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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Technical lessons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check out our guide to the best bridge cameras currently available

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where to pre-order?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A masterclass in curation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Prep for the potential show by learning how to photograph the northern lights. Even if the northern lights don't show, you could still photograph the stars and other night sky phenomena this July.

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

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

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

Kitamura's 10 best-selling lenses, May 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Browse the best telephoto lenses, the best budget telephoto lenses, and the best standard zoom lenses.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Living Planet competition winner: Aerodynamic crab

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why the image stood out to the judges

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Travel Photographer of the Year

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

Open to: Photographers of all levels

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

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

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

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

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

Le Prix de la Photographie de Paris (PX3)

Deadline: July 22

Open to: Photographers of all levels

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

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

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

The Illume Awards

Deadline: July 31

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

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

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

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

RMetS Weather Photographer of the Year 2026

Deadline: August 20

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

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

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

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

Brian Black Memorial Award

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

Deadline: August 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels living in the UK

Fee: Free

Theme: "Our Inspiring Seas"

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

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

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

Peli Photo Contest

Deadline: August 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

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

Categories: Professional and Amateur

Special: Peli Products Special Prize

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

Botanical Photographer of the Year

Deadline: September 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Focus: Britain and Ireland's wild plants

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

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

Prizes: To be announced

Insta 360 Global Awards

Deadline: October 30

Fee: Free

Open to: Photographers and videographers of all levels

Requirement: Entries must be shot on Insta360 or Antigravity products

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

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

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

Sony World Photography Awards

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

Fee: Free

Open to: Photographers of all levels

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

Categories: up to 10 different categories depending on competition

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

OPPO Photography Awards

Deadline: December 31

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

Fee: Free

Theme: "Super Every Moment"

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

Prizes: $76,500 prize pool across 38 awards

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

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

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

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

Fujifilm Firmware Download

Firmware version 1.13 download (Fujifilm GFX100RF)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4th July: best camera deals

4th July: best action deals

4th July: Drone deals

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

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

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

Pentax WG-8

A real Captain Scarlet of a compact camera

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

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

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

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

OM System Tough TG-7

Indestructable camera, impressive results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Conservationists in Honduras have published the results of an agricultural camera trap survey, revealing the true culprits for crop raiding and potentially saving the lives of an endangered mammal species that had previously been blamed and killed by angry farmers.

The study was carried out in Mavita, a rural farming community located in the La Mosquitia region of northeastern Honduras. Here conservationists were responding to claims from local farmers, indigenous Miskito people, that the Baird’s tapir was eating their yuca (a potato-like vegetable).

The Baird’s tapir is Central America’s largest land mammal, but it is listed as endangered on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List. Scientists estimate that fewer than 5,000 mature individuals remain in the wild, following a 50% plummet in their population over the last 30 years.

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society Honduras Program and the Association for Sustainability and Scientific Research in Honduras responded by setting up three trail camera in and around a yuca field.

The footage, which was captured between September 2024 and February 2025, documented 27 unique events. The video evidence revealed that, in fact, seven species – including Honduran cottontail rabbits, ocelots, jaguarundis, agoutis, opossums as well as tapirs – were consuming the farmers’ crop, with the rabbits being mostly responsible.

Miskito farmers in the region have previously killed tapirs in retaliation for suspected crop raiding, but the footage from the survey now proves that the endangered mammal is only responsible for a small amount of lost yuca production.

The conservationists now plan on using the footage as a basis for developing crop management strategies in collaboration with the farmers in order to stop locals taking actions into their own hands.

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Dual drone cooling

Getting a drone to hover over you to keep you cool sounds risky, but YouTuber @FlyWithAdrien is one of many who claims to have done it successfully. As the drone expert – with experience flying all the major drones on the market – I can't help but offer my thoughts on some of the viral videos of people cooling themselves with flying fans.

I'll get to the best in one second, but first I'll start with the most drones at once!

This effort from @imransaleemvlogs seems a bit risky to my mind. This drone enthusiast, or drone fan, has cooled himself with a ducted (cinewhoop) drone from the DJI Avata series, and another with completely exposed propeller blades.

Perhaps he's added that blanket to protect himself, but that seems to detract a little from the benefit of the drones?

The DJI Avata 2 or DJI Avata 360 would be the safest and most powerful of the two in this pairing, but the irritation might be that the batteries would run out at different times – and there would be a lot of getting up to deal with the drones, even if they safely navigated themselves to a nearby automatic landing site.

The smaller DJI Mini 4K would at least hover longer, for about 25 minutes before landing itself as the battery was nearing exhaustion.

Best choice

If you're feeling warm, there is no reason to wait. I'll start with the best!

The DJI Neo is a great choice because it's not that expensive, has a safety cage, but it offers "follow-me" style tracking.

That means it can fly nice and near you, so you can feel the air movement from the propellers just like fans, and the drone will automatically follow you if you move.

Big drone

These guys are using a mix of big drones and small, but no prop guards. One big advantage of the larger drones – like the DJI Mavic 4 Pro – is that it has big batteries offering a long flight or hover time. Handy if you want to chill out for longer without swapping batteries (or, worse, waiting for them to charge!).

It also has safety sensors, but so do many drones – and, honestly, not all work that well indoors. Caution might be the way forward!

Is this fake?

This definitely looks fake – I mean, where do those motors and propellers hide – but it has been doing the rounds as well. Drone-inspired design and AI video, I'd say. Perhaps look further up for something actually achievable, though!

Big drone indoors

In this clip, we don't exactly see Adrien McGill risking getting under the drone himself, but then he has to walk around it to capture video.

I would, again, offer caution that bigger drones designed for longer flight times are heavy, and if anything were to go wrong, they can cause more damage to you or your possessions.

Machine cooling

The DJI Mini 4 Pro is being used here indoors to keep machines cool. I'd not suggest this is the best way to do so… but better than having it fail, I suppose?

We've all had tech feeling a little too warm in the summer heat – but do make sure that you know your drone's maximum operating temperature, too. Lithium batteries don't always love getting too warm, and indoor hovering will have less draft than when flying around.

Safety tips

If you really are going to try this, here is my safety advice. Protecting the propellers is essential:

• Ideally, use a drone with a ducted design (DJI Neo, Avata) or a safety cage (HoverAir).
• Alternatively, buy propeller guards. These will slightly reduce hover time from the advertised figures, but also protect anyone from the ends of the whirling propellers.
• Keep the area light – especially indoors – with a textured floor, so the drone's sensors have the best chance of 'seeing' stable objects and not drifting.
• Keep the controller near you and be ready to land and keep checking the remaining battery. Keep a few percent for the landing.

Remember, drones have other uses! If you also like a bit of photo and video, check our guides to the best beginner drone and the best camera drone.

Young photographer Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya just won the top honor in the Project//21 category at the Hasselblad Masters 2026 with the underwater series, Dwellers of the Night.

The rising talent from Thailand, who is just 14 years old, stood out against a field of exceptional entries in one of the world's most prestigious professional photographic competitions, which also offers emerging photographers the opportunity to showcase their talent.

In the waters of Anilao, The Philippines, Panitbhand skillfully used a slow shutter speed and colored lighting to reveal a world that remains hidden for most – but this wasn't his first victory.

Previously, Panitbhand earned the title Young Shark Photographer of the Year 2025 and was commended in the Siena International Photo Awards 2026.

Winner Project//21: Dwellers of the Night

Panitbhand's work is rooted in a quiet dedication to the ocean, documenting its life, its fragility and the ecosystems that sustain it, in the hope that what is seen through his lens will not be forgotten.

In the waters of Anilao, The Philippines, pelagic and larval marine life migrate from the depths each night to feed under the cover of darkness.

By using slow shutter speeds to capture the elegant motion of his subjects and carefully chosen coloured lighting, Panitbhand reveals their form and beauty.

Some of these creatures spend their entire lives in the open ocean, making the pelagic ecosystem as fragile as it is extraordinary.

"I'm drawn to the quiet whimsy of these sea creatures. Set against black, the creatures feel almost otherworldly- strange, delicate, and entirely captivating.

"There’s a simplicity to the presentation that allows their inherent oddness to shine, reminding us how unfamiliar and compelling the natural world can be when seen without distraction," says Alex Pollack, Director of Photography at National Geographic.

Take a look at the seven winners of Hasselblad Masters 2026 here. For more information on the competition, visit the Hasselblad website.

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These three mirrorless models deliver excellent price-to-performance value – and right now, you can save up to $600 at B&H. Two bundles include accessories at no extra cost, since the price matches the camera body alone, making the extras essentially free.

The Canon EOS R8 is now available for just $1,299 at B&H – a $350 discount from its original $1,649 price tag.

The Nikon Z6 II is now available in a basic bundle for just $1,396.95 at B&H – a $350 discount from the original $1,746.95 price tag, including a shoulder bag and 128GB memory card.

The Sony A7 III is now available in a basic bundle for just $1,398 at B&H– a $600 discount from the original price of $1,998. This deal includes a shoulder bag and 128GB memory card.

Canon EOS R8

Budget-friendly option for Canon DSLR users and vloggers

The Canon EOS R8 offers an affordable entry into full-frame territory. It keeps the familiar Canon interface, supports your DSLR lenses via an adapter, and packs modern features into a lightweight, compact body.

The only notable limitation is the lack of IBIS, which might be a deal-breaker if you do a lot of handheld shooting with long lenses or video. In that case, the EOS R6 II is worth considering, though it comes with a much higher price tag.

Nikon Z6 II

Best for Nikon DSLR switchers and hybrid shooters

If you're moving from a Nikon DSLR like the D750 or D780, the Nikon Z6 II is hands-down a smooth upgrade. It features a similar body design, intuitive Nikon menus, and excellent ergonomics.

While Nikon's Z-mount lens selection isn't as extensive as Sony's or Canon's, you can make use of your existing DSLR lenses via an adapter.

Sony A7 III

Ideal for system switchers and DSLR upgraders

The Sony A7 III remains one of the most versatile full-frame cameras in its price range and packs pro-level features.

It gives you maximum mirrorless flexibility as the Sony E-mount ecosystem is the most mature on the market, boasting a huge range of native lenses and third-party support from brands like Tamron and Sigma.

Comparison

If I were to pick a mirrorless full-frame camera today, I'd lean toward the Sony A7 III.

Its unmatched lens options and flexibility make it a standout choice, especially if you're open to switching systems entirely.

That said, if you want to stick with your current brand and already own a lot of DSLR lenses, staying within the same ecosystem is a smart and budget-friendly way to jump into mirrorless photography.

Want to browse more mirrorless options? Here are the best mirrorless cameras, along with the best cameras for beginners.

From over 108,000 images submitted by photographers from more than 160 countries and territories, Hasselblad Masters has just announced its 7 winners for the 2026 competition.

Across every category, the awarded images combine instant visual impact with lasting depth. The photographers spark curiosity, shift perspective and leave space for interpretation.

".What this year's Hasselblad Masters submissions demonstrated, with rare consistency, is that the most compelling photography does not simply record, it constructs," explains Kalle Sanner, Executive Director at the Hasselblad Foundation and Grand Jury Chair.

Art

'Waste Colonialism (Sapi-Sapi Piyungan)' by Yudha Kusuma Putera

Rooted in everyday life and inspired by its complexity, Putera turns a keen eye toward the social issues that hide in plain sight, exploring the tensions between humans, nature, and the systems we build around us.

The winning images are part of a project examining how developed nations export their waste to developing countries, where labour and costs are lower.

This logic repeats on a smaller scale too: within cities, landfills are built on the outskirts, kept out of sight and out of mind. At Putera's Piyungan landfill, a city's waste is sorted by scavengers and consumed by cows, quietly piling up into a second hill.

Architecture

'DaySleeper | Movieland' by Kevin Boyle

Boyle was shaped by the open skies and close-knit communities of the Canadian prairies. After the loss of his father, he returned home, only to find the places he once knew hollowed out and silent, their gathering spaces boarded up and left to disappear.

For over ten years, his photographic journey has been a profound tribute to the abandoned architecture of North America's local communities.

The winning series is comprised of photographic montages, with each part of the building lit with flashlights and blended in post-production to create an ethereal "portrait" of once important gathering places.

Portrait

'Otherness' by Svetlana Jovanovic

With a psychology background, Jovanovic's portraiture is driven by a deep curiosity about identity — how we experience the world, construct our sense of self, and see ourselves through the eyes of others.

Her style brings together fine art portraiture and a commitment to visual beauty, believing that the conceptual and the aesthetic are inseparable: each gives the other meaning.

The winning images are part of Otherness, an ongoing long-term project exploring identical twins and the tension between shared identity and individual presence. While twins share so much, it is the small differences that emerge over time, the subtle ways each person's character becomes visible within the shared image, that lie at the heart of the work.

Landscape

'Ephemeral Visions' by Rohan Reilly

Rooted in the discipline of a composer, Reilly's images strip away complexity to reveal the essentials, which are texture, tone, and stillness.

His signature long-exposure technique transforms moving water and shifting skies into silk-like surfaces, while vast negative space and low saturation give his work a poetic, meditative quality that transcends documentation.

The process is one of patience and preparation: studying weather patterns, returning season after season, and waiting for the precise conditions that cannot be engineered but only earned.

Project//21

'Dwellers of the Night' by Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya

Na Ayudhya's work is rooted in a quiet dedication to the ocean, documenting its life, its fragility, and the ecosystems that sustain it, in the hope that what is seen through his lens will not be forgotten.

The series was captured in the waters of Anilao, Philippines, where pelagic and larval marine life migrate from the depths each night to feed under the cover of darkness.

For the ribbon eel, a diffused warm light conjures a subtle sunset behind the subject — crowning it as a master of the night. Some of these creatures spend their entire lives in the open ocean, making the pelagic ecosystem as fragile as it is extraordinary.

Street

'Morning Ritual' by Gosse Bouma

Bouma is a photographer whose work is driven by a quiet pursuit: to offer moments of tranquility in a world that rarely slows down. His distinct style lies at the intersection of urban geometry and natural elements, pairing the hard lines of architecture with the soft, unpredictable textures of weather.

Each photograph is infused with the intention of invoking serenity amidst the chaos of everyday life, creating visual experiences that invite stillness and reflection, even if only for a fleeting moment.

His winning series, taken across the Netherlands, turns to the street market as its subject, a space where people of all ages and backgrounds meet, exchange a few words, share warmth, and move on. In capturing these small, unhurried encounters, Bouma preserves something increasingly rare in contemporary life: a genuine sense of togetherness.

Wildlife

'The Forest I Roam' by Alfred Minnaar

Minnaar's creative process often begins with observation and patience. Rather than simply documenting his subjects, he seeks to understand their behaviour, environment, and relationship with the surrounding ecosystem.

The winning images of a tiny goby living amongst coral were created to challenge our perception of scale and encourage viewers to look closer.

Rather than focusing solely on the fish, the photographer wanted to use it as a point of reference within a much larger world. By placing the goby within its environment, the reef itself becomes the subject, inviting viewers to imagine its vastness from the perspective of one of its smallest inhabitants.

For more information, visit the Hasselblad website.

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Photography can get expensive fast, but your first camera and lens don't have to be. These three cameras are ideal for learning the ropes and come with a versatile lens perfect for everyday shooting, travel, landscapes, portraits, and more. With these deals, you can save up to $420.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV + 14‑42mm lens is now just $919.97 at B&H – you save $420 off its original $1,339.97 price.

The Canon EOS R100 + 18-45mm lens is now just $499 at B&H – you save $180 off its original $679 price.

Olympus M-D E-M10 Mark IV: Best cheap retro
Lens: M.Zuiko 14‑42mm f/3.5‑5.6 EZ
Beautifully designed and packed with modern features, the OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is ideal if you value creativity and classic styling. Its 20.3MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, paired with 5-axis in-body stabilization, produces remarkably sharp results even when shooting challenging low-light situations handheld. The tilting touchscreen and tactile dials encourage manual experimentation, and the high range of compatible lenses opens up endless photographic possibilities. It's a superb choice if you want a lightweight, versatile tool for everyday shooting.

Canon EOS R100: Best cheap beginner camera
Lens: Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM
If you want a straightforward, capable camera to learn on, the Canon EOS R100 is a fantastic starting point. Its 24.1MP APS-C sensor delivers crisp, detailed images with pleasing color straight out of the camera, while Canon's Face+ Tracking autofocus helps keep subjects sharp with minimal effort. The guided menus make it easy to understand exposure settings. It's compact, lightweight, and compatible with Canon's expanding RF lens system – giving you room to explore different genres without overcomplicating your setup. Please note: If you mainly want to shoot video, the R100 is not the camera for you, as fixed screen and cropped 4K video, limiting flexibility.

Browse the best cheap cameras and the best camera for beginners.

An accomplished wildlife photographer had a truly special encounter with a family of elusive big cats while leading a photo tour group in an Indian national park. Matan Sharon and his tour group were in Manas National Park, at the foothills of the Himalayas in northeastern India, when they finally encountered the melanistic Indian leopard.

More commonly known as "black panthers”, these majestic yet elusive big cats make up just one in ten leopard individuals worldwide.

Found in the dense, shaded tropical rainforests of South and Southeast Asia, they carry a genetic mutation called melanism – which causes an overproduction of dark pigment while their underlying rosette patterns remain visible under certain light.

Above: Matan Sharon's dusk encounter with the leopard cubs

ABOVE: Watch Matan Sharon's dusk encounter with the leopard cubs

"After hours of intense waiting, with the invaluable help of our local guides, the magic happened," said Matan, speaking to Indian tour company FinderBridge. "Exactly 20 minutes after sundown, a head popped up from the tea plantation. It slowly began to climb. Total silence fell over us."

The group had spotted two melanistic leopard cubs and, as one began scaling a tree, the moment all wildlife photographers prayed for occurred: the animal looked directly into Matan's lens. However, just after, the encounter became even more special as the mother returned to feed her little ones.

Above: the mother leopard keeps tabs on the photographers

"She is so intelligent; she chose the only safe place around to raise her cubs. She knows when to leave them and when to return," commented Matan in a separate Instagram post. "I love watching her moving around at a precise pace [...]. She is taking advantage of humans, and when she feels uncomfortable, she switches gears and disappears."

The group also encountered a range of other animals in the national park, including the Indian greater one-horned rhino, Indian elephants and the Bengal monitor lizard, which looks like a smaller Komodo dragon.

"Having traveled to over 100 countries as a photographer, I can safely say Bodoland and Manas are among the most magical places I have ever visited," commented Matan in a third Instagram post.

What a truly incredible encounter – and one that the photographers are sure never to forget. I highly recommend checking out Matan's Instagram to see his fantastic work, and also our guide to the best cameras for wildlife photography, where we break down our expert-reviewed picks.

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Take a look at the best cameras for wildlife photography along with the best lenses for bird photography and wildlife.

The latest version of the Sony Creator’s App has been released, with the newest update bolstering the options for transferring motion photos from your camera to your smartphone.

The Sony Creators' App is the mobile companion application for Sony cameras, designed to connect your body to your smartphone, tablet and Sony's Creators' Cloud platform. It replaced the older Imaging Edge App for most models from 2023 onwards.

Creators’ App Version 4.3 has now been released and enables users to transfer three-second “Motion Photo” clips. These clips are taken from high-quality video files recorded on your camera and can be transferred to your smartphone or tablet.

Motion Photo has been available to Creator’s App users since 2023, when Sony released the feature in version 2.3. However, until now, you could only capture 15, 30 and 60-second segments. While the new 3-second addition is seemingly minor, it is well-suited to social media creators who post ultra-short-form clips.

There are two ways to create Motion Photos. The first is to mark the sections of footage that will comprise the shot while recording with your camera by pressing the Shot Mark Button. The segment will then be auto-transferred to the app. The other option is to select the segment after shooting directly in the app, by loading the footage and pressing the Create Motion Photo button.

The new Motion Photo update only applies to the Sony Creator’s App. Anyone using the older Imaging Edge App doesn’t need to update as this app does not support the feature. You can check which cameras support the imaging Edge App and Creator’s App here.

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Here’s our take of the best Sony cameras, all of which we’ve put through rigorous testing. And here’s our review of the Sony A7 III – the camera I currently use.

Tamron is no stranger to producing lenses with unconventional focal ranges. There's the 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD, 17-70mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD, and most recently, the 35-100mm f/2.8 Di III VXD. All are excellent lenses though, with their non-standard focal lengths bringing benefits like additional shot versatility and better overall portability.

Now it seems Tamron could be planning another unique lens, this time with a 50-130mm focal range. The tip-off comes from a recent release of a Tamron patent application, which mentions an extremely precise focal length of "51.5100-130.9425". 'F value' is quoted as 2.8840, so presumably the design would feature a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture.

Judging by the patent diagrams, the design features 17 lens elements, arranged in 7 groups. Three separate diagrams show the position of the elements with the lens set to its shortest, medium and longest focal lengths, and it's clear from these that focussing would be internal, unlike Tamron's 35-100mm lens where the barrel extends as you increase focal length.

As this is only a patent application, there is absolutely no guarantee Tamron will actually manufacture such a lens, let alone when we might get our hands on one. However, if it did choose to put a 50-130mm lens into production, the focal range could be very handy for applications like portraiture. At 50mm you'd have the option to shoot full-length images, or even small group shots. 130mm would be suitable for tight close-ups, and there's every option in between for other compositions. What's more, if the lens was to also have a reasonably high magnification factor, it could also double as a useful tool for macro photography.

Back in April, we wrote about Lacock by Martin Parr, the late British photographer's last major commission, ahead of its opening at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, UK. The exhibition has now opened to the public, and the National Trust and CEWE have now released a set of behind-the-scenes photographs that change the story slightly, in the best possible way.

Because what these new images show isn't really the village of Lacock. It's Martin Parr himself, working. And for anyone who's ever picked up a camera, that turns out to be the more interesting picture entirely.

The man behind the lens

In several of the shots, taken by National Trust photographer Andy Cochrane, Parr is seen exactly as you'd expect: ring flash mounted on his camera, braces holding up his trousers, sleeves rolled, crouched low over a trestle table of prize vegetables at a village hall show or crouched even lower to photograph a scarecrow on a roadside chair. It's the same posture he'd held for 50 years, in front of everyone from holidaymakers in New Brighton to tourists at the Louvre.

What's different, and what makes these images poignant, is the walking frame. It's there beside him in shot after shot: at a cricket pavilion, in a flag-strewn cricket field, at a photography talk where he's pictured photographing his own audience. Parr was seriously ill throughout this project. He kept working anyway, on foot, with mobility aid in tow, getting exactly the shots he wanted.

There's a craft lesson buried in this, separate from the obvious human one. None of these images show Parr fighting his equipment or his circumstances. He's not awkwardly shooting from a chair or compromising his eye-level. He's still getting low, still getting close, still working the angle properly. The walking frame might have meant slower movement between shots, but it never meant lazier composition once he arrived.

Other images show the exhibition coming together: two technicians in purple gloves hanging large framed prints, including that prize potato and the Union Jack lollipop seller we covered last time, and a wider shot of a contact-sheet wall, rows and rows of small prints pinned up for editing.

Unglamorous insights

That wall is worth dwelling on. It's the unglamorous part of any photographic project: hundreds of frames, most of them ordinary, a handful of them extraordinary, and someone has to sit down and work out which is which.

Among the small prints visible on that wall: scarecrows, village processions, a woman holding a vegetable marrow, a man in a horse costume, an unmade bed. It's a useful reminder that even a photographer as instinctive as Parr generated a lot of material that never made the final cut. The eye for the single, perfect frame (the potato, the lolly seller) comes from shooting lots and lots of pictures, then editing ruthlessly.

The exhibition itself, at the Fox Talbot Museum within Lacock Abbey, runs until 27 June 2027 and is accompanied by a book with a foreword by Susie Parr and a short film about the project. Curator Dr Andy Cochrane calls it Parr's "gift to us all," and on the evidence of these new images, that's not an exaggeration. He gave the project everything he had, right up until he couldn't give any more.

The takeaway is the same one Parr always offered, just sharper now. The work isn't about the equipment, the location or even your health. It's about showing up and looking properly, for as long as you possibly can.

Lacock by Martin Parr is open now at the Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, and runs until 27 June 2027. Visit nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock for further information.

Hawlowe, a brand arguably best known for its retro-styled camera lights, has unveiled a new tripod – and the company says it weighs only about as much as a water bottle. The Harlowe Rocket Air is a carbon fiber travel tripod with a fluid head that weighs about 2.2 lbs / 1 kg yet can accommodate up to ten times that weight in camera gear.

But, beyond the more compact size, what caught my eye about the Harlowe Rocket Air is that it’s also designed to hold multiple devices at once. The tripod supports up to two accessory arms, which can hold things like a smartphone to record behind-the-scenes content, lights, or other accessories.

Folded, the tripod’s four leg sections allow it to stow away at 19.7 inches / 50 cm, but at full height can reach 58.7 inches / 149cm. The center column can be reversed to hold the camera upside-down for extreme low angles, while three leg positions also allow for a range of different working heights.

Much of the tripod’s lightweight design comes from its carbon fiber build. A counterweight hook on the bottom of the center column allows creators to add a weight for more stabilization.

The tripod legs can support up to 22.05 pounds / 10 kg, but the fluid head has a lower weight rating at 6.61 lbs / 3 kg.

Those legs use twist-style locks, a design that the company says allows creators to deploy to full height in around three seconds.

The tripod includes a fluid head that has a ten-degree leveling adjustment for uneven terrain, as well as supporting smooth pan and tilt movement.

While Harlowe is perhaps best known for its retro-styled lights, the Rocket Air follows last year’s Rocket, a multi-purpose stand that can be used as a light stand as well as a modular tripod and monopod.

The Harlowe Rocket Air retails at $399 / £303 / CA$576. That includes the tripod and detachable fluid head along with a carrying bag and allen wrench; accessory arms are not included with the standard ¼”-20 thread type arms supported. The tripod is available from Harlowe, as well as select retailers.

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Tamron has announced that it will collaborate with a youth mountaineering project in Japan to equip hikers with some of its top-tier lenses to take to summits and capture the adventures along the way. As an avid mountaineer myself, I think this is a solid move from Tamron and something all photography brands should at least consider.

According to the announcement, Tamron will lend some of its top-tier lenses to members of the Mountain Climbing Youth Support Project (TYSP), a mountaineering initiative for young people organized by Tokyo-based Yamakei Publishers, in a bid to help hikers capture the "emotions" of the mountains.

Included in the list of loaned models are high-magnification telephoto lenses such as the 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 and the 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD for Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Fujifilm X mounts. Tamron is also loaning large-aperture standard zooms, including the full-frame 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, although this model will only be available for Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount users.

For mountaineering photography, which I do a lot of, my pick of these lenses would be the 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD. It would force me to get nice and close to my subject, which should hopefully create a more immersive feel in the final image. There's always a trade-off, though, and here it would be not being able to capture surrounding peaks in the distance as effectively.

Alongside supplying the gear, Tamron will host workshops to teach TYSP members how to use its lenses and get the most out of their camera systems. The sessions are set to take place during the fall and will also include tutorials on shooting techniques.

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Discover our expert take on the best cameras for landscape photography and the best cameras filmmaking. These models are the pick of the bunch for creating engaging stories from the mountains.

Shortly after Nikon sold its shares in Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a notice appeared on the Academy Award-winning robotic camera control company’s website stating that it had entered into liquidation. But now the brand’s seemingly inevitable shutdown has been reversed into new ownership – and a new name.

MultiDyne, a fiber optics company developing cables and signal conversion equipment, has acquired MRMC. The robotic camera control company will continue under a new name, MultiDyne Robotics and Motion Control.

Nikon sold its shares of MRMC in May 2026, and, less than two months later, a notice appeared on the MRMC website that the company was entering into liquidation. The acquisition by MultiDyne keeps the company in operation, albeit under a slightly different name (with the same abbreviation).

MutliDyne, which is headquartered in New York, says that MRMC’s operation will remain in the UK.

The acquisition includes MRMC’s “core technologies, intellectual property, manufacturing capabilities, and key engineering expertise,” MuliDyne said, while a member of the MultiDyne team, Neil Maycock, will serve as managing director for the new MultiDyne Robotics and Motion Control.

MultiDyne says that, unlike in many acquisitions, MRMC is not a competitor with overlapping products, instead serving many of the same customers.

“MultiDyne has long been focused on the transport, processing, and management of video, audio, and data signals,” said MultiDyne CEO Frank Jachetta. “MRMC places us at the point of image acquisition itself, allowing us to participate in a much broader portion of the production workflow. Together, our technologies create a powerful end-to-end ecosystem for content creators, broadcasters, and live production professionals worldwide."

In a statement on the robotic camera company’s website, MRMC says that “This well-capitalized backing ensures the stability, continuity, and recovery of our iconic brand. Our immediate focus is fulfilling existing commitments and restarting core operations.”

The announcement did not disclose financial details of the acquisition.

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Godox has just launched its first-ever camera – and it looks brilliant. But it's also very similar to another camera that was launched by another company last year.

This is the Godox C100 – a "transparent viewfinder camera" with a large "intelligent transparent display" that performs multi-aspect ratio shooting (16:9, 4:3, 3:2 and 1:1) for both stills and video.

It's obscenely cheap at just ¥199, which is about $29 / £22 / AU$42. It weighs just 65g and measures a mere 104 x 71.7 x 19.1mm – half of which is screen, with the finder being 60.8 x 47.8mm.

"The C100 is equipped with a transparent display screen with a light transmittance of >50%, which can display information such as the composition frame, parameters and battery status, balancing aesthetics and practicality."

It charges (and transfers or displays files) via USB-C and accepts microSD cards up to 128GB for bountiful shooting. And obviously, the design is extremely compelling – especially given the burgeoning market for screen-free digital cameras.

But here's the thing. See if you can spot the difference between these two pictures:

On the left is the Godox C100. On the right is the Escura InstantSnap, which debuted at CP+ 2025 and looks… how can I say this charitably, like it "heavily inspired" Godox's new camera.

Of course, these kinds of screen-free cameras with a body that acts like a viewfinder aren't new. There was the Canon Ivy Rec, for starters, and more recently the Instax Pal – neither of which I was particularly enamored with.

However, the Godox camera comes with a secret weapon that might make it irresistible for film photographers: it also acts as a light meter.

"The C100 features metering capabilities, allowing it to read the brightness of the central area and automatically calculate the optimal exposure value. It is simple, reliable and meets the shooting needs of film photography enthusiasts."

This is the bit that might actually sell me on the C100. I'm a big proponent of incident light meters, because I grew up in the film era, but unless you're using supplemental light they're pretty unnecessary in the digital age.

However, with a device like the Godox C100 – which slips into a pocket, acts as a fun little snapper and can also meter exposure – it could be an indispensable companion for anyone who uses a film camera. Indeed, it might even act a bit like "taking a Polaroid" before firing your expensive film exposure back in the day.

The C100 launched first in China, and doesn't appear to have hit the big international retailers yet, so keep your eyes on the official Godox website for more information. Honestly, for 20 bucks you probably can't go wrong!

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Sirui is teasing a new lens on Chinese social media which is going to be fully launched later this week. According to the post, the lens will be a portable telephoto lens – and as far as we can tell from the outline in the monochrome silhouetted image in the teaser, it is pretty small.

The only other clue we get along with the phrase "Handheld telephoto" is the accompanying words "Explore without boundaries".

So what do we think the lens is? The above information doesn't give a lot away - but we are told that all will be revealed on Thursday July 2 at 7pm Beijing time (so 7am Eastern, or 12 noon in UK).

The shape of the lens makes me think is not a zoom – given that it is described as a telephoto. Sirui is also best known for its primes. It is also particularly known for its anamorophic and cine lens ranges (but it doesn't look like it will be one of these either).

But is this an APS-C lens - or a full-frame one?

Sirui has recently introduced its Aurora range of autofocus photography lenses - and currently this consists of a 35mm f/1.4 and an 85mm f/1.4. So there is already a telephoto - but potentially this could be a 135mm f/2, perhaps?

A more likely option, probably, is that this is an addition to the Sniper range of fast autofocus lenses for APS-C cameras. This currently comprises of 16mm, 23mm, 33mm, 56mm and 75mm lenses - all with f/1.2 maximum apertures. So there are already to telephoto options - with effective focal lengths of 84mm and 112.5mm. Squeezing in a longer option would be attractive to some - but keeping the f/1.2 aperture would make it unlikely to be particularly portable.

So the identity of the new lens may need to remain a puzzle until it is unveiled on July 2.

Just weeks after the Sony ZV-E10 II overtook the Canon EOS R10 in BCN's nationwide sales rankings, another viewfinder-free camera has claimed the top spot – this time at Japanese camera retailer Kitamura.

According to Kitamura's latest monthly sales figures, the smallest interchangeable lens Fujifilm camera on the market is now the retailer's best-selling camera – and it's missing a key feature that most photographers consider essential.

Released in late 2024, the Fujifilm X-M5 quickly established itself as one of the best retro cameras for video. At just $899 / £799, it combines a compact body with advanced video features, making it one of the most affordable APS-C cameras aimed squarely at vloggers, YouTubers and hybrid creators.

Kitamura's 10 best-selling cameras, May 2026

1. Fujifilm X-M5 XC15-45mm Lens Kit
2. Nikon Z8
3. Sony A7C II
4. Sony A6700 Zoom Lens Kit
5. Sony ZV-E10 II Double Zoom Lens Kit
6. Nikon Zf
7. Sony A7 V
8. Nikon Z30 Double Zoom Kit
9. Sony A7 IV Zoom Lens Kit
10. Nikon Z50 II Double Zoom Kit

Is the Fujifilm X-M5 a good choice for photographers?

The X-M5 has earned a reputation as one of the best APS-C cameras for content creators, vloggers, and hybrid shooters. But does Japan's latest best-seller also make sense for photographers?

Despite its creator-first positioning, the X-M5 is no slouch for stills photography. It pairs Fujifilm's proven 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor with the latest X-Processor 5, bringing improved subject-detection autofocus and faster overall performance to the company's compact mirrorless.

For travel, family photography and everyday shooting, it delivers the image quality that Fujifilm's X Series is known for.

But, instead of an electronic viewfinder, the X-M5 relies entirely on its 2.0-inch vari-angle touchscreen. That's a natural fit for vloggers and creators filming themselves, but photographers who regularly shoot outdoors or simply prefer composing through a viewfinder will miss out on an essential feature.

Still, the camera has different priorities: 6.2K open-gate video recording, vertical shooting modes and creator-friendly controls that appeal more to video shooters than to photographers looking for dedicated still ergonomics.

Video camera beats traditional photography gear

The X-M5's success follows a similar result from Japanese retail analysis body BCN+R. While BCN+R and Kitamura measure different retail channels, both rankings point to the continued popularity of compact, video-focused cameras among Japanese buyers.

Whether that pattern continues remains to be seen, but the latest figures show that cameras designed for video and hybrid creators are more than capable of competing with – and, in some cases, outselling – more traditional photography-focused models.

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Law-abiding drone creators like me occasionally run into situations we can't use our drones. I've often solved it with a pole, but Youtube creator @karenxcheng has shown that it one of many alternatives.

Karenxcheng is a creator with over a million subscribers, and she hasn't let the rules and regulations stop her from getting aerial shots for her fans, In fact she has come up with more solutions than the one I regularly use.

My solution? Extendible poles. Both DJI and Insta360 offer very long versions of a selfie stick. The Insta360 "Extended Selfie Stick" is made of carbon fibre, has a nice padded handle with the brand in the logo, and extends to 9.8ft.

When I needed to inspect my roof for damage, it was this, and a 360-degree camera, that I turned to because I live too near an airport to use a drone.

The DJI alternative, the DJI Osmo 2.5m Extended Carbon Fibre Selfie Stick, is slightly shorter at 2.5m, but only weighs 428g (1 pound).

Both are lightweight and easy to carry, and both use tripod threads to attach so are actually interchangeable!

• Insta360 Extended Selfie Stick (Insta360 store)
• DJI Osmo 2.5m Extended Carbon Fiber Selfie Stick (DJI Store)

But extension poles are not the only solution. Another that offered more height (though it might depend a little on the weather) is a kite. This can be done by attaching a small, light action camera with some degree of image stabilization – probably one of the best POV cameras.

Another shot she uses a fishing rod to drop an Insta360 X-series camera from the a Bridge (to be clear, the camera is on the line – dropping things from some locations like the Golden Gate Bridge is illegal).

This approach means she can run the footage in reverse and give the impression of a drone lifting up, Thanks to the fact a 360-degree camera offers the capability to choose the exact angle in post, it doesn't really matter if the camera appears to wobble a bit on the fishing line.

The post-processing apps (like Insta360's) also allow you to select a subject and track it with AI during the cropping from 360 video. This makes it look like you had a camera operator keeping the drone's "camera" directly on your subject.

Finally, she uses a similar fishing line approach to create a zip line from the top of a cliff to a friend on the beach below, giving control of the camera's 'flight'.

For law-abiding drone operators with qualifications, it's often also possible to pre-arrange use of a real drone by contacting the local authorities, but most of us have learned from experience that this kind of solution is often quicker and cheaper.

Check out my guide to the best 360-degree camera for those on-a-wire shots!