itself beige. And for street and documentary photographers, there's a broader lesson there. Keep half an eye on what's disappearing around you – not just what looks good through the viewfinder.

Colour by Niall McDiarmid is published by RRB Photobooks, priced £28 (approximately $48/£35) with a £95 special hardcover edition including a signed 10x8-inch print.

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As biological researcher Kelly Estrada Piedrahita and her assistant, Shirley Fench, made their way through a slime-green-covered lake in a small boat, fellow researcher and photographer Haolun “Allen” Tian stood at the shore monitoring the pair with his drone.

Allen, currently defending his biological sciences PhD at Canada's Queen’s University, Kingston, captured this camera drone image back in 2021 during a project to collect water samples from the lake.

The researchers specialize in freshwater ecosystems and this lake – Dog Lake, Ontario – is infested with algal species that “kill fish and clog water supplies,” said Allen.

As anthropogenic climate change worsens, rising temperatures create ripe conditions for destructive algal blooms. Allen’s image tells the story of humanity’s impact on freshwater ecosystems.

“I took this photo as a nadir (top-down) shot with my drone, from around 100m above,” he says. “By capturing my field assistants in the middle of a bloom, I juxtaposed the relatively small scale of humans to the massive scale of our impact on the environment.”

The image, which Allen shot with a DJI Mini 4 Pro using automatic settings, was recently awarded a Scientists at Work photo award.

The prestigious scientific photography competition is organized by academic journal publisher Nature, and Allen hopes the recognition will spread awareness of the environmental issues impacting freshwater ecosystems.

“Freshwater ecosystems are near and dear to me, as the topic of both my master's and PhD research. Lakes and rivers are the cradle of human civilization, and threats to them represent threats to not just terrestrial ecosystems, but also human society and wellbeing,” he says.

Allen’s image was one of five winning shots from the 2026 Scientists at Work awards, which included images of conservationists guiding northern bald ibises in flight as well as marine researchers collecting skin samples from a whale shark.

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I normally don't go anywhere unladen with camera gear, but on a recent trip to New York City I decided to leave my trusty Nikon Z6 II at home and take a pocket-sized compact camera in its place. So why would I go to a city that cries out to be photographed without my regular photo kit and caboodle?

I had three days in the city that never sleeps, and I wasn't planning on sleeping much either. I was going to be out and about from breakfast until eventually turning in in the early hours. I was going to be riding the subway, navigating the hustle and bustle of Times Square late at night, and taking plenty of refreshment breaks in bars.

So I really didn't need the worry of keeping an eye on my expensive camera kit all day long.

In the few days I was in the city, the mercury was hitting in excess of 90ºF (32ºC), so being laden down by a backpack filled with heavy gear wasn't too attractive a proposition, either.

In addition to my Z 24-70mm f/4 S, which isn't exactly the most svelte of kit lenses, I wouldn't be able to help myself but bring along the Z 14-30mm wide-angle for when the situation demands it. And if I'm bringing that, I might as well pack a tripod, just in case…

No, traveling light with something I could easily slip into my pocket was the way to go. And the Yashica Tank seemed like the ideal solution. It weighs next to nothing, costs under a hundred bucks, has a flip-up screen for selfies, and the model I chose looks pretty smart, too, with its leatherette-and-chrome retro look.

But the important thing is: how easy is it to use and what are the pictures like?

As a point-and-shoot camera, it's pretty simple. Turn it on, point it at whatever you want to photograph, and tap the shutter button. There's no focusing to worry about. You can zoom into your subject by up to 8x, though it's a digital zoom that merely crops into the fixed image. And you can fiddle with the exposure by pushing the zoom toggle in.

The LCD screen takes up most of the back of the camera, but I have to say that, as someone used to shooting through a viewfinder, I found composing via the screen not at all easy. It's pretty low-res and not very bright, making it tricky to see exactly what's in your shot or judge how good the exposure is.

As for the photo quality, well, you can judge for yourself by flicking through the gallery below.

Okay, so it's not going to replace my S-line Nikon Z lenses glass any time soon, and I really wasn't expecting too much for the price, but for snaps rather than 'proper' photos, it was just fine.

Not to mention that I felt quite unencumbered, being able to take photographs without the weight and the worry of my regular kit. But in all honesty, my camera phone takes better photos, the screen is easier to use and it's in my pocket anyway.

The next time I need to travel light, I think I'll stick to just that.

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It turns out that people are ‘photographing’ the World Cup by taking pictures of their television sets – including professional sports shooters. That’s right, World Cup images are turning up on Instagram from photographers who aren’t even on the same continent, let alone the stadium in question.

It would seem that the person who sparked this particular trend is Paris-based professional sports photographer, Florence Pernet (@flo_pernet). Upon failing to get accreditation for the World Cup, he found an alternative route by photographing games on a television set.

Florence isn’t the first photographer to think of this, going so far as to credit Matthew Johnson (@matthewjohnson) in one of her posts. Matthew created a series called Screen Time, which centers around television photography. However, this interesting style of photography has courted some interesting discussions regarding photography ethics.

An Instagrammer called @imbue_visual has posted a Reel about it, calling Florence’s work and the reasoning behind the idea “brilliant”, as well as praising the artistic results, before essentially questioning others jumping on the bandwagon, stating:

“It stops becoming a statement and starts being more of a creative style. Like, come on, the broadcaster has found the angle.”

Fashion influencer and photographer Damien Broderick (@damienbroderick) has also commented on the Reel, stating: “I couldn’t travel to India or back in time. So i decided to photograph this book [sic].”

Another commenter says, “You’re not shooting the whole frame of the tv tho. You are finding your own view through another’s view [sic]”. The Portuguese national team has even reposted one of Florence's images of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Clearly the internet is split. However, it is important to note that Florence’s images look nothing like the framing used on television. Often they are zoomed in, so you can see the screen’s pixels, captured with slow shutter speeds to form gesture-drawing-like abstracts, or color graded extensively.

In a world where creators are worried about AI scraping their works, this sort of debate is always going to divide the community. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but what I will say to detractors is, where does it stop?

You wouldn’t lambast an architectural photographer for finding their unique angle when framing a building or structure they didn’t design or build…

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Miracles do happen! We have just got the news that Sony is reviving is RX10 line of bridge cameras – known for their huge built-in zoom lenses.

And unlike other bridges currently left on the market, these use a sensibly-sized 1-inch sensor offering much better image quality than the 1/2.3-inch sensors of current models can possibly achieve.

Sony has just teased on social media the imminent arrival of the next version of the RX10. "The wait is over" we are told, with the news that we will get full details on July 09 at 10:00 ET / 15:00 BST.

ABOVE: Watch the Instagram teaser for the next RX10 bridge camera

The RX10 IV was discontinued in early 2025 after almost a decade in production – but even then it had been in short supply. With many major manufacturers giving up on compact cameras, it was thought that was the end of the line. Panasonic likewise tapped out with its FZ1000 range of 1-inch bridge cameras a couple of years earlier.

So is it safe that the new RX10 will be called the RX10 V? Who knows for certain, as the teaser gives us no details. Similarly, we don't know what specifications – if any – will change from the Sony RX10 IV, which boasted a 20MP 1-inch sensor with a 25x optical zoom, giving an effective 24-2000mm range.

The original RX10 was launched back in 2013, and the series became particularly popular with bird enthusiasts and wildlife watchers who wanted telephoto reach without the fuss or bulk of an interchangeable lens system.

The RX10 Mark II followed in 2015, with the RX10 III and RX10 IV fast on its heels in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

You can read the incremental changes made in the series in our Sony RX10 vs RX10 II vs RX10 III vs RX10 IV guide.

We will bring you full news of this exciting launch, as soon as the details are announced on July 09.

Check out our guide to the best bridge cameras currently available

This versatile RF telephoto lens is an incredibly compact, high-quality all-rounder, and now, thanks to this unbeatable Amazon deal, it’s even harder to resist.

This top-rated Canon RF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM is now just £1,274.99 at Canon. With this offer, you save £225 off its regular price of £1,499.99.

This record-low price is the best I've seen in over a year. So, if you've been waiting for the perfect moment to get Canon's smallest full-frame telephoto lens, that moment is now.

The Canon RF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM is the shortest (FF) 70-200mm ever – and yes, it's as compact as it sounds – it's only barely bigger than a beer can. This lens redefines portability, fitting comfortably in a sling bag, even when mounted on your camera.

Perfect for portraits, sports, wildlife, events, and even landscapes, it's an all-around telephoto that can easily become your go-to workhorse lens.

Whether you're just getting ready or investing in something that will serve you for years, this lens delivers great value thanks to its versatility, sharpness, and built-in image stabilization (up to 7.5 stops!).

The center sharpness remains superb across the entire zoom range, from 70mm to 200mm. The corner sharpness is good, but not as crisp as the EF version.

While this lens doesn't support teleconverters, the reach you get will cover most subjects in a quality way, and with Canon's advanced stabilization, it's equally strong for stills and video.

It comes at a premium price – often around 50% more than its DSLR counterpart. So, if you're looking for a single telephoto lens that does (almost) everything and travels light, this one absolutely earns its spot in your kit.

As mentioned, this is the lowest price I've seen in over a year.

If you've been considering Canon's smallest full-frame telephoto lens, this is your chance to get it at a solid discount.

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Leica has officially unveiled the brand-new SL3-P, and it is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting and capable full-frame cameras the company has produced.

Designed for professional photographers and filmmakers who need speed, resolution and reliability in a single body, the SL3-P combines a new 44MP full-frame sensor with Leica’s most advanced hybrid autofocus system to date. It can shoot continuously at up to 40fps with autofocus, capture 176MP images using its Multishot mode and record 8K open-gate video, making it a serious all-rounder for everything from sports and documentary work to portraits, commercial photography and high-end filmmaking.

For anyone hoping to get their hands on one, you are in the right place. Below, I have gathered the best places to buy the Leica SL3-P from retailers across both the US and the UK.

The Leica SL3-P is priced at $6,690 in the US and £5,150 in the UK for the body only. It is available now through Leica Stores, Leica’s online store and authorized retailers, following its official release on June 25, 2026.

Where to pre-order?

At the heart of the Leica SL3-P is a newly developed 44MP back-illuminated full-frame CMOS sensor, without a low-pass filter, which feels like a very deliberate middle ground between outright resolution and the speed demanded by professional photographers.

That already puts it in an interesting position within Leica’s SL range. Rather than chasing the enormous files produced by the 60MP Leica SL3, the SL3-P offers 44MP and 26MP recording options, up to 14 stops of dynamic range, and an ISO range extending from 50 to 200,000. The result should be detailed files with plenty of flexibility, refined tonal gradation, and the sort of natural color rendering photographers expect from Leica.

When maximum resolution is required, the camera’s Multishot mode can produce enormous 176MP images. That will naturally be best suited to more controlled subjects, but for studio, architecture, product, and landscape photographers, it offers another level of detail without requiring a separate high-resolution camera.

Autofocus and speed are arguably the real headlines here. The SL3-P introduces an improved hybrid autofocus system that combines phase detection, contrast detection and depth mapping, with 819 phase-detection points spread across the frame.

Machine-learning-based subject recognition can identify people, animals, and vehicles, while continuous shooting reaches an impressive 40fps with continuous autofocus. That is a significant leap for the SL-System and immediately makes the SL3-P feel far better prepared for sports, wildlife, events, and documentary work where the moment will not wait for the camera to catch up.

Five-axis in-body image stabilization provides up to five stops of compensation, which should make handheld shooting more dependable when working in lower light, with longer lenses or at slower shutter speeds. Combined with the expanded ISO range, this feels like a camera designed to keep working when conditions become less than perfect.

The body design is also a major part of the appeal. Manufactured in Germany, the SL3-P uses a robust full-metal construction with IP54 protection against dust and water splashes. It is unmistakably a Leica, but the presentation is deliberately restrained, with black controls and no red Leica badge on the front.

That more discreet appearance suits the camera perfectly. The SL3-P is not trying to look like a special edition or collector’s piece; it looks like a serious professional tool designed to be used every day, whether that means working in a studio, covering an event or standing beside a racetrack in difficult weather.

Leica has also placed a strong emphasis on making the camera adaptable to the photographer using it. The controls, dials and on-screen Control Centre can be customized, while photo and video modes are clearly separated using Leica’s red and yellow color coding. The interface also rotates automatically when the camera is held vertically, helping settings remain clear and easy to read regardless of how you are shooting.

Composition is handled through a 5.76-million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder, which can operate at up to 120fps, alongside a 3.2-inch tilting touchscreen with 2.33 million dots. There is also a top status display for quickly checking essential settings without needing to look through the viewfinder or open the main menu.

For anyone working with fast bursts or demanding video formats, the SL3-P includes both a CFexpress Type B slot and an SD UHS-II card slot. That combination gives professionals the speed needed for high-data-rate recording, while retaining the convenience and wider compatibility of standard SD cards.

There is a serious amount of video capability here, too. The SL3-P can record up to 8K in an open-gate 3:2 format, using more of the sensor and giving filmmakers far greater freedom to produce horizontal, vertical, or square versions from the same footage.

It can also capture 5.9K video at up to 60p and 4K slow motion at up to 120p, with internal Apple ProRes recording available at up to 5.8K. Support for L-Log, HLG, Leica Pure and Leica Cine LUTs, False Color, anamorphic desqueeze and HDMI RAW output makes it clear that this is not simply a stills camera with a video mode added as an afterthought.

Professional workflow features have not been overlooked, either. Native tethering is available for Capture One and Adobe Lightroom Classic, while Adobe Frame.io Camera-to-Cloud support allows images and video to be transferred directly into a production workflow. Leica Content Credentials can also attach secure authorship and origin information to images, which feels increasingly important as photographers look for ways to distinguish authentic work from generated or manipulated content.

In a market filled with cameras that tend to prioritize either speed, resolution, or video, the Leica SL3-P looks like a remarkably well-judged combination of all three. It is fast enough for serious action, detailed enough for demanding commercial work, and equipped with the video tools needed for modern hybrid productions.

More importantly, it still feels like a Leica: beautifully restrained, built to withstand professional use and designed around controls that should encourage photographers to concentrate on the image rather than the camera. The SL3-P may not be the cheapest professional hybrid camera available, but it could prove to be the most complete and convincing SL camera Leica has made so far.

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The newest Nikon mirrorless camera has arrived without the usual fanfare: Nikon has sneak-launched a new variation of the popular Z6 III.

A new Nikon Z6 III has popped up in retail stores, despite no official announcement coming from Nikon. But, there’s perhaps a good reason for the quiet announcement. The new Nikon Z6 III is identical to the earlier camera by the same name, except it lacks all forms of wireless communication.

The Nikon Z6 III with no wireless connectivity repackages the same full-frame 24.5MP sensor with 20 fps bursts, but eliminates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

That means the camera isn’t compatible with the Nikon app to transfer files and update firmware. It also lacks the original model’s ability to use a smartphone connection to tag photos with a GPS location.

The rest of the specifications are identical – removing the wireless capabilities doesn’t change the battery life rating, nor does it change the camera’s weight or size.

Nikon has created Wi-Fi-free cameras before. Cameras without wireless connectivity may be helpful for certain secure use cases, including government work that may require a device without external connectivity for security. A wireless-communication-free device could potentially also be used for security or forensics.

But the real reason that I wouldn’t buy the new Z6 III without Wi-Fi? The variant without communication capabilities sits at a higher list price. In the US, the original sits at $2,696.95 and the new Wi-Fi-free at $3,079. (Both currently have a $700 discount in the US.)

Unless you really need a camera that can’t possibly be hacked, I’d save the extra money and buy a regular Z6 III and turn on airplane mode for privacy.

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Moretón is the Spanish word for 'bruise' and the title of Darren Vargas’ first publication, which centers around the Lee Espinoza Coachella Valley Boxing Club.

The first-generation Mexican-American photographer was inspired to embark on the project following the death of his grandfather, Esmael. Boxing club owner Lee Espinoza, who is affectionately known in the area as the “godfather of boxing,” reminded Vargas of his grandfather.

Rather than focus on the combat sport itself, the photographer’s work is said to build a narrative around the process of finding a sense of place, self and forgiveness. And indeed, a portion from the sale of each book will go back to the boxing club – which is free to the public.

Vargas grew up in a non-traditional Mexican immigrant home. His parents divorced before he was born and he moved from city to city as a child. But Indio and Coachella Valley were constants of sorts.

During the summer, grandparents Esmael and Jessie would take Vargas to the desert region where they were born and where relatives still lived. "This place does not just hold meaning for me; it holds legacy," says Vargas.

"One of the immigrants is building something for themselves, for their community, and their families. To me, Coachella Valley is a representation of what it is to make it from nothing and still build everything around you.

"This project is not only a personal reflection on what legacy means and how that translates to my own experience with my grandfather but is a documentative view on what it is to be an immigrant and build something.

"It is a response to struggle and hardship but finding ways to still give back. Lee has sacrificed to make something for the youth in Coachella valley. For a place that struggles with drugs, violence, exile and the heat. A haven is a special place."

The Espinoza Coachella Valley Boxing Club was founded in the Eighties so Espinoza’s son could take up the sport. It would eventually relocate next to Coachella City Hall, where generations of boxers would seek Lee’s guidance in spite of the confined space and lack of financial support.

Moretón by Darren Vargas is published by Rocket Science Studios and will officially launch on July 25 priced $60 (approximately £45 / AU$87). The 98-page book is softback with a casebound linen-texture cover, sized at 8x10in. It will be promoted at the NY Art Book Fair in September and Paris Photo in November.

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Want to shoot the sweet science yourself? Take a look at the best cameras for sports photography and the best lenses for sports photography. If you're looking for more photography literature, Don McCullin returns to the horrors of Vietnam in "last ever" photobook. The day a 25-year-old photographer convinced Marilyn Monroe to go nude in a swimming pool: Lawrence Schiller's remarkable memoir of a movie icon. And for a focus on tutorials, here are the best books on photography.

Hot on the heels of the Trump T1, Delkin Devices has launched its own take on patriotic tech: the Valor PRO CFexpress 4.0 Type B memory card. Delkin has always been a proudly American memory company, but Valor PRO emphasizes this more than other cards in the Delkin range. Aside from the Star-Spangled Banner appearing on the card itself, Delkin states Valor PRO cards are "Proudly Assembled in the USA", in addition to being designed and extensively validated at Delkin's facility in Poway, CA. Delkin claims that:

"Standard memory cards are built to mass-market commercial standards (Class 2), which tolerate hidden internal defects. Valor PRO CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards are held to (Class 3) aerospace and medical requirements."

This entails using an industrial underfill process that mechanically bonds the memory chips to the PCB, rather than relying solely on electrical connections. This then makes the card more resistant to drops and vibrations. Delkin also asserts that by assembling each card in the US, you get better component control and traceability; something which is backed up by every card having its own unique serial number, along with a lifetime warranty. Should a card fail, Delkin will replace it within 48 hours and cover the cost of shipping both ways.

As for performance, Valor PRO CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards can achieve a stellar 3700 MB/s maximum read speed, and an equally impressive 2800MB/s peak write rate. Minimum sustained write speed is rated at 1840MB/s, easily qualifying the card for VPG800 certification - that's comfortably enough speed to enable high bit-rate 8K RAW recording. Delkin has also tested Valor PRO cards in dozens of CFexpress Type B cameras to ensure compatibility, including all Canon, Nikon and Panasonic Type B bodies.

The Delkin Devices Valor PRO CFexpress Type B card is available in a single capacity option - 1TB - and can currently be had for an introductory price of $589.99 at B&H, or £529 at Wex.

Every keen photographer eventually collects something, whether it's cameras, prints, or just a hard drive full of "keepers" nobody else will ever see.

Judy Glickman Lauder collected the real thing: around 100 photographs by around 50 of the medium's biggest names. And it's now heading out on a four-venue US tour as Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder.

What grabs my attention isn't just the roll call, though it's a serious one (Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother, Gordon Parks' American Gothic, Nan Goldin's Self-Portrait in Kimono with Brian, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Imogen Cunningham...). It's that the collection was assembled by someone whose own relationship with the camera began on the other side of the lens.

Her father was Irving Bennett Ellis (1902-1977): an early California pictorialist photographer, a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, and the recipient of many photographic awards.

He photographed his daughter from infancy into adulthood, and the project eventually fed into Kodak's iconic "Turn Around" TV commercial in the 1960s. That made her a familiar face to millions, before she'd ever composed a frame of her own.

Only in the 1970s did she buy her first professional camera and start pointing it the other way. She eventually built a body of work which today sits in the Met, the Getty and the Whitney, exploring topics like the Holocaust and civil rights.

As a result of this myriad of experience, her own photography collection has an unusually personal editing eye behind it. This isn't an acquisitions committee assembling a survey. It's a working photographer choosing pictures that made her feel something.

A masterclass in curation

For anyone building their own portfolio or trying to sequence a personal project, the way Presence is put together is worth studying.

Crucially, the curators haven't arranged the roughly 100 prints in date order, walking visitors through photographic history decade by decade. Instead, they've grouped them into eight themed sections, based on the idea of "presence": the theorist Roland Barthes' notion that a photo is proof that a moment, a person or place existed.

That means a Lange sits near a Goldin, and an Arbus near a Parks, because of what the images share emotionally. It's a good approach to borrow when you're editing your own contact sheets: ask what a picture does to the person looking at it, not just when or where you took it.

This particular mix is also a reminder of how wide "documentary" photography actually stretches. James Karales' sweeping Selma to Montgomery March and Steve Schapiro's close-in portrait of Martin Luther King sit alongside Merry Alpern's grainy, voyeuristic Dirty Window Series and Jerry Uelsmann's darkroom surrealism in Small Woods Where I Met Myself.

Eslewhere, Todd Webb's eight-print panorama of a single block of Sixth Avenue in 1948 shows what patient, methodical street photography looks like when it's given room to breathe across multiple frames, rather than compressed into one decisive moment.

Glickman Lauder built this collection over decades – buying work she responded to rather than chasing a checklist of famous names – and the show is stronger for the gaps and idiosyncrasies that approach leaves behind.

To my mind, this is a useful lesson for anyone assembling a portfolio purely to look impressive. Namely, that pictures with presence tend to come from conviction, rather than completism.

Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder runs at the Southampton Arts Center, New York, from July 25 to September 27, 2026, before touring to Sarasota Art Museum, the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston and the Lowe Art Museum in Miami through February 2028.

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I’m a pro photographer with a bag full of mirrorless gear, but the daily snapshots that I take end up being from the camera that’s always with me: my iPhone. An unusual new trend is growing amid the craving for slower, analog tech without the cost of film: screen-free digital cameras.

Annoyed at my iPhone’s endless stream of notifications, I decided to take photos completely screen-free for a week – but I loved it so much I lasted nearly two weeks instead.

I didn’t take a photo (or video) on my iPhone for nearly two weeks, instead trying out an assortment of screen-free cameras to snap photos of everything from my kids to the sunset.

For the challenge, I used a handful of different cameras, including the Camp Snap CS-Pro and the disposable camera dupe from Flashback. I allowed myself one camera that technically has a screen – the Fujifilm X Half – but locked the screen and shot entirely in the camera’s film mode, which displayed only camera settings on the screen and didn't allow me to actually view any images.

I didn’t miss what I’d expected to miss: that screen. Shooting without a screen meant I wasn’t looking to see whether or not I had captured the shot just as I had envisioned. Did I mess up some shots that were too bright or shots with a crooked horizon? Yes. But I also didn’t feel pressure to make the memory seem perfect. (Because memories are not, in fact, perfect.)

Removing the ability to view the photos also gives the digital cameras a little of the surprise feel when developing a roll of film. Admittedly, I don’t look back on many of my iPhone photos often, but shooting screen-free, I had to take the time to sit down and look through the photos.

One of the reasons that I loved using the screen-free cameras had nothing to do with a screen at all. As a pro photographer, my “photos to be edited” pile is often daunting, and my own personal photos tend to sit for weeks (Case in point: I still haven’t edited the spring portraits that I took two months ago.)

Several screen-free cameras are also designed with film-inspired presets applied in-camera, and while imperfect, they left me feeling like I didn’t have to edit my daily snapshots. My favorite for this was the Fujifilm X Half, because it has a larger sensor and the same film simulations from its mirrorless cameras. But it also has two of my favorite "happy accidents" from film: light leaks and halation.

One of the camera features that I did miss, however, was zoom. The compact cameras that I used for the challenge are all fixed focal length cameras, many designed to mimic the feel of a disposable film camera, so extras like optical zoom aren’t part of the shooting experience. There were a handful of times I wished the screen-free camera could get in a little closer.

Most screen-free compact cameras also don't really have a macro mode, as they use fixed focus lenses like disposable film cameras. The X Half is an exception, and I was able to snap a handful of close-ups as well as portraits and landscapes.

The experiment also reminded me of the reason why I take so many photos with my iPhone: it’s always with me. I didn’t grab a screen-free camera when I took my dog for a walk one evening, expecting the incoming rain to make it a short trip. Instead, I was greeted by a spectacular double rainbow.

Not wanting to break my screen-free challenge, I headed back for a camera, but by the time that I returned, the rainbow was almost completely faded. Lesson learned: Sometimes the best camera is the one that’s with you when the moment presents itself.

But the thing that broke me, the feature that had me pull out my iPhone camera for the first time in thirteen days, wasn’t what I expected at all: Video. I’m a photographer, not a videographer, but some personal memories are just better in moving pictures.

I had come across the most butterflies that I had seen in one place, and, after nearly two weeks, almost twice my original goal, I pulled out my iPhone to take a video. (I had pulled out my mirrorless camera a few days before that, ironically, to take photos of screen-free cameras for this article. But, in the spirit of continuing the challenge past the original week, I even disabled that screen by flipping it closed.)

Most screen-free cameras just take still photos. There is the video-only Camp Snap CS-8, but it’s an oversized camera that’s not at all pocketable (and it doesn’t take still photos). The X Half can take videos too – but not in the film camera mode with the locked screen.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into my screen-free challenge, but I found I loved the compact cameras that don’t come with built-in distractions. Yes, I’ll probably continue to take the occasional snapshot with my iPhone, but when I’m headed out to make memories and don’t want the weight of my mirrorless or the distraction of my iPhone, I may just have to slide a screen-free compact camera in my bag instead.

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I took my experience and ranked the best screen-free digital cameras based on experience, quality, and price.

While the Honor Magic V6 got a lot of attention at MWC earlier this year, it took its sweet time to reach UK shelves. Now, though, it's finally available to order across Europe, and it's aiming to be the very best foldable on the market.

Looking at the spec sheet, it may just be that. It has Qualcomm's most powerful chip inside, the biggest battery of any foldable so far, and some seriously well-equipped cameras. It's also the first folding phone to come with an IP69 rating for dust and water resistance.

On the other hand, the competition is stiffer than ever. There's the wildly impressive Oppo Find N6, for one, and Samsung (and maybe Apple?) are set to unveil their latest foldables in the coming months. Is the Honor Magic V6 enough to keep up? Let's dive in.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The Honor Magic V6 has an eye-watering £1999.99 MSRP in the UK, which is a significant increase over the Magic V5's £1699.99 price tag. However, for a limited time, you can nab it for just £1499.99, and if you get it on the Honor UK site, they'll throw in £500 worth of freebies.

So, that makes discussing the pricing a little tricky. On one hand, the big (likely RAM shortage-induced) price hike is a tough pill to swallow, but on the other, the introductory price is a solid deal. If you're keen on this phone, it probably makes sense to jump in early.

At full retail, the Magic V6 is one of the priciest book-style foldables around. But we don't know what Samsung's next-gen pricing looks like yet, and the way things are trending, that won't come cheap, either.

Design

The Honor Magic V6 has a similar overall design to the Magic V5, but there are a few visual differences to set it apart. Firstly, there's a new shape to the camera bezel, which now has a more angular octagonal design.

The cover screen is now completely flat, and it has a more symmetrical shape, with matching curved corners on every side. The hinge still sticks out a little, with its squared-off corners, but there's not a lot that can be done to remedy that.

As always, there are some fresh colour options to further differentiate the two models. I have the gold version in for testing, and it's pretty boujie. It has a shiny golden back panel with a subtle repeating triangular pattern across it, and a matching pattern on the hinge.

It reminds me of Ferrero Rocher packaging, and when combined with the included cream leather-effect case, it gives off designer handbag vibes. You get the idea, it's fancy and shiny. Despite the glossy surfaces, though, it's completely immune to fingerprint smudges, so it'll keep up appearances even when you've been using it for hours.

The red model is the standout, in my opinion. It has a deep blood-red shade to the rear panel, complete with a textured finish that looks a bit like craft paper. However, if you're more concerned about dimensions than colours, you'll want to go for the white one, as that's the slimmest of the bunch.

Speaking of which, this is one of the thinnest foldables on the market, to the point where it's noticeably slimmer than some flagship Ultra bar-phones. I'm not convinced it's any slimmer than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but who really cares? It's slim enough to feel great in your pocket, and that's all that matters.

Now, these svelte dimensions might lead you to expect a fragile device, but thankfully, that's not the case. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The Honor Magic V6 has the highest IP rating of any foldable to date, IP69, which means it's effectively immune to dust and water (except for salt water).

It's also built with toughness in mind. It has NanoCrystal scratch-resistant glass on the cover screen and an impact-resistant Super Steel hinge. SGS has awarded it 5 stars for drop resistance, too. As ever, the foldable screen will be the weak point, but otherwise, it should handle some rough treatment without issue.

Both screens are super impressive, but the highlight is the almost 8-inch foldable panel. It's a 120Hz OLED with a supposed peak brightness of 5000 nits, and it's more than bright enough for outdoor use. The square-ish aspect ratio makes it excellent for displaying two apps side by side, and it's a great way to review and edit your photos, too.

There is a crease, but it's impressively shallow, and until recently, I would have said it's one of the best I've ever seen. Unfortunately for Honor, the Oppo Find N6 is in a completely different league, and having used that as my daily driver for months, this isn't too exciting. That said, the N6 isn't officially available in most Western countries, and this is probably the most crease-free foldable that's sold in the UK.

The cover display is also fantastic, boasting an even higher peak brightness. The aspect ratio is very slightly narrower than most flagship bar-phones, but other than that, there's very little difference. There's no downside to using the outer display most of the time, and only opening the hinge when you need some extra real estate - and that's exactly what I found myself doing.

It's also worth mentioning the speakers, as they're quite decent. There's a bit of bass response, and they project a wide soundstage that's great for gaming and movie immersion. They're not as impressive as the Honor Magic 8 Pro speakers, but considering the size constraints, Honor has done a remarkable job.

Camera Performance

The Honor Magic V6 appears to have identical camera hardware to last year's V5. So, while there's nothing to get too hyped up about, the V5 already had some of the best cameras on a foldable, and the competition hasn't been pushing in that direction too much. These snappers are likely still among the best.

On the rear, there are three cameras. You get a 23mm equivalent 50MP main camera with a fairly large 1/1.56-inch sensor, a 64MP 70mm periscope with a 1/2-inch sensor, and a dramatic 15mm ultrawide camera. There's also a 20MP punch-hole selfie camera on each screen.

As is often the case, the main camera is the best-equipped and provides the most consistent results across all lighting conditions. It's the sharpest, and its large sensor handles dim conditions better than the other lenses, resulting in less motion blur.

However, the telephoto camera is no slouch, and it's likely the best telephoto on any foldable phone right now. The sizable 1/2-inch sensor, combined with the 70mm lens, creates some lovely compression and background softening for close-up shots. And while I wouldn't necessarily call it a macro camera, it can get closer than most. It's able to focus from around 20cm away, and when combined with some digital zoom, you can get stunning close-ups.

Long-range zoom is more hit-and-miss, but I was able to get usable results up until around 20x. Going beyond that range, images start to look very unnatural - especially if you toggle on Honor's AI Zoom enhancement feature. Sure, it'll clean up the pixellation, but it also makes up details and isn't very photo-like.

The ultrawide is the least impressive of the trio. On the plus side, it's super-wide, so you can get loads in the frame, and you can get some fun distorted angles with it. It also has autofocus, so you can use it for macro shots, if you fancy. On the other hand, it's not very sharp, and the tiny sensor struggles in the dark.

The twin selfie cameras are fine, but they're nothing too special. There's a noticeable drop in quality compared to the rear cameras, but for video chats, they get the job done nicely - and they're still better than most laptop webcams. Since this is a foldable, if you want excellent selfies, your best bet is to unfold the device and use the rear cameras instead.

Honor's default colours are a little too saturated and punchy for my tastes, but thankfully, there are lots of picture styles available, and they change the look quite dramatically. I'm really fond of the Nostalgic Negative mode, which produces moody high-contrast images with cool tones in the shadows - it looks especially good at night.

The Studio Harcourt portrait mode is also available on this phone, and it can take some super-impressive, highly stylised snaps with either the main or telephoto cameras. You can also digitally crop up to 6x, if your subject is a little further away.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the cameras on the V6. My only real complaint is that I seem to get a lot of motion blur when using portrait mode, and it's much less of a problem in the other modes. I hope Honor can figure that out, as otherwise, it's a really strong camera system.

For video shooting, the Honor Magic V6 supports up to 4K 60fps on all the rear cameras, and 4K 30fps on the selfie cameras. Stabilisation is strong, and the microphones are very decent, too. I was a little disappointed, having used the Find N6 so much, that there are no 4K 120fps options, and the Log profile only works on the main camera. But, to be fair, these features are niche, and most casual users won't mind.

Phone Performance

The Honor Magic V6 is powered by Qualcomm's most powerful chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and that means, no matter what you demand of it, this phone can likely keep up. For the global launch, it's paired with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.

Performance has been great throughout my testing. I demand a lot from foldable phones, often running two or three apps side-by-side and streaming music or a YouTube video at the same time, and this phone can do it without issue. It always feels smooth, no matter what I'm doing.

It can game pretty well, too. I've been playing NTE, a graphically challenging title with a large open-world city map, and while some phones struggle, the V6 powers through it. It ran the game on the "Extreme" preset at 60fps quite solidly, and though it got hot after a while, especially around the camera area, the performance didn't seem to drop.

The phone runs MagicOS 10, Honor's customised version of Android 16. Stylistically, it's very Apple-influenced. There's a Dynamic Island clone, some Liquid Glass-like elements, and even a Standby mode - but almost all of this is optional.

Where MagicOS excels is with its customisation options. You can tweak and change most things in this OS, so even if it's not your vibe by default, you can probably configure it to your tastes. It's also absolutely packed with features, including all the latest AI-powered tricks like translation, transcription, image generation and writing assistance.

What I found most interesting, though, is the way the Honor Magic V6 works with Apple products. As a MacBook and Android user, I often face hurdles, but the Magic V6 makes life much easier. If you install Honor Workspace from the Mac App Store, you can share your clipboard, transfer files, and even use your Magic V6 as a wireless secondary display - it's very cool.

The Magic V6 can also natively browse and share to iCloud accounts, and you can wirelessly transfer files to and from iPhones with Honor Connect. If you're currently an Apple person, this phone will make transitioning out of the walled garden much easier.

The problem I have with MagicOS is the same as it ever was. The OS kills background apps like crazy to save on battery life, and this can lead to delayed or undelivered notifications from important apps. It's fixable, but you need to dive into some settings menus to sort it out, and that's a hassle you don't get elsewhere.

Lastly, we need to talk about the battery. The Honor Magic V6 has a mammoth 6660 mAh battery inside its skinny frame, the biggest of any foldable I have used to date. As you might expect, this results in brilliant battery life.

Most of the time, I get about a day and a half's use from a charge. Of course, battery life always depends on your usage, and if I were playing demanding games or shooting lots of video, it didn't last quite as long, but it never failed to get me to the end of the day, despite using the larger fold-out screen at every opportunity.

Charging is super quick, too. It supports up to 80W speeds with a wire, and I found I could go from flat to around 70% charged in just half an hour. If you like wireless charging, that's also super quick, at up to 66W. Neither adapter is included in the box, though, just a USB-C cable.

Final Verdict

The Honor Magic V6 is a pleasure to use, and it's easily one of the best foldable phones on the market today. It has the best battery, the cameras are among the best, and it should be one of the most durable, too.

The pricing complicates things a little, though. At the introductory price of £1499.99, it's a solid deal, but the full MSRP of £1999.99 is tough to stomach. I think the stiffest competition comes from Honor itself. The Honor Magic V5 feels almost identical in use, and you can currently grab that for just £1099.99. The biggest downside to doing so is losing out on that larger battery, but it's still super powerful and has almost identical cameras.

You should also factor in that Samsung is likely to launch its next foldables in the next month or so, and then maybe Apple, too. The competition is about to get very interesting, and personally, I'd hold off and see what they bring to the table.

With all that said, if you need a foldable phone right now, it's hard to fault the Honor Magic V6. It's an excellent all-rounder that doesn't fall short in any particular area. Whether you're looking to shoot impressive photos, get work done on the go, or play some games, you're in for a good time with this one.

Alternatives

Photographers may have more than fireworks to capture this Fourth of July weekend, as several sun flares could mean a natural night sky light show over the next few days. Heightened solar activity could increase the odds of seeing the aurora farther south than usual over the weekend.

The sun emitted several flares over a 24-hour period on June 30. Those flares could potentially spark an aurora this weekend, as early as tonight, with heightened chances for an aurora continuing into the weekend.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s three-day geomagnetic forecast predicts that the highest levels of activity could potentially hit a KP6, a moderate G2-level storm, around 18:00 ET today. The levels remain above a KP4 for more than 24 hours, however.

NOAA, however, notes that this particular solar activity makes the forecast unpredictable, and the timing could come earlier or later than expected. The sun unleashed 10 flares over a 24-hour period, and how those flares interact makes the aurora even more challenging to predict than usual.

The organization notes that there is “some uncertainty” on the timing due to that unpredictability – if the solar activity hits during daylight hours, the aurora would not be visible.

With the timing uncertain, photographers should check NOAA’s short-term forecast – which tends to be more accurate than the three-day forecast – before losing sleep.

If the conditions remain favorable, northern US states and Canada could see some aurora activity:

The UK's MET Office is also monitoring the activity and notes a potential aurora, but says that "any aurora is likely to be restricted to the northern parts of the UK and similar latitudes."

Thankfully, photographing the aurora is a little like photographing a fireworks show: Bring a tripod and prepare to use slower shutter speeds.

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A compact and affordable telephoto lens for Canon EOS R-series cameras is the new number one best-selling lens in Japan, according to major retailer Kitamura.

While the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM claims the top spot, a third-party 18-50mm standard zoom makes a trio of appearances in the top 10 across different mounts, making it one of the chart's standout performers.

The Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C is the company's first Canon RF lens and an ideal choice for APS-C cameras such as the EOS R7, R10, R50 and R100. Both lenses are relatively affordable in their categories, with Canon's 100-400mm priced at $749 / £599 and Sigma's 18-50mm available for $659 / £468 (RF-mount).

Kitamura's 10 best-selling lenses, May 2026

1. Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM
2. Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C (E-mount)
3. Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN | C (E-mount)
4. Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C (X-mount)
5. Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II
6. Fujifilm XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR
7. Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C (RF-mount)
8. Sony FE 50mm f/1.8
9. Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 Macro GM OSS
10. Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G

#1 lens: Canon's affordable super-telephoto zoom

While telephoto lenses in the 400mm range are typically large, heavy and expensive, the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM stands out as a compact and affordable alternative, making it a popular choice among wildlife, nature and sports photographers.

For comparison, Canon's pro RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM costs $2,899 / £2,385, and weighs 1530g, while the RF 100-400mm is priced at $749 / £599and weighs just 635g.

Although it isn't weather-sealed, the lens features Canon's fast USM AF (autofocus), up to 5.5-stop image stabilization, and delivers impressive all-round image quality in a remarkably portable package.

The real winner: Sigma's third-party lens success

Launched for Canon RF in 2024, the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C was Sigma's first AF lens for the mount – a long-awaited release for Canon EOS R users.

Unlike many standard zooms, the 18-50mm is remarkably compact at just 290g, yet combines solid build quality with a fast, constant f/2.8 aperture. In our review, we said that "this Sigma is a little lens that really does punch well above its weight."

It delivers impressive image quality, features weather-resistant construction, and comes with a budget-friendly price tag. Available for four different mounts, it's easy to see why the lens has become a favorite across multiple camera systems.

Seeing this lens rank second, fourth and seventh in Kitamura's latest sales charts is no surprise. While Canon's RF 100-400mm takes the top spot, Sigma's compact standard zoom is arguably the biggest success story in the rankings.

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Oppo's Reno series phones have always aimed to give you a lot for your money, and the latest 16-series models are following suit. The Reno 16 Pro boasts a 200MP main camera, one of the most impressive selfie cameras around, a premium build, top-class software, and a sizable 6700 mAh battery.

Oppo told us that, unlike the flagship X-series phones, the latest Reno models are aimed at a younger audience. Rather than professional-level imaging, these handsets are all about creating quick, hassle-free Instagram-ready snaps to brighten up your feed.

As such, there are loads of excellent filters to play about with, and some novel collage effects that are more impressive than they might first sound. I've been having a lot of fun with the Reno 16 Pro, and after slipping my SIM card in for the past week, here are my thoughts.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The Oppo Reno 16 Pro is available in Europe in a single 12GB RAM and 512GB storage configuration, priced at €1,099, with a launch discount bringing it down to €899 until July 31. There’s no confirmed US release, which is a shame, as this would be a strong option for creators looking for flagship-adjacent camera features without paying true flagship money.

Design

The Oppo Reno 16 Pro stands out from the crowd in its signature Pop White colourway. While it might not be to my particular tastes, I can imagine younger, more feminine users being quite taken with it. (There's also a more sensible black version that might be more my speed.)

So, what makes this phone stand out so much? Well, the glossy rear panel has a subtle glittering finish when the light hits it, complete with a 3D planet motif that's unique to this phone.

When I say 3D, I really mean it. Oppo is calling this tech HoloVerse 3D, and it uses multiple layers of material and millions of micro lenses to create a sense of 3D depth without requiring glasses. Not only that, but the design actually casts a shadow on the back of the phone when you shine a torch at it.

Fancy rear casing aside, the phone looks and feels premium throughout. It has matte aluminium side rails and a flat, boxy, iPhone-like shape. It has a 6.32-inch screen, which makes it much more compact than many of its rivals. As such, it's much easier to reach the top of the screen, and it won't make such a bulge in your pocket. If you have smaller hands, you'll definitely appreciate it.

In addition to the usual power button and volume rocker combo, this phone also has a "Snap Key", which is Oppo's version of Apple's Action Button. I love this button. I use it all the time on my other Oppo devices, mainly as a way to quickly toggle my torch on, but it can do a lot more than just that.

Oppo seems most keen on this button being used like Nothing's Essential Key. By default, it's set to save screenshots to the Mind Space app, which will then use AI to organise your screenshots and make them searchable. It's a handy feature, but as a frequent ecosystem-hopper, it's not ideal for me. Instead, I'm more excited about the ability to quickly launch translation tools when travelling or open my favourite camera mode in a flash.

The screen is pretty impressive. It's an OLED panel with a speedy 144Hz refresh rate, and it can reach up to 3600 nits at peak brightness. There are slim symmetrical bezels on all sides, and while the selfie camera cutout is slightly larger than usual, there's a good reason for that, which we'll dive into a bit later.

The Reno 16 Pro is IP69K certified, a slight increase over the previous model's IP69 rating. Essentially, dust and water don't pose much of a threat to this handset, even at high temperatures; you'll only need to be careful around salt water - but that's always the case.

You also get a hard plastic transparent case included in the box, so you can keep your phone scratch-free and show off the rear design without needing to purchase additional accessories. This case is clearer than the usual soft TPU freebies, and may be more immune to yellowing - but time will tell.

Camera Performance

The Reno 16 Pro has three cameras on the rear. There's a 200MP main snapper with a decently sized 1/1.56-inch sensor, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 50MP 3.5x telephoto. The latter two sensors are smaller at 1/2.88-inch and 1/2.75-inch, respectively, but I was pleased to find that the ultrawide has autofocus.

Arguably, the most exciting camera on this phone is the selfie camera - and considering the target audience, it's probably the one that'll get used the most often. This camera uses a Samsung JN5 sensor - the same sensor the main camera of the Reno 13F used last year.

The specs aren't too wild, but considering this is a selfie camera, they're pretty darn impressive. It's a 1/2.75-inch sensor with a 50MP resolution and a wide 18mm-equivalent f/2.0 autofocus lens. This setup makes it perfect for wide group shots and matches (or perhaps surpasses) the quality of rear ultrawide for vlogging.

Having just tested the latest batch of "flagship killer" phones like the Xiaomi 17T Pro and Vivo X300 FE, I was quite surprised by the Reno 16 Pro. It might not have a legacy camera logo slapped on it, but this phone is probably the most versatile shooter of the lot. Every single camera is at least 50MP and has autofocus; none of the others can match that.

Of course, these aren't quite flagship-grade optics, but with the slew of filters and styling options that Oppo has included here, most people aren't going to notice.

There's a new mode in the camera app called "Pop" which gives you quick access to a bunch of preset looks. There's a mode that makes photos look like Polaroids, there's a CCD digicam mode with the compulsory Y2K excessive flash, and plenty of film simulations, too. My favourite filter from the X9 Ultra's Master Mode also makes an appearance. It's called Primrose, it's inspired by Portra film, and it delivers some lovely warm tones.

I was also pleased to see that the excellent Soft Light option is available on this phone, and it works in both the normal photo mode and Pop. If you're not familiar, this is like a digital mist filter, softening skin textures and making highlights bloom a little more. It's a great way to get away from the typical hyper-sharp smartphone look.

Otherwise, the usual mid-range caveats apply. At night, you'll want to stick to the main camera as much as possible, as the relatively small sensors elsewhere struggle to keep up. That is, unless you're going all-in on that flash look.

The flash on this phone is surprisingly well-engineered. It's not just on or off; you actually get three strength settings ranging from "soft" to "high contrast". I've never been much of an on-camera flash kind of guy, but it's a trendy look, and it's well worth exploring on this phone.

Overall, it's a really solid camera system, but its weak point is macro photography. The telephoto can focus from around 30cm away, which isn't awful, but it's only an 85mm lens, so you'll need to do a fair bit of digital zoom to get into macro territory. The actual macro camera is the ultrawide, which is never my favourite option, and even then, it can't get as close up as some of its rivals.

Video shooting is pretty decent on this phone. You can capture at up to 4K 60fps on every single camera, and stabilisation is respectable across the board. There's a new feature built in that automatically straightens your horizon by up to 5 degrees of tilt, which is quite handy, and the Dual-View video capabilities have been boosted, too.

If you're looking for pro video features, though, you might find this handset lacking. It doesn't support 4K120 recording like some of its rivals do, and there's no Log profile, either. That said, you do get a Pro Video mode with manual controls, so you can get a little creative with it.

Phone Performance

The Oppo Reno 16 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8550 SoC, and it comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It's not a full-fledged flagship chip, but it's more powerful than you might expect, and I dare say it's more than most users would ever need.

In general use, checking social media, editing photos and videos, and streaming content, the phone was buttery smooth. I never noticed any hiccups or performance slowdowns. You have to boot up a very graphically demanding game if you want to spot the difference between this and a top-tier flagship.

I've been playing a lot of NTE, an open-world gatcha game that requires some serious horsepower to run smoothly. I had to lower the graphics preset to "balanced" and run it at 30fps to get a consistent experience. But when I did, the game was perfectly playable. This phone won't satisfy hardcore competitive gamers, but for everyone else, it's more than good enough.

When it comes to the software, the Reno 16 Pro runs ColorOS 16, just like Oppo's flagship devices. I've been hopping between the Find X9 Ultra and Find N6 as of late, and I felt right at home here, as the software is almost identical.

The OS has a slick look with iOS-inspired elements like transparent liquid-glass icons and Oppo's Dynamic Island clone. However, if that's not your thing, you can make it look completely different. There's an abundance of theming options to choose from, and loads of different lockscreen styles, too.

ColorOS continues to offer some of the most useful AI features around, including everything from screen translation, narration, transcription, and writing assistance. It also pairs well with a MacBook, as you can use the O+Connect app to share files, your clipboard, and even use your keyboard and trackpad to control the phone.

One of the newer additions is the AI bill manager. It can log your digital payments or physical receipts, using the Mind Space via the camera app. It'll keep a total of your expenses and even cross-convert different currencies.

What I found much more exciting, though, are the new collage modes that are perfect for posting on Instagram. Oppo gives you tonnes of options for different layouts and styles, and the new pop-out feature means you can superimpose your subject over multiple shots. It even works with motion photos.

The battery life was excellent throughout my testing. This phone has a fairly large 6700 mAh cell, and that easily got me through a day and a half of normal usage; I could even stretch it to two days, on occasion. Charging is rapid, too. It supports up to 80W speeds, and the speedy charger is included in the box (that may vary from region to region). The only disappointment is that there's no wireless charging available.

When it comes to long-term support, Oppo promises 5 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches. Perhaps more importantly, though, it comes with a 6-year fluency guarantee, which means (according to Oppo's testing) the phone should still feel quick and responsive after 6 years of daily use.

Final Verdict

To be completely honest, I didn't have especially high hopes for the Reno 16 Pro. I knew it would be decent enough, but Oppo's mid-range cameras haven't wowed me too much in the past, and I wasn't expecting anything different here, but I was mistaken.

Not only is the hardware on point, with high-resolution sensors across the board, but the selfie camera is probably the best of any phone I have ever tested. The super-wide FOV is great for vlogging and group photos, and the autofocus and high resolution make for super-sharp photos.

Plus, there's a plethora of fun filters and effects to make your photos stand out, and the collage mode is so good that it's a little bit addictive. The only downside, really, is the lack of professional video options.

Elsewhere, the phone is solid on all fronts. It's powerful enough, it feels premium, the software is among the best, and the battery is great. The design might not be to my taste, but at least it stands out, and you can always opt for the black one.

Alternatives

Hasselblad is a well-loved medium format camera system – but one of the brand's biggest requests has finally been answered: more native RAW file support across third-party photo editing apps.

Today, Hasselblad announced native RAW file support inside the popular photo editor Capture One. The company says that tethered camera support will follow later this year.

RAW files from cameras like the Hasselblad X2D II 100C – the “finest stills camera ever made” according to my colleague James Artaius – are packed with 100MP resolution and dynamic range.

But while Adobe Lightroom and Camera RAW support the 3FR file format, Hasselblad’s RAW file format isn’t widely compatible with some of the most well-known Adobe competitors. That left photographers opening the files and working with the colors in Hasselblad’s Phocus software for the best color rendering before exporting as a TIFF and importing into other programs.

With Capture One support, the announcement removes an extra step for Hasselblad photographers working with one of the best Lightroom alternatives.

Hasseblad says those files open natively inside the photo editor, including support for the camera's dedicated color profiles. The collaboration also supports lens profiles for Hasselblad glass, enabling lens profile correction inside Capture One.

Capture One support includes file handling for the RAW files from the X2D II 100C, the X2D 100C, and the CFV 100C digital back and is available in version 16.8.3 of Capture One, as well as the mobile version 3.3.4.

“Photographers have asked us to bring Hasselblad’s image quality into Capture One’s platform for years,” said Rafael Orta, CEO, Capture One.

“This partnership delivers exactly that, empowering even more photographers with everything they need, from initial inspiration to final image. It’s a collaboration the photography community has wanted for a long time, and we’re glad it’s finally here.”

New users can also try a free seven-day trial for Capture One.

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Read more about the best photo editors, or dive into the best Hasselblad cameras.

The eye-catching image of a red fox poised to catch a crab mid-air on a seaweed-covered shoreline in Norway was captured at 2 AM in broad daylight – now it has just earned its 5th prize, awarded by the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers.

Photographer Cecilie Bergan Stuedal shot the multi-award-winning image titled Aerodynamic crab under the midnight sun in Finnmark – a phenomenon leaving the region with daylight for 24 hours a day.

Stuedal's gear of choice is a Nikon pro DSLR and 70-200mm lens. The Nikon D6 was launched in 2020 and is now discontinued, yet to this date it is a highly sought-after full-frame model among professional photographers.

Living Planet competition winner: Aerodynamic crab

Technical insights
Camera: Nikon D6
Lens: Nikkor 70-200mm
Exposure: 1/1000sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200

The story behind the still
"Last year, I spent several nights in the midnight sun with a small family of foxes here in Finnmark.

"They contributed to many incredible and fond moments over the summer of 2025, and I feel privileged to have observed the cubs grow into confident hunters.

"The fox in this photo is the bravest of the two cubs in the family.

"On that particular July night, around 2 am, it approached me, and I noticed that it was chewing on a crab.

"It finished its snack, and I took some photos of the fox as it strolled about and posed a bit.

"After a while, it went into the bladderwrack/seaweed and started to hunt crabs again. Suddenly, the cub threw a crab into the air.

"The crab landed back in the bladderwrack, but the cub relocated it and started to munch happily on its prey.

"It was that split-second moment I managed to capture in a photo.''

Why the image stood out to the judges

"With its creativity, technical excellence, and powerful storytelling.

"Her winning photograph is a fitting reminder of the incredible moments that nature offers to those with the patience and passion to capture them,” explains Colin Jones, the Society's Director.

To see all winners, visit the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers website.

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Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries from June to December.

People are starting to ask if drones are a problem at the FIFA World Cup, with authorities having "neutralized" over 300 at the halfway stage of the competition.

Operators have to face an additional 3-mile ban around the tournament stadiums, and most of the neutralizations have taken place without force, despite the dramatic terminology. It has nevertheless left some operators very upset – and others, like content creators Dorian Carlisle and Hashim Moore very surprised, as they explained in a viral clip.

Shooting a video for Father's Day using a brand new drone, they had not absorbed all the rules – especially the temporary restrictions around FIFA Fan Zones and Stadiums in place until July 5.

As a result, they ended up being detained by Homeland Security – a lesson to all drone operators as to how swiftly US government agencies are now able to act.

Fortunately for the creators, they were able to convince the police and FBI that they were unaware of the rules and 'only' had to pay a $580 fine to recover their drone.

The FBI has been very clear from the start that enforcement would be serious. Clear, that is, if you were looking. You'll see that the FAA were relying on regional authorities to 'spread the word' using a No Drone Zone Toolkit.

Perhaps that hasn't happened as well as it might?

If you need to know what the exact rules are, you can check the FAA's FIFA World Cup Safety Plan.

Historically, though, despite a lot of news coverage, are these numbers as worrying as they sound? In reality, probably not. The FIFA World Cup is a competition than goes on much longer than others.

The new longer-format World Cup is – as most soccer (football, as it is correctly known) has more gams and lasts 39 days, making it much longer than the last summer Olympics, held in Paris in 2024. Despite being only 17 days of Olympic events there were still over 300 drone incidents and 81 arrests in similarly effective action.

As a drone operator, it is still immensely frustrating to me that people would ignore guidelines put in place for public safety; this kind of thing gives drones a bad name.

In reality, though, it is still a relatively small number of incidents – and it seems some are not quite as transgressive as you might imagine from less drone-friendly news platforms. Keeping it to zero incidents, though, is the only way to prevent future bans, as every single incident is an excuse for anti-drone politicians.

So I'd urge anyone to respect the rules and, if you see a drone breaking the rules, report it to 911, on-site law enforcement or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Check out my guide to the best camera drones you can buy today

Whether you're a seasoned photographer, a beginner just getting started or someone who loves capturing beautiful moments, submitting your images to photo competitions is one of the best ways to gain exposure and recognition.

Entering competitions isn't just about winning – though prizes and publicity are great bonuses! It's also a chance to dive into your archives, rediscover your best images and refine your personal style. Many photographers say competitions were the stepping stone that helped them build a name, grow their audience or land their first big feature.

And with so many open calls across all genres – there's something for everyone. So, here's a list of photography competitions with open calls that are accepting submissions from July 2026 until January 2027. It's a small selection to spark inspiration, but there are countless others out there…

Travel Photographer of the Year

Deadline: Early bird: July 1, TPOTY Pass: July 16, Final: October 12

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: From £14, entry is FREE for young photographers aged 18 and under

Portfolio categories: Adventures & Journeys, Cultures, Traditions & Celebrations, Landscapes – Nature & Urban, Wildlife, Sealife, Birdlife

One Shot categories: In Nature, People of the World, Street, Travel in Black & White,

Special Awards: Travel Photographer of the Year, Young Travel Photographer of the Year, Travel Image of the Year, Rising Talent Award, People’s Choice Award

Prizes: Cash prizes from £1,000 to £200, industry portfolio reviews, media exposure, and more

Le Prix de la Photographie de Paris (PX3)

Deadline: July 22

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: €30 for single images, €50 for series (professionals), €20 for single images, €40 for series (amateurs and students), discounts for multiple categories

Categories: Advertising, Analog, Architecture, Book, Fine Art, Nature, Portraiture, Press

Prizes: Up to €11,500 in cash prizes, exhibitions in Paris, Athens, Ostuni & Budapest⁠, publication in the PX3 Annual Book, extensive global exposure ⁠

The Illume Awards

Deadline: July 31

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Sports categories: Adventure, Aerial, Bike, Climb, Skate, Snow, Surf, Trail

Themed categories: Close-Up, Emerging, Innovation, Lifestyle, Masterpiece, Playground, RAW, Spirit

Prizes: Leica cameras, Angelbird storage gear, global exhibition tour, photobook feature

RMetS Weather Photographer of the Year 2026

Deadline: August 20

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Categories: Weather Photographer of the Year (most striking weather images in action), Mobile Weather Photographer of the Year (must be captured on a smartphone or tablet), Climate Award (a compelling story about our changing climate)

Special: Public Favourite Award – decided by a global public vote

Prizes: £2,000 prize pool; winning work is showcased by media partners The Royal Meteorological Society, My Modern Met and ITV Weather

Brian Black Memorial Award

Note: The Digital Camera World team will join the judging panel

Deadline: August 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels living in the UK

Fee: Free

Theme: "Our Inspiring Seas"

Categories: Adult photo competition, Article competition, Junior photo competition (under 16 years)

Prizes: £3,000 prize pool – Winning article: £1,500 cash prize, publication in Yachting Monthly (print+online), interview on The Sailing Podcast; Adult photo competition: camera equipment worth £750; Junior photo competition: camera equipment worth £500

Charity contribution: The Black Memorial Award donates £500 to Sea-Changers.

Peli Photo Contest

Deadline: August 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Focus: Photographs must clearly feature a Peli case, light, or accessory

Categories: Professional and Amateur

Special: Peli Products Special Prize

Prizes: €4,750 worth of Peli products across category winners, special prize of an exclusive Peli Aegis Creator Backpack

Botanical Photographer of the Year

Deadline: September 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Focus: Britain and Ireland's wild plants

Categories: Intrepid: Plants in wild, hard-to-reach, or dramatic landscapes, Inquisitive: Close-up shots highlighting the fascinating and minute features that are often used in ID, Inclusive: People interacting with plants, urban botany, or community recording, Open: For entries that fall outside the above.

Special: Young Botanical Photographer of the Year for an entry into any category, aged 18 or under

Prizes: To be announced

Insta 360 Global Awards

Deadline: October 30

Fee: Free

Open to: Photographers and videographers of all levels

Requirement: Entries must be shot on Insta360 or Antigravity products

Format: Videos: 30sec-3min MP4/MOV, single image only under 20MB

Categories: Street, Travel, Life, Portrait, Sports, Night

Prizes: $150,000+ prize pool with over 100 winners to be announced

Sony World Photography Awards

Deadline: November 27 (Student), January 5 (Youth + Single Images), January 12 (Series)

Fee: Free

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Competitions: Series (previously Professional competition), Single Image (previously Open competition), Student, Youth

Categories: up to 10 different categories depending on competition

Prizes: Cash prizes up to $25,000, top-tier Sony equipment, and global exhibition opportunities

OPPO Photography Awards

Deadline: December 31

Open to: Photographers and videographers of all levels, shooting with OPPO, OnePlus, or realme devices

Fee: Free

Theme: "Super Every Moment"

Categories: Me, Journey, Video, Zoom, Live, Snap

Prizes: $76,500 prize pool across 38 awards

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For even more inspiration, browse the best photography awards and contests.

Back in December last year, Fujifilm teamed up with Japanese musician and fashion icon Hiroshi Fujiwara to release the GFX100RF Fragmented, an ultra-exclusive, designer edition of the GFX100RF medium format compact camera.

Aside from a unique Film Simulation profile, some lightning-bolt logos and a glossy matte finish, the Fragmented edition – named after Fujiwara’s agency, Fragment Design – is essentially the same as the standard Fujifilm GFX100RF featuring a 102MP sensor and a fixed f/4 lens.

However, this camera is so exclusive that you couldn’t even buy it in shops; the only way to get your hands on one was through lotteries and specialist camera platforms.

Fujifilm Firmware Download

Firmware version 1.13 download (Fujifilm GFX100RF)

It’s a good idea to hold off downloading the latest firmware for a few weeks. This should give enough time for any new issues to arise in community chatter, and for Fujifilm to address them. Keep an eye on Digital Camera World and we'll let you know about any problems.

But just like any standard camera, it's not immune to bugs and defects. GFX100RF Fragmented users were facing an issue where the camera would fail to reconnect to the Fujifilm XApp if the camera was turned off and back on while already paired.

Fujifilm hasn’t stated why this was happening, and my wider research hasn’t turned anything up either, but the company says that this new firmware release for the GFX100RF Fragmented fixes this issue.

So, if you're lucky enough to own one, congratulations! It now works as it should. And the rest of us can keep looking on in envy.

You might also like…

Check out our review of the best Fujifilm cameras: from X-mount retro cameras to 100MP medium format cameras. And if you want to see how the brand's premium compacts compare, take a look at our Fujifilm GFX100RF vs Fujifilm X100 VI head-to-head.

NASA’s deep space images often feel like both science and art. But NASA’s latest images are art in more ways than one: they come with sound. NASA recently released a set of new images that are impressive on their own, but come accompanied by music created from scientific data.

NASA’s sonigications translate different data points from the photographs into different musical elements. The brightness of the image, for example, turns into volume, creating a crescendo at the brightest points of the photograph.

NASA used different scans, such as left to right and a clockwise circle, along with using different instruments to represent different data. In one sonification of the Milky Way cluster NGC3603 for example, the data that comes from Chandra’s X-ray observations becomes piano notes, while the Hubble data becomes an acoustic guitar.

A photo that creates a song is unusual in itself, but the set of images also features red, white, and blue galaxies and nebulae as NASA’s nod to America’s 250th birthday this Fourth of July. That seems extra appropriate, because what fireworks show is complete without sound?

Those colors, however, aren’t just patriotic but represent different visual data and hint at where that image came from. Chandra’s x-ray technology tends to render blues, purples, and whites. Layering those images with visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet photographs from additional space telescopes, like Hubble and James Webb, offers both more colors and a more complete dataset.

The cluster of Milky Way stars known as the nebula NGC 3603 looks almost like an exploded firework. NASA says the bright red cluster of stars is revealed by mixing data from Chandra with images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

The new collection also features the galaxy NCG 4736 or Messier 94, a shot that mixes images from Chandra with photos from astrophotographers on the ground using telescopes. The combination shows off the galaxy’s inner starburst ring, where new stars are forming.

The blue inside the final image collection comes from Hubble data on a distant cluster of galaxies known as ZwCl 0024+1652, while data from Chandra’s X-ray data adds the red superheated gas to the image.

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Forgive the double negative, but I cannot believe that Nikon isn’t at least planning a Nikon Zfc II. I love the Nikon Zfc, it’s quietly become one of my favorite Nikon cameras. Sure, the aging autofocus and image processor make it feel a bit sluggish, but it’s a camera that’s got mojo and that’s not something you can say about every camera in 2026.

It’s also very competitively priced in comparison to other retro cameras such as the OM System OM-3 and Fujifilm X-E5. Although admittedly, they do boast more modern specs. And of course, it’s still one of the best-looking cameras on the market. It’s not a modern take on a retro camera like a Fujifilm X-T30 III, it’s modelled to look exactly like a film SLR from Nikon’s past, such as the Nikon FM2.

And that’s part of the camera’s charm. It’s not very ergonomic, what with its thin, boxy shape, chunky dials and no grip. It can feel a little like driving a classic car, the ride’s a little bumpy but it’s so full of charm you’ll take it out for a Sunday afternoon’s drive, just because.

So, we know a Nikon Zfc II would need a big internal upgrade from the tech that it borrows almost entirely from 2019’s Nikon Z50. But what about new physical attributes? Surely I’m talking about replacing that plasticky bottom plate and toy-like battery door, right? Wrong. I mean, I’d love Nikon to fix that, but what I really, really want (zig-a-zig-ah) is a thread on the shutter button so I can add a soft shutter release button. That’s it.

It pains me every time I see a little Nikon Zfc. I think to myself, that’s crying out for a bright red soft shutter release button. The folks at Fuji know where it’s at, even the Fujifilm X-M5 and Fujifilm X-T30 III have provision for one! And to be fair, Nikon gets it, too. The Nikon Zf, which was released a couple of years after the Zfc, has a shutter button with a thread.

So, all the evidence points towards a potential Nikon Zfc II allowing you to attach a soft shutter release button, but just in case. Nikon, if you’re ever going to make a Nikon Zfc II, make sure it can accommodate a soft shutter release button! Please and thank you.

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Check out the best Nikon cameras and the best Fujifilm cameras. Plus, 27 miles, two days, and one Nikon Zfc. I pushed this cheap retro camera to its limit on the streets of New York.

ProGrade Digital has launched a new, super-fast CFexpress Type A card. Branded Iridium, the card is available in 512GB and 1TB capacities and is capable of a blisteringly-quick 1800MB/s max read speed, and an equally impressive 1700MB/s peak write rate.

But more importantly for video capture is how fast a memory card can maintain its write speed. Here the new Iridium Type A card really stands out thanks to its 1500MB/s sustained write speed. This speed is achieved thanks to its CFexpress 4.0 architecture, which enables performance that's twice as fast as first-generation Type A cards.

ProGrade's CFexpress Type A product range already includes an Iridium card, but that is an older version which comes in 480GB and 960GB capacities. Though its maximum speed is identical to the new 512GB and 1TB versions, sustained write rate is significantly slower at 800MB/s.

Another key difference between the old and new Iridium Type A cards is their VPG certification. Where the old version was VPG200 certified, the new card boasts dual VPG certification, as it complies with both the VPG400 and VPG800 standards.

VPG (Video Performance Guarantee) is a tightly-controlled testing procedure and certification that guarantees a memory card can sustain a minimum write speed when recording video. Plenty of SD and CFexpress cards have VPG200 or VPG400 certification, meaning they're guaranteed to maintain a minimum 200MB/s or 400MB/s write speed. VPG800 certification is rather more special though, only being awarded to a select few CFexpress cards. It guarantees that the new ProGrade Iridium card will sustain a minimum 800MB/s write speed during video capture.

You may wonder why the new Iridium card is labelled with VPG400 and VPG800 ratings, as surely the faster rating should simply override the slower one? The reason the cards sport both labels is because VPG800 doesn't actually replace the older VPG200/400 ratings; it instead supplements them. This is due to the VPG800 rating being part of the new Video Performance Guarantee Profile 5.0, released by the CompactFlash Association in February 2025. VPG-5 is not backward compatible with VPG Profile 4.0 (which covers the existing VPG200 and VPG400 ratings). As such, a VPG800 card may not work with a camera recording mode that requires VPG200 or VPG400.

This is because to achieve the higher sustained write speeds of VPG800, such a card must first be preconditioned (initialized) with low-level formatting. This preconditioning, which has not previously been necessary, essentially resets the card to its original factory condition, permanently deleting any previous data from the card. This in turn means the card is a perfectly clean 'blank slate' which has a large, contiguous storage space, onto which a continuous video data stream can be written at high speed. There's therefore no risk of recording speed being reduced or interrupted by the memory controller needing to allocate part of the recording to a different sector of NAND flash in order to work around any pre-existing data stored on the card.

This sounds perfectly reasonable but there's a catch: simply deleting a video from the card doesn't recover the corresponding storage space for future VPG800 recordings - you're limited to whatever remaining storage space is left after the last preconditioning (low-level formatting). To restore the full capacity of the card for more VPG800 recording, you must again perform a preconditioning. Thankfully this procedure doesn't appear to be necessary for general use, or for VPG400 recordings.

For more information on these latest VPG standards, and why preconditioning is necessary, check out the official guidance from the CompactFlash Association.

The new ProGrade Digital Iridium CFexpress Type A card is available to pre-order from B&H. Expect to pay $569.99 for the 512GB capacity, while the 1TB version costs $949.99.

Byron Seven a tech maker, designer, and self-proclaimed everyday cary gear enthusiast, has created this pistol-grip accessory for the new Insta360 Luna series of cameras – but does it look a bit too like a gun?

Byron says "I put a lot of thought into how tools feel, function" but commentators have seen this new design and not all can see themselves using it.

@donalleniii, on Instagram, said "I think I have too much melanin in my skin in the United States to safely operate this camera" – alluding, perhaps, to the 3-times higher rate of shooting of minorities by police in the USA (see NIH data).

It is far from the only comment that suggests many will be sceptical for the same reason.

More light-hearted is @thegolden_gff, who notes "It’s All good until you film the president…"

Nevertheless, there are plenty of comments expressing enthusiasm, and others looking for variants for the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and DJI Osmo Pocket 4 cameras already on the shelves.

The Insta360 Luna Ultra, seen here, is Insta360's first pocket gimbal-style camera, and in many ways instantly the best pocket gimbal camera. It brings new features like a detachable remote monitor and microphone and dual cameras.

Incidentally, if you're wondering, I've reviewed the cameras but not the grip. Both the Luna cameras, and the DJI cameras that seem to inspire them, can be used in the horizontal way that seems to inspire the gun-like grip, and it works especially well for some shots, like rotating views. They are normally held, though, vertically, so I'm not actually sure the grip is ideal in all situations.

The Luna is not the cheapest gimbal-style camera and many already have the popular DJI offering, which explains the demand for alternatives which is appearing already (amongst those prepared to risk holding the "gun").

Interstingly this is not the only experimental design seen on the Byron Seven site, and he has addressed DJI devices before – though not all his filmmaking and phone holder alternatives are quite so reminiscent of a Glock.

Indeed he claims he engineered a 'real camera' from a DJI Osmo Pocket with a rig design.

I've not had the chance to test that, either, but the attention to detail is impressive – I can't argue with @divyanshudn who said: "the amount of custom 3D prints for a single video ! Kudos to you"

I was over the moon to see the Polaroid Go Gen 3 for, fittingly enough, a trifecta of reasons.

Firstly, the Go – a teeny-tiny instant camera series launched to challenge the monolithic Instax Mini line – has clearly been a success to warrant a third outing. Secondly, because the Polaroid Go Gen 3 comes in the best selection of colors yet.

Most importantly, though, Polaroid has made the decision to switch up the focal length – going from a 34mm equivalent on the Polaroid Go and Go Gen 2 to 42mm here. But that's not all; the flash is more powerful, the aperture is more measured and the shutter is faster.

The net result is that the Polaroid Go Gen 3 is the company's best miniature camera yet, with the most consistent and best-quality results – and as an owner of both previous Gos, I'm happy to make the upgrade. So what's different, and is it a better buy than the Instax Mini 13? Let's take a closer look.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Specifications

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Price

The Polaroid Go Gen 3 is available now at a price of $89.99 / £79.99 / AU$159.99. The Polaroid Go Gen 2 is still an active product (at least for now) and carries the same price tag.

The latest version of its rival from Fujifilm, the Instax Mini 13, was released around the same time and is similarly priced at $93.95 / £79.99 / AU$139.99.

It's important to note, however, that there is a difference in the price of film for each camera, with Polaroid Go film working out more expensive (US$1.24 per shot) than Instax Mini film (US$0.79 per shot).

Go film can only be bought in double-packs of 16 shots, while Mini film can be bought in single packs of 10. Either way, you'll spend more per pack and per shot with the Polaroid.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Build & handling

As I've alluded, there are some physical differences with the Polaroid Go Gen 3 compared to the Gen 2 (and Gen 1) – both internally and externally.

Obviously the lens DNA is chief among these, with the modification of optical components contributing to the slight increase in size and weight. In particular, the lens housing protrudes further forward (with less of a "lip" on the front) while the viewfinder extends further to the rear.

While Polaroid is still calling this "the world's smallest instant analog camera", the Gen 3 is a couple of millimeters bigger and almost 13g heavier than its predecessor.

In my hand this was basically imperceptible – but a slight rearrangement of buttons threw my muscle memory for a moment.

The flash and power buttons have both moved. The biggest change is that the flash button is now black and lives below the LED shot counter, rather than on top next to the shutter. This led to a bit of phantom finger as I instinctively searched for a button that wasn't there, but it didn't take long to adjust.

The power button now sits directly below the shot counter and flash button, and is the same color as the body. Again, other than trying to find where to turn the camera on the first few times I used it, this was no big deal.

Otherwise, the Polaroid Go Gen 3 handles just like its predecessors. It's small but perfectly formed, like holding a tiny slider hamburger, and can be pinched and operated between your thumb and forefinger. It's also the perfect size for children's hands, making it a great camera for kids.

Other features include a selfie-mirror and a built-in, USB-C-rechargable battery. The latter is obviously much better for the environment, but does mean that you can't slap in fresh batteries if you run out of juice during a shoot. And the integrated battery can't be replaced (at least, not without dismantling the camera) which puts a lifespan on the camera.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Performance

It may seem like a strange comparison on the surface, but when I started using the Polaroid Go Gen 3 it felt a bit like the Leica Q3 43. Just as the Red Dot Brand took the Leica Q3 and replaced its 28mm lens with a 43mm one, Polaroid took the Gen 2's 34mm equivalent lens and replaced it with a 42mm option.

That change in focal length alone makes the Gen 3 a completely different beast to its predecessors, with a longer lens that better suits what and how I like to shoot.

I mainly use my Go to shoot people pictures, so the slightly longer lens is better suited for close-ups, and it's also much more useful when I want to snap items of interest while I'm on vacation without having to run right up close to them. There was only one occasion where I missed having the wider lens.

However, the biggest performance boost to the Polaroid Go Gen 3 comes in the improvements to exposure – especially in bright outdoor environments.

While there was a fair amount of sample variation, both the OG Go and the Gen 2 had a habit of completely overexposing in bright conditions. But the Gen 3 has hit the sweet spot in balancing the aperture (with f/14 and f/32 options, compared to f/9 and f/32 on the Gen 2 and f/12 and f/52 on the Go) and shutter speed (1/500, compared to 1/300 and 1/125).

I found shots to be much more evenly exposed, as well as noticably sharper, in all conditions. Polaroid is quite proud about the fact that the flash is also much stronger, which I can't say as I particularly noticed in and of itself, though it undoubtedly plays into the overall improved exposure.

As I mentioned at the top of the article, photographs taken on this camera inescapably have the "Polaroid look". This is characterized by cyan- and magenta-heavy hues, deep punchy shadows and washed-out – sometimes even overexposed – highlights.

You'll either see this as "delightfully characterful" or "poor image quality". Personally, I love this look; Polaroid's photochemistry is more volatile and unpredictable than Instax's, so you don't get the crispness and consistency but you definitely get a better vibe and true uniqueness – and an aesthetic that's impossible to replicate with editing software.

In terms of functionality, like previous Gos the Gen 3 offers both a self-timer and double exposures. It's worth noting that the Instax Mini 13 has caught up in terms of adding a self-timer, but it still doesn't offer multiple exposures – which I think is a big feather in the cap of the Gen 3.

Shooting with the Go has always been an absolute joy, as are the inevitable conversations and friendships that are struck up when people catch sight of it. It really is so small and so cute that it's an excellent ice breaker – which makes it particularly suited to parties and other social environments.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Samples

I figured the most useful thing I could do is take a bunch of shots to illustrate the Polaroid Go Gen 3's photographs compared to those on the Gen 2.

Directly below are a selection of shots on the Gen 3, then the following two selections show the same shots – taken in the same position – on the Gen 2. This was the best way to show the difference in field of view between the two cameras, along with the differences in how they expose. As you can see, they're pretty significant!

I loaded both cameras with film from the same pack (and, thus, the same batch) to make the closest comparison possible. I think it's pretty clear to see that the Gen 3 shots are sharper and better exposed.

Polaroid Go Gen 3: Verdict

As soon as I was done testing the Polaroid Go Gen 3, I ordered one of my own. I think it's a brilliant little camera, which earns its place on my shelf next to its predecessors thanks both to its improved image quality and its different focal length.

Visually I do prefer the look of the Gen 2 and OG Go, at least as far as solid colors go – but the black "visor" of the Gen 3 actually makes a really cool accent for the color options. (I've gone for the purple version, which I think looks the business.)

If you already own a Go, I don't know that there's enough here to warrant upgrading unless you're really unhappy with your current model's image quality or you really want a bit more reach.

If you own an Instax Mini (as I did before getting my first Go) you might want to make the switch if you like the traditional square image format, the more "characterful" image quality and the ability to take double-exposures. Not to mention a smaller, cuter body and the ability to recharge via USB-C.

The best instant cameras are still the full-size options like the Polaroid Flip, but as far as the mini options go this is by far my favorite. The only thing that's missing is a black-and-white Go film stock. Come on, Polaroid – let me shoot mono on the go!

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Check out the Instax vs Polaroid differences to see which brand is right for you. Make sure to pay attention to what type of instant film you need for your camera, along with the different instant camera film sizes.

The best 4th of July Cameas deals are now live, and some of the biggest discounts we spotted during Amazon’s recent Prime sale have returned – only this time, you do not need a Prime membership to take advantage of them!.

That means many of the same standout savings on cameras, lenses, drones, action cameras, accessories, and other tech are now available to everyone. Some prices are even matching the lowest levels we saw during the sale, giving shoppers another chance to pick up products they may have missed the first time around.

However, these offers are unlikely to stay around for long. Stock can disappear quickly over the holiday weekend, and prices may return to normal without warning, so now is the time to buy. Below, I have gathered the best 4th of July deals available right now, and I will continue updating this page as new discounts appear.

4th July: best camera deals

4th July: best action deals

4th July: Drone deals

Looking for a waterproof camera that can survive your next hiking trip, ski holiday, or beach adventure? While retro compact cameras are having a moment, rugged compacts remain the better choice for photographers who need a camera that can handle drops, dust, and water.

Unlike fashionable point-and-shoot cameras, the Pentax WG-8 ($426.95 / £429) and OM System Tough TG-7 ($549.99 / £449) are designed for use where camera phones and conventional compacts struggle.

Waterproof, shockproof, and freeze-proof, they're built for demanding adventures. Better still, both offer optical zoom lenses, dedicated macro modes and 4K video, making them far more versatile than an action camera alone.

Pentax WG-8

A real Captain Scarlet of a compact camera

The Pentax WG-8 is built tough to survive water, dust, drops, freezing temps – you name it.

It's perfect if you want a camera that's truly adventure-proof, without spending big. With a 20MP sensor and 5x optical zoom (approx. 28-140mm in 35mm terms).

It shoots decent photos and 4k video at 30fps. It also shines in ultra-close-up shots, and it performs well underwater and in extreme conditions where other cameras might fail.

It's a solid budget-friendly choice for anyone needing a tough, reliable camera for travel.

OM System Tough TG-7

Indestructable camera, impressive results

The OM System Tough TG-7 is built to be a companion on any adventure. It's waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof, so you never have to worry about weather or terrain.

Sure, its 12MP sensor is smaller than some other cameras, but that actually helps underwater photos by capturing more light where it's often dim. Plus, it shoots RAW and bursts up to 20fps – perfect for catching fast moments.

The TG-7 has a handy 4x zoom (approx. 25-100mm in 35mm terms) with a bright aperture and a standout macro mode that lets you snap amazing close-ups and 4K video.

It's simple, durable, and versatile – the perfect point-and-shoot to toss in your bag when you need a reliable camera that won't quit.

Discover more and browse the best travel cameras, best compact cameras and best point and shoot cameras

Disposable film has made a comeback alongside retro tech. But Fujifilm is refreshing its QuickSnap compact one-time-use film cameras with a brand first: black and white film. Two new QuickSnap cameras will arrive this fall – and one of them is the first time Fujifilm has put black-and-white film inside a disposable.

Fujifilm announced the QuickSnap Black and White and the waterproof QuickSnap Active in celebration of the disposable camera line’s 40th anniversary. While black-and-white disposable film cameras exist from other brands, the move is the first time in the line’s 40-year history that Fujifilm has launched a disposable film camera pre-loaded with black-and-white film.

The disposable film camera comes with black-and-white ISO 400 film preloaded inside. Fujifilm doesn’t specifically name what film stock it is, though Fujifilm’s Across is a well-loved monochrome film that inspired a film simulation on the brand’s digital cameras by the same name.

That’s a notable launch, as QuickSnap cameras have historically used color negative film. Fujifilm says this particular film stock is designed for rich contrasts and textured grains – a look that will likely prove popular for its even more retro look over color.

The new Black and White includes a built-in flash, which can also be powered off, unlike the new QuickSnap Active, which doesn’t include a flash.

The QuickSnap Active replaces the brand's earlier waterproof disposable film camera as an all-weather disposable that can head underwater up to 35 feet. That’s thanks largely to the camera’s protective housing.

Without a flash – and designed to head underwater – the Active comes preloaded with a higher ISO color film than the Black and White, using a color negative ISO 800 film.

The QuickSnap first emerged in 1986 as the first widely produced one-time use camera, though a few snap-and-mail cameras existed before then. The QuickSnap stripped down film’s complexities into a simple point-and-shoot camera that didn’t need to be loaded or unloaded.

That simple design could be one of the reasons that disposable film is seeing a resurgence in popularity. The format doesn’t require learning how to load or handle film, yet it still snaps photos that are all analog.

Both QuickSnaps come pre-loaded with film good for 27 images. Like all disposable film cameras, the film comes pre-loaded, but the cost doesn’t include development.

Both of the new QuickSnap cameras are expected to begin shipping later this year; Fujifilm US estimates a fall 2026 shipping date, while Fujifilm UK says the cameras will arrive in September. The QuickSnap Black-and-White retails for $22.90 / CA$34.99 – about £21 / AU$23. The waterproof housing makes the Active slightly more expensive, sitting at $24.75 / CA$36.99 – about £22 / AU$25.

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Take a deeper dive into beginner film photography with the best disposable cameras or the best instant film cameras.

Photographers have become obsessed with speed. An f/2.8 lens is no longer considered particularly fast; f/1.8 is apparently the minimum, and f/1.4 is treated as though it is an essential requirement for producing anything remotely creative.

Then there are the f/1.2 and f/0.95 lenses, which promise extraordinary subject separation alongside equally extraordinary prices, sizes and weights. But how often do we genuinely need to shoot that wide open The uncomfortable answer is probably not very often.

Look through the metadata of your favourite photographs and you may discover that the expensive f/1.4 lens you convinced yourself you needed spends most of its life at f/2.8, f/4 or even f/8. We buy these lenses for what they can theoretically do, rather than for the settings we actually use when we are out taking photographs.

I am just as guilty of this as anyone. I recently sold a Leica Summilux f/1.4 lens and replaced it with something slower. Much slower, according to the internet. I now prefer – wait for it – an f/2.5 lens.

That might sound like a considerable downgrade on paper, but in practice it suits the way I photograph far better than the faster and considerably more expensive alternative.

The truth is that I normally shoot the f/2.5 lens at around f/4 or f/8 anyway. Those apertures give me the depth of field I want, allow more of the scene to remain recognisable, and usually deliver excellent sharpness across the frame.

Photography is not always about turning every background into a featureless blur. Sometimes the environment matters just as much as the subject, particularly in documentary, travel and street photography.

Even when the sun goes down, f/2.5 is more than enough for most situations. Modern cameras perform incredibly well at higher ISO settings, while sensible shutter speed choices can keep images sharp without demanding an enormous aperture.

You need to understand how slowly you can comfortably handhold your camera and how far you are prepared to push the ISO. That feels like a far more useful skill than relying on f/1.4 to solve every low-light problem.

There are compromises with ultra-fast lenses that rarely receive the same attention as their headline aperture. They are generally larger, heavier and more expensive, while depth of field can become so narrow that keeping both eyes sharp in a portrait becomes a challenge.

Some also perform noticeably better when stopped down, meaning that photographers pay a significant premium for f/1.4 only to use the lens at f/2.8 to achieve the result they actually want.

There will always be photographers who genuinely need an f/1.4 lens – and there are situations where that additional light or shallower depth of field can make a real difference.

However, for most of us, f/2.8 is already more than fast enough – and something like f/2.5 certainly should not be viewed as a limitation. Stop chasing specifications, look at the apertures you really use, and buy the lens that best suits how you photograph.

You may find that the supposedly slower option is the one that finally gets out of the way and enables you to concentrate on making pictures.

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If you still fancy yourself a speed demon, take a look at the fastest lenses you can buy right now.

First up is the MSD36CB SupaDupa Black Diamond. Designed for shooters requiring speed and fluid movement, this monopod features a unique combination of all-metal twist locks and a CNC-machined aluminium flip lock, enabling rapid, one-handed height adjustments.

Despite a lightweight carbon fibre frame weighing only 0.5kg, it supports an impressive 40kg payload. Its 6-section design extends to 165cm and collapses to a compact 42cm for travel, while the base features a rotating rubber foot with a V-shaped bearing for smooth panning.

It’s essentially a slightly more compact variant of the Benro MSD46CB Black Diamond SupaDupa Monopod that we reviewed recently.

For those prioritizing extreme portability, the MiniMax MMX37C is a 7-section carbon fibre monopod that collapses down to just 37cm and weighs a featherweight 0.36kg, making it an ideal companion for street photography and fast-moving productions.

Capable of supporting up to 20kg, it includes a versatile spring-loaded 1/4″-20 and 3/8″-16 mounting stud, ensuring compatibility with a wide array of camera and lens setups.

Benro has also introduced the VT4 Monopod Base, a robust 3-leg solution designed for demanding environments like sports and event production. Its standout feature is a foot-activated 90-degree locking pedal that instantly locks the monopod vertically on flat surfaces. A quick tap of the pedal unlocks the ballhead, transitioning seamlessly back to fluid, articulated movement.

With a wide 54cm base spread and tension-adjustable ballhead, it provides the stability required for long-duration shooting. It attaches directly to the Benro monopods above or to any compatible 3/8″-16-threaded monopod.

Benro has also released a range of accessories to help keep your gear in tip-top condition. There are two sets of replacement rubber feet for enhanced indoor traction, with RF001 Rubber Feet for Benro 0 and 1 Series tripods with smaller leg diameters and RF002 Rubber Feet for larger Benro 2, 3, and 4 Series tripods using a standard 3/8"-16 thread. Or, for the larger tripods, you can swap in SF001 Stainless Steel Spiked Feet for superior grip on rugged outdoor terrain.

And for when your tripod or monopod joints get a bit wobbly, replacement shim kits (ALS001 for aluminium and CFS001 for carbon fibre models) will restore smooth leg extensions that lock solidly once more.

The new lineup is already available in the USA, and will be available in the UK from August 5, 2026, with the following pricing:

MSD36CB SupaDupa: $140 / £150
MiniMax MMX37C: $100 / £100
VT4 Monopod Base: $100 / £95
Rubber Feet (RF001): $15 / £10
Rubber Feet (RF002): $20 / £15
Spiked Feet (SF001): $15 / £15
Shim Kits (ALS001/CFS001): $10 / £10

Premiere Elements is a beginner-friendly video editor that offers many of the core features found in Adobe Premiere Pro through a more accessible interface. It also uses a subscription-free licence that lasts for three years (no perpetual licence anymore, alas).

With Quick, Guided and Advanced modes, it caters for those who simply want to get the job done, outright video beginners, and those ready and willing to learn more advanced video-editing techniques as they go. It certainly delivers lots of ideas and features you’ll find in the best video editing software, such as masses of effects, AI tools, motion graphics templates and free Adobe Stock photos, videos and audio.

Premiere Elements, like its stablemate Photoshop Elements, is updated with new features every year. Premiere Elements 2026 comes with the ability to enhance 360 and VR videos, new motion-based titles and text styles, freehand cropping to easily adapt horizontal video clips to vertical social platforms, and AI features like music remixing to extend music tracks to fill the full duration of your video.

It sounds great in principle, but what's it like to work with in practice? Is it really as easy to use as it’s made to sound, and do all of the clever AI features and automation work as seamlessly as you’d hope? Let's find out...

Adobe Premiere Elements 2026: Specifications

Adobe Premiere Elements 2026: Price

Premiere Elements 2026 costs $99.99 / £86.99 / AU$160, or $79.99 £70.99 / AU$127.99 if you’re upgrading from a previous version. Alternatively, you can buy the Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 2026 bundle for $149.99 / £130.49 / AU$241.99 (upgrade price $119.99 / £107.78 / AU$193.99) or $119.99 / £94.69 / AUS193.99 if you qualify for a Students & Teachers discount.

This makes Premiere Elements 2026 much cheaper than Premiere Pro, which is only available on a more expensive single-app subscription plan or as part of Adobe’s even more expensive Creative Cloud Pro plan. However, Premiere Pro is a professional tool with a price to match. There are cheaper mid-range video editors like ACDSee Luxea Pro Video Editor 8, for example, or freemium apps like Filmora for Windows users, that compete with Premiere Elements on price.

Mac users get iMovie free, and while Premiere Elements offers more features and content, iMovie is fast, efficient and simple to use. If you decide iMovie doesn’t do what you want, it might make sense to sidestep Premiere Elements altogether and go straight to the free version of DaVinci Resolve or upgrade to Apple’s own pro-level Final Cut Pro. Ultimately, Premiere Elements is cheaper than most pro editors and is subscription-free, but its pricing is on a par with other mid-range editors and in that context, it’s no bargain.

Adobe Premiere Elements 2026: Design & Handling

Quick mode fulfils Adobe’s promise of a simple video editor for novices. You simply drag a bunch of movie files into the application window and it assembles them as a continuous sequence of clips in its timeline (called the ‘sceneline’ in Premiere Elements).

You can then set about editing individual clips, inserting transitions, adding titles and even a music soundtrack, either via the Music panel or the Adobe Stock panel in the left sidebar. Don’t worry if the music isn’t long enough because you can use the Remix tool to lengthen it – though for this you have to swap to the Advanced workspace.

The intermediate Guided mode is where you learn how different video editing techniques and features work in Premiere Elements. You can follow tutorials on motion graphics, animated overlays, adding narration, creating slow motion, time-lapse effects and a whole lot more. These guided edits are very welcome, but also perhaps the first indication to newcomers that video editing can be complex and comes with plenty of jargon.

Or you could just head straight for the Advanced mode, where Premiere Elements offers you full control over your clips, effects/settings and a whole lot more. For anyone who already has a working knowledge of video editing, this is the place to start.

Premiere Elements’ attempts to make video editing simple and fun are only partially successful. Quick mode is great, if limited, but as soon as you start diving deeper into the Guided and Advanced modes, you are going to have to work harder and spend a good deal of time learning about video editing – and it might not be any quicker in the long run than learning a program like DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro. Cheaper, yes, easier… not necessarily.

There are some odd quirks, too. In Quick mode, clips are added with no gaps. While in Advanced Mode, Premiere Elements defaults to overwrite mode, replacing clips on your timeline instead of inserting new clips in between (so you’ll need to learn about ‘ripple’ editing). And if you want to stabilize a clip, a pretty basic and common action, you’ll have to go looking for this tool in the Effects panel, where it lives among a bunch of weird and arty filters you’ll probably never use.

As for the automatic Highlight Reel feature, designed to generate a highlights video from a bunch of clips… sometimes it works, sometimes it just tells you it doesn’t have enough media content. What it actually means is that if your clips don’t have what it’s looking for, notably people, faces and groups, it might still spend several minutes analyzing your clips but then come back with nothing.

I was keen to try out the new 360 and VR editing features in Premiere Elements 2026. Unfortunately, it insists on already-stitched 360 video files, not unstitched twin-lens footage, so it didn’t like any of my Insta360 videos and that was the end of that. Too often, features were harder to find than I expected, took longer than I thought and weren’t as good as I hoped.

Adobe Premiere Elements 2026: Performance

Premiere Elements 2026 seems to run well enough, but you do need to pay attention to the hardware recommendations. The base-level requirements seem to come from a pre-HD era, so they have little relevance today. If you want your edits to proceed quickly, especially in 4K, you should be looking at 32GB RAM and fast SSD storage. That goes for any video editor, to be fair.

The real problem with Premiere Elements 2026 is its basic limitations. It tops out at a maximum resolution of 4K and maximum timeline framerate of 60p, so if you’ve got a hybrid mirrorless camera with 6K open-gate capture, you’re not going to be able to use it in Premiere Elements.

It also has an 8-bit processing engine, so while it can open and edit 10-bit files, you’re not getting the full benefit – it would be the same as if you had shot 8-bit video. Premiere Elements can convert many common camera log profiles, but without 10-bit editing you risk lower-quality results.

Adobe Premiere Elements 2026: Verdict

Premier Elements 2026 feels like an old program kept superficially fresh with new filters and tools. It’s very effective as a beginner tool in Quick mode, but if you want to take your work further, it soon descends into jargon, hard-to-find features and technical-looking panels.

You could spend a long time learning all the ins and outs of Premiere Elements 2026, and if you put that same time and effort into a more advanced and professional tool like DaVinci Resolve, you might be better off at the end of it. If you’re a beginner, stick to Quick mode. Or, if you use a Mac, you could just stick with iMovie.

Alternatives

If you're waiting to start your full-frame journey, switch to Nikon or want to step up your photography game, the Nikon Z6 II is a highly capable mirrorless choice.

The Nikon Z6 II + 24-70mm f/4 lens is now available for only £1,599 at Wex. This new low price saves you a massive £750 on the original £2,349 retail price.

Sure, the updated Nikon Z6 III has landed – but let's be honest, we don't always need the newest model to get quality results (and the new camera costs nearly twice as much as the previous one).

The Nikon Z6 II is a fantastic full-frame mirrorless camera that delivers great performance at an unbeatable price (especially with this deal). For many users, the Z6 II is actually a preferable option to the professional-grade Nikon Z7 II.

The Z6 II features a 24.5MP BSI CMOS sensor for sharp, high-quality images with great dynamic range.

It is powered by dual Expeed 6 processors, which means faster performance, better autofocus tracking and improved low-light handling. With 273 hybrid autofocus points, the Z6 II tracks fast subjects, including humans and animals.

A huge upgrade over the original Nikon Z6 is the two memory card slots, which can be a real game-changer and push the camera into the professional-grade category. With this, you can shoot client work or important events like weddings with peace of mind in case of card failure.

The bundled Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens is a versatile all-rounder – great for portraits, landscapes, travel, or even wildlife photography.

While it doesn't match the low-light capabilities of the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S, when paired with the Z6 II's excellent ISO performance, it's more than capable of handling different lighting situations (or for creating beautiful bokeh). And shedding a stop might be worth it when you're saving this much!

The Nikon Z6 II offers incredible value for anyone looking to step into Nikon full-frame photography.

With solid performance, a versatile lens, and £750 in savings, it's a great time to pick up a camera that's more than capable without stretching your budget.

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If you are a dedicated Nikon shooter or simply exploring the Nikon ecosystem, here is our guide to the best Nikon cameras, the best Nikon lenses for DSLRs and the best Nikon Z lenses for Nikon mirrorless cameras.

A wildlife photographer has just been shortlisted for the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year (AGNPOTY) 2026 for his dreamy underwater image of a seahorse so rare that scientists say it is classified as “data deficient”.

Lewis Burnett photographed the elusive tiger snout seahorse meandering among a hypnotic coral growth bursting with soft, pastel blues, pinks and orange colours.

This seahorse is rarely seen in the wild – so much so that according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which documents animal species at risk of extinction, there isn't enough data to categorize its status.

The tiger snout seahorse is entirely endemic to Western Australia, living between the Abrolhos Islands and Rockingham, making them difficult to observe.

They are rarely logged in science databases; seahorse researchers have noted that, out of hundreds of seahorse observations, only a tiny fraction are tiger snouts.

“This site is known for spectacular soft coral growths, so I was able to photograph this iconic species with a background that does them justice,” Burnett told AGNPOTY.

He used a Sony A1 camera with a Nikon Nikonos RS 13mm f/1.8 fisheye lens to capture the scene, opting for a 1/80 shutter speed, f/13 aperture and ISO 400.

The fantastic image of the tiger snout seahorse will now battle it out with 99 other finalist images to be crowned the overall winner of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2026, taking home AU$10,000 (approximately $6,900 / £5,200) and receiving widespread recognition.

Hosted by the Southern Australian Museum (Adelaide), the competition accepts images showcasing natural flora, fauna, land/seascapes, or celestial objects within the ANZANG (Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and New Guinea) bioregion.

In 2025, the coveted title of Nature Photographer of the Year went to Ross Gudgeon (Australia) for his truly unique image of a cauliflower soft coral.

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Discover our picks of the best cameras for wildlife photography and the best waterproof cameras, as well as our take on the best underwater housings for cameras and phones.

I’m old enough to remember ‘proper’ Yashica cameras and they actually predate me, the first twin-lens reflex camera landing in 1953 and the legendary Yashica FX-3 35mm SLR pitching up in 1979, when I was turning 20. Only the name remains, bought up by a Chinese company that has set about making a slew of compact cameras. They include relatively cheap, retro styled copies of the FX-3, in the somewhat similar shape of the Yashica FX-D 100, 200, 300 and S300 digital cameras, and there’s also the more modern point-and-shoot style ‘City’ line-up, including the Yashica City 100, 200 and 300 slimline compacts.

Going one better, at least in the affordability stakes, there’s the super-cheap Yashica DigiPix 100, which only packs a 5MP image sensor and has a 2.4-inch fixed screen.

e Yashica Tank that I’m reviewing here is less expensive than City and FX-3 ranges, but a bit pricier and better equipped than the DigiPix, with a 12MP image sensor and flip-over 3-inch screen. As such, it goes into direct competition with the likes of the highly popular Kodak PixaPro C1, in a hotly contested battle to be one of the best point-and-shoot cameras.

Yashica Tank: Specifications

Yashica Tank: Price

Like the Kodak PixaPro C1, the Yashica Tank launched at $100 / £79 / AU$190, aiming to sell big off the back of a relatively small price tag. For the sake of comparison within Yashica’s own stable, the bottom ends of the City and FX-D lines comprise the Yashica City 100 at $209 / £220 / AU$300 and the Yashica FX-D 100 at $342 / £259 / AU$455. Both of these cameras are therefore considerably more expensive than the Tank, although the more basic Yashica DigiPix 100 undercuts it at just $89 / £67 / AU$119.

Yashica Tank: Design & Handling

Yashica says that the design of the Tank intends to blend retro spirit with modern spontaneity, enabling you to capture moments that happen naturally rather than being planned. With that in mind, the camera has a slimline build of less than an inch thick (20mm) and weighs next to nothing at 3.7oz, a smidge over 100g. Suffice it to say that this Yashica is very small and very light, which makes me think that the name ‘Tank’ is perhaps a little ironic.

Aiming to add style to the camera’s lightweight substance, the Tank comes in four colorway options, mixing a silver strip along the top front panel and a silver lens housing with a faux leather covering in any one of Sky Blue, Pink Marshmallow, Brown and Black varieties. I went to the dark side and landed a black one.

The physically small nature of the camera extends to its little 1/2.8-inch CMOS image sensor. I’m glad that Yashica has been up front about the sensor’s 12 megapixel native resolution, rather than claiming a bonkers 72MP or something similarly outlandish, based on a maximum interpolated resolution. Either way, upscaled image sizes are on the menu, so you can select 24, 36 and 48 megapixel shooting options, in addition to the native 12MP.

At this sort of price I wouldn’t expect an optical zoom lens and sure enough the Tank has a fixed focal length 4.05mm, f/1.8 lens. However, that’s backed up by an 8x digital zoom facility which, like higher megapixel options, relies on software interpolation. Autofocus drives a focusing range that stretches from a very short 10cm (about 4 inches) to infinity. Various different metering modes are available, including central, matrix, average and spot, along with the provision of up to +/-3 stops of exposure compensation.

You can choose white balance options of Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten and Fluorescent, and the camera has a sensitivity range of ISO 100-6400, plus a default Auto ISO setting which is the preferred option for letting the camera adjust automatically to lighting conditions.

When the going gets tough, or rather dark, a couple of useful features are on hand, including a red AF-assist lamp and a small LED lamp. Naturally, the latter is nowhere near as powerful as a built-in or pop-up flash module, but is just about worth having nonetheless. There’s also a built-in speaker and microphone, but no socket for an external mic.

For connectivity and charging, the camera features a USB-C socket on the left hand side. This comes complete with a status lamp just above it. I’m pleased that I can transfer photos and video clips to a computer via the USB-C port, rather than needing to remove the microSD card, as I always find them rather small and fiddly. The camera isn’t supplied with a memory card, so you’ll have to buy your own if you don’t have one already. A U3, Class 10 or above microSD card is recommended, with a capacity of between 8GB and 256GB. Again, unsurprisingly considering the price point, the camera doesn’t feature Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

The thin top panel of the camera accommodates three important controls, plus a hinge for the flip-over screen. The controls in question (when viewed from the rear) comprise a sliding stills/video shooting mode switch on the left, a power on/off pushbutton in the middle, and the shutter button on the right. The last of these comes with the time-honored light-press facility for activating autofocus and light metering.

All of the other shooting, playback and setup controls are situated on the rear panel. Up top there’s a rocker switch for the digital zoom function – left for wide-angle, right for telephoto, which is entirely what I’d expect. Less intuitive is the joystick controller that’s positioned about halfway down the right hand side.

I was expecting the joystick to shift the autofocus area around the frame but that remains fixed in the middle. If you nudge the joystick to the left, you find yourself cycling through self-time delay options, nudge it to the right and you cycle through multiple-shot options, ranging to as many as 10 consecutive shots. Nudge the joystick upwards and you cycle between the LED lamp being forced on, disabled or put into Auto mode. All in all, a slight, accidental nudge can easily take you somewhere you didn’t want to go.

A major advantage of the Yashica Tank over its Yashica DigiPix 100 stablemate is that it has a flip-over screen. It’s a big bonus for creative, ultra-low-level shooting without having to get down on your knees, and an even bigger bonus for snapping selfies and for vlogging. The hinge for the tilt mechanism is at the top, so the screen flips up over the top of the camera when you need to view it from the front. At this point, the image is automatically inverted so that you don’t get an upside down view of what’s going on. It’s also a mirror image when shooting, so if you move left you don’t appear to move right in the screen image.

Another thing I’m pleased about is that the Tank comes with a separate Yashica BL-5B 3.7V, 800mAh Li-ion battery, rather than having a fixed internal battery (like some cameras and other electronic gadgets). The plus point is that you can buy additional spare batteries so, if you’re having a grand day out and want to shoot loads of photos or video clips, you can simply swap out the battery if it goes flat, rather than having to wait for an opportunity to recharge the camera later on.

Yashica Tank: Performance

The 12MP Yashica Tank won’t win any prizes for ultra-realistic photo fidelity but, on the plus side, light metering, auto white balance and the standard color treatment combine to give well exposed, natural-looking results in most shooting conditions. Unlike with some Yashica cameras that I’ve used, the lens does a pretty good job of suppressing any color fringing. If you’d rather have something that looks less ‘natural’, there are 11 filter effects on the menu including the likes of Lomo, Warm Hugs, High Saturation, Binary, Retro and more besides.

Getting back to basics, fine detail is rather lacking and images can often take on a slightly blotchy looking appearance with diagonal lines becoming a little jagged. These unwanted artifacts get rather worse if you bump up the resolution from its native 12MP setting, and when applying digital zoom rather than sticking with the most wide-angle option. Typical of cheap cameras, the Tank also works best under strong lighting conditions.

Yashica Tank: Sample Images

The following gallery of sample images was captured on a sunny day on the south-west English coast, majoring on West Bay and Charmouth in the county of Dorset.

Yashica Tank: Video

Video is captured in MP4 format, with a range of resolutions on offer comprising 4K30fps, 2K 30fps, 1080p 60fps, 1080p 30fps, 720p 60fps and 720p 30fps. The default setting is 1080p, 30fps. Audio is recorded via the camera’s internal microphone and there’s no jack socket for connecting an external mic instead.

The quality of both sound and vision is pretty basic. As with other cameras that lack optical or digital image stabilization for video capture, it can be enormously difficult to shoot steady handheld footage, which is a limiting factor if you’re wanting to use the Tank for vlogging. The above video clip, shot at the most wide-angle zoom setting, is the steadiest I could manage when panning handheld across the harbor at the Dorset town of Lyme Regis.

Yashica Tank: Verdict

Sticking with the retro theme behind the design of the Yashica Tank, Cyndi Lauper famously sang Girls Just Want To Have Fun, and they’re not the only ones. Photography can often get a little too serious, as we set up our expensive cameras and agonize over the myriad factors behind ‘getting the shot’. I like that the Yashica Tank offers a more fun-filled, point-and-shoot experience, so I can just snap away to my heart’s content while I’m enjoying a day out or a social get-together.

The camera is simple to use and mostly very intuitive, apart from that tricky joystick controller. Outright image quality isn’t great, and rather worse than I’m used to getting from a half-decent mobile phone nowadays. But the quality is good enough for casual snapshots, before and after which the camera is wonderfully slim and lightweight for popping into a spare pocket. All in all, the Yashica Tank is a bit of fun that’s good value at the price.

Alternatives

The shortlist for the 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year (AGNPOTY) has been announced. This year's 100 newly elected finalists will now vie to become the overall competition winner, along with scooping a sweet AU$10,000 (approximately $6,900 / £5,200) prize.

Hosted by the South Australian Museum, AGNPOTY is one of the leading nature photography competitions in Oceania. Entrants are invited to showcase natural flora, fauna, land / seascapes or celestial objects within the ANZANG (Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and New Guinea) bioregion.

This year’s finalists encompass a huge range of stunning nature shots, including majestic seahorses, water-skipping penguins and tropical mountain peaks.

“The images are incredible, and the messages they deliver about our environment and the natural world are both beautiful and poignant,” said Dr Samantha Hamilton, South Australian Museum director.

The overall competition winner will be chosen from ten categories, among them Animals in Nature, Botanical, Landscape and Threatened Species, and category winners will take home a healthy AU$1,500 prize ($1,000 / £780).

There’s also a junior category, which offers a more modest, yet welcome AU$500 prize (approximately $350 / £260).

Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year is now in its 23rd year, with the shortlist for the 2026 edition being chosen from 2,129 entries taken by 501 photographers in 17 countries.

Winners will be revealed next month, on August 27, and all 100 finalists will be displayed at the 2026 competition exhibition, which opens on 29 August at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, Australia.

For more information on the competition, visit the official Australian Geographic website.

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Interested in taking your own award-worthy animal shots? Make sure to check out the best cameras for wildlife photography along with the best lenses for bird photography and wildlife. And if you want to go deep cover in the field, take a look at the best portable hides.

There is nothing quite like the Canon PowerShot V10. This little fixed-lens camera is shorter than the average smartphone, as thick as a pack of cigarettes and weighs less than a can of Coke. One of my colleagues rightfully calls it one of the most revolutionary cameras from Canon and it's now down to its lowest price yet in Australia – just AU$398 for the black variant.

You will have to get a real wriggle on to snap this one up as there are only a few left in stock.

I mean, just look at it! Have you seen a camera like it? All other compacts look bulky compared to it!

And that's its headline act – it was designed to be as compact as possible to make creating content as simple and easy as possible, whether you're travelling or streaming from home. And the latter is why it also features its own built-in kick stand – perfect to prop it up on your kitchen counter to shoot that cooking video you've been keen to try or even stand up on your desk so you can take video calls.

The pocketable design also combines a 19mm wide-angle lens and stereo mics with wind, with every necessary button within thumb's reach for one-hand operability. It size, however, requires you to use a microSD card rather than an SD card like other cameras.

At the heart of the camera is a 20.9MP sensor that's been passed down from the Canon PowerShot G7 X III, which was a great camera in its own right. It can take 20MP still photos with some excellent results. It does struggle a little in low light, though, but the colours from any Canon camera more than make up for a little noise – native ISO is just 125-3200 for video and up to 12,800 for stills.

It supports UHD 4K video recording at up to 29.97 fps and Full HD at 59.94 fps. With built-in Wi-Fi and compatibility with the Canon Camera Connect app, users can quickly share their creations or live stream in Full HD at 30 fps.

The camera allows up to one hour of recording and features a rolling shutter speed ranging from 1/4000 to 1/25 second for video and 1/2000 to 1/8 second for stills. The DIGIC X processor also enhances creative possibilities, offering 14 colour filters and a Smooth Skin mode for flattering portraits.

It can even handle vertical shooting that might be ideal for social media, and it will automatically adjust when placed on its side. It can also be used as a webcam via its UVC capability, streaming in Full HD without the need for additional software, and is compatible with popular services like YouTubeLive, Facebook Live and various web conferencing platforms.

Admittedly there are better vlogging cameras for the professional, but this one is real handy and quite unbeatable at this price.

The popular video editor Final Cut Pro has just gotten a refresh containing what Apple calls “one of the most requested” tools: The ability to generate captions automatically.

The AI-powered caption tool comes along with a long list of AI tools added to Apple’s Creator Studio on June 30. Apple Creator Studio launched earlier this year, putting Final Cut Pro, along with Pixelmator Pro, into a multi-app subscription.

Apple says that the new Generate Captions tool uses on-device AI to automatically transcribe the video’s audio and place the subtitles into the timeline. The tool gives users options to customize the style, font, color, and position of those captions.

Automatically generating captions isn’t the only on-device AI coming to Final Cut Pro. On Macs, video editors also gain a new Auto Mask tool, which automatically selects objects and subjects. Apple says the tool can even mask out trickier areas like hair, sky, and foliage.

The new Auto Mask tool also works alongside the existing Magnetic Mask, a tool for identifying and tracking masks.

Apple says the video editor’s Match Color tool has been “reimagined,” allowing creators to choose a reference frame and match another video to the colors.

Final Cut Camera, Apple’s free iPhone and iPad capture app, also now supports Clean HDMI Out for external recorders and monitors, along with expanded ProRes options.

The Apple Creator Studio updates give the photo editor Pixelmator Pro the ability to interact directly with other apps in the software suite, including sending photos to Final Cut Pro to use as thumbnails.

Apple’s launch of the Creator Studio subscription was met with worry that the popular video editor could move away from the one-time purchase. With the June 30 update, Apple notes that one-time purchases are still available for Final Cut Pro as well as Pixelmator Pro, along with the multi-app subscription option.

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The world’s largest camera was built for scientific discovery, but as the Vera C. Robin Observatory begins its decade-long survey of the night sky, the researchers are calling the work both scientific and a “blockbuster movie of the Universe.”

The Vera C. Rubin’s record-breaking size and resolution are the result of two decades of research and engineering, but on June 30, the camera’s ten-year survey of the night sky officially began.

The ultra-high definition, ultrawide-angle camera has begun creating a time-lapse of the night sky, which researchers expect will continue for a decade. “Today, we begin filming the greatest cosmic movie ever made,” said Brian Stone, the Chief of Staff, currently performing the duties of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Director.

Deputy Director of Rubin Operations for SLAC echoed a similar theme of the observatory’s impact on both science and technology. “It’s taken 20 years of hard science, engineering, and more to get to the point where we can call ‘action’ as we start rolling on this blockbuster movie of the Universe,” Marshal said. “Millions of alerts in just the last couple of months show that Rubin is up and running as a discovery machine. Now we’re putting it all together.”

Located on a mountain in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is operated by the NSF’s NOIRLab and the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory took its first 3,200 megapixel photograph of the universe last June as part of the initial testing, but now the massive 6,200-pound / 2800 kg camera has officially begun its ten-year time-lapse of the night sky.

NOIRLab calls the observatory “the most powerful Solar System discovery machine ever built.” The Legacy of Time and Space Survey’s anticipated scientific contributions stem from both the tech behind the camera and the camera’s ten-year survey that could map out changes in the night sky over the next decade.

The observatory is now capturing one photo of the southern sky about every 40 seconds overnight. While the survey will pause for unfavorable conditions such as cloud cover, the system is expected to take around a thousand images every night for the next ten years. That’s about ten terabytes of data every night in operation.

Researchers believe that the camera’s high resolution and ultra-wide lens will uncover details about the universe not previously observed by earlier technology. During just the month and a half of early surveys to prep for the decade-long survey, researchers noted that Rubin had spotted more than 11,000 asteroids that had never been spotted before.

Software will help sift through the massive amounts of data, with researchers estimating that the system could send as many as seven million alerts each night.

The observatory’s early images are available to explore online.

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Even just a few years ago, picking up retro tech required scouring the internet or garage sales. But the trend for disconnected, nostalgic tech is now so big that I can buy anything from vinyl records to disposable film cameras at my local superstore.

Film photography is one of those surging nostalgic trends – but the reason behind the trend may actually be quite modern. The trend isn’t new, as it has been steadily growing over the last few years, but I just came across a survey that highlighted one of the reasons why film photography is making a comeback: social media.

Japan Today notes that film photography is trending alongside vinyl records, as well as 'kissaten' coffee houses and the Japanese candies and snacks, 'dagashi'. But the article also highlights a survey suggesting that nearly half of those shooting film attributed social media as the reason behind doing so.

Another study suggests a similar social media influence. A global market report notes that more than a third of global film camera users are between 18 and 30 years old, and are heavily influenced by social media trends.

The rise of analog photography today mixes a longstanding format with modern technology – which means that, unlike the early days of consumer film cameras, photographers are being influenced by social media posts.

Social media is likely serving as both an inspiration to try analog, but also could be influencing which film cameras are getting picked up – and what format, whether that’s disposable film, instant film, 35mm or even large format.

I’m part of the generation that grew up with film cameras, but ended up with a digital camera before leaving high school. When I returned to trying film as an adult, YouTube tutorials on how to properly load the film have been invaluable.

Film may be making a comeback as a part of a slower, digital minimalist mindset, but its return in a modern era means that there’s a wealth of knowledge on the topic – and it doesn’t matter that the 1970s SLR that I picked up at a garage sale had long lost its user manual.

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Browse the best film cameras, or, for film without the developing, the best instant film cameras.