There's a hot new acronym in the world of camera sensors: LOFIC. Standing for ‘Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor’, the tech is said to increase dynamic range by enabling a sensor to store extra charge from intense highlight saturation when a scene is being exposed. This can then be rendered in the captured image, where otherwise the data would have been clipped, thereby over-exposing the corresponding areas in the image. The result is what's being called ‘ultra-high dynamic range’, achieved without traditional multi-exposure techniques, which have the potential to introduce artefacts when shooting moving subjects.

Until now LOFIC has only been connected to Samsung image sensors, specifically the ISOCELL HP6, which has previously been rumored to appear in the forthcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra. But while that's still just a rumor, Sony has now revealed a new LOFIC-enabled sensor of its own: LYTIA L910. This is a 50 megapixel 1/1.28 stacked CMOS chip capable of high-quality video recording at 4K 60 fps, even when shooting in HDR.

In addition to its LOFIC ability, the L910 also employs Triple Conversion Gain-HDR (TCG-HDR) technology, which is said to read out the charge obtained from a single exposure at three different conversion gains. This further reduces highlight over exposure in bright areas of a scene, along with noise in shadows and mid-tones. Furthermore, Sony's Ultra High Conversion Gain (UHCG) circuits technology is claimed to reduce random noise by approximately 30% compared to Sony's more conventional LYTIA 828 image sensor.

With all these technologies combined, Sony states that the LYTIA 910 can achieve 100 dB high dynamic range images with a single exposure - that equates to 16.6 stops - and with it the ability to easily preview images in HDR quality on a phone screen. Power consumption is also said to be reduced thanks to a reduction in the time required for analog-to-digital signal conversion, which should result in lower battery consumption for phones.

Sony says the LYTIA L910 will be available to camera phone manufacturers in summer 2026, which presumably means its arrival must be imminent. However, we’ll likely have to wait several more months before those first phones actually materialize.

Sony's launched a new image sensor, and while it may not be some 1-inch flagship phone sensor or a new stacked full-frame CMOS chip, it'll almost certainly become the mainstay of one particular camera sector for the next few years.

Called IMX908, it measures a relatively modest 1/2.8-inches in size and has an 8.4-megapixel resolution. But this isn't a sensor designed for capturing high-res stills. Rather, this marks the first sensor in Sony's brand new STARVIS 3 range of image sensors designed for security cameras and dash cams.

Right now, STARVIS 2 sensors can be found in almost every current mid- to high-end dash cam on the market. Their focus on high dynamic range makes them ideal for coping with the huge and unpredictable contrast variation encountered during driving.

The STARVIS 3 IMX908 sensor is a back-illuminated design with a deep photodiode layer. This is said to provide high performance in low light conditions, as well as high sensitivity to the near-infrared spectrum - both important attributes for security and dash cam implementations.

The key to its performance are newly-developed LOFIC pixels. LOFIC - Lateral OverFlow Integration Capacitor - is Sony's proprietary pixel technology developed for security cameras. Sony claims the tech can deliver nearly 20x the amount of saturated charge when compared to a first-gen STARVIS sensor, resulting in approximately 27% better low-light performance and a dynamic range of up to 96dB in a single-shot exposure. This is achieved without the use of multiple exposures - a more typical means of producing an HDR image - making the sensor better suited to capturing the kind of fast-moving subjects encountered in dash cam applications.

We'll still have to wait for STARVIS 3 sensors to show up in consumer products, but with intense competition in the dash cam sector, we probably won't have to wait long.

Read more: The best dash cams on sale today

If sensor technology is your cup of tea, then you’ll want to hear about this.

Forza Silicon, known for manufacturing CMOS sensors for a range of applications, including within the automotive, broadcasting and medical fields, has created a new sensor capable of shooting over 1,100 fps.

In a recently published technical paper, the company shared the design of a 4K sensor, ForzaFAST581, which “supports video capture at up to 1141 fps at 12 bits and 1694 fps at 8 bits at full resolution.”

Designed for industrial imaging and machine vision, according to the technical document, the sensor will enable capturing “fast-moving subjects with high temporal resolution and minimal distortion”.

Put into context, shooting footage at 1,100 fps enables you to turn 1 second of real-time action into 40 seconds of clear, distortion-free slow-motion video.

Key to capturing such a crazy number of frames per second is the global shutter design, which activates all pixels at once, as opposed to a rolling shutter, which activates pixels line by line, sometimes leading to distortion, otherwise known as motion blur.

Until fairly recently, rolling shutters were the design of choice for all types of imaging systems. However, in the 2010s, manufacturers such as Sony began to roll out sensors featuring global shutters for industrial cameras and, recently, the Japanese camera giant released a trio boasting 105MP resolution.

Global shutter sensors are now beginning to make their way into commercial cameras. In fact, it was also Sony that released the first full frame mirrorless model with a global shutter: the Sony A9 III, in 2023.

The IMX810AQL sensor in the A9 III can capture a mighty 120 fps, which is more than enough for commercial photography, but it doesn’t come close to the ForzaFAST581. Although, these sensors have entirely different purposes.

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If you're looking for a camera with rapid maximum fps, then read our take on the best cameras for sports photography – these models are built for fast action – and the best lenses for sports photography to complete your setup.

Camera manufacturers have long sought to increase the megapixels count of their sensors to try and make them seem better to consumers. This has largely stopped - or at least slowed - in the camera sector, but it seems phone makers are still clinging on to this dubious measure of a camera's ability.

In early 2023 Samsung upped the ante by releasing the first 200MP camera phone, but since then the megapixel race seems to have hit a wall. However, while we might not be getting individual camera modules higher than 200MP, word on the street suggests Chinese phone manufacturers could be incorporating more than one 200MP sensor into future handsets. According to renowned tipster Digital Chat Station, the upcoming Xiaomi 18 Pro could have two 200MP cameras - an 'upgrade' over the current Xiaomi 17 Pro that has three 50MP sensors. There have also been rumors to suggest that the forthcoming Oppo Find X9 Ultra, Honor Magic 8 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra may also have two 200MP snappers.

Though it'd be easy to write this off as just another superficial marketing stunt, there could actually be some genuine benefit here. If the rumors are true, it's highly likely that the second 200MP sensor in these phones would be for a telephoto module. Samsung has already launched the ISOCELL HP5 - a 200 megapixel, 1/1.56 sensor designed specifically for use in telephoto modules. A higher megapixel count sensor in a telephoto camera means the phone can crop in on a smaller section of an image, enabling lossless zoom without the need for AI interpretation, or a longer lens. This way a longer focal length can be emulated, and when combined with a periscope lens there's potential for zoom ranges up to 10x with no loss of image quality or AI trickery.

Given that Samsung appears to be at the forefront of 200MP telephoto sensors, it's therefore surprising that we've heard no rumors that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use Samsung's own HP5 200MP telephoto sensor. It's almost as though Samsung is trying to give the Chinese brands an advantage.

There have been rumors for some time that Sony has been developing a 200MP image sensor for camera phones. Well, those rumors have now been proved true. Sony has unveiled its Lytia LYT-901 sensor: a 200MP, 1/1.12-inch chip aimed squarely at Samsung's 200MP ISOCELL HP1, HP2 and HP3 sensors.

Some might say Sony is over four years late to the 200MP party with this sensor. The first 200MP camera phone sensor - the Samsung ISOCELL HP1 - was released back in September 2021.

But the new LYT-901 could well be worth the wait. The sensor's 1/1.12-inch size makes it marginally larger than any of Samsung's 200MP camera phone sensors, and that bodes well for low-light image quality and reduced image noise.

Sony is promising almost 17 stops of dynamic range thanks to its Hybrid Frame-HDR technology that composites frames captured in a short exposure burst. This works in conjunction with Dual Conversion Gain‐HDR - a technology which composites data read at different gain settings into a single frame, enabling high dynamic range up to 4x zoom.

The stacked CMOS design utilizes a Quad-Quad Bayer Coding (QQBC) array, in which 16 (4x4) adjacent pixels are clustered with filters of the same color. During normal shooting, the signals of the 16 clustered pixels are processed as a single pixel unit, allowing the camera to maintain high sensitivity even at night and in dim indoor shooting conditions (and resulting in 12.5MP output images). Alternatively, a portion of the sensor can be used for on-sensor zoom, in which case clustering/pixel binning is no longer used and the sensor defaults to generating images using its individual pixels.

AI is also employed when on-sensor zoom is used. Typically, a pixel-packed sensor like the LYT-901 will struggle to resolve fine detail in anything other than optimal shooting conditions when it can't rely on pixel binning. This is due to the individual pixels being extremely small, not especially light-sensitive, and therefore more susceptible to generating image noise. Consequently, when the LYT-901 has to revert to a per-pixel readout when zooming ('remosaicing', in Sony's terminology), an AI learning-based remosaicing circuit, mounted inside the sensor itself, is said to enable "superior reproduction of details such as fine patterns and letters", along with high-speed processing and up to 30 fps video capture when shooting with up to 4x zoom at 4K resolution.

It's not yet known what might be the first camera phone to incorporate the Lytia LYT-901. However, I'd wager it'd be a flagship device from Oppo, Vivo or Xiaomi, as recent flagship handsets from these manufacturers have all used Sony Lytia sensors.

Thought a camera sensor could only capture three colors: red, green, and blue? Think again. Researchers at the University of Utah have developed new camera tech that enables a smartphone camera to 'see' a whopping 25 different color channels in high definition video.

However, this technology isn't about increasing the color fidelity in a standard digital photograph. Rather, it enables a camera to see different spectrums of light in order to gain a more comprehensive image of a subject beyond that of the traditional visible light spectrum. The practical result means your phone could be used to detect disease in plants, identify a skin condition, determine how ripe a piece of fruit is, and plenty more besides. Facial recognition could also be enhanced, as a hyperspectral camera can see above and beyond what the eye and a conventional digital camera can detect.

This newly developed diffractive filter with nanoscale patterns can be placed over a normal smartphone camera sensor, turning it into a hyperspectral camera. The 25 channels of captured spectral color data are turned into a compressed 2D image, then an algorithm converts this into a three dimensional 'data cube'.

As for when the technology may become commercially viable is anyone's guess, but it at least gives food for thought, and shows how smartphone cameras can be advanced in a more innovative direction than merely increasing megapixel counts and sensor size.

Nikon has filed a new patent for a hybrid image sensor that combines the benefits of both global and rolling shutters, enabling the instantaneous readout of global sensor technology with the improved dynamic range and reduced noise of a rolling shutter.

A traditional rolling shutter captures images by scanning the scene from top to bottom, but is prone to the 'jello effect', which can cause very fast-moving subjects to appear to shear as the scan rate struggles to keep up with the speed of the movement. A global shutter, by contrast, captures the entire scene simultaneously, effectively freezing all motion at a single instant in time and eliminating the type of motion artifacts associated with a rolling shutter; the downside, however, is that they typically have lower ISO performance and reduced dynamic range.

Nikon's patent, simply entitled "Image Sensor," details a pixel architecture that provides two distinct pathways for electric charge. One path is a direct and efficient route for a rolling shutter operation. The second pathway routes the charge through a side capacitor, which enables a global shutter.

An additional benefit of this dual-path design is that the storage capacitor also acts as an 'overflow bucket', enabling the sensor to handle a wider range of light values, thus extending its dynamic range, which could prove useful in high dynamic range (HDR) scenes where there are both very bright highlights and very dark shadows. By using the capacitor to store excess charge, the sensor is said to be able to prevent overexposure in bright areas, preserving detail that would otherwise be lost.

It would likely be down to the camera's firmware, rather than the photographer, to decide whether to use the rolling or global shutter to output each image, depending on the type of scene being captured, switching from the rolling shutter for everyday photography to capture the greatest image detail in scenes such as landscapes, to the global shutter to capture fast action shots and video.

Nikon is no stranger to innovation in sensor design, developing the stacked sensor used first in the Nikon Z9 sports camera, which, while still a rolling rather than global shutter, has an incredibly fast scan rate that all but eliminates the shearing effect, thereby allowing a shutterless design, and the partially stacked sensor of the Z6 III that provided some of the benefits of a stacked sensor at a lower cost.

As we approach what's likely to be a January launch for Samsung's next flagship camera phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, rumors about its possible camera specs continue to build. The latest tip, from renowned leakster Ice Universe, doesn't provide much hope that the new phone will offer much of a camera hardware upgrade over the current S25 Ultra. In fact, it may actually be a slight downgrade, at least when it comes to the 3x telephoto camera.

Ice Universe reports that the S26 Ultra could use a 10MP 1/3.94” sensor, fronted by a 3x f/2.4 lens. By comparison, the Sony IMX754 sensor used in the S25 Ultra's 3x telephoto module is slightly larger at 1/3.52”. If Samsung does indeed downsize the S26 Ultra's telephoto sensor, it would seem like a major own-goal, at least from a hardware perspective. The 1/3.52” sensor in the S25 Ultra's 3x telephoto camera is already tiny compared to comparable modules in other flagship phones. For example, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra's 3x telephoto module uses a far larger 1/1.56" sensor. Equipping the S26 Ultra with an even smaller sensor than that in the S25 Ultra can't be good news for low light image quality or fine detail rendition. Opting to use such a small sensor is even more puzzling when you consider Samsung itself already produces the ISOCELL HP9: a 200MP, 1/1.4" sensor designed specifically for telephoto modules, and already in use in phones like the Vivo X200 Pro. According to Ice Universe, Samsung has rejected using its own HP9 sensor in the S26 Ultra due to price concerns.

Samsung has been using the same 200MP ISOCELL HP2 main camera sensor in its flagship phones since the S23 Ultra and that doesn't look set to change for the S26 Ultra. The S25 Ultra debuted a new 50MP ultrawide snapper, so it's likely that'll be carried over to its replacement. If the 3x telephoto module then gets a downgrade, can we therefore expect yet another Samsung flagship to rely solely on more AI image processing trickery to separate itself from older models? Well, according to a separate leak from Ice Universe, the S26 Ultra may actually pack some camera hardware upgrades, just not in the sensor department.

It's reported that the thickness of the S26 Ultra's camera bump may increase from 2.4mm on the S25 Ultra to a hefty 4.5mm on the S26 Ultra. That's said to be on account of the new phone getting a larger f/1.4 aperture lens for the main camera (the S25 Ultra uses an f/1.7 lens) along with a variable aperture feature enabling the camera to better adapt to variable lighting.

But is this really enough to make the S26 Ultra stand out from the compelling iPhone 17 Pro and fierce Chinese rivals from the likes of Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo?

Sony’s design for a stacked sensor brought faster shooting speeds to both smartphones and mirrorless cameras – but a new presentation suggests that the company is researching the possibility of adding a third layer.

In a presentation shared with investors earlier this year, president and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Shinji Sahsida, shared a company outlook that includes evolving Sony’s stacked sensor technology to include an additional layer.

[Editor's note: Last year a patent was spotted from Canon, which is designing a triple-stacked sensor of its own.]

In the presentation, Sony shared a three-layer sensor design that sandwiches an “⍺” layer in-between the existing pixel and logic layers in the two-layer design.

“Specifically, it is three-layer stacking technology that evolves our strength in stacking technology,” Sahsida said during the presentation. “Different functions can be layered between the conventional pixels and logic to further enhance characteristics.”

“In addition to this, we expect various possibilities to come from the combination of three layers, and we believe that three-layer stacking will be an important axis for technological evolution in the future.”

Sony then explained that the benefits of that three-layer design would include a wider dynamic range, without blowouts in bright scenes and while keeping noise in the shadows low. Resolution, readout speeds and power consumption would also benefit.

The company listed those benefits across both camera phones and interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras, as well as some improvements across both stills and video.

Sony indicates that both layering and process node adjustments are integral to achieving higher density sensors (which often refers to a higher pixel density, or higher resolution) as well as the realization of “2D + XD”.

The creator of Sony’s stacked CMOS sensor, Taku Umebayashi, once explained where the idea for the two-layered sensor came from. “While the pixel section is the heart of an image sensor, I as a specialist of logic circuit, saw it like a sore spot that got in the way of the logic circuit,” he said in an interview from 2022.

“I thought that it might work well if the components were separated and then put together after their processes were formed. In this way, both parts could fully leverage their respective advantages. Stacking the pixel section on the logic circuit section would result in a smaller chip size, and therefore, the productivity per wafer would improve, which would realize a 'cheaper' sensor and solve the problem.”

As part of the presentation for the company’s mid to long-term business direction, it’s unclear when the three-layer design could potentially make it out to consumer devices, nor is it clear exactly what that third “⍺” layer entails.

But Sony’s existing stacked sensor has brought with it a number of advantages, and it’s a glimpse into what Sony’s sensor development company is imagining for the future.

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It's been widely reported in recent weeks that Samsung doesn't look like its planning any major camera hardware upgrades for next year's flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra. Apart from a rumored small bump in resolution for the 3x telephoto module, early signs point to the S26 Ultra inheriting the same primary camera and periscope telephoto module from the S25 Ultra.

But now Chinese tipster Fixed Digital Focus has claimed on Weibo that the S26 Ultra could feature a new sensor for its primary (wide-angle) camera, specifically a 1/1.1" 200MP Sony sensor. Yes, you read that correctly: Samsung, one of the main manufacturers of camera phone image sensors, is rumoured to be switching to arch rival Sony sensors, and for its flagship camera phone, no less.

It's a bold claim, and one I'm deeply sceptical of. Though a 1/1.1" sensor would be marginally larger in size than the 1/1.3" ISOCELL HP2 sensor Samsung introduced with the S23 Ultra and continues to use in the current S25 Ultra, it's not necessarily a large enough size difference to offer a meaningful boost in image quality. What's more, switching to a different sensor of the same resolution also limits any marketing benefit, while binning Samsung's own sensor tech in favour of a competitor's chip would be a marketing nightmare.

The tip says there's a chance the alleged sensor may actually appear in the following S27 Ultra rather than next year's S26, presumably because the chip might not be ready in time for the traditional January release window for Samsung's flagship phone. Either way, the prospect of Samsung switching to a non-Samsung image sensor for its halo camera phone just doesn't seem plausible to me. The change seems even more unlikely given that Sony is yet to release a color camera phone sensor anything close to 200MP in resolution.

If Samsung does decide to upgrade the primary camera sensor for the S26 Ultra, it'd seem more likely that it would fit a new, home-grown ISOCELL chip to showcase the Korean brand's imaging prowess. And frankly it needs to, as recycling that same HP2 sensor year in, year out, is disappointing for consumers and it leaves Samsung vulnerable to the competition implementing larger, more modern sensors in their flagship camera phones.

The 'bigger is better' motto is rampant in the camera industry, particularly when it comes to image sensors. Not only is a higher megapixel count a favorite with marketing departments, a physically larger image sensor is also often considered desirable. But, just as many photographers will tell you that having more megapixels rarely makes a better photo, should we get so hung up on sensor size?

This is a topic discussed in a video by YouTuber snappiness. He has a sizable camera collection including a pair of digital medium format bodies, albeit older SLR designs: a Hasselblad H3D, and a Mamiya ZD. Using these cameras he illustrates what's often cited as a key advantage of a larger sensor: the ease at which it's possible to obtain shallow depth of field, for improved subject-background separation.

Shallow depth of field

A larger image sensor reduces depth of field compared to a smaller sensor, even when a lens is set to the same aperture and your subject is at a consistent distance from the camera. However, while blurry backgrounds (bokeh) are prized in macro and portrait photography, a wafter-thin focal plane isn't always a good thing, as it makes it very hard to get all of a subject in focus. 

Shooting a full-frame camera with a lens set to f/1.2 means you may get your portrait sitter's eyes in focus, but the tip of their nose may not be. What's more, as snappiness points out, while a medium format camera has natural ability to reduce depth of field, medium format lenses often cancel this out by having a narrower maximum aperture than an equivalent full-frame optic. This is done to keep the medium format lens down to an acceptable size, weight and price; larger apertures require bigger, heavier and more expensive lens elements.

But surely a larger sensor improves other aspects of image quality, right? This is true to an extent, but it's not quite such a clean-cut victory for the bigger sensor as you might imagine. At Digital Camera World we lab test every new interchangeable lens camera from a major manufacturer, so we're in a position to compare exactly how cameras with different-sized sensors perform in terms of image quality metrics like dynamic range, noise, and resolving power.

In the graphs below I've selected four cameras for comparison, each one representing a different sensor size. The smallest here is Micro Four Thirds, represented by the 20.4MP OM System OM-3. Next largest is the APS-C Fujifilm X-M5 (26.1MP), followed by the full-frame Panasonic S1R II (44.3MP). Medium format is the biggest commonly-available image sensor size, and we're using the 102MP Fujifilm GFX 100S II as a prime example.

Dynamic range (EV)

Dynamic range is a measure of a camera's ability to record extreme brightness, yet still retain detail in the darkest parts of the same scene. It's measured in EV (exposure values, or 'stops').

You could easily be forgiven for assuming a bigger sensor would give you better dynamic range, but in practice that's not the case. All four comparison cameras capture almost identical dynamic range at low sensitivities, and even as sensitivities increase there's no clear winner, with sensor size not correlating with improved dynamic range.

Signal to noise ratio (decibels)

This test compares the amount of random noise generated by the camera at different ISO settings as a proportion of the actual image information (the 'signal'). Higher values are better and we expect to see the signal to ratio fall as the ISO is increased.

When it comes to the amount of noise visible in images, you might expect a bigger sensor to be less susceptible to generating noise, but again that's not always true. Here the OM-3 with its relatively small Micro Four Thirds sensor does indeed trail the other cameras, but not by much. It's actually the camera with the second smallest sensor here - the APS-C Fujifilm X-M5 - that produces the cleanest images.

Resolution (line widths/picture height)

There's really only one area where a bigger sensor has a clear image quality advantage, and that's resolving fine detail. A physically larger sensor area creates more space for additional pixels, and these then enable the camera to capture small details in a subject which a lower megapixel sensor simply can't resolve. It's here where increasing sensor size makes sense: it gives you the ability to shoot larger, more detailed photos, while still retaining good dynamic range and low noise. If you crammed 102 megapixels onto a Micro Four Thirds sensor (which is technically feasible) each individual pixel would be considerably smaller and therefore much less sensitive to light. This in turn restricts the sensor's dynamic range and makes it more prone to generating image noise. With a larger sensor you can have it all, with no compromise to any aspect of image quality.

However, unless you consistently view your shots at 100% image size, or want to print them to fill a billboard, 100+MP photos are difficult to justify. For the vast majority of photographers, it makes more sense to go for an APS-C or full-frame camera, as you'll still get more than enough resolution, but in a cheaper, more portable package, and with a broader choice of lenses.

Really, as with so many things in life, it's not what you've got, it's how you use it that counts. A bad photographer with a $10,000 medium format camera will likely still shoot uninspiring photos, whereas a good photographer with a creative eye could capture compelling photos even with a budget compact camera.

It seems the phone industry may be working towards thinner and thinner camera phones. Earlier this year Samsung launched its thinnest-ever phone, the 5.8mm-thin Galaxy S25 Edge, and Apple is rumoured to have an equally svelte iPhone 17 Air in the works. Then there's the expected rise of the foldable phone. These require each section of the phone to be as thin as possible to keep the folded profile from being too chunky. When it comes to foldables, going thinner therefore makes sense, but I can see few benefits to making a conventional camera phone wafer-thin. Conversely, there are many downsides.

I'll use the Galaxy S25 Edge as an example here, as it's the newest and most extreme example of a thin non-foldable phone. Samsung is rumored to be doubling down on this design ethos for future Galaxy generations, and as a result it's been suggested that it may also postpone any significant camera hardware upgrades until 2028. There are other factors that could be influencing this hardware stagnation, but the move to thinner phones won't be helping. By compressing the thickness within a phone's chassis, you thereby also reduce the available space for camera hardware. Newer, larger image sensors are great for improving image quality, but they in turn require a bigger lens that covers that extra sensor area, and this also needs to be positioned a set distance from the sensor in order to correctly focus your subject. The only way to reduce the distance between sensor and lens is to shrink the sensor size, and that's never good for image quality.

It could be argued that one possible work-around is to utilize a periscope camera module, as these require lens elements to be arranged across the width of a phone's chassis, rather than front-to-back. However, a periscope lens still necessitates sufficient thickness within the phone body to accommodate the diameter of the lens elements (which are aligned at 90 degrees to the phone body), and as the sensor in such a module is also positioned facing across the phone, that too would have to be downsized in order to fit within a slimmer chassis, again compromising image quality. The only other option here is to slim down the phone but still retain a much thicker camera island/bump. While technically feasible, many find this design unsightly, and it leaves the exposed camera section more vulnerable to scuffs and chips, while also meaning the phone can never rest properly on a flat surface.

A thin phone is evidently bad news for camera quality, but it also leads to compromises elsewhere. Less space inside means a smaller battery and lower battery life, and consequently the Galaxy S25 Edge's 3900mAh battery is the smallest in the S25 range. Then there's the issue of heat management, which becomes harder to deal with when there's less space inside a phone for heatsinks. Samsung should be well aware of the perils of heat build-up within a phone by now though. In 2016 it was discovered that the Galaxy Note 7 had a fundamental design defect that resulted in its battery generating excessive heat and catching fire. The exact cause of this is said to be a lack of room within the phone, leading to the battery being crushed during thermal expansion and its electrodes then shorting out. Evidently, taking space-saving to extremes can be dangerous as well as just undesirable.

Finally, there's the issue of ergonomics. While a thin phone may be handy for slipping into a tight clutch bag, it's less than ideal to actually use. Gripping on to those wafer-thin edges is tricky at best, whether you're using the device for calls, or as a camera. Of course you could just protect the phone with a case, and you'd be very wise to, but then that partly negates the thinness of the phone. Heck, even speaker quality has the potential to be deteriorated, as the size of the speaker driver must be reduced in order for it to fit inside a thinner phone.

So there you have it. The camera phone may be getting a sliver thinner and a fraction lighter, but I personally don't think it's worth the numerous compromises which must be made.

Samsung's vanilla Galaxy S-series models never seem to grab any headlines, with the flagship Ultra variant stealing all the limelight. This is due in no small part to the base-model phone rarely boasting noteworthy new hardware.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S25 full review

For instance, the Galaxy S25's primary camera sensor - Samsung's 50MP, 1/1.57" ISOCELL GN3 - has been previously used in the base S24 and S23, and even the ISOCELL GN5 sensor in the vanilla S22, though technically different, still shared the same resolution and sensor size. Clearly it's about time Samsung's standard S-series phone got a camera upgrade, and if a rumor publicized by the Dutch website Galaxy Club is to be believed, that may be on the cards. The source claims that the primary (wide-angle) image sensor in the base S26 appears to be different to that used in the current S25.

However, there's a catch: while the sensor might be different, according to the source its resolution is still apparently 50MP. But that doesn't necessarily mean image quality wouldn't be noticeably improved. If the new sensor is physically larger than the current GN3, its individual pixels would also be bigger, potentially leading to reduced noise and wider dynamic range. This latest rumor doesn't reveal any additional detail about what form this 'new' sensor could take, and since we're around 8 months off a likely launch of the S26, any rumors should be taken with a hefty helping of salt.

Dutch start-up Eyeo has secured €15 million in seed funding to develop new image sensor technology with the goal of tripling a sensor's light sensitivity. The new color-splitting photonics innovation is said to "unlocks picture quality, color accuracy, resolution, and cost efficiency, which was never before possible".

For decades color image sensors have almost always used a Bayer color filter array, filtering incoming light into red, green and blue wavelengths which are then captured by corresponding photosites on the surface of the image sensor. Traditionally a sensor has been divided into 50% green, 25% red, and 25% blue photosites (RGGB), though variations of this have been introduced over the years.

While Bayer filter technology is necessary to enable an image sensor to capture color, it's not without drawbacks. The primary compromise being that each sensor photosite only ever receives a fraction of the light that enters the color filter layer, as at least 50% will be blocked due to it being the wrong color wavelength. This then restricts a sensor's dynamic range and makes it more prone to generating image noise in low light conditions, while the demosaicing algorithms needed to interpolate the raw red, green and blue color data into a full color spectrum will inevitably blur the final digital image to some extent, limiting the amount of fine detail that can be resolved.

These limitations have long been known, with attempts already made to address them. The most recognizable of these is likely the Foveon X3 sensor, now synonymous with Sigma, which uses a fundamentally different sensor construction that does away with the Bayer filter to drastically increase light transmission. Eyeo's approach, though sharing the same goal as Foveon X3, utilizes traditional CMOS sensor construction, only changing the way in which light is directed to the sensor photosites.

Rather than filtering incoming light (and therefore blocking a large percentage of it), Eyeo's technology guides light to photosites via vertical waveguides, or to use their full name: 'wafer-level-integrated vertical-waveguide sub-diffraction-limited color splitters'. The system implements stacked vertical waveguides to capture full-spectrum white light, guiding each color wavelength to a different photosite. The guides are tuned to direct light based on the average sensitivity of human eye color sensing cones, though they can also be tuned to other spectral ranges, including UV, depending on the sensor's application. By only altering the color-separating layer of the image sensor, Eyeo claims the rest of the CMOS sensor and its electronics can remain unchanged. The company also states that it has already formed partnerships with major image sensor foundries, with this latest seed funding being used to develop a product which could be mass-manufactured.

Ditching the conventional color filter array has the potential to drastically increase light transmission, resulting in noticeably improved image quality without increasing a sensor's physical size. But it also means image sensors can conceivably be shrunk smaller while still maintaining acceptable output quality. That's great news for space-sensitive devices like smartphones and security cameras. The new tech also enables sensor sizes to be reduced without lowering megapixel counts. The use of a Bayer filter keeps pixel sizes to a minimum of 0.5-microns, as going smaller can result in image degradation due to optical diffraction. Removing the color filter and replacing it with vertical waveguides has the potential to allow sensor manufacturers to reduce the size of individual pixels below this current limit. As for when we might see this new technology developed into a consumer product, Eyeo states that "the first evaluation kits are expected to be available for selected customers within the next two years." Watch this space...

Long-time leakster Digital Chat Station is keeping the rumor mill spinning, this time with a new claim that Sony could be working on a 200MP image sensor for camera phones. The sensor would rival Samsung's established ISOCELL HP2, as featured in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as well as the ISOCELL HP9 found in the telephoto modules of phones such as Vivo X100 Ultra, X200 Pro, and Xiaomi 15 Ultra. The HP3 and HP9 are 1/1.3" and 1/1.4" sensors, respectively, but the rumoured new Sony sensor is claimed to be larger, potentially approaching the 1-inch mark.

If Sony is indeed working on a 200MP sensor that is physically larger than the Samsung competition, this is potentially good news for camera phone image quality. More sensor surface area equals increased light-gathering potential, leading - in theory - to better dynamic range and less image noise. But while a higher megapixel count may be great for marketing, it's not necessarily a shortcut to better quality images. Top-tier camera phone's like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, iPhone 16 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro all use primary camera sensors of around 50MP, and image quality from these phones is still comparable with that of a 200MP device like the S25 Ultra.

As for when we might see a 200MP Sony sensor; the rumor states it may appear in flagship phones later this year that are based around the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 or the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipsets. Potential candidates could be the next flagship handsets from the likes of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

Story credit: GSMArena

I've been following the price histories of various cameras as part of my job here at Digital Camera World and I've been saddened to see that discounts haven't been as good in the last couple of years. Typical discounts have been under 20%, with the rare exception – and that's even during major sales like Black Friday and Prime Day.

That's why seeing a 23% discount on the Canon EOS R6 Mark II body on Amazon right now for Big Smile Sale in Australia has me chomping at the bit to spread the word. It's currently available for just AU$2,554 and is arguably one of the best prices I've seen on this model – in fact, it's the lowest Amazon price and, according to my research, no other retailer is currently beating it.

Admittedly there are newer cameras that perform better now – the Nikon Z6 III being a case in point which, despite a 27% discount that drops the price to AU$3,300 is a lot more expensive – but the Canon camera's age is what makes it a lot more accessible now.

And don't worry, I'm not pushing a camera that doesn't perform well. In our Canon EOS R6 Mark II review, we called it a camera that "makes mincemeat of other hybrids" and we still stand by that statement. It remains a stellar performer.

The EOS R6 Mark II is physically almost identical to the original R6, but there are some noteworthy changes that make this a better body to handle.

• Check out our comparison of the Canon R6 Mark II vs R6

The old power switch is gone from the left shoulder (long-time Canon mirrorless users will be familiar with this), now replaced by a dedicated stills/video switch. The power switch has been moved to the right shoulder, sitting just below the rear exposure dial – this allows stills photographers to handle the camera single-handed, something street photographers in particular will appreciate.

Those familiar with the joystick design on the EOS R5 and older R6 model will spot the difference here as well – the four notches at the cardinal points is gone, removing the tactile control when using the joystick.

Inside, the sensor resolution has been upped from 20.1MP in the older camera to 24.2MP. The sensor-based electronic shutter can now rattle off continuous shooting at up to 40fps, and Canon promises it has reduced the rolling shutter distortion compared to the R6. There's even a RAW Burst Mode that can capture raw images at 30fps with a 0.5 second pre-shooting buffer, making this ideal for sport shooters.

To complement the high frame rates, Canon has improved the AF performance here. In addition to the existing body, eye, face, head and animal recognition (now expanded to horses and zebras – yes, you read that right), the R6 II can recognise cars, motorcycles, aircraft and trains too.

In terms of video capture, the R6 II now shoots 4K/60p using the full width of the sensor (the Mark I R6 has a 1.07x crop). It can also output 6K ProRes RAW to select Atomos external recorders along with focus breathing compensation with compatible lenses, finally catching up with Sony.

That's a lot of camera for your money.

Read more:

Best RF lenses
Best full-frame mirrorless cameras
Best Canon cameras

The best affordable mirrorless cameras offer an excellent entry point into an exciting camera system without breaking the bank. We've selected these models because they offer true value for money, providing years of use and satisfaction. With well-sized sensors and impressive megapixel counts, these aren’t just good budget cameras—they're great cameras overall.

Many of them are also fantastic options for vlogging. As video content creation becomes increasingly accessible, all of these cameras are capable of shooting video, with many offering 4K resolution. If you're looking to dive into YouTube, filmmaking, or content creation on a budget, cheap mirrorless cameras are the perfect starting point.

Prices can fluctuate, especially for older models, but all the cameras on this list are consistently available at prices much lower than the average for mirrorless cameras.

One last tip: when shopping for affordable mirrorless cameras, be sure to check if the camera is "body only" or comes bundled with a lens. We’ll share our recommendations for the best lenses below.

The Quick List

The best cheap mirrorless cameras 

Best for vloggers

The Panasonic Lumix G100D is a fantastic starter camera for vloggers and has clearly been designed with that exact audience in mind. Unlike most consumer mirrorless cameras, it's got a fairly sophisticated built-in mic setup, meaning that while you can plug in an external mic with the 3.5mm jack, you don't have to, and that's hugely handy for casual vlogging.

Its approachable button layout makes it easy for pretty much anyone to pick up the Lumix G100D and start shooting high-quality 4K video. The tactile ergonomics make it a pleasure to use, and even though it's a relatively new model, the price has already come down a little.

We appreciated a lot of features of the Lumix G100D when it came into our hands for a full review – with a bright electronic viewfinder and high-quality LCD screen, it's just an all-around pleasant shooting experience for stills and video.

Read our full Panasonic Lumix G100D review

Best budget

The Lumix G7 was launched back in 2015, so it’s a few years old now, and that shows in its styling and specs. It’s the ideal choice for mirrorless camera buyers who prefer the heft and gripability of a DSLR-style body, and it comes with a viewfinder, which is terrific in a mirrorless camera at this price. Bad points?

The G7 was launched before Panasonic started including in-body stabilization in its cameras, so you’re reliant on any optical stabilization in the lenses themselves. It also has a relatively old 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, which knocks back the image quality ever so slightly compared to current APS-C sensor offerings. Prices vary a lot, so keep your eyes peeled, we have seen some crazy twin-lens deals on this camera.

Read our full Panasonic G7 review

Best for travel

The A6100 is the budget option in Sony's best-selling A6000-series of cameras - and although it was launched back in 2019 is still a great camera for those wanting a small system camera with a great selection of lenses.

The fundamentals on the A6100 are incredibly solid, for photographers at least. With 11fps burst shooting, 24MP of resolution, and a highly capable autofocus system, it's got pretty much everything most photographers are going to need. It's far more powerful than many similarly priced beginner camera, and its slimline body makes it perfect for travel.

This camera replaced the legendary A6000 - and one of the biggest improvements was to its video shooting capabilities. The A6100 can shoot in 4K - and has a microphone socket – making it a decent choice for vlogging, which is made easy thanks to its flip-up rotating LCD screen.

Read our full Sony A6100 review

best retro styling

We love the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. Its predecessor, the Mark III, was (and is) a perennial favorite around the DCW office, and we're full of admiration for how sensibly Olympus went about updating this beloved camera.

The addition of the 20.3MP sensor from the PEN-F was a great shout, and we were immensely glad to see improved Continuous Autofocus further expanding Mark IV's burst shooting capabilities. After all, it's not much good being able to shoot at 15fps if you can't focus worth a damn!

The extra-tiltable screen impresses too, and the fact that it flips down 180° makes the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV a tempting proposition for YouTubers and vloggers. For the money, the Mark IV is absolutely stuffed with features, and the fact that it's so portable makes it a great choice for travel.

Read our full Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV review

Best for content creators

The EOS RP was Canon's second full-frame mirrorless camera, and it's smaller, lighter, and a lot cheaper than all of the others. It's designed to be a compact, affordable and easy-to-use entry point into Canon's full-frame mirrorless system, and it succeeds brilliantly.

Its small dimensions mean it can sometimes feel overbalanced by larger lenses, though, and the 4K video mode comes with some caveats – the image frame is cropped by a factor of 1.6 and you can't use Canon's speedy Dual Pixel CMOS AF system unless you drop the resolution to full HD.

On the upside, the pictures are clear and sharp, the vari-angle touchscreen display is a real advantage for both stills and video, and the inclusion of an EF lens adaptor means you can use existing Canon DSLR lenses alongside the new but growing RF lens system.

At under $1,000/£1,000 you wouldn't say it was 'cheap' in the general run of things, but for a full-frame camera, its price is practically miraculous.

Read our full Canon EOS RP review

Best for sports

This is one of the best-selling full-frame cameras of recent years - and particularly popular with enthusiast photographers. It packs a lot of tech into a small body - offering 696-point AF system, eye autofocus, and 5-axis image stabilization. A 10fps motordrive combined with a detailed 2.5 million eyelevel viewfinder make it a great choice for those who want to shoot sports. With the launch of the newer A7 IV model, this version has started to become a bit of a bargain - so now qualifies as one of our cheap mirrorless picks.

The resolution is a modest, yet mangeable, 24 megapixels - which is fine for most types of photography. And thanks to there being a wide range of lenses from Sony and third-party manufacturers, you can get a kit to shoot almost any subject without needing to spend a fortune.

Read our full Sony A7 III review

How we test

We test cameras both in real-world shooting scenarios and in carefully controlled lab conditions. Our lab tests measure resolution, dynamic range, and signal-to-noise ratio. Resolution is measured using ISO resolution charts, dynamic range is measured using DxO Analyzer test equipment and DxO Analyzer is also used for noise analysis across the camera's ISO range. We use both real-world testing and lab results to inform our comments in buying guides.

Last year, Phase One introduced the XC, a 150MP medium-format camera featuring a built-in Rodenstock 23mm f/5.6 lens. Now the Danish camera company has launched a new version of the camera, the XC 40, that comes equipped with a longer lens to offer a more versatile option for photographers.

The original Phase One XC received critiques regarding the ultra-wide 23mm lens, which provides a 14mm full-frame equivalent focal length. While this wide-angle view was useful, it isn't the ideal choice for many landscape or travel photographers as it can be too wide for most standard compositions. 

The new Phase One XC 40 features a more conventional wide-angle 40mm lens, delivering a 24mm equivalent focal length, aligning more closely with what photographers typically look for in wide-angles.

ABOVE: Watch the Phase One XC 40 launch video

The XC 40 retains the manual focus lens design of its predecessor and can be paired with Phase One's IQ4 150MP digital back. This new 40mm Rodenstock HR Digaron-S lens also boasts a faster f/4 aperture, compared to the f/5.6 lens on the original XC 23. 

The IQ4 150MP image sensor offers significant cropping options – bearing in mind that this is a true medium format sensor, at 53.4 x 40mm, compared to the cropped medium format 43.8 x 32.9mm sensors used b y Fujifilm and Hasselblad – along with 15 stops of dynamic range, an ISO range of 50-25,600, and image resolution of 14,204 x 10,652 pixels. The system is operated through a touchscreen interface, and captures 16-bit RAW images.

Beyond its lens and sensor, the XC 40 also includes numerous advanced features designed to aid photographers. These include automated frame averaging, automatic metering (unusual for field cameras), built-in WiFi, mobile integration, and customizable "IQ Styles" for dialing in specific looks. These features are designed to make the camera more versatile in the field, simplifying shooting without compromising on quality.

The biggest question that potential buyers face is why they might choose the XC 40 over Phase One's other options, such as the XF or XT bodies that offer interchangeable lenses. 

The XC cameras' main advantage lies in their compact, travel-friendly design – a rarity in the true medium format space. However, for those seeking flexibility in lens choice or the tilt-and-shift functionality offered by the XT, the XC 40 may not be the ideal option despite its strong set of features.

I will also point out that "body-only" (the lens is attached to the body) will see you invest US$20,029 (about $29,057 Australian) of your hard-earned cash; if you want the 150MP back as well, then the total package is a massive US$62,490 ($90,649)! 

If you don't want to spend 20 grand on one, you might be interested in the best medium format cameras from other manufacturers. And you don't need medium format to get high resolution; check out the highest resolution cameras across all formats!

Insta360 has just released two new webcams – both with AI subject tracking as their central feature. 

The Link 2 is an updated version of the 4K AI camera which can literally follow you around the room using its tracking tech and gimbal, while the Link 2C does more or less the same thing without moving parts to make it even more portable.

The AI also powers noise cancelling features and a 'Smart Whiteboard Mode' which auto-detects a real whiteboard and makes adjustments to square it off and keep it in focus. 

Both devices sport a 1/2-inch image sensor capable of delivering 4K at up to 30fps (and 1080P at 60fps) and an HDR pipeline. To cater to the ongoing needs of the social media market, they also offer landscape and portrait modes – meaning live-streaming and social content generation for phone consumption should be smoother.

The larger image sensor than that in most laptops and phones should offer a potential boon to people working in lower light, though I'll confirm that when I've finished my reviews (we have the devices in hand at DCW). Other key features are Smartphone remote control, background replacement (though, to be fair, a lot of apps have this covered for you already), DeskView mode for overhead presentations, "One Click Makeup" and Privacy Mode.

“Link 2 and Link 2C represent our ongoing commitment to making virtual connections more engaging and seamless. We've listened to user feedback and pushed the boundaries of what's possible in a webcam, combining premium 4K imaging, crystal-clear audio, and intuitive AI-powered features. Link 2 and Link 2C empower you to present your best self online, no matter where you are,” shared JK Liu, Founder of Insta360.

Specs list ±3 EV exposure compensation, ISO 100-3200, a shutter speed of up to 1/8000 and an aperture of f/1.8. The EFL is 26mm and digital zoom up to 4x.

Only the Link 2 – not the 2C – bosts a 2-axis gimbal, but both work entirely from power drawn from their USB-C connection. They can be mounted on a monitor (with a stand included) or a tripod.

The Link 2 is priced at $199 and the Link 2C $149 and both are available from today from Amazon:

🇺🇸 Link 2 - Amazon.com
🇺🇸 Link 2C - Amazon.com 

While you're waiting for reviews of these to come live, you can read about some of the other best 4K webcams we've seen.

Nikon has launched its second firmware update for the Nikon Z6 III, its latest camera release. Since the Z6 III boasts some of the most advanced camera tech on the market and is one of the best mirrorless cameras available right now, it's not surprising that this update represents a couple of light tweaks, rather than a bonafide overhaul. 

The Nikon Z6 III is a full-frame hybrid camera and part of the Big N's mirrorless Z-Series range. It boasts an incredible roster of features, including a partially stacked 24.5-MP CMOS sensor, up to eight stops of IBIS, 120-fps burst speeds, video topping at 6K/60p, with 10x slow-motion video via 240p Full HD. Talk about a photo-and-video hybrid behemoth!

Nikon Z6 III firmware version 1.02 fixes 

• Failure to record video correctly on some CFexpress memory cards fixed 

• Error when uploading pictures via Ethernet fixed 

How to update your Nikon camera's firmware couldn’t be easier. You simply find your desired update via Nikon's Download Center, download the '.bin' file for your desired operating system, copy it to a formatted memory card, pop the memory card in your camera, head into the Setup Menu and select 'Firmware version' and hit update.

Keeping your camera's firmware up to date is the best way to avoid any bugs, while also taking advantage of new features. Heck, Nikon famously revolutionized the original Nikon Z6 and Nikon Z7 via a firmware update that greatly improved its first-generation mirrorless autofocusing system.

See our guide to the best Nikon lenses or the best Nikon camera 

A conventional camera shutter works in an entirely mechanical way. The shutter is fully closed before taking a shot. At the start of an exposure, the ‘first curtain’ opens, traversing the image sensor in the process. At the end of the exposure, the second curtain slides across in front of the sensor.

But at very fast shutter speeds, the second curtain starts to close before the first curtain has fully opened. That can cause a dark band in images when using a flashgun. The solution is to use ‘Auto FP’ (Auto Focal Plane) or High-Speed Sync’flash, which fires a short burst of flashes rather than a single flash. 

Nikon Z-system mirrorless cameras with mechanical shutters offer other options with pros and cons, but curing the flash sync problem isn’t one of them.

Going electric

Almost all Z-system cameras default to an ‘Auto’ shutter mode. This uses a conventional mechanical shutter most of the time, automatically switching to an ‘electronic first curtain shutter’ when it would be beneficial. As its name suggests, this uses electronics to initiate the exposure, but a mechanical second curtain to end the exposure. As well as letting the camera choose which type of shutter to use, you can select either option for yourself in the Custom Setting menu. In the Photo Shooting menu, you’ll also find a ‘Silent photography’ option. This enables a fully electronic shutter, making the mechanical shutter redundant.

The Nikon Z8 and Z9 are exceptions in that they ditch the mechanical shutter for stills exposures. Thanks to the super-fast data readout of their fully stacked image sensors, these cameras rely purely on an electronic shutter. 

The Z6 III has a partially stacked image sensor, which is much faster than conventional sensors but not quite as fast as in the Z8 and Z9. The Z6 III therefore has a mechanical shutter and offers the same range of options as most other Z-system cameras.

Shutter type

To select shutter types, head to the Custom Setting menu of Z-system cameras. You’ll need to go to the Shooting/display section and select the option showing as ‘d4 Shutter type’ in the Zfc camera that we’re using here by way of example. And lest we forget, some Nikon DSLRs also have an electronic first curtain shutter option, including the D7500, D500, D810 and D850.

Auto shutter mode

Cameras with a mechanical shutter default to it automatically. As detailed in this image, the camera automatically selects the most appropriate shutter mode for the shooting conditions, usually sticking to the mechanical option but swapping to electronic first curtain shutter when this would be beneficial. Leave the camera in Auto mode unless you have particular needs.

Mechanical shutter

As defaulted to in Auto mode, the Mechanical shutter option usually works best. The mechanical shutter takes a snapshot of the scene, which is read out from the image sensor to the image processor. The full range of shutter speeds is available whereas, in Electronic first curtain mode, the maximum shutter speed is often limited to 1/2000 sec. However, the latter mode can be beneficial.

Electronic front-curtain shutter

At shutter speeds of around 1/60 sec or slower, mechanical movement, often referred to as ‘shutter shock’, can degrade sharpness as it can destabilize the camera. The effect can also be problematic when shooting with long telephoto lenses and in macro photography. Shutter shock is reduced in Electronic front-curtain mode, as the mechanical shutter only moves at the end of the exposure.

Silent photography off

There are options for switching the Silent photography mode on or off in the Photo Shooting menu, rather than the Custom Setting menu. When switched off, the camera uses Auto, Mechanical or Electronic front-curtain shutter, as set up in the Custom Setting menu. If you want to use a fully electronic shutter, disabling the mechanical shutter altogether, switch on Silent photography.

Silent photography on

The Silent photography mode uses a fully electronic shutter, as well as disabling flash, long exposure noise reduction, flicker reduction and the beep speaker. There’s no shutter shock but, due to the relatively slow line-by-line readout of conventional image sensors, moving subjects change their position throughout an exposure, causing lateral distortion (rolling shutter effect).

Learn more about the pros and cons of electronic shutters 

Prolific camera phone tipster Digital Chat Station has leaked what may be the camera specs for Vivo's upcoming flagship phone, the X200. Given how similar the new phone's reported camera set-up is to the previous X100, this latest tip does seem plausible. The tip comes shortly after Vivo itself published a sample photo apparently shot on the X200:

According to Digital Chat Station, the primary wide-angle module in the X200's triple-camera array will be Sony’s IMX921 sensor - a 50 megapixel, 1/1.49-inch chip. This is a marginal upgrade over the X100's IMX920 sensor, which is the same size and megapixel count as the IMX921.

The leak states that the X200's ultrawide camera will use a Samsung ISOCELL JN1 50MP 1/2.76” sensor - a direct carry-over from the X100. The third module is a periscope telephoto camera, which Digital Chat Station says will use a 50 megapixel Sony IMX882 sensor. This 1/1.95-inch sensor differs from the 64MP, 1/2-inch OmniVision OV64B sensor used in the X100's telephoto camera, though if the leak is correct, the X200 looks like it'll retain the X100's 70mm, f/2.57 periscope lens, enabling 3x optical zoom.

The leak also claims that the X200 will be capable of 10x hybrid zoom and will feature a 32MP selfie camera.

Elsewhere, the X200 is said to sport a 6.78-inch OLED display with a 1.5k resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and under-screen fingerprint reader - no change here from the X100's screen specs. The leak claims the X200 will run MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 processor - the direct successor to the Dimensity 9300 SoC in the X100. However, the X200 will supposedly pack a larger 5,800mAh battery - up from 5,000mAh in the X100.

We won't have too long to wait to see if this latest leak is credible, as Vivo is expected to launch the entire X200 phone series on October 14.

In the last generation, DJI surpassed GoPro with what was to my mind – and many others – the best action camera. DJI not only won with a bigger image sensor (great in low light), but because their rival actually dropped a popular unique feature, GPS, enraging fans. The backlash was nothing short of humiliating for GoPro, the brand that created the product category. 

Like the leading phone brands, however, there is a yearly product cycle and – while (like Apple and its new iPhones) you can't necessarily replace all the parts at once, both DJI and GoPro have had very good go at showing what they think is most important – or what they can achieve – in the action camera space with this new generation.

First things first, DJI has added the term 'Pro.' In this review, I'm going to try to find out what I think that means. It's not about a new image sensor size or 8K video because, well, neither of those things have arrived (nor did GoPro manage such change, so that is moot).

Much more interesting, though, is the arrival of subject tracking, which could be more of a boon to those creating for Instagram and TikTok than the GoPro's vaunted 8:7 sensor. Now I'm not sure "Pro" is the term for all creators, but then you don't have to be a professional phone user to but an iPhone 16 Pro Max and they all sold out for 4 weeks on day 1!

There are high-end features too, like the ability to get better "OsmoAudio" from DJI Mics popular with YouTubers – not mere Bluetooth audio, DJI tell me.

What, though, does this add up to?

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Specifications

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Price

The Osmo Action 5 Pro is priced at $349 / AU$599 in the cheapest bundle – camera only, one battery – which should have GoPro very worried.

This has also made the DJI Osmo Action 4 – with the same size sensor – extremely interesting in price since DJI's teaser campaign began. Perhaps the company will keep it on for a while.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Design & Handling

The Action 5 Pro has a very straightforward design, almost deliberately boring. Those parts of the front and back which aren't actually touchscreens (and that's very little of the back, which is almost all screen). 

The mode menu offers the usual (photo, video, slo-mo, timelapse etc.) and the new Super Nightmode – perhaps inspired by the Ace Pro's "Pure Video" feature. It, as the name suggests, helps the camera handle contrast at night.

The quality of the touchscreens is outstanding (326PPI is the sharpest in the business by about 30), and by default the brightness and detail is impressive (more so than its rival), and it's notable that the device doesn't lurch into power-saving mode at every opportunity either. Occasionally the slightly smaller front screen did seem a little slow to swipe up to unlock for me, negating its convenience benefit, but I tend to see this as a 'nice to have' anyway.

At either end of the device, you'll find reassuringly well-sealed doors – the quality of that seal is presumably why the camera is rated as 20m/65ft waterproof. 

One end's door is for the battery and MicroSD slot. The other, smaller one for the USB-C socket (the camera can charge the battery itself, though DJI offer other options (depending on the bundle you opt for), including a handle and a charging hub. The hub's sprung-flap case is so much more elegant in design and traveller-friendly than GoPro's that it, too, is worthy of praise.

On the subject of accessories, DJI has not chosen to put GPS in the camera, but do offer (and included in my review loan bundle) a GPS Strap which is worn on the wrist. It looks are a long way short of the elegance of an Apple Watch – hinting more at the ruggedness of the Action 5 Pro (or, if I chose to be harsh, a stylish prisoner release tag). It does offer one advantage though – it is a remote control!

On the flip side, there is a pressure sensor in the housing, so the camera can record how deep it is, or – for paragliders – hidden in the 'O' – a barometric sensor that will feed back an altitude reading. You can also get telemetry from the Apple watch so I didn't need both on my arm in that photo!

The camera also boasts connectivity to the DJI Mic 2 not just via Bluetooth audio (which competitors can and do achieve), but the ability to control it using DJI's protocols and record a full 48KHz rate. Not, sadly for me, as I have the original DJI Mic.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Performance

Most of my tests were in typical conditions, and the camera seemed to make sensible choices. The auto settings got the 'right look' for motion blur on the bike, though menus do allow for manual settings.

Image and video is excellent. In terms of personality it is generally less aggressively sharpened than its predecessor from DJI, and doesn't have the dishonest (but 'nice') warmth associated with GoPro.

I've said a lot in the past about low light, but it isn't just low-light where DJI's larger image sensor is beneficial; darker skin tones are also better represented on this camera than other action cameras. Super Night mode is impressive too, though I didn't need it to eclipse the GoPro Hero 13 Black in my simple side-by-side test.

Image stabilization doesn't need much discussion either as there is little to fault.

In normal daylight use (with the sun in tricky spots, admittedly), the lens did seem to catch a bit of glare more than I might have hoped; arguably it 'adds interest' but it'd have been nice to see a little less.

Battery-wise, DJI tell me you can, in lab conditions, manage 4 hours of recording at 1080P. That felt a bit optimistic, but it was still apparent the camera was ahead of the game, as does the quoted 210+ minutes recording 4K30 – but, even allowing for a dose of reality, it is still comfortably ahead of the pack here.

A very nice touch – GoPro changed their battery fittings when they improved the battery; DJI didn't, so you can also use your older batteries from Action 3 and 4 cameras if you have them (though they won't last as long).

I wasn't able to make the camera overheat and cut out testing in the UK – that said it didn't get over 30˚C (86F) in my testing period, but according to DJI I'd have been OK in weather up to 45˚C (113F).

I appreciate that DJI has included support for WiFi 6 file downloads – good stuff given the presence of a generous amount of on-board storage space – but I must admit I'm a bit old fashioned and stick to memory cards which I (tell myself I) can manage!

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Sample Images

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Sample Video

In my video test, the most telling part of the whole experience was a low-light moment when I simply stood under a bridge on a gloomy day and held both the Action 5 Pro and the GoPro Hero 13 Pro in the same hand and talked into them, both on the same settings.

Sure, both pick-up background noise, but the Action 5 Pro produced a capable shot that you could stuff into a YouTube – certainly a social video – showing detail across the image (a shame since my beard clearly needed maintenance), whereas the GoPro was noisy and dark, and struggled to identify detail.

I was also impressed that Mimo was able to overlay GPS data from the GPS Remote accessory on my phone – though a clip of a few minutes took a few more to render at 4K so it's not something you'd want to do for many long clips! It's nice, though, that this app is provided for free, without the hint of a subscription request (but I'd like it if, like Insta360, a FCP plugin was available too).

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Verdict

The problem with this camera is that, on its own terms, it is close to faultless. The wider issue is that, I don't know that everyone looking for an action camera would choose DJI's terms.

Let me explain. Personally I tend to be impressed by the refinement of technology, and that has happened here extensively. DJI point to a new image sensor, albeit of the same size, and the image quality is spectacular, with low light detail (as on the Action 4) class-leading. The snappy processor and refined (free) app are also big plusses.

I also like the purity of the design, and am prepared – grudgingly – to accept that keeping GPS out of the main housing makes some sense, especially in exchange for the pressure sensor, it helps keep the camera small & battery good, and who doesn't have a watch or Garmin that can provide GPS tracking?

It is harder, though, to look at the flexibility and practicality of GoPro's lens & filter system and not think "But I want that, that'd be cool!" (even if, realistically, you might never use it and it might turn out to be a bit of cash drain).

DJI, then, has done it again, brilliantly, and the sensible buyer will likely see that. It is, just, I have to admit, a little hard to see the sense as GoPro strut. 

Alternatives

Thought DSLRs were dead? Well, Pentax continues not to read the memo. Because it looks like we're getting a new flagship DSLR with a 61MP sensor, along with a host of extras including an integrated GPS with Astrotracer. 

I'm willing to bet that most people didn't have the resurgence of film cameras and compact cameras on their 2024 bingo cards, but it's perhaps no coincidence that Ricoh (owner of the Pentax brand) is a major contributor to both, thanks to the Pentax 17 half-frame film camera and the various flavors of Ricoh GR III. 

It's perhaps only fitting, then, that it should also be leading the charge for DSLRs, and is reportedly about to begin production on the Pentax K-1 Mark III – the successor to its full-frame flagship, the K-1 Mark II. 

According to a story by Pentax Rumors, the K-1 Mark III is likely to have a Sony-made 61MP back-side illuminated image sensor – though a trio of different sensors have been prototyped. 

The sensor will marry with the new SAFOX 14 (Sensor Ability Fortifying Optical Compensating System) autofocus, which is one up from the SAFOX 13 featured in the formidable Pentax K-3 Mark III. 

In terms of burst speed and video performance the site is quoting "very fast fps" and "4K (and higher) video", which will be backed by twin CFexpress card slots to support those high resolutions and bitrates. 

Two things that excite me personally are the inclusion of GPS and the brilliant Astrotracer technology – which also means that the camera will have in-body image stabilization (IBIS). 

These systems work in unison when shooting astrophotography. The GPS tracks the movement of celestial bodies, the data is computed by Astrotracer, and the IBIS system moves the image sensor in sync with the stars – enabling you to shoot still images without star trails, even with longer exposures. 

With Pentax Rumors also reporting that there will be all-new smart functions, along with a new smartphone app (featuring live view), this is literally the most excited I've been about a DSLR in years!  

You might be interested in the best DSLRs available right now, along with the best Pentax cameras currently on the market. 

A new rumor from serial smartphone tipster Ice Universe suggests Samsung's next flagship camera phone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, may feature almost the same camera array as the current Galaxy S24 Ultra. If the rumor is correct, the only significant difference could be a new ultrawide camera, based around Samsung's 50MP ISOCELL JN3 sensor, with a 0.7um pixel size. This contradicts a previous rumor that the S25 Ultra might get a new telephoto camera. It also means the 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor in the phone's primary wide-angle camera would be carried over to the S25 Ultra, along with the S24 Ultra's 10MP 3x telephoto module and its 50MP 5x telephoto camera.

Other rumors suggest Samsung could equip the S25 Ultra exclusively with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset in all regions, while also adding extra RAM, though battery capacity is said to be unchanged from the S24 Ultra. It's also claimed that S25 Ultra could be the thinner and lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Google's Pixel 9 Pro XL, at least in part due to thinner screen bezels.

Have camera phones peaked?

But should we really be surprised that the Galaxy S25 Ultra may not get a substantially improved camera array? The pixel count of camera phone sensors seems to have peaked at 200MP since the S23 Ultra, and 1-inch appears to be the size limit for a camera phone sensor. The periscope lens has helped enable longer telephoto focal lengths, but that's only possible by pairing the lens with a physically smaller sensor, so there's also a limit to how much zoom a phone can reasonably offer before the sensor size gets so small that image quality is noticeably compromised.

It's long been the case that the secret to a camera phone's stellar image quality is advanced image processing - this is how Google was able to re-use the same image sensor for four generations of Pixel phones, while still improving image quality along the way. Now with power of AI on tap to further enhance image processing, phone manufacturers will be leaning on this far more than advancements in sensor and lens hardware to improve camera performance.

Canon has unveiled its latest addition to the Cinema EOS lineup – the EOS C80, a compact RF mount cinema camera designed for filmmakers and live production. Building on the success of previous models such as the EOS R5 C and EOS C70, the EOS C80 introduces a full-frame sensor in a form factor that balances portability with professional features.

At the heart of the EOS C80 is a full-frame stacked backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor. This sensor, first seen in the EOS C400, enables 6K recording with 16 stops of dynamic range, which Canon claims offers improved low-light sensitivity and minimal noise. The camera's triple base ISO settings (800, 3200, 12,800) provide flexibility for varying lighting conditions, and an auto-switching mode allows for smooth transitions between these ISO levels in changing environments.

Canon has equipped the EOS C80 with its Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system, which delivers some of the most advanced autofocus capabilities yet in a Canon cinema camera, with face, eye, and head tracking, as well as body and animal detection.

In terms of design, the EOS C80 maintains a compact form similar to the EOS C70, with ergonomic refinements for handheld shooting and gimbal use. A redesigned removable top handle and a brighter LCD panel improve usability in outdoor environments, while the new joystick design offers better control.

The camera also supports Canon's PL to RF mount adapter, expanding compatibility with industry-standard Arri PL mount cinema lenses. Connectivity features include built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet for file transfer, remote control, and IP streaming, enhancing workflow efficiency. Additionally, real-time lens metadata capture and VR capabilities, in conjunction with Canon’s RF 5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye lens, open up new creative possibilities for virtual production.

The EOS C80 supports various recording formats, including 12-bit Cinema RAW Light and new MP4 formats such as XF-AVC S and XF-HEVC S, which provide high-quality 4K footage with manageable file sizes. These options aim to streamline the post-production process, making the camera suitable for a wide range of professional applications.

The Canon C80 will go on sale for $5,499/£5,339/AU$8,899, and should be available from the end of September in some major markets but in November in Australia. For anyone who can’t wait until then – Canon will showcase the EOS C80 at the IBC show in Amsterdam from September 13-16.

The Honor Magic V3 has officially launched in the UK and other Western markets, competing head-on with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open. While other super-slim foldables like the Huawei Mate X5 and Xiaomi Mix Fold 4 have only launched in China, Honor is following up its impressive world's-thinnest Magic V2 with a much more camera-focused package further afield.

The phone's super-thin 9.2mm folded, 4.35mm unfolded profile doesn't take the camera bump into account, which is probably a good thing, as within the fine-looking octagonal camera module is a triple camera setup that includes a periscope zoom.

The most notable updates for the newly announced version of the Magic V3 for global markets are the return of Honor's partnership with Parisian photography studio Studio Harcourt and some new interface enhancements.

Costing £1,699 (roughly $2,235 and AU$3,320), the Magic V3 may be expensive, but it undercuts both the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 despite a more impressive spec roster.

Honor Magic V3 camera explained

The Honor Magic V3's camera is a tale of two halves, hardware and software. The phone's main camera mix consists of a wide, ultra-wide and telephoto camera, and there are two selfie cameras, one within the cover screen and the other on the right side of the main display.

Wide camera

The 50MP wide camera on the Honor Magic V3 has a 1/1.56-inch sensor, PDAF and OIS, as well as a wide f/1.6 aperture. The sensor size might sound small for a phone of the V3's price, but it's on the larger side for a foldable, with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold's main camera sensor measuring in at just 1/2 inch.

Ultra-wide camera

The Honor Magic V3's ultra-wide camera dials down the resolution slightly, with a 40MP sensor. It bests the ultra-wide of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 by including autofocus, so it can capture close-up shots, and matched with an f/2.2 aperture, for objects that are 10cm or less from the lens, pulls out decent depth blur.

Telephoto camera

Where the Magic V3's camera really pulls ahead of Samsung is zoom, with the 50MP periscope module packing five times more pixels than the Z Fold 6's tele camera, and featuring a larger 1/2.51-inch sensor, as well as a slightly further optical reach of 3.5x.

Selfie cameras

Both of the Magic V3's selfie cameras are 20MP sensor, f/2.2 lens combinations, though one great feature of foldables is the fact you can take selfies using the primary camera by opening the phone and using the cover screen as a viewfinder. The Magic V3 supports this feature, and in our tests, is great for vlogging too.

Studio Harcourt and camera software

Honor introduced its partnership with Studio Harcourt at the Paris launch of its upper-midrange Honor 200 Series. With three capture modes, Harcourt Classic, Harcourt Vibrant and Harcourt Colour, the Magic V3 can shoot full-color or monochrome portraits that pack a unique style while also offering control over dynamic range and artificial bokeh.

While some reviewers wrote these modes off as filters, the Harcourt Classic mode in particular rekindled our love of black and white portraits and reminded us they are a great way to get the most from smartphones' modestly sized sensors when we tested the 200 Pro.

Honor's camera system also excels at stopping time with its Motion-sensing Capture feature, the Magic V3 gets Honor's AI zoom which it showcased on the Magic 6 Pro, and the phone captures 4K video at up to 60fps across all three rear cameras.

Honor Magic V3 features and specs

Another aspect of the Magic V3 that's been upgraded for its global launch is the interface. Unlike the Magic V2, Honor has loaded up a taskbar on the inner display for speedier unfolded navigation.

A new feature called Magic Portal allows for quick sharing across up to five supported apps with a drag and a drop, and this works on both the cover and main display.

Honor's bringing back the magic capsule for the V3 - an Apple Dynamic Island by a different name - and the phone also supports a part-folded hover mode with third-party apps. This means you can part-fold the phone like a laptop, and the bottom half of the display turns into a touchpad.

While the new software is newsworthy, given the global overhaul, it's worth taking a moment to appreciate the Honor Magic V3's hardware. Measuring just 9.2mm when closed and weighing 226g, it's thinner and lighter than some non-folding phones, and alongside the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, it feels lifted straight out of the future.

Despite its slimline profile, the Magic V3's screens are larger than those of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. On the front, its 6.43-inch display packs a wider aspect ratio than Samsung's foldable for more comfortable typing, while the inner display is 7.92 inches, also significantly larger than the Z Fold 6.

As thin and light as it is, the Magic V3 is also powerful with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset matched with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. It also has a larger battery than the main competition with a 5150 mAh silicon-carbon cell, and with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging, it powers quickly too.

We're testing out the Magic V3 now, so check back for our full Honor Magic V3 review, and to see what the foldable competition looks like, check out our guide to the best flip and fold phones of 2024. 

The Honor Magic V3 can currently be bought with an £300 early bird discount, for £1,399.99

According to a fresh rumor, Xiaomi's next flagship phone - the Xiaomi 15 Ultra - could feature a 200MP periscope telephoto camera. If correct, the module might be similar to that used in the Vivo X100 Ultra. This would mean a 1/1.4" sensor, which the rumor suggests could be paired with a periscope lens offering 10x magnification relative to the phone's primary, wide-angle camera. This level of zoom is said to be achieved using a combination of optical zoom and on-sensor zoom - a system we've already seen used by the Vivo X100 Ultra.

Read more:
What is a periscope lens
The best camera phones in 2024
Xiaomi 14 Ultra full review

The same source also claims that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra could receive a new sensor for its primary, wide-angle camera module. The current Xiaomi 14 Ultra packs Sony's Lytia LYT-900 sensor: a 50MP, 1-inch-type chip which is already one of the most impressive camera phone sensors out there. However, this latest rumor suggests the sensor in the '15 Ultra will "bring several improvements over the current LYT-900", including better low-light performance. It's also possible we may see an improved selfie camera, with a higher pixel count than the 32MP unit featured in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

Further alleged improvements for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra include a 4K Cinematic video mode (Cinematic mode was restricted to 1080p in the '14 Ultra), along with an improved Slow-Motion mode. It's said that the phone will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC, and could sport a 2K quad-curved display paired with a ceramic and faux leather finish on the rear.

With the prospective launch of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra likely being early 2025, these relatively early leaks should still be taken with a hefty pinch of salt. But given Xiaomi's history of packing seriously impressive camera tech into its flagship 'Ultra' phones, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is sure to follow this same cutting-edge trend.

Story credit: Smartprix

French smart telescope maker Unistellar used IFA 2024 to announce a new image processing technology that promises to reveal more color and detail in deep-sky objects, including galaxies, star clusters and faint nebula.

Unistellar's new Vivid Vision Signal Processing technology, which will be available in October as a free firmware update across its suite of smart telescopes, will add an optional enhancement to each image, which will take two minutes to complete. Vivid Vision uses the latest data on the color of stars collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, which has spent the last decade mapping the motions, luminosity, temperature and composition of stars. 

The brand currently has four smart telescopes across two ranges – the eQuinox 2 and eVscope 2 in its Expert range and the Odyssey and Odyssey Pro in its Discovery range, launched at CES 2024 in January. 

The eVscope 2 and Odyssey Pro both sport a Nikon-made eyepiece. The firmware update will apply to all current models but not to the first-gen eVscope and eQuinox, which lack the computing power, Unistellar confirmed. 

These reflector telescopes focus light on a Sony IMX CMOS sensor, with an onboard computer taking multiple short exposures of objects in the night sky and stacking them. Vivid Vision is an additional feature to the Enhanced Vision digital image processing suite, which presents a colorful, detail-rich, deep black image on smartphones and tablets via the Unistellar app. Vivid Vision promises more authentic colors of space, revealing the nuanced colors of stars, nebulae and galaxies.

“Recreating colors with sensors that see only three colors has been a big challenge since the beginning of digital photography,” said Laurent Marfisi, co-founder and CEO of Unistellar, to Digital Camera World in a press briefing. 

“Vivid Vision uses the Gaia database to better match the actual spectrum of colors of the universe.” The reddish nebula of the Cigar Galaxy (M82) and the blue and yellow of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) are two of the objects expected to benefit. “Stars in globular clusters like Hercules (M31) will look more red because they are older stars, which will help users to understand the stories of the universe,” said Marfisi. The current tech makes these stars appear white.

About 25,000 Unistellar smart telescopes have been sold so far, and its deep analysis and reprocessing of user images has directly led to the development of Vivid Vision, said the company. “We have relied on the millions of images shared with us from our users,” said Marfisi. 

Unistellar, which recently launched its Cosmic Card Collection to encourage regular observing, is currently running a campaign on Kickstarter for its augmented reality Envision binoculars, which will go on sale in 2025. 

The first specifications for the Nikon Z50 II have popped up online, with reports that the camera will be launched before the end of the year and feature a refreshed body – but familiar hardware on the inside.

The original Nikon Z50 was a capable camera that I felt got unfairly overlooked. Launched in 2019 it was the company's first APS-C camera in the Z series, offered super-compactness and performance aimed at intermediate shooters. 

However, perhaps in an attempt to get its mirrorless ducks in a row in the early days, Nikon bequeathed it with some divisive specs – namely its 20.9MP image sensor. With every other APS-C camera on the market having at least a 24MP sensor, it left the Z50 feeling a bit conservative in the resolution stakes… and it looks like the same will be true of its successor.

According to a report by Nikon Rumors, the Nikon Z50 II will be pretty technologically similar – right down to the "same 20.9MP DX-format CMOS sensor" seen in the OG model.

"Hopefully my info is wrong, and they will introduce a new sensor," reads the report, noting that the resolution landscape has shifted dramatically. "Fuji for example, is already using a 40MP sensor in their latest X100VI camera".

I thoroughly believe that 21MP is enough for most needs; my daily drivers are the 20.3MP Olympus PEN E-P7 and the 20.4MP OM System OM-5. However, those are both Micro Four Thirds cameras – and unfortunately, the market expects more of cameras with larger sensors. 

Canon, for example, was quick to replace the original EOS R6 with its 20.1MP sensor. And when Fujifilm's latest bodies all pack 40MP sensors, and with even the entry-level $300 Canon EOS R100 having a 24.1MP sensor, I wonder how wise it is to stick with 20.9MP as we move into 2025. 

Still, there are reportedly some welcome changes coming to the Nikon Z50 II. The same report notes that it will feature the newer Expeed 7 image processor (which may provide superior imaging and AF performance) along with the switch to a USB-C port. The camera will also possess a fully articulating screen, as part of its "updated body design". 

If these early specs are accurate – and, as with all camera rumors, they need to be taken with a big spoonful of salt – the Nikon Z50 II looks to be more of a light refresh than a wholesale update. 

That said, a fresh coat of paint certainly did wonders for the Nikon Z fc, which is itself a Z50 with an "updated body design", so I will be very interested to see how the mark II is received. 

You might be interested in the best Nikon cameras, along with the best Nikon lenses in general and the best Nikon Z lenses for mirrorless cameras in specific.

There are some cameras that punch outside the field of photography. Some model numbers that, because they arrive at a certain time, offer a bit more than might have been expected, for a little less, and move the field on in some way.

One such camera is the one I still use every day: the Sony A7 III. Or ⍺7 III. Or ILCE-7M3.

As an aside, Sony seriously needs to get better at naming products. It has finally stopped calling its TVs crazy things like the Sony XR55A95L and started using names like Bravia 9, and it really seems to have caught the attention of our friends at What Hi-Fi, so why not cameras? That's another story.

Anyway, the Sony A7 III was announced back in early 2018 and the most noteable new feature at the time was probably the 4K video. This was a camera, if not for the masses, that made capturing professional-looking 4K video through interchangeable lenses something within reach of the 'prosumer'.

The camera has a 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor and 693-point phase-detection autofocus with Sony's Eye AF (tracking the subject's eyes, not the operator's) and in-body 5-axis image stabilization.

The Sony A7 III also boasts an ISO51,200 sensitivity, 10fps continuous bursts, dual SD card slots for live backups (which felt like a very pro upgrade from the single shot in the previous A7 models) and Bluetooth connectivity. The controls were also improved, with the arrival of a joystick styled on the then-recent flagship Sony A9.

At the time – and to be honest, even now to some extent – the Sony A7 III's spec sheet was exciting. But the 4K possibilities felt like what pushed the camera beyond the photo world into, if not the public consciousness as a whole, the mainstream tech sphere. Back then, having 4K on your YouTube channel would get you ahead of the pack.

The result seems to be a ripple that I still feel in my everyday life. When I meet aspiring but less cash-rich photographers, the camera is – more than a half-decade after launch, and long after being superseded by the Sony A7 IV – still seen as aspirational.

The Sony A7 III a camera that has made me stop worrying about my main camera. I used to love all the latest developments in tech, and I still do, but now I'm more excited when they're concentrated on their own devices. Probably why I've become such a fan of the best 360 cameras (not to mention my fleet of the best drones).

Can that go too far, though? Will I miss out with a camera that is 'good enough' (and, to be fair, a lot more than just 'good enough') as the world moves on and 'eye tracking' starts to refer to autofocus that actually follows your eye around the frame like the new Canon Eye Control AF?

Luckily not; I'll definitely keep trying all the latest cameras, because I love doing so. But for me at least, I know that eye control tech is useful in the Apple Vision Pro – but for my everyday photography needs it isn't an issue.

Only when the art or quality of what I create needs a significant leap will start looking for that next generational camera. What will be the next "4K moment"? I don't know. Perhaps it'll be more personal to different people. Spatial video? Cinematic focus-pulls controlled by Canon's tech? Or perhaps (though this is a bit fanciful) just a really good app to integrate the camera and my iPhone photos?

Whatever it is, it hasn't come yet in a way that makes me want to replace my Sony A7 III (but boy have I got a lot of action cameras and the like these days!).

You might also be interested in the best Sony cameras and the best Sony lenses to pair with them.

Reolink produces a wide range of wireless Wi-Fi connected security cameras and the Argus 4 Pro (and the slightly cheaper but almost identically specced Argus 4) are the latest cameras in the Argus range. Unlike older Argus cameras the Argus 4 models are dual-lensed. Much more on that later. 

When setting up a security camera you face the challenge of where to point it. If you point it at the back gate on the left, you may miss an intruder climbing over your garden wall on the right. The Reolink Argus 4 Pro is a dual-lensed security camera that covers a panoramic 180º field of view, so more of your property will fit into its motion detection window. If it detects an intruder you’ll receive a notification on your smartphone so you can view the camera’s feed in real time. Alternatively, you can watch the recordings of incidents if you pop a microSD card into the camera.

The Argus 4 Pro has a similar spec to the slightly cheaper Argus 4, but the Pro captures better-looking full-color footage at night thanks to ColorX's true full-color night vision (compared to the Argus 4’s standard night color vision). The price difference is so small that it makes sense to go for the Pro version.

Reolink Argus 4 Pro: Specifications

Reolink Argus 4 Pro: Design & Handling

I must confess that although I’ve been commissioned to review the Reolink Argus 4 Pro for quite a while, I’ve found myself putting it aside in favor of mics, camera backpacks, and gimbals which are easier to set up than security cameras. The last security camera I tested - the Eufy S100 Wall Light Cam involved wiring up the camera to my home’s mains supply, which took over an hour of drilling and fiddling with wire cutters and screws. Thanks to the patient persistence of Reolink’s PR people (sorry again for the delay!) I unboxed the Argus 4 Pro and to my relief, it was a much quicker and easier process to get it up and running. I don’t do much DIY, but the Argus 4 Pro ships with a little paper template that enables you to drill two accurately placed holes in the exterior of your home. You can then screw in the mounting plate (with the supplied screws and plugs) and attach the plastic camera to the plastic plate via a screw thread. 

If you don’t fancy doing any DIY then the Reolink Argus 4 Pro ships with an alternative metal mount and a white strap that you can use to fit it securely to a tree or drain pipe. Just make sure you fit it within range of your WiFi router so that you can monitor the camera via the Reolink smartphone app.

Once the camera has been charged via its USB-C socket and mounted to the wall you can easily unscrew it to remove it and then top up its battery charge. Alternatively, you can purchase a solar panel that you can plug into the Argus 4 Pro to keep its charge topped up by Mother Nature (though of course, it will be best if the camera and solar panel are on a sun-facing wall.)

The Argus 4 Pro has an eye-catching design. Instead of the usual single lens as typified by the Eufy Security 4G Starlight Camera, the Argus 4 Pro boasts two lenses. They are further apart than a human’s eyes would be but this enables the camera to capture a 180º field of view that covers the width of your front or back yard. This gives the camera the appearance of a robot owl, watching over your property day and night.

Before I mounted the camera on the wall I followed the instructions in the Quick Setup Guide leaflet to connect it to my WiFi router. The guide told me to scan the QR code on the rear of the camera. I did so using my iPhone’s Camera app but this didn’t take me to a set-up page. I then realized that I needed to scan the code from within the Reolink app and from then on it was plane sailing to get the Argus 4 Pro to send footage to the Reolink app.

The footage does look good though (as you’ll see from our supporting video) and unlike some other cameras, the nocturnal footage is in full color as the camera uses ColorX true full-color night vision rather than infrared. You can also summon extra illumination from the Argus 4 Pro’s built-in spotlight by tapping the light icon in the app if you need to light someone in the foreground.

Reolink Argus 4 Pro: Performance

Once I had attached the Argus 4 Pro to its wall-mount I enjoyed seeing the camera’s 180º feed from within the Reolink app. Reolink describes the footage as being 4K but this isn’t strictly accurate. 4K footage measures 3840 x 2160. The 180º field-of-view footage from the Argus 4 Pro is much wider than 4K at 5120 pixels, but at 1440 pixels it’s not as tall. When viewed on a smartphone this creates a narrow band of footage letterboxed by large black bars above and below the clip. In effect this makes the Argus 4 Pro’s feed look very narrow on a smartphone but you can pinch to zoom in on the feed in the Reolink app to get a closer look at a visitor who has triggered the alert. As well as being panoramic (with only a 50º of vertical field of view) the footage runs at between 10 and 15 frames per second, so it will look jerkier if you compare it to 30 fps 4K footage from other cameras. 

The Argus 4 Pro creates its wide field of view by using two lenses. It therefore needs to stitch the footage together to create its panoramic clips.  This stitching isn’t perfect, resulting in a slight mismatch when a person stands in the stitched area at the center of the frame. This is a bit of an Achille’s Heal for the Argus 4 Pro as it means that you can’t clearly identify someone who’s standing in the centre of the field of view. The camera is marketed as having no blind spot by covering a 180º field-of-view, but technically this blur in the stitching means that there is a small blind spot bang in the middle, and that loses it half a star rating.

The free Reolink smartphone app is very useful. When an alert pings into view you can tap on it to open the Reolink app and view your visitor in real time. By tapping the Camera icon you can record the footage onto your smartphone. You can also tap the Mic icon to hear the visitor speaking via the camera, and there’s a handy Talk icon that you can press to tell a postman to leave a parcel in a specific place, for example. On the downside, the little speaker on the camera isn’t very loud so you might have to shout to communicate with a visitor! The nice thing about the Argus 4 Pro is that you can receive alerts, view footage, and even talk to people live via the camera’s speaker - even if you’re miles away. The camera feed transfers via Wi-Fi to your router and then to your phone via your service provider’s data package. 

If you don’t notice a pop-up alert on your smartphone the Reolink Argus 4 Pro can also capture incidents directly onto a card in its micro SD slot (though you need to supply the card). You can then stream these recordings via the Reolink app later. This is handy if you want to see what triggered the camera to start recording during the night. You can easily share these recordings (to the police for example) with a tap via the app so that an extra level of security might help keep your home insurance premium down a bit. It is possible that a burglar could unscrew the Argus 4 Pro from its wall mount and remove the evidence of their presence by stealing the camera. So for a small monthly fee (£3.49 in the UK), you can get the Argus 4 Pro to send recorded incidents safely to the cloud where they can be accessed via the Reolink smartphone app.  The £3.49 fee includes 30GB of storage space.

Talking of unwanted visitors you can set the Argus 4 Pro to emit an audio alarm when it detects motion. You can also trigger this alarm manually when you’re watching the live feed from the camera on your phone to ward off intruders. It could be annoying if the audio alarm goes off when the cat wanders home. Nor do you want a passer-by (or a neighbor in the garden) to trigger an alert. Fortunately, you can use the Reolink app to make the Argus 4 Pro create non-detection zones. It can also be customized to be more or less sensitive to people and animals using a slider. You can also get it to draw a tracking box around a subject (such as a person or a cat) to make them easier to spot. Indeed the Argus 4 Pro can recognise people and animals and you’ll see a paw print icon in the app’s feed when a pet is detected. It will display a person-shaped icon for people that it spots.

Reolink Argus 4 Pro: Verdict

All in all the Reolink Argus 4 Pro is an affordable way to provide you with peace of mind when you’re at home or out and about, thanks to video notifications on your smartphone of any motion-detected activity. And as I tested it on a windy day it is clever enough to only detect people, not wind-blown trees (thanks to its Passive Infrared (PiR) sensor.) The stitching between the two lenses isn’t perfect with a blurred seam down the middle, but the 180º of wide-angle coverage is very welcome. 

I’m not a big fan of the panoramic shape of the captured clips as key details look quite small on my iPhone’s screen (especially when bordered top and bottom by large black bars).  The two-way mic works better when listening via the camera but your voice is very faint when emitted via the camera’s speaker (even when it’s turned to full volume). 

So it’s not a perfect device, but it's affordable and should detect (and even deter) unwanted visitors without blowing your budget.

Alternatives

Most Apple users will have woken up with an email in their inbox announcing an event on September 09. While Apple doesn’t tell us what these events are going to focus on before the date, it's widely accepted that this one will reveal all the highly anticipated details on the iPhone 16 series.

The range will include four new models: the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. 

Rumors about what the new series phones will look like have been circulating for months, including the introduction of iOS 18, AI smart features in the form of Apple Intelligence, and an updated Siri. 

Some of the most significant upgrades however, are in the camera department. 

Earlier this month I reported the latest rumblings about the camera button that looks to be coming to the iPhone 16 family, and now new information obtained by Apple Insider appears to confirm a wide range of exciting camera updates. 

Some of the outlet's longstanding sources have "not only confirmed these details… but added to them."

iPhone 16 and 16 Plus

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will keep two vertically stacked cameras on the back, as shown in many dummy units and mock ups over recent months. There will be a primary wide camera that provides a 1x and 2x zoom, and a secondary ultra-wide camera for the .5x zoom out.

The primary camera will be staying the same at 48MP, with an f/1.6 aperture and optical quality 2x telephoto capabilities. The ultra-wide camera, however, will get a faster f/2.2 aperture (over the f/2.4 it had before), enabling more light to hit the sensor and improving low-light shots.

Non-Pro models in the 16 range are expected to get a macro photography mode for the first time, usually only available on the Pro and Pro Max models.

Not many details have been released on this but, unlike the more basic iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, the current 15 Pro and Pro Max ultra-wide cameras have autofocus, enabling the lens to focus close up for sharp macro shots. This suggests that if the 16 and 16 Plus are getting macro capability, then they might also get autofocus.

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max

The two Pro-level phones are seeing the biggest changes, while keeping their three cameras on the back – a wide camera, an ultra-wide and a telephoto.

Their primary specs will remain unchanged; a 48MP sensor complete with an f/1.78 aperture lens, capable of 12MP images (via pixel binning) up to 2x.

The addition of a new 5x telephoto lens to the Pro is the biggest change in this tier. This is the first time that the 5x unit will be available on the smaller non-Max model, and it replaces the 3x telephoto lens on the current 15 Pro.

Delivering up to four times the resolution of the current Pro models, the new model will get an all new 48MP ultra-wide camera, which will reportedly be able to switch between 24MP and 48MP modes.

Lastly, the two Pro models are also predicted to be able to support the JPEG–XL image format – which delivers smaller files than standard JPEGs at the same quality, as well as native support for HDR.

New Capture Button

The most unusual change to the new iPhone series is the addition of a special, touch sensitive camera button, which is expected to appear on all four models.

It is expected to mimic the two-stage shutter buttons on standard DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, pressing once to autofocus, and again to take the photo. The button is capacitive, meaning that your finger is needed to activate it, so you won’t get hundreds of pictures of the inside of your bag or pockets.

Sliding your finger along the button will activate the zoom function, as well as other features.

Other products expected to be announced at the September 09 event include new Watches and AirPods, but Apple Intelligence AI features aren’t expected for another month after that.

Take a look at our guides to the best iPhone for photography, the best camera phone, and the best lenses for iPhone and Android camera phones.

Sony has added two handheld camcorders for streaming and broadcasting aimed squarely at individual creators and small teams – although Sony is promising that this can be done with the minimal of experience, perfect for those put off by the technical challenges of live broadcasts.

The new camcorders have the catchy names of the Sony HXR-NX800 and Sony PXW-Z200. Fundamentally, the two cameras are the same, both being built around Sony’s 1.0-inch-type Exmor RS CMOS stacked sensor and a Sony BIONZ XR processor, and both capable of up to 4K60p/50p footage oversampled from 5K, 120p in 4K with hybrid AF, or up to 240p in Full HD.

The camcorders feature a 20x optical Sony G f/2.8-4.5 Power Zoom lens, which covers a full-frame equivalence of 24mm to 480mm, this can be boosted even further with digital zoom, which can reach 30x (720mm) zoom in 4K and up to 40x (960mm) zoom in FHD using Sony’s Clear Image Zoom image processing to clear up the picture. The lens also has optical stabilization for steadier handheld footage, which can be combined with Sony’s tried and tested Active Stabilisation for heavier movement, but at the penalty of a crop to the final footage.

The lens has in total 14 different assignable buttons, as well as rings for the focus, and zoom, and a dial for iris control. The HXR-NX800 and Sony PXW-Z200 also feature a built-in electronic variable ND filter with 1/4 to 1/128 stops – this can either be deployed manually using an additional dial on the lens, or you can use a new auto-ND feature which allows the camera to adjust the ND filter between stops which is useful for filming in environments with changing light sources or going from inside to outside. 

Both cameras sport a tiltable 0.39m dot OLED viewfinder, a folding 3.5in LCD monitor for recording at awkward angles, a removable microphone holder, as well as a built-in silent fan for unlimited recording times. The camcorders can be powered by Sony BP-U35/70/100 type batteries.

The HXR-NX800 and PXW-Z200 are equipped with a plethora of ports including HDMI Type-A, USB Type-C, LAN, and REMOTE terminals, as well as dual SDXC/CFExpress Type-A memory card slots. 

The PXW-Z200 has a few more port options with SDI (12G, 6G, 3G [Level A/B], HD) input/output, and TC input/output. 

Both cameras are compact and relatively light, coming in at slightly under 2kg (around 4.5 lbs), with the PXW-Z200 naturally being the slightly heavier of the two.

This new pair of camcorders takes advantage of the latest developments we have seen recently from its Alpha, ZV, and FX camera lines including AI-powered autofocus and auto-framing tricks. Autoframing allows the camera to crop on a subject and maintain them in the center of the frame as they move around – I have used this on the Sony ZV-E1 and it is very cool and very effective. Autofocus also has Sony’s latest algorithms that use predictive skeletal tracking, which has been shown to produce some incredibly sticky autofocus in Sony’s other cameras.

If you want to color-match footage with other Sony cameras, then the HXR-NX800 and PXW-Z200 can record footage in S-Cinetone, ITU709, 709tone, HLG Live, HLG Mild, and HLG Natural to match cameras in the Sony Alpha, ZV or cinema ranges. 

The cameras also feature a night shot function which uses infrared light to create B&W recordings even in total darkness.

The camcorders can also take advantage of Sony’s range of recording formats including XAVC HS, XAVC S, and XAVC SI, with the PXW-Z200’s also having access to the XAVC (MXF) standard (but not until summer 2025). Both cameras can also record proxy files for easier transfer for post-production which can be automatically uploaded to the cloud or FTP server – both cameras will also be compatible with Sony’s PDT-FP1 portable data transmitter for uploading on the go away from a steady connection. For streaming, the cameras are capable of streaming in RTMP/RTMPS or SRT via wIFi or USB tethering.

The new cameras will be available in September, with the HXR-NX800 costing $3,299 and the PXW-Z200 $3,999.

Check out our guide to the best camcorders, at all budgets

If you're after a serious, high-end smart telescope but don't want to pay the high prices for Unistellar's 'Expert' range—chiefly the eVscope 2 and the eVscope eQuinox 2—the Odyssey is an attractive option in the company’s drop-down 'Discovery' range.

An entry-level smart telescope, Odyssey is essentially an all-in-one astrophotography rig. It captures light from the night sky and lets it fall only onto a camera sensor, taking long exposures of faint objects. It automatically stacks them as it observes, applying post-processing algorithms to build a clean and colorful image that appears in a smartphone app.

This is deep-sky astrophotography made easy. However, its feature set ranks it a notch below the company's Odyssey Pro. Compared to its pricier sister, the Odyssey lacks a Nikon-made electronic eyepiece, so it can't be used in any way as a traditional telescope. That makes it the same as much more affordable smart telescopes like the ZWO Seestar S50 and Vaonis Vespera II. However, here you get bigger, better optics, and superior build quality. It's also a Newtonian reflector-type of telescope (rival brands of smart telescopes are all lens-based refractors).

With a lower price, can the Odyssey compete for the title of the best smart telescope in 2024? Here’s everything you need to know about the Odyssey Pro. 

Unistellar Odyssey: Specifications

Unistellar Odyssey: Price

The Odyssey sells for $2,099 / £1,849, with frequent discounts available. That compares to the Odyssey Pro, which sells for $3,599 / £3,149. Both smart telescopes are in Unistellar’s 'Discovery' range.

The Odyssey and Odyssey Pro are essentially smaller and more affordable versions of the eVscope eQuinox II and eVscope II smart telescopes in Unistellar's 'Expert' range, which sell for $2,499 / £2,199 and $4,899 / £3,999, respectively.

For those after a Unistellar smart telescope for the lowest price possible, the choice is mostly between the Odyssey and the eVscope eQuinox 2. Neither has an electronic eyepiece, but where they differ is in their mirrors and megapixels. While the Odyssey has an 85mm mirror and 3.4 megapixels, the eVscope eQuinox 2 boasts a 114mm mirror and 6.2 megapixels.

Optional accessories for the Odyssey comprise a custom-fit backpack for $299 / £269 and a smart solar filter for $199 / £179. The latter is essential for capturing sunspots.

Unistellar Odyssey: Design & Handling

It’s not the smallest smart telescope around, but on the Odyssey, that’s a good thing. At its core, it’s a 3.35-inch/85mm reflector telescope. Its Nikon-made optics have a focal length of 320mm and a field of view of 34 x 45 arcminutes. Thanks to its lack of an eyepiece, it’s a shade lighter than the Odyssey Pro, so even easier to maneuver and store. Perhaps that’s its best design trick; whereas Unistellar’s eVscope telescopes are big and bulky (and brilliant), the Odyssey is significantly smaller and easier to live with. One issue with reflector telescopes is the need for occasional repositioning of their mirrors (a maintenance task called collimating). Happily, that’s not the case for the Odyssey, a closed unit with mirrors that won’t ever need tinkering with. 

Odyssey’s small size does mean it has a short battery life. At five hours, it has the same problem as its rivals, the Vanois Vespera 2 and Seestar S50. It’s also a shame that although it recharges via a USB-C slot, it can’t be used with just any USB-C cable—it has to be the wall adaptor cable supplied in the box. 

Its proprietary tripod is also initially irritating, considering how many tripods photographers tend to have lying around. At least it’s of excellent quality. Strong, sturdy, and able to extend to four sections, it’s super-steady and has a built-in bubble level. It also folds up nicely to fit in a camera bag. 

Setting up this telescope is so simple. Switch it on and pair it with a smartphone, and within minutes, its ‘smart star finder’ system has it imaging the sky, cross-referencing the stars it can see with images in its database (with a little help from the GPS in your phone). You then choose an object from a list, and the Odyssey will slew to it and autofocus upon it. 

There’s a search function if you want to find something specific, though it would also be nice to have the option to move around a virtual representation of the night sky and geographically choose objects for Odyssey to slew to. After all, if you know the night sky, you’ll also know when an object is behind a tree, so having a sky map to navigate makes more sense than a list. It would also be an excellent way for beginners to learn how to navigate the night sky. 

Once an object is slewed to, a press of the ‘Enhanced Vision’ button sets Odyssey on its imaging journey, taking multiple short exposures to stack atop one another, creating an ever-improving merged image in the app. At any time, it’s possible to save the entire 16:9 image to a smartphone or share a square image to social media, the latter complete with framing and a caption that includes basic image parameters. Toggle on an option in the app’s settings and lossless PNG, TIFF, and FITS  files can be saved to Odyssey’s 64GB hard disk for post-processing. 

Unistellar Odyssey: Performance

When it comes to pure imaging quality, the Odyssey is superior to its more affordable rivals, yet inferior to the pricer Odyssey Pro. That’s no surprise, but we did notice that some bright objects caused problems. 

All the images we created were sharp, but some lacked ultimate detail. For example, it overexposed the Andromeda Galaxy—albeit while also skillfully revealing subtle dust lanes in its outskirts. Albireo, a famously contrasty double star in Cygnus, proved impossible to resolve as two stars in Odyssey’s image. 

Other images, including those of globular clusters, open clusters, and galaxies, impressed. What all Unistellar’s images have in common is peerless contrast. Its ‘Deep dark technology’ clearly works, with lusciously black backgrounds to star fields and celestial objects that rival brands cannot match. 

Also unlike other smart telescopes, Unistellar’s range has multi-depth tech, allowing them to image planets and the moon and deep-sky objects. Essentially, that means swapping from its usual long exposures to high-frame-rate imaging. 

We tried it on Saturn, the only planet visible after sunset during the review. Saturn’s rings are seen only side-on for the next few years, so the view isn’t as good as it could be, but we were able to make them out in a reasonably fuzzy image. 

For the moon, Odyssey excels, producing sharp, contrasty images of our nearest celestial neighbor.

Unistellar Odyssey: Verdict

The most affordable Unistellar smart telescope is a joy to use. Setup takes minutes and imaging celestial objects of all kinds is easy. There’s a noticeable drop in imaging quality compared to the Odyssey Pro, and there’s no eyepiece for traditional astronomy, but this easy-to-store smart telescope is a great way to beat light pollution and try your hand at deep-sky astrophotography for a fraction of the fuss. 

Alternatives

Google has announced four new smartphones at its Made by Google 2024 event, with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold being its most expansive mobile line-up to date. All four phones pack Google's latest AI camera and editing tools the Pixel series has become known for, and the Pixel 9 Pro finally brings Google's finest camera hardware to a more compact form.

If you're wondering why the Pixel 9 Pro getting a top-tier camera is a big deal, historically, Google released the Pixel 7 or Pixel 8, and the Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel 8 Pro, with the Pro always being larger and packing a superior camera. This typically meant Pro users benefited from a periscope zoom, while vanilla Pixel users had to settle for in-sensor cropping.

For 2024, the smaller Pixel 9 Pro is added to the lineup and features an identical camera mix to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, with all four Pixels sporting shared styling that marries flat backs, flat sides, and curved corners.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL

The best cameras on the new Pixel phones are on the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, so it's little wonder they're the priciest non-folding Pixels this year. You can pick each up with either 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB storage, with pricing below.

Both Pro Pixels feature the same triple camera mix around the back:

Wide: 50MP 1/1.31-inch sensor, f/1.68 aperture lens with OIS
Ultra-wide: 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor, f/1.7 aperture lens with autofocus
Telephoto: 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor, f/2.8 aperture lens with 5x optical equivalent reach and OIS

Eagle-eyed readers might spot that this is the same sensor mix introduced on the Pixel 8 Pro, with the only hardware upgrade appears to be the faster f/1.7 aperture on the ultra-wide.

Both the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL's front cameras are 42MP sensor + f/2.2 lens combos with autofocus and a 103º ultra-wide field of view.

With both phones enjoying the same Tensor G4 chipset, ultra-bright OLED screen technology with 3000 nits peak brightness, 45W fast charging, and wireless charging, plus 16GB RAM, it really is the screen size and battery capacity that differentiates the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL.

The Pixel 9 Pro's display is a Pixel 9-matching 6.3 inches, and its battery is 4700mAh, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL's display is 6.8 inches, and its battery is 5060mAh.

Google Pixel 9

The Google Pixel 9's camera mix is very similar to the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, missing out on the periscope camera and dropping the front camera resolution. The phone's storage options are also dialed down as is its price:

The Pixel 9 looks very similar to the Pixel 9 Pro, sporting virtually identical dimensions, which include a 6.3-inch display, a 152.8mm height, and an 8.5mm depth. It also weighs 1g less at 198g, and has the same battery capacity of 4700mAh. The screen is a little bit less brilliant, with a lower peak brightness of 2700 nits, and it's slightly less sharp too. It also has 12GB RAM versus the 16GB in the Pixel 9 Pro, and the selfie camera is a lower 10.5MP resolution.

The Pixel 9's many similarities with the 9 Pro make it a more premium counterpart to both the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL than an iPhone 15 is to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, a fact that should make it an attractive prospect for Pixel fans given the high prices of both Pro models.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Arguably the most exciting Pixel to launch at Made by Google 2024 is the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold, an update to the original Pixel Fold which combined a respectable camera with middling hardware when we tested it. With a total design overhaul, the new 9 Pro Fold looks set to benefit from taller screens, styling that reminds us of the Oppo Find N3 and OnePlus Open, and similar camera hardware to its predecessor, not to mention a foldable-grade price tag.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's camera is more modestly specced than that of the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro given the limited space foldables offer for optics and sensors, though Google does fit a triple camera mix around the back:

Wide: 48MP 1/2-inch sensor, f/1.7 aperture lens with OIS
Ultra-wide: 10.5MP 1/3.4-inch sensor, f/2.2 aperture lens with autofocus
Telephoto: 10.8MP 1/3.2-inch sensor, f/3.1 aperture lens with 5x optical equivalent reach and OIS

The 9 Pro Fold also has two selfie cameras with 10MP resolutions and f/2.2 apertures, one in the cover display and one in the main display.

The foldable's screen sizes look super-competitive, with a Pixel 9-matching 6.3-inch cover screen and a huge 8-inch inner display. With a 10.5mm depth when closed and a 257g weight, while the 9 Pro Fold isn't the lightest foldable around, it's a huge improvement over the 12.1mm, 283g original Pixel Fold.

Google's also kitted the Pixel 9 Pro Fold out with the same Tensor G4 chipset found in the rest of the series, 16GB RAM, and fast 45W charging plus wireless charging.

Google is clearly justifying its premium prices with a hardware and software one-two punch for 2024. After all, each Pixel 9 is set to get seven years of major OS updates, Google VPN at no extra cost, spam protection, and Google caller ID, as well as a suite of image editing features including the new Add Me tool for composited group shots.

Check back for our full reviews of all four Pixels in the coming weeks, and to find out what the Pixel 9 series's competition looks like, here's our guide to the best camera phones of 2024.

Beaverlab has just launched a new crowdfunding campaign for the Finder TW2 – an upgraded model of its groundbreaking Finder TW1 telescope and this time, it's harnessing the power of AI.

Beaverlab is a company born from a passion for technology and creativity with the mission of promoting human exploration. This is evident in its beautifully designed optical products, from microscopes and telescopes to its recent telephoto lens for mobile phones, each has an element of creativity and fun and caters to the enthusiastic beginner as well as the professional.

The new Finder TW2 is no different and claims to harness premium optics and the latest technology to enable users to explore the stars. 

The 82mm aperture coupled with the 500mm focal length and 29x zoom capability facilitates high-definition 8MP photos and 4K video, capturing intricate details of the cosmos.

The Finder TW2 is an all-in-one telescope meaning it has everything you need right out of the box, and no extra equipment is required. The previous model needed a smartphone to act as the screen and capture device, whereas now the TW2 has an inbuilt 5-inch touchscreen and DS1 image capture device. It is also worth noting that the DS1 image capture device can be used on other telescopes, which is a very economical touch.

An all-new 1/1.8-inch starlight CMOS sensor is drastically larger than that in the TW1 which enables the capture of more light, enhancing performance in low-light conditions and providing better image quality with less noise. This is vital for astrophotography, as often shooting environments are less than ideal!

Founder of Beaverlab Simon Fang states, “Exploring the cosmos should not be exclusive to the affluent or technically skilled. Our state-of-the-art optical telescope revolutionizes stargazing by merging superior optical precision with exceptional affordability. Engineered to be lightweight and highly intuitive, it caters equally to seasoned astronomers and beginners. This latest telescope addresses the traditional barriers of cost and complexity, offering a transformative tool that democratizes access to the night sky for all".

As with most modern technological devices, AI plays a pivotal role in powering new and improved features. The Finder TW2 AI features include "CCM (Color Correction Matrix) which enhances color accuracy for true-to-life images, CA (Chromatic Aberration) Correction which minimizes color distortion for sharp and clear visuals, WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) which balances lighting conditions to capture details in both bright and dark areas, MCTF (Motion Compensated Temporal Filter) ensuring clear and sharp images, even in motion, Noise Reduction which reduces image noise for cleaner, more detailed photographs, and finally Dehazing, which enhances image clarity by reducing haze and atmospheric interference".

Other notable features include anti-shake, compact form factor, real-time photo adjustments, and advanced image processing.

Above: Sample images taken with the Beaverlab Finder TW2

It also must be noted that although primarily marketed as a telescope to view the stars, it is also more than capable of capturing on-planet subjects, such as wildlife and distant landscapes.

This small and incredibly smart telescope is packed full of features and you may be forgiven for thinking it comes with a premium price tag. But staying true to its brand values, the Beaverlab Finder TW2 is available to back on Indiegogo now for an early bird special price of just $329 / £257 including the DS1 camera, and will have an RRP of $499 / £390 on release (Australian pricing to be confirmed).

Editor's note: As with all crowdfunding projects, there is no guarantee that the final product will match the early depictions in the campaign – or that the final product will be completed or delivered at all. DCW does not endorse this or any other crowdfunding campaign.

You be interested in our guides to the best telescopes for astrophotography, the best lenses for astrophotography, and the best cameras for astrophotography.

If you've been able to tear yourself away from the second and final run of the Olympics in Paris this week, you might have seen the news that Kodak has been sold… again. The tumultuous history of the historic company has entered yet another new chapter. 

In other news, Ricoh has released two "new" cameras, Canon teases us with a digital revival of one of its classic film cameras, and there's a new 61MP full-frame astrophotography camera complete with Sony sensors. 

Oh, and Xiaomi goes all James Bond on us…

Kodak enters yet another phase of its existence 

Kodak's long and twisting history has taken another turn, as British-based Kodak Alaris has been acquired by an American private equity firm. 

The move comes four years after Kodak Alaris – which was previously owned by the UK pension protection authority, following a tortured series of events in the wake of the original Kodak declaring bankruptcy – sold its paper and chemistry business to a Chinese holding company. 

The latest development (sorry, couldn't help myself!) sees the acquisition of Kodak Alaris by Los Angeles-based carveout company Kingswood. Yes, I know it's complicated. To be honest, I've always struggled to keep up with exactly which part(s) of Kodak were effectively controlled by the British government…

Read more: Kodak has been sold… again

Canon resurrecting a 35mm classic?

We all know that there is an appetite for film cameras and vintage-looking bodies – and Canon knows, too. And it may soon cater to those appetites. 

When I recently asked a senior executive about this trend, he admitted that "there is a possibility" that the company will address those demands – and even named the Canon AE-1 as the classic film camera he would love to see return in digital form, if it were his decision.

While vintage-looking cameras are nothing new, with Olympus / OM System and Fujifilm producing some of the best retro cameras for over a decade, their popularity has only grown in recent years – even Nikon jumped on the bandwagon in 2021, with the Nikon Z fc, and then again last year with the Nikon Zf… 

Read more: Will we get a retro-styled Canon camera? "There is a possibility…" says exec

Two new CMOS space cameras hit the market

There are two new cameras on the market created specifically for astrophotography, both cooled CMOS cameras, equipped with full-frame 61MP Sony sensors. 

Back in 2021, Japanese optics manufacturer Sightron announced that it would release a range of new Player One Astronomy CMOS sensor astrophotography cameras. The collaboration with China-based Player One was designed to make its astrophotography kit much more accessible. 

The latest two CMOS cameras (via Digital Camera Watch) are the Zeus 455C Pro (color) and the Zeus 455M Pro (monochrome). It seems as though the models were launched in November last year, but have predominantly been kept on back order… 

Read more: New 61MP full-frame astrophotography cameras with Sony sensors now available

Acid-proof cameras

Amid a summer of new releases, Ricoh has just announced another two cameras, its most heavy-duty industrial models to date. 

Developed for use on harsh job sites in industries such as construction, manufacturing, medicine and disaster relief, the G900 II and G900SE II replace the original Ricoh G900. 

Like the recent Pentax WG-8 and WG-1000, both cameras are waterproof down to 65ft / 20m for up to 2 hours of continuous operation. They are also dustproof, shockproof against falls of 6.8ft / 2.1m, resistant to temperatures as low as 14°F / -10°C, and crushproof to weights of up to 200lbs / 90.7kg…

Read more: Ricoh's new cameras can survive an acid attack! Meet the G900 II and G900SE II

World-first James Bond-style updates at Xiaomi 

In what we think could be a world-first, Xiaomi will reportedly be adding a new feature to its phones to enable them to detect nearby hidden cameras. 

Said to be included in an upcoming version of the phone giant's HyperOS 2.0 operating system, this ground-breaking feature would use WLAN (wireless LAN) searches to detect unusual Wi-Fi signals in the area; signals consistent with WLAN profiles emitted by hidden cameras.

Apparently the scanning tech is a development of an existing program available on GitHub, called Ingram. Leaked HyperOS 2.0 screenshots show the feature supposedly in action…

Read more: World first: Xiaomi phones could be able to detect hidden cameras

You might be interested in the best retro cameras, the best camera phones, and the best cameras for astrophotography. 

It’s fair to say that the best camera phones have all but killed off the compact camera in 2024, but there are still some segments of the market that are showing signs of life. 

One such type is the bridge camera, which is appealing for giving you the form factor of a “real” camera, an extensive zoom, and things such as manual control via dedicated buttons and dials, too – all of which you won’t get from your smartphone. 

The Kodak PixPro AZ255 has a 16MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor – that’s actually smaller than some you’ll find in smartphones now – but it pairs it with a 25x optical zoom. That’ll give you an equivalent of 24-600mm in 35mm terms. The aperture ranges from f/3.7 at the wide angle to f/6.2 at the telephoto end. 

It’s unlikely that a model like this would end up near the top of our list of the best bridge cameras, but one thing it has going for it is its rock-bottom price. At $179 / £179 / AU$349, you won’t find much available for cheaper of this type brand new.

Arguably therefore, this could make a good purchase for those new to photography, or who are looking for something a little bit different from their phone, but without the expense and complexity of a typical “proper” camera.

Kodak PixPro AZ255: Specifications

Kodak PixPro AZ255: Price

You can buy the Kodak PixPro AZ255 now worldwide for $179.99 / £179.99 / $349. You may find some deals in various locations, some of which are time-limited. Shipping costs will also vary depending on location. 

The camera was launched in December 2022, so it’s a couple of years old now. It remains on the cheap side for a bridge camera, with it being very difficult to find much else for under £200 brand new. Of course, you might find some similarly priced deals on second-hand gear of comparable, or even better quality. 

If you’re just starting out in photography or looking for a camera for family trips and outings, something at this price can be very tempting – but it’s worth considering whether spending a little bit more might be better value in the long run. 

Kodak PixPro AZ255: Design & Handling

Perhaps one of the reasons for the continued appeal of the bridge camera is the form factor. The essence here is that the Kodak AZ255 is like a miniaturized DSLR or mirrorless camera, with a chunk grip and a traditional control layout. 

Despite being reasonably small and light, the AZ255 feels quite solid in the hand, with a textured section around the grip, which is also molded to fit your middle finger snugly – with your index finger sitting atop the shutter release button.

Around that shutter release is the zoom rocker switch, which you push left or right to extend the camera’s zoom. If you keep on pushing it once you’ve reached the full 25x of the lens, you will enter digital zoom. The amount you’ve zoomed is displayed on the screen.

The lens itself has a faux lens ring around it – it’s only there for aesthetic purposes and doesn’t turn or rotate. When fully zoomed, the lens sticks out quite a bit but not so much as to make the camera unbalanced.

On the top of the camera, you’ve got an on/off switch, a drive mode button and an exposure compensation button. The mode dial contains automatic and scene modes, as well as semi-automatic and manual modes, plus room for custom settings and video. 

The general operation of the camera is pretty slow, with start-up taking about 2.5-3 seconds before it’s ready to shoot, and even switching between modes you’ll need to wait a second or two. 

If you want to use the flash, you’ll need to manually lift it up from the housing on the top of the camera, and snap it back into place when you’re done.

Flip to the back of the camera and you’ve got the screen plus a selection of other operation buttons. All of the buttons are grouped together on the right-hand side, which is a bonus for one-handed shooting. Some notable buttons include the macro button to enable closer focusing, a video record button, and a menu button that takes you to various settings, including metering, HDR, and a deeper menu for things like choosing the quality of changing the date.

Menus are a little bit on the clunky side, and it takes some getting used to find where all the settings are kept. For example, if you wanted to change the aperture in aperture priority or manual mode, you need to press the exposure compensation button, then move between the different options presented and use the up and down arrows to make changes. It’s also worth noting at this point that there are only two apertures selectable at any one given time anyway.

There’s no viewfinder for this camera – which is to be expected at this price point. The screen is a good enough size at 3 inches, and although it’s got a pretty average resolution for the cost, it’s not particularly bright so it can be difficult to view in bright and sunny conditions. On occasion, I essentially had to take a guess at what I was composing.

A quick note about the battery – or batteries in this case. The AZ255 takes 4x AA batteries. The good thing about that is that you can buy them pretty much anywhere, and it’s easy enough to always have spares, but the bad thing is that unless you invest in a rechargeable set, you can end up spending a lot of money. On the plus side, battery life is fairly reasonable – you can certainly expect it to last you at least a couple of days of fairly heavy shooting, probably closer to a week if you’re using it more sparingly.

Kodak PixPro AZ255: Photo Performance

Cameras like this used to be recommended for those looking to upgrade from the quality found on their smartphone. However, in 2024, you’d probably be hard-pressed to find a smartphone that had such poor general image quality as the Kodak AZ255.

When the light is perfect, you can get some pleasing shots. By perfect, I mean bright, but not too bright, and with pleasant conditions (blue skies). Otherwise, if the light is even marginally low, or the sky has a lot of white in it, then you shouldn’t expect high image quality. The lens displays lots of chromatic aberration in high contrast situations, while detail isn’t particularly good for doing anything large with – if you only want to display photos on your phone then it’s not so bad. In even lower light, such as indoors, images lack even more detail and if there’s even the slightest subject movement you’ll be left with a blurry shot. You can turn on the flash, but the results then are on the harsh side.

On the plus side, colors are generally quite good. That is, unless you’re shooting in artificial light and using automatic white balance – then you’ll be left with yellowish tones. You can sort that out by moving to a manual white balance setting though. 

Now, I’m talking about general image quality here – so what about the USP of this type of camera? The zoom. Images are still not amazing, with quite a bit of smudginess, but, if you’re patient, hold the camera really still, and mainly shoot static objects, you can get better shots at very long distances than you would do with an average smartphone, most of which would generally only give you only digital zoom beyond 10x. If you need or want to take record shots of distant buildings, for example, then this could be a viable option for you. I was even able to capture some reasonable shots of fairly placid swans and geese in my local park – again good for record shots, but are unlikely to win any awards any time soon.

The reason I reference patience and shooting static subjects is due to the focusing – the camera takes a little while to lock onto focus, so if the subject is moving, even slightly, it can ruin your shot – especially at very long focal lengths. You can choose between a single AF point in the center of the frame, or “multi-AF”, where the camera will decide for you – it doesn’t always get this exactly right, but with a small sensor like this, it’s not generally critical for the focus to be perfectly nailed in the right place. There is a “tracking focus”, but it struggles to keep up with even very, very slow-moving subjects, so I would generally ignore this setting.

Kodak PixPro AZ255: Video Performance

You can record Full HD video with the Kodak AZ255. Again though, you’re almost certainly going to get better results from your smartphone. 

Detail is lacking, stabilization is poor and autofocus has a hard time keeping up if you zoom in. If you just want to make quick video clips then it’s fine, but for anything where quality is of the utmost importance, then I’d probably avoid using this camera for video.

Kodak PixPro AZ255: Verdict

In many respects, it’s difficult to recommend a camera like the Kodak PixPro AZ255. 

It’s quite frustrating to use, especially if you’ve been used to working with anything better, which as a professional camera reviewer – I am. However, I’d also venture a guess that if you’re new to photography and this is your first “proper” camera it’ll likely frustrate you compared with the ease, speed, and quality of using your smartphone. 

Aside from the grippable form factor, there’s not a huge amount going for this camera - there are real buttons, but there are no dials, while some settings can’t really be changed in any meaningful way (such as aperture). 

Then there’s image quality. On the whole, the pictures are at best mediocre. If this was a camera from 20 years ago, they might be acceptable, but in today’s climate, where even budget smartphones do a better job, it’s hard to be too impressed here. That said, if you do want a very long zoom for photographing distant subjects, so long as they’re either still or reasonably static, then you can get some half-decent record shots. So, it might be worth it if you have a particular need for that kind of thing.

Of course, there’s the price. At under $/£200, it’s very cheap. Certainly a lot cheaper than most cameras, and cheaper than most smartphones too. If you really want a “real” camera and have very little budget to play with, then it could be worth thinking about. However, I’d generally advocate for spending a little more, saving a bit longer, or perhaps going down the second-hand route to avoid a case of “buy cheap, buy twice”. 

Alternatives

Sometimes there is a stigma within the photography community that if your gear isn't new, you're not getting the best possible pictures – or if it isn't new, you're letting yourself down in some way.

Well, the "newest" gear in my camera bag to date is 12 years old. The oldest was made in 1965, and all of it makes me want to take photos every single day. 

I've often said to photographers looking for advice on what camera or lens to get next is, "Pick something that makes you want to shoot it every day." This doesn't have to be the latest gear, it just has to be kit you enjoy – and I think sometimes we need to remind ourselves about that!

Just for reference, my current cameras are a 12-year-old CCD sensor Leica M-E, a nearly 60-year-old Leica M2, a 12-year-old Nikon D800 and a 28-year-old Nikon F5. Every single one of them brings a smile to my face, every time I use them. And that's the point of photography: enjoyment!

If you enjoy the gear you're using, you are going to take better pictures. It just makes sense; if you enjoy your cameras, you take them out more and shoot more. And taking more pictures makes you better at composition and judging the moment.

Yes, you can have the latest and best mirrorless camera and it can make you happy. But more often than not when we have older cameras, we have the fear of missing out – and we think that if we have the next best camera, our images will get better. Unfortunately, that's just not the case 99% of the time.

People often say that 24MP in 2024 isn't enough. My Leica M-E is a "mere" 18MP and it's honestly the best camera I have ever owned, while my wonderful Nikon D800 is 36MP, which is frankly overkill to be posting to social media (but I do it). 

While I do understand the working photographer wanting slightly more megapixels for client work (that's why I got the D800 in the first place), if you're just posting to socials even 12MP is more than enough!

What's more important than what your favorite YouTuber is using, is finding a system that makes you want to go out and take photos. I ordered and picked up two Nikon D800s on the day of release for my professional sports photography work, and they only got used at events. Yes I was at events all the time, but I never used them outside work – not once!

But today, I take a camera with me all the time, whether it's going to the grocery store, going to the beach or just taking a hike along a trail – and I do that because I enjoy the gear that I'm using. I used to chase megapixels, as many of us do, but now I enjoy using my "old" gear and I enjoy looking and taking pictures.

This is all down to my finding camera gear that I 'gel with' and puts a smile on my face when I use it. It took me a long time to realize it, but once I did I never looked back – or looked at upgrading any time soon.

So anyone out there questioning their camera system or thinking, "Is this camera too old," I say if it makes you happy and makes you want to use it every day then that's the best camera you can ever own – be it brand new or 60 years old.

Enjoy it, go out and take pictures!

If you want to take a page out of my book, you might be interested in the best DSLRs or the best film cameras – and don't forget to pick up the best camera film for them!

Although the best camera phones have done irreversible damage to the compact camera market as a whole, there are still some sectors that continue to perform fairly well and are even bringing out new models from time to time. 

The bridge camera is an example of that. Generally, they have the classic form factor of a “proper” camera, while also giving you a much longer optical zoom than any smartphone, as well as traditional handling and manual control.

With the Kodak PixPro AZ405, you get a 20.6MP 1/2.30-inch CMOS sensor. Many smartphones nowadays actually have bigger imaging sensors, but, the key differentiator here is the AZ405 offers a 40x zoom. That’s equivalent to 24-960mm in 35mm terms. The corresponding apertures are f/3 at the wide-angle end and f/6.8 at the telephoto end.

While it’s true that this camera is unlikely to end up on our list of best bridge cameras, it does have a lot of appeal considering its super-low price point. It’ll set you back just £199 / $199 / AU$399, making it a bit of a bargain in camera terms.

Perhaps if you’re brand new to photography, or looking for something to extend the capabilities of your smartphone, it could be a tempting proposition. But let’s find out how well it works…

Kodak PixPro AZ405: Specifications

Kodak PixPro AZ405: Price

The Kodak PixPro AZ405 is available to buy in multiple territories right now for $199 / £199 / AU$399. There are sometimes deals and discounts to be found in various locations, which are usually time-limited. Shipping costs vary depending on your location. 

Launched in 2022, the AZ405 is a couple of years old, but it’s still a current model in Kodak’s line-up. You’ll struggle to find much else new for under £200, except for others in Kodak’s range, including the AZ255. You might be able to find other comparable bridge cameras for a similar price second-hand.

For those just starting out in “proper” photography, something like this can feel like a tempting idea at its low price. However, it might also be worth considering spending a little bit more to get something that you won’t outgrow so quickly if you can.

Kodak PixPro AZ405: Design & Handling

As is the way with bridge cameras, the AZ405 uses a ‘miniaturized’ DSLR type form factor, which is probably one of the reasons why this sector of the market continues to appeal. It has a chunky grip and employs a traditional control layout.

It’s not what you’d call heavy, but it feels solidly built and sturdy in your hands. The grip has a textured coating with moldings to fit your fingers appropriately. 

The shutter release is found at the top of the grip, with a zoom rocker switch around it. With this you push left to zoom out, and right to zoom in. If you carry on pushing in the right direction, you’ll use digital zoom once you’ve reached the full 40x optical option.

Around the zoom lens is a textured ring. However, this is static and doesn’t do anything – it’s there for looks only, which is a shame. At its full extension of 40x, the lens sticks out quite a bit from the camera body, but it’s fairly light so it doesn’t make it feel unbalanced.

Buttons on the top of the camera include an on/off switch, a button for changing the drive mode, and an exposure compensation button. There’s also a mode dial, where you can choose between different automatic and scene modes, as well as manual and semi-automatic modes like aperture priority. A flash is released by pushing a button on the side of the flash housing.

On the back of the camera, all of the buttons are grouped on the right-hand side for easy one-handed use. There’s a video record button, a menu button, a macro button, and others that are mostly self-explanatory. The menus themselves are a bit tricky to get to grips with – at least at first. Some aspects of operation are also a bit odd, for example, to change the aperture in aperture priority requires a press of the exposure compensation button, then moving between the different options presented, and finally using the up and down arrows to make a change. Besides this, there are only two apertures to choose from at any given focal length, too.

Using the camera in other ways is quite a laborious process at times. Switching it on you’ll find you need to wait 2-3 seconds before it is ready, and there’s also a short delay between pushing the shutter release button and the image being taken.  

There’s no viewfinder, but I wouldn’t really expect to find one at this price point. The screen is a decent size, but it has an average resolution and it’s not particularly bright. In sunny conditions, it can be difficult to see the screen well for composition, so you may often find yourself shooting ‘blind’. 

The batteries used are AA, which on the plus side means you can pick them up anywhere – that can be useful when traveling for example. However, it can also add a lot of cost to the operation of the camera, unless you invest in some rechargeable AAs. The ordinary batteries I used as part of this review lasted a couple of days of reasonably heavy use though, which is a positive.

Kodak PixPro AZ405: Performance

In general, image quality from the Kodak PixPro AZ405 is worse than that which you’d find from even a mid-range smartphone in 2024, much less one of the flagship models. However, when it comes to zoom, it still beats even high-end smartphones, so really it depends on what you’re looking for – and what you’re willing to work with to get it. 

When the light is very good you can get some lovely pleasing shots. When light is either too dark or too bright, the results aren’t great, with blown-out highlights and loss of detail a common problem. The lens also shows a fair degree of noticeable chromatic aberration when shooting in high-contrast situations. If you want to look at, or print, your images at A4 or above, you’ll notice these problems, but if you tend to only look at them at small sizes, it’ll be less of an issue. 

In indoor and very low light situations, detail is even worse, and although you can turn on the flash, that will leave you with very harsh and garish tones which aren’t particularly appealing. 

When not using the flash and shooting in a pleasing light, colors are otherwise pretty good in most situations. You might find that you get yellowish tones when shooting under artificial lighting, but you can adjust the white balance manually if you’re finding that to be a problem. 

With the zoom, you can get some half-decent shots at mid-range focal lengths. Perhaps even sometimes at the full reach of the zoom. To do this, you’ll need to have a lot of patience, hold the camera as still as possible, and hope that your subject isn’t going to move very much, preferably at all. Oh and of course shoot in good, but not too bright, light. It’s good for buildings and other static subjects, but anything that moves is very tricky. I did manage to get a couple of reasonable shots of some calm geese at the local park, but I stood no chance with my erratic dog. There is a tracking focus option, but this couldn’t keep up with anything at all so it essentially may as well not be there. 

Above: you can see the full zoom range of the Kodak PixPro AZ405.

Digital zoom is not worth using, not unless you really do want to get closer than 40x – which is unlikely in most cases. Macro performance is not too bad, with the possibility of capturing some nice frame-filling shots, again, so long as the subject remains still and you steady yourself too.

Full HD video recording is possible with the AZ405, but, as with images, in many situations, you’ll get better results with your smartphone.

Detail isn’t great, stabilization doesn’t work too well and autofocus struggles to keep up if you zoom in (or out again). For quick video clips it might be OK, but if you want anything of any kind of quality I wouldn’t use the AZ405 for video.

Kodak PixPro AZ405: Verdict

Overall, there’s not a huge amount to like about the Kodak PixPro AZ405, except for the price, which makes it very appealing. 

It’s slow to use, doesn’t have particularly good image quality in a lot of scenarios, and can be clunky to get to grips with. If you’re used to anything better it will definitely feel second-rate, but even stepping up from a smartphone it’s likely to underwhelm compared to the ease and high performance of modern devices.

The form factor is pretty solid, and the chunky grip does give you the feeling of shooting with a “real” camera more than your smartphone will give you. But the fact that you can’t properly change settings, such as aperture, will perhaps leave those looking for a step up in their photography pretty disappointed.

Albeit not at this price point, there are much better alternatives to the PixPro AZ405. If you’re prepared to accept low image quality it’s something you might consider, but, generally, I’d recommend saving up for a little longer and spending more on something that will produce much better results. Don’t forget to check out the used market if the budget is tight.

Alternatives

OnePlus has impressed us with its flagships – the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Open have class-leading cameras in their respective categories – but how are lower-cost OnePlus phones like the Nord 4? 

Going up against the Google Pixel 8a and Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus, the Nord 4 has its work cut out for it, and a quick glance at the phone’s camera spec doesn’t blow us away either. But after four weeks with the phone, it’s definitely greater than the sum of its parts and a smart choice for anyone looking to hold onto their phone for a while.

So what's the Nord 4 all about? Because it isn't a flagship line, the Nord series misses out on OnePlus's partnership with Hasselblad, so the camera is less of a focal point here. The phone does, however, sport a respectable Sony LYT600 primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens and OIS.

More standout than the camera is the Nord 4's unibody design, quality screen, best-in-class battery size and charging speeds, and relatively nippy performance. Moreover, OnePlus promises years of support, which isn't something typically seen outside the Apple, Google and Samsung camps.

OnePlus Nord 4 Design and Screen

The OnePlus Nord 4's unibody design is standout, particularly in the color we tested – Mercurial Silver – with its striped metal back that looks textured, but feels smooth to the touch. For a more subdued alternative, you could go for Obsidian Midnight, which has a matte black finish, or Jade Green, which looks minty fresh by contrast.

Whichever color Nord 4 you pick up, it's skinny 8mm frame slips into a pocket, which the body nuzzles comfortably into a hand. The fact the sides and back are made from one piece of metal and smoothed to perfection make sure the whole phone feels cohesive. 

The two cameras around the back of the Nord 4 are encased within a glass panel, the left side sports a notification slider with three settings – sound on; vibrate; silent – and the right side houses the power and volume buttons. At the base of the phone is a USB-C port, a loudspeaker and a dual-SIM slot.

The OnePlus Nord 4 is IP65 dust and water-resistant and can be used when the screen's wet thanks to OnePlus's AquaTouch technology. There's no case or charger in the box, but there is a pre-fitted screen protector, a charging cable, and a SIM eject tool.

From the front, the Nord 4 is all-screen, with its 6.74-inch AMOLED screen and its 93.5 percent screen-to-bezel ratio. The 2772 × 1240 resolution gives it a crisp 450 PPI pixel density, and the screen's smooth too, gliding at up to 120Hz (though the default refresh rate is capped at 90Hz in the settings). The Nord 4 also shines at up to 2,150 nits when playing back HDR content and 1,100 nits in high brightness mode.

OnePlus also includes multiple display modes in the settings to help you eke out a little extra from its screen. Standard options like Vivid and Natural are available, and there's also Cinematic, which uses the P3 color gamut, and Brilliant for extra vibrancy.

The Nord 4's display is excellent for a midrange phone, with solid viewing angles, a punchy picture, and deep blacks. The lack of bezel helps it edge ahead of its key competition in the West, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. Having tested it in 40ºC China and 35ºC Milan, outdoor viewing also impressed, proving it to be one of the best-looking screens around at the price.

OnePlus Nord 4 Camera Specs

While OnePlus has typically impressed with its cameras in the past, the Nord 4 is on the back foot out of the gate thanks to small camera sensors. The primary camera is a 50MP LYTIA 600 sensor with a 1/1.95-inch size, and the ultra-wide camera with its tiny 1/4-inch sensor size and 8MP resolution is even less promising.

What saves the Nord 4's photos, however, is OnePlus's flagship RAW domain photo processing, so while there's no Hasselblad here, it does look like the Nord 4 benefits from OnePlus and Oppo's HyperTone image engine, or at least aspects of it.

Breaking down all the camera specs, the Nord 4 has two around the back and one on the front:

Wide: 50MP, 1/1.95-inch sensor; f/1.8 26mm lens with OIS and autofocus.

Ultra-wide: 8MP, 1/4-inch sensor; f/2.2 16mm fixed-focus lens.

Front: 16MP, 1/3-inch sensor; f/2.4 24mm lens with autofocus.

While the Nord 4 does have a Pro Mode for manual control, it doesn't support RAW photo capture natively, though you can overlay a histogram, activate focus peaking, an on-screen level, and there's a high-resolution 50MP mode.

The Nord 4's primary camera captures 4K video at up to 60fps, while the ultra-wide and selfie cameras cap out at 1080p. It's also worth noting, only the primary camera can access Pro Mode capture, creating a slightly jarring experience across the camera mix.

OnePlus Nord 4 Camera Review

We've tested a lot of phones and can usually get the measure of one after seeing its specs, but the Nord 4 surprised us. The photos across all its cameras are relatively balanced in bright environments, and the auto-night mode saves the day when the lights drop, though there are some caveats.

The first thing to note is that the Nord 4 doesn't ramp up sharpness and saturation to the degree some other midrange smartphones do. Colors have punch, but they still tend to look natural.

Photos taken on the main camera are nice and sharp and can be cropped into comfortably. There's also a 50MP mode to unlock full-resolution images, however, the ultra-wide camera's 8MP resolution's shots don't hold up so well when cropped.

The Nord 4 applies a moderate HDR effect to photos, but it tends to be respectful of shadows, so they aren't brighter than any highlights, which is something we see in more heavy-handed HDR processing. When the lighting is right, the result is a versatile, typically reliable camera experience.

When the lights drop, the ultra-wide camera struggles even more, typically producing muddier-looking photos noticeably lower in detail. Both cameras handle mixed lighting relatively well, but in typically dark scenes, the primary camera should be any Nord owner's go-to. Even the primary camera struggles in low light with moving subjects, relying heavily on OnePlus's computational photography to pull the scene together.

While the OnePlus Nord 4 doesn't have an optical zoom, the in-sensor zoom lets you comfortably punch in at around 4x for casual snaps in bright environments, and up to 2x if you need a quality picture.

The Nord 4's selfie camera takes flattering selfies. While they're a touch low on detail, OnePlus's processing helps balance faces and backgrounds, with the adjustable beauty mode and portrait features likely able to get the type of shot you're looking for.

The Nord 4's primary camera captures great-looking 4K video at up to 60fps, while the ultra-wide's footage is comparatively weak, capping out at 1080p resolution. The selfie camera also caps out at 1080p, putting it in the same camp as the ultra-wide, though it's passable for a front camera.

Provided you're happy sticking with the primary camera, the Nord 4 will do a great job for the money, with its video looking smooth and crisp for the most part. At night, it does struggle, but you need top-tier flagships like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra to get remotely usable nighttime footage when the lights drop. For any vloggers who want 4K selfie capture or ultra-wide, high-impact footage, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus edges ahead of OnePlus.

OnePlus Nord 4 Additional Features

OnePlus's six-year fluency promise is a big sell for the Nord 4, but what does that actually mean? The phone launches with Android 14, and OnePlus will push four major OS updates, taking it all the way up to Android 18. You can get buy with an out-of-date version of Android, though, especially if you have the latest security patches, so OnePlus promises six years of security updates. The final piece to the fluency puzzle is certification from a third-party that after six years of simulated typical use, the Nord 4 still runs smoothly.

An addendum to OnePlus's promise: the Nord 4 has the biggest battery of any of its main competitors, which should also reduce the noticeable effects of battery degradation. This adds another string to the phone's six-year fluency promise.

This is an excellent start for a phone at the Nord 4's price, and the fact the core experience is smooth builds on this. OnePlus does load up some handy 'AI' features on the Nord 4, so it's able to read webpages out loud and summarise them, or transcribe and summarise voice recordings. All these features worked well.

Performance from the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset was reliably competitive, playing back demanding games at medium graphics settings relatively well, and the phone's 256GB or 512GB storage gives you plenty of room for content. There is no microSD card or eSIM, though the dual-SIM slot does support two physical SIM cards.

Thanks to a large 5,500mAh battery, the OnePlus Nord 4 comfortably lasts a full day of heavy use and two days of light use. There's no wireless charging, but we wouldn't expect it at the phone's price. Fast 100W charging powers up the phone in around 30 minutes, making it very convenient to quickly top up in a pinch.

OnePlus Nord 4 Verdict

The OnePlus Nord 4 is a very balanced phone. Everything about it is good to great, including the camera experience, despite it missing out on a quality ultra-wide and 4K-recording selfie camera.

What makes the Nord 4 such a smart buy is how geared it is to last for a long time. Anyone who hates updating their smartphone and doesn't need the very best camera could pick this up and – if OnePlus's promise holds-up – hang onto it for six years.

So while it isn't the best camera phone of 2024, the Nord 4 could be the most sensible option on the market. It won't break the bank, has plenty of storage, power, interesting styling, a great screen, and fantastic battery life.

For anyone who needs 4K video across all front and rear cameras, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is a smart choice. Gamers who want more grunt, the Poco F6 and F6 Pro are powerful alternatives. And if you want to spend a bit more on a more robust camera system, the Pixel 8a could edge ahead while also bundling in wireless charging, though it will force you to take a big hit on storage, and its primary camera's video is actually weaker than that of the Nord 4.

There are two new cameras on the market created specifically for astrophotography, both cooled CMOS cameras, equipped with full-frame 61MP Sony sensors. 

Back in 2021, Japanese optics manufacturer Sightron announced that it would release a range of new Player One Astronomy CMOS sensor astrophotography cameras. The collaboration with China-based Player One was designed to make its astrophotography kit much more accessible. 

The latest two CMOS cameras (via Digital Camera Watch) are the Zeus 455C Pro (color) and the Zeus 455M Pro (monochrome). It seems as though the models were launched in November last year, but have predominantly been kept on back order. 

Both models are equipped with Sony's 61MP full-frame back-illuminated IMX455 sensor, along with its Starvis technology that achieves high quantum conversion efficiency of roughly 80% for the color model and 91% for the monochrome.

Cold camera photography is a technique used by astrophotographers to reduce the electronic noise that can accumulate during the long exposures needed to capture exquisitely detailed shots of the cosmos. By reducing the temperature of the sensor, longer shots are possible without the worry of the chip heating up, reducing thermal shot and readout noise.

The Sony image sensor is cooled using a dual TEC (thermoelectric cooler) system. This works by optimizing the structure of the sensor chamber, reducing heat with a Teflon spacer to a maximum of 95°F / 35°C. The cameras also come equipped with a heater to stop condensation when cooling.

Both cameras feature non-amp glow, native 16-bit performance for more vivid color and superior light and dark transition, and a Dual Sampling Mode – with Normal mode offering faster frame-rates for planetary imaging, and Low Noise mode boasting superior noise and dynamic range performance for deep space objects.

There have been many opportunities to shoot incredible astrophotographs this year, as the northern lights have been more visible due to increased solar activity at this stage of the sun’s 11 year solar cycle. Though many non-astrophotographers were disappointed to realize that the northern lights, and other cosmic delights, never look as good as they do in photographs.

The Zeus 455C Pro retails from $3,599 (approximately £2,819 / AU$5,565) while pricing for the 455M Pro starts at $3,699 (£2,895 / AU$5,719). You can find more information at the Player One Astronomy website.

Main specifications 

• Image sensor: Sony IMX455 back-illuminated CMOS sensor
• Format: Full frame (36mm x 24mm)
• Resolution: 9,576 x 6,388 pixels (approximately 61.17 million pixels)
• Pixel pitch: 3.76 x 3.76 μm
• Shutter: Rolling shutter
• Shutter speed: 32μs to 2000s
• QE: Approx. 80% (color) / Approx. 91% (monochrome)
• Read noise: 4.2-1.27e-
• Protective glass: AR-coated clear glass (diameter φ55mm / thickness 2mm)
• Flange back: 17.5mm/12.5mm (when tilt plate is removed)
• Data port: Main cable USB3.0 (Type-C), accessory USB2.0 (Type-C)
• Internal cache: 512MB (DDR3)
• Power supply: DC12V 3A (max)
• Case diameter: Maximum 90mm, inner diameter φ2.1mm, outer diameter φ5.5mm center plus
• Connection standard: M48 P0.75mm, 50.8mm plug-in/31.7mm plug-in
• Weight: Approx. 650g

Take a look at the best cameras for astrophotography, the best lenses for astrophotography, and the best star tracker mounts for astrophotography. 

Ricoh has just released its Pentax WG-8 weatherproof compact camera in green, while interested parties will have to wait a little longer for the same camera to be released in black.

The WG-8 is waterproof to a depth of 20 meters, shockproof if dropped from 2.1 meters, able to withstand 100kg of force, and is functional in temperatures as low as -10°, designed to be used in harsh outdoor conditions and on worksites. The camera is also has an IP6X rating, meaning it is completely dust-tight.

The Pentax WG-8 replaces the Ricoh WG-6, and the Ricoh-branded WG-6 before it. It has a 20MP camera with a Type 1/2.3 sensor (6.2x4.6mm), that can stay underwater down to 20 meters for up to two continuous hours. 

The five times optical zoom lens has a focal-length coverage from 5mm to 25mm, which is equivalent to approximately 28mm to 140mm in the 35mm format, as well as an f/3.5-5.5 maximum aperture and a six LED ring light around the lens. It also includes GPS and a compass.

I previously wrote about the near non-existent improvements in the WG-8 compared to its predecessor. 

They’re even the same recommended retail price, coming in at $399.95 – although the WG-6 is currently available in many retailers for around $50 cheaper (see current deals below).

Also identical to the WG-6, the WG-8 has no Wi-Fi connectivity, so users will still need to get a FlashAir Wi-Fi SD card if you want to connect the camera to your phone.

The only real difference between the two consecutive models is the WG-8’s ability to act as a webcam, a feature that was added to the WG-6 in 2022 but with seemingly fewer features.

The WG-8 can be used as a web camera for real time streaming of full HD resolution video images at 30 frames per second, however, only when using a tripod and the TE-2 Extension Adapter from Ricoh, which is “required to avoid interference with the battery cover,” according to the brand.

Take a look at our guides to the best Pentax cameras, the best Pentax lenses, and the best waterproof camera. 

The range of the best compact cameras isn’t what it used to be. Options are increasingly limited as most major camera companies have pulled their last remaining models from store shelves over the past couple of years with seemingly no intention of launching replacements.

Yet, ironically, compacts couldn’t be more popular right now. Like the resurgence of film photography, this is likely down to the world-shaping whims of the internet. Starting a few years ago when every Gen-Zer went tearing through their attics looking for nineties relics with CCD sensors for a sense of grungy "authenticity", it has now more sensibly grown into an understanding that perhaps you don't need a huge DLSR or mirrorless cameras for great images, and instead a camera that slips into a back pocket will do nicely.

Like most brands, Leica discontinued its last premium D-Lux compact some years ago. Although it has seen sense to jump on the bandwagon earlier than most and capitalize on this resurging market. But without a new camera to market, what's a brand to do? Well, just pull one out of retirement.

Here we have the Leica D-Lux 8 – although you might notice that not that much changed from the D-Lux 7 (or the Panasonic Lumix LX100 II it is based on).

But then perhaps it didn’t need to change to still be one of the most compelling options in this limited field. Right now, there is nothing quite like the D-Lux 8, but is that enough to still recommend buying a mostly six-year-old camera? Let's find out...

Leica D-Lux 8: Specifications

Leica D-Lux 8: Price

Where usually I would be bemoaning the fact that another great Leica camera is beyond the finances of most photographers – with the D-Lux 8, this is not quite the case. The Leica D-Lux 8 costs $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,790 at the time of launch.

While it is still a bit of an extravagant purchase, it is in the realm of affordability, costing only $50 more than the world’s current most popular camera, the Fujifilm X100VI, or around the same price as a Sony a6700 and a lens. For cheaper options – a Sony ZV-1 II is around half the price, or the Ricoh GR III is $999 if you can actually get your hands on one.

The problem is frankly finding a camera that compares directly to the D-Lux 8, as nothing I can find has the same combination of 4/3in sensor size, equivalent aperture zoom lens, and EVF. When it comes down to specs, the X100VI, Sony a6700, and most of the modern field absolutely trounce the D-Lux 8 – but they all offer something different. If you find value in the D-Lux 8 really depends if you want this particular style of compact camera. And of course, this is the only one that offers that red-dot logo.

Leica D-Lux 8: Design & Handling

The D-Lux 8 has had a subtle update in design from its predecessor, which was almost a necessity, as the design is one of the few major differences between the two. Ditching the Panasonic-designed back plate, the camera now finally feels more like a Leica camera than ever before, instead of just a rebadged product. In fact, the design is now nearly indistinguishable from the Leica Q3. This is of course to say, it has some serious street-worthy cool. If you are after a camera for its social-cred and red dot badge, then this ticks all the boxes.

It has an all-metal magnesium cast body and a leatherette covering that stretches across the front, but the D-Lux 8 is still very light at just under 400g and is very compact when the lens is collapsed. It wasn’t a hassle to carry around, with it even slipping into the back pocket of my pants. Leica has again decided to go with absolutely no molded grip on the D-Lux 8, but with the camera being the size and weight that it is, I didn't really find this to be an ergonomic issue, even with the lens fully extended. Leica will of course sell you an optional matching grip though should you need it.

But while we are on the subject of the lens size, while it might look all neat and tidy when the camera is off, with X100VI-style pancake proportions, I wasn’t really prepared for how far out the lens was going to come out of the camera for shooting, even for wide angles. Now, this is a wider compact zoom camera issue, and not specific to this camera – you can’t beat physics, but it does make the camera a little more conspicuous when out shooting on the streets versus a prime lens or an internal zoom (for example the new Fuji 16-50mm).

I also fell for the camera's looks in product shots with the lens withdrawn, and in person I found the camera looked markedly less cool with the lens poking out, and it actually inspired me to turn the camera off when not in active use so it looked better – a hidden battery saving feature.

Around back, the button layout from the D-Lux 7, which followed that of the LX100 II, has been replaced in favor of Leica’s cleaner and more minimal system from the Q3. There are two large buttons to access the menu and captures, otherwise, there is a four-way directional d-pad and two function buttons, and up on top there is a shutter speed dial and a dial for exposure compensation. It looks super slick, but anyone who appreciates labeling might be disappointed, as the function buttons and dial functions have been left for you to commit to memory only. However, you can also control the camera settings via the touch screen, which I found the most straightforward method.

The touchscreen on the back is fine for composing images, but it is not the clearest screen I have used on a camera. There is a strange phenomenon where it looks distinctly lower in resolution during focusing, which made me doubt my focus a few times, but it was all fine in the final image. The screen is also static, which means there is no pivot, tilt, or twist, which seems exceptional in 2024.

One thing that still sets the D-Lux 8 apart from other compacts is the inclusion of an electronic viewfinder (EVF), which as a photographer first, I really can’t do without in my cameras and has kept me from falling in love with models like the Ricoh GR III or Lumix S9.

The EVF in the D-Lux 8 is actually a lower resolution than in the last model, but it has swapped to a far superior OLED panel. I really enjoyed using the viewfinder, like the camera screen, it isn’t the best one I have used, but it was clear and easy to compose with and didn’t suffer from the same focusing issue I found with the screen.

Leica D-Lux 8: Performance

The D-Lux 8 internally is the same camera as Panasonic launched around six years ago (although some parts predate that). Since it shares the same sensor and lens (and likely processor) as the Panasonic LX100 II and Leica D-Lux 7, it should probably come as no surprise that performance is exactly the same as those previous models.

But somehow, despite camera tech moving on substantially in the last several years, the D-Lux 8 doesn’t feel noticeably outdated when it comes to imaging. I think this is a testament to how well the camera nailed the basics last time around, and the more limited scope of just what I expect a compact camera like this to be able to do.

The sensor is still 17MP, which is on the lower side by the standards of today, but it's still more than enough for online and social media. Phone cameras now are increasingly coming packed with 50MP+ sensors, but usually process images down into 12 or 16MP shots unless you force them to do otherwise.

The only downside to this mediocre megapixel count is it does quite severely limit the ability to crop into photos, but thanks to the zoom lens, hopefully you can optically zoom before shooting. Cameras like the Q3 have the ability to fake different focal lengths with its huge 60MP sensor to play with, which I love, but there is still nothing like the real thing. The zoom on the D-Lux 8 is only controllable by the rocker switch on the shutter, but it’s not especially quick. I personally would have preferred the option to use the manual focus ring on the lens to be a zoom ring for a faster and more tactile zooming experience.

The D-Lux 8 continues the tradition of an aspect ratio switch on the lens, which allows you to quickly swap between 4:3, 16:9, 3:2, and 1:1 framed images. But what feels like it could be gimmicky I actually found really useful in framing my shots for different purposes. For DCW, I take shots in 3:2, 1:1, and 16:9 for various parts of the site, which requires me to both imagine the crops and then manually crop them afterward, so I personally loved this switch.

In a more general use case, social media, especially Instagram, flips between 9:16 and 4:5 for stories and posts, so better visualizing your content framing can really help.

Lenses are Leica’s big contribution to the Leica-Panasonic alliance, and the one designed for the D-Lux still continues to be optically excellent. However one of the big reasons Leica’s lenses are so revered is for their distinctive Leica look, and while the D-Lux does its best to replicate Leica’s photo styles with in-camera profiles, I wouldn’t say any of the images I took are distinctively Leica-esque. Considering some of the best Leica lenses cost three or more times the entire D-Lux 8, this is definitely not a cheat code to getting Leica-look photos at a bargain price.

Focusing with the lens was quick, but one area where the D-Lux 8 is showing its aging parts is with its creaky old contrast-detect autofocus which struggled a few times to pick up exactly what I wanted to focus on despite using selective focus. The camera can detect eyes and faces, but there is no animal, bird, or vehicle detection to be found here.

Video on the D-Lux 8 is fine, with a fairly standard 4K30P 4:2:0 8-bit as the top setting although at a hefty crop, and FHD 60p being the highest frame rate you can get. Video quality is decent for social media, but it is really not going to challenge any of the current best vlogging cameras out there. Again, the older autofocus puts the brakes on, with focus tracking just not being as sticky or accurate as cameras with more modern autofocus systems.

Leica D-Lux 8: Verdict

You’re a camera company, compact cameras are back from the dead and sales are exploding, but you have nothing new in the works, what do you do? You relaunch an old camera of course – with just enough design tweaks that it can pass as a new one.

The Leica D-Lux 8 is essentially the same camera that was released six years ago but with a slightly redesigned body. It has taken more than a few design cues from the Leica Q3, although that is no bad thing as, like the Q3, it is a great-looking camera, and naturally, with that red do – a camera to be seen with. The design updates are also functional, with Leica’s simplified button and menu system a welcome takeover from the Panasonic-designed system on the previous version.

However, when it comes to camera performance, the D-Lux 8 internal parts show their age a little. Thankfully, images still look good from the 17MP (4:3) sensor, providing plenty of quality for social feeds, which the aspect ratio switch is also perfect for (and adds a fun element of experimentation with perspectives). However for video – look elsewhere. With dismal autofocus and mediocre quality, video pales in comparison to more modern rivals or indeed, most smartphones.

The premium compact camera landscape is pretty sparse, and despite its flaws, Leica actually makes a compelling case for a fun-to-use camera that just doesn’t try to be more than it is, and for a lot of people, that will be enough. And surprisingly, it's a Leica camera that many of us can actually afford.

Alternatives

Samsung's custom Android user interface, One UI, is due a major update by the end of the year. One UI 7.0 is due to be rolled out to select Galaxy phones - notably the S24 Ultra - by the end of 2024, and it's expected to bring with it a significantly improved camera experience.

Read More:
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
The best camera phones in 2024

The most prominent benefit is touted to be enhanced image quality when using high resolution capture modes with the primary (wide angle) and 5x telephoto cameras. According to tipster @UniverseIce:

"One UI 7 has significantly optimized the 1x and 5x50MP modes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, basically achieving the visual experience of 12MP, but with higher clarity."

Currently the S24 Ultra generally produces the best image quality when its images are pixel-binned down to 12MP, as this harnesses the power of a group of adjacent individual pixels and combines them into one 'super pixel' in order to help reduce image noise and boost dynamic range. If the One UI 7.0 leak is true, it means Samsung has managed to extract the same image quality in the cameras' 50MP shooting mode as you'd get from a 12MP binned image, but with all that extra resolution detail - a win-win scenario.

Quite how this could have been achieved is as yet unknown, as Samsung's ultra-high-resolution 108MP and 200MP image sensors were always designed to yield their best results through pixel-binning. However, with the recent advancements in AI, could this be the key to Samsung now being able to achieve both quantity and quality - high resolution and low noise/high dynamic range - with no compromise?

One UI 7.0 is expected to be with us in the coming months, and we're keen to see the results.

Story credit: SamMobile

According to renowned Apple tipster Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is supposedly set to diversify its supplier of image sensors to be used in future iPhones. Presently Apple relies exclusively on Sony for its sensor supply, but with the upcoming iPhone 18 - expected to launch in the fall of 2026 - it's claimed Apple will use Samsung image sensors, specifically a 48 MP 1/2.6" chip that'll supposedly form the basis of the iPhone 18's ultrawide module.

Read more:
The best camera phones
The best iPhone for photography
The best budget camera phones

Though we've become accustomed to the use of Sony sensors in recent iPhones, it's likely the switch to Samsung chips will have little, if any, discernible impact on camera image quality versus an equivalent Sony sensor. The best camera phones rely far more on advanced image processing than physical sensor hardware to determine final image quality, so we'd expect Apple to retain its signature image look for the iPhone 18, regardless of who makes the camera's sensor.

The main benefit for Apple here is of course diversifying its sensor provider. By playing Samsung off against Sony it can potentially reduce production costs, as well as mitigating against potential supply chain issues which could potentially arise if it were dependent on a sole sensor manufacturer.

Story credit: GSM Arena

With the arrival of the Z 6III, there are now no less than seven full-frame mirrorless Z-series cameras, giving buyers something of a bewildering choice. 

So what are the prime differences between them? Here's our quick and dirty guide, with a competitive guide to the best prices you can currently find on each of them…

Nikon Z 5 

The Nikon Z5 is the cheapest of the seven options. It lacks a top-panel display, has a pedestrian 4.5fps burst rate, and a slightly lower-res 24.3Mp sensor than the Z 6 II/III, while its rear LCD is only 1.04Mp rather than 2.1Mp. But it still has IBIS and card dual slots.

Nikon Z 6II

With a 14fps max burst speed and 200-shot buffer, the Z 6II is a much better choice for capturing action than the Z 5.  It’s a better video performer too, with uncropped 4K video, whereas the Z 5 has a 1.7x crop. 

Nikon Z f

The retro-look Z f may look like a classic film SLR from yesteryear, but inside it packs the latest tech including an EXPEED 7 processor, and better ISO, AF and subject tracking than the Z 6II.

Nikon Z 7II

It looks and feels like a Z 6II with double the number of megapixels, but the 45.7Mp Z 7II is not as good a low-light performer and has a slower 10fps burst rate. It has more AF points, at 493 rather than 273. 

Nikon Z 6III

Packing much of the tech of the Z 8 into a more compact body, its 24.5Mp partially stacked sensor enables it to shoot with an electronic shutter much of the time, and it has the best EVF of any Nikon camera. Headline specs are 120fps burst rate, 1/16,000 sec shutter speed and 8-stop IBIS.

Nikon Z 8 

With a fully stacked 45.7Mp sensor offering blistering readout speeds, the Z 8 does without a mechanical shutter entirely. It has many direct access controls, can shoot at up to 1/32,000 sec and has a 120fps burst rate. 

Nikon Z 9

Aside from the bigger body housing a higher-capacity battery and duplicated controls for easier vertical shooting, there’s very little specs or tech-wise between the significantly cheaper Z 8 and Z 9. 

Check out our guide to the best Nikon Z lenses

The Pixel 9 Pro is coming next month, but in a new teaser video Google has given us a sneak peak of the phone's final design, and it's not pretty. Back in January the first unofficial renders of the Pixel 9 Pro appeared, showing the phone's possible new design. Though they came from a reliable source, the new camera island was so butt-ugly that I for one assumed that the renders must have been of some sort of prototype design, such was the 'tacked-on' look of the phone's camera bump. The final retail phone would surely have this integrated more neatly into the rest of the back panel, right?

Wrong. The renders were correct, the phone featured in them wasn't a prototype, and that hideous camera wart actually got the official sign-off from management.

As for what the bump contains, well that's likely to be a triple camera array with a trio of 50MP modules. The primary, wide-angle camera looks set to be based around Samsung's 1/1.31" GNK sensor, while both the ultrawide and telephoto modules could uses a Sony IMX858 sensor measuring 1/2.51" - itself slightly larger than the 1/2.8" Sony IMX386 chip used in the Pixel 8 Pro. Judging by the slightly rectangular lens cut-out in the camera bump, the telephoto module could also use a periscope lens, potentially enabling 5x optical zoom. The Pixel 9 series is also said to be the first Pixel generation to enable 8K video recording.

We'll have to wait until Google's official Pixel 9 Pro launch on August 13 to know more.

If you've been looking at the best Leica cameras you know how expensive these German-engineered cameras can be. But if you have looked into Leica M-mount cameras you would have come across the name Pixii, this French camera brand brings the rangefinder into the modern world and now its latest full-frame camera the Pixii Max is available to pre-order through authorized retailers.

The Pixii Max digital rangefinder marks the company's first entry into the full-frame market. It features a 24.5MP BSI CMOS sensor housed in the same compact, machined aluminum body as its APS-C predecessor. 

With a recently developed 64-bit processor, 128GB of internal storage, and a Leica M-compatible lens mount, the Pixii Max merges state-of-the-art digital imaging with a traditional, analog shooting experience when using the best Leica-M lenses.

The highlight of this new model is the full-frame 24.5MP BSI CMOS sensor, which, coupled with the 64-bit processor introduced in 2023, delivers sharp, low-noise images with enhanced dynamic range. The 24 x 36mm sensor size matches the standard 35mm film frame, optimizing light capture and maximizing the performance of classic M-mount lenses. Additionally, the Pixii sensor design supports native DNG RAW image production in both color and monochrome – the first of its kind to the market!

As a true rangefinder camera, the Pixii Max offers a manual focus experience. The M-mount lens focus rings operate a lever inside the camera, aligning images from two viewfinder windows into a single, accurately focused image, especially effective at shorter focal lengths and in low-light conditions. Aperture settings must be manually adjusted on the lens itself, maintaining the analog control.

The camera includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for seamless integration with the Pixii App, enabling remote control, image preview, and transfer of images stored in the internal memory. Additionally, Pixii provides an upgrade path for both software and hardware, allowing users to keep their equipment current with the latest advancements and innovations from the company.

Pre-order Pixii Max 128GB at B&H for $4,799

Pre-order Pixii Max 32GB at B&H for $4,499