I’ve just finished my review of the Nikon Z5IIC and was interested to find the Nikon Z6 trending on Google. Here we have the release of the ‘Big N’s’ latest mirrorless camera, with some seriously solid tech such as 7.5 stops of IBIS, up to 30fps burst shooting, and internal RAW 4K 30p video, and people are looking up an eight-year-old, first-generation Nikon mirrorless camera that’s long discontinued. And I think I know why…

A difficult debut

The Nikon Z6 launched alongside the Nikon Z7 as Nikon’s first foray into the world of full-frame mirrorless cameras. And while both bodies packed some seriously impressive specs for the time, they were marred by a few issues.

Firstly, the autofocus wasn’t really up to scratch. Nikon would eventually right this somewhat via a firmware update, but even then, compared to current-gen Z-series cameras, the Nikon Z6 and Z7’s AF system is a few steps behind.

Secondly, working photographers were hit with two oversights: the cameras only featured a single XQD (at the time) card slot, and there was no battery grip at launch. This made the cameras a hard sell for wedding and events photographers who rely on back-up storage and extended batteries for peace of mind.

And finally, while the Nikon FTZ Adapter made it possible to attach F-mount lenses, it was always going to take a few years before a strong lineup of native Z-mount glass was available.

Full-frame, exceptional value

Jump to 2026, though, and the Nikon Z6 has one huge advantage: its price on the used market. MPB is currently listing the Nikon Z6 from $664 / £509. That’s exceptional value for a full-frame mirrorless that was once a premium offering.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the right camera for everyone. The lacking autofocus can make the Nikon Z6 a frustrating option for photographers who rely on AF algorithms. But for those who are photographing slower subjects or are comfortable using single-point or focus-and-recompose methods, the Nikon Z6 can still prove a fine lens platform.

If you’re on a tight budget, you may wish to invest in a cheaper body, so you have more money to spend on lenses (which usually make the real difference). And while the Nikon Z6 doesn’t have class-leading AF or burst speeds, it still captures gorgeous full-frame images and could be a wonderful start for a photographer looking to pick up their first serious camera.

A word of warning. Just make sure that you factor in the price of a CFexpress card. The memory crisis has rocketed prices across the board, so finding a good CFexpress deal is a challenge.

The Nikon Z5IIC effect

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that interest in the Nikon Z6 has increased following the release of the Nikon Z5IIC. This camera is geared towards more casual users and its silver body is rather striking. I’m sure it’s encouraged more than a few people to delve further into Nikon’s Z-series.

But while the Nikon Z5IIC is a good-value camera as far as its specsheet goes, it’s still priced at $1,399.95 / £1,349 / AU$2,399 (body only). That’s a significant outlay for casual photographers or anyone on a budget.

And while the Nikon Z6 pales in comparison to the Z5IIC’s formidable specs, especially when it comes to video, it has one thing that Nikon’s latest camera doesn’t have: a viewfinder. Even if you’re coming from one of the best camera phones, an electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a nice option to have. It enables you to hold the camera with more stability, helping to reduce camera shake, and it also means you have access to a clear, unobstructed view when bright sunlight is reflecting off of the rear LCD.

So, there you have it. The Nikon Z6 might be a mirrorless dinosaur at this point, but if you’re a stills photographer on a tight budget who isn’t bothered about class-leading AF, and simply want a decent camera as a lens platform, it’s worth checking out.

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Want more of my ramblings? I think this industry interview sheds light on Nikon’s slow camera release schedule. Why does every camera need to be a specs monster? The new OM System PEN is a good stills camera at a good price – let's have more of that, please! Plus, here is the latest camera news.

The Ricoh GR series of compact cameras is so popular that the camera is often called a “cult favorite” – and now that camera series will have its own dedicated space in New York City.

On October 29, Ricoh announced that it's building a GR Space in New York City, New York, to open in the winter of 2027.

The GR Space isn’t just a store to buy one of Ricoh’s compact cameras. The space will also be built for educational programs and community events, while also housing an art gallery.

Ricoh already has GR Space locations in Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Brisbane, and Seoul. The NYC location will be the first GR Space in the US.

Ricoh’s GR series is well loved by street photographers for its compact size and discreet styling, so the NYC location feels appropriate for a storefront dedicated to a single camera series.

“New York City and the GR share a natural connection,” Ken Curry, President, Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation, said in the announcement. “Both are driven by observation, spontaneity and finding extraordinary moments in everyday life. GR Space New York City gives us the opportunity to create a place where snapshooters to professional photographers can experience our products, but more importantly, where they can learn, exchange ideas and be inspired by one another.”

Ricoh hasn’t yet shared exactly where the new NYC space will be located. The company says that additional details, including the opening date, inaugural gallery exhibition, and a line-up of classes, will follow “in the coming months.”

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Ricoh GR series. The series' popularity stems from its pocketable design that still hides an oversized APS-C sensor.

The Ricoh GR is now in its fourth generation with the Ricoh GR IV, which also includes an HDF variant and a dedicated monochrome version. A Ricoh GR IVx with a longer lens is under development.

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Picking up a used camera is a great way to fit high-end features into a small camera budget. The 2018 Fujifilm X-T100 is one such camera, particularly for photographers looking for a retro style on a budget.

But when I look at the X-T100, I can't help but think of another camera that's similarly priced on used markets: The Sony A6000 series, like the A6100.

The Fujifilm X-T100 is a lovely-looking camera – as are most Fujifilm rigs, for that matter – and it still packs in Fujifilm's popular film simulations.

While the 2018 Fujifilm camera does boast a 24MP CMOS sensor, just like all of the Sony A6000 models, and, admittedly, superior build quality with its sturdy aluminum top plate, I’d never peg the Fujifilm as a better device for capturing stills and video than its Sony counterparts. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Sony shooter.

There's a key reason that I would choose a Sony’s A6000 APS-C line-up camera instead: Autofocus and video.

In terms of stills, the main difference between these two cameras is in the autofocus. The Sony A6100's autofocus system has more extensive sensor coverage and smarter features.

Sony’s specialized BIONZ X processor calculates tracking and exposure up to 60 times per second. This rapid calculation is backed by 179 phase-detection AF points. Even the earliest A6000 model from 2014 covers nearly the entire sensor, outclassing Fujifilm’s centralized, 91-point system.

Newer Sony models like the A6100 (2019) and A6400 (2019) feature advanced AI-driven AF to lock onto a subject’s eye, even through erratic motion. In contrast, the X-T100 relies on less sophisticated face-detection AF, which is more likely to lose its target if a subject blinks or turns away.

It’s not like you won’t get sharp images with the Fujifilm X-T100, but you’ve got a much better chance of consistently getting sharp images with a Sony A6000 model, especially later models.

The other big difference for me is video capability. I’ll start here by saying that the Fujifilm rig does have a better three-way tilting touchscreen than all of the A6000 models bar the most recent A6700 (2023).

This latest A6000 shooter also has a vari-angle LCD screen, while earlier generations in the lineup feature a basic up-and-down-tilting screen.

But beyond the LCD, Sony is clearly the better choice for recording. Sony introduced 4K UHD at 30fps / 1080p at 120fps back in 2016 with the A6300. Now, the Fujifilm X-T100 was released two years later with 4K UHD, but it’s strictly capped at 15fps.

Since then, Sony has only gone on to bolster the video capabilities of A6000 cameras, with later models able to shoot Full HD 1080p at 120fps, compared with the X-T100’s 24, 50, and 60fps.

The Fujifilm X-T100, which is only available used, tends to sit around the same price point as a used Sony A6100. Sony’s superior AF and video specs are enough for me to choose a Sony APS-C camera over an X-T100.

If you’re looking for a thorough breakdown of the Fujifilm rig and deep dives into the Sony shooters, then be sure to read their dedicated reviews on Digital Camera World next:

• Sony A6000 vs A6100 vs A6300 vs A6400 vs A6500 vs A6600 vs A6700: how do you choose?
• Fujifilm X-T100 review

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Here's our expert pick of the best APS-C compact cameras.

2026 marks the 25th year of Panasonic’s Lumix line – and yet Panasonic has been a bit quiet this year, with only the new compact zoom Lumix L10 to mark the company’s milestone year. But in a new video celebrating 25 years of Lumix, Panasonic may have just dropped a hint that one more camera is coming.

In a video shared this week, Panasonic Lumix chatted with several photographers and filmmakers who have been using the Lumix system for years. The video looks back on favorite cameras over the years and touches on key features like splash and dust resistance.

But one line from the video in particular may have Lumix fans eager to see how the rest of Lumix’s 25th year plays out. Early on in the video, filmmaker Piotr Kwasnik says, “I’ve collected so many Lumix cameras over the years. I think I might be addicted. Wait a minute. There’s one more.”

Naturally, the video cuts there to another Lumix creator launching into their story. But the mention of “one more” sounds an awful lot like a camera teaser, and the comment has a few fans excited, including 43 Rumors.

As far as teasers go, however, the video doesn’t really have any information beyond a hint that maybe, perhaps, Lumix isn’t done yet in 2026.

So far this year, Lumix has only launched the Lumix L10 compact camera – but that launch has been rather a rousing success for the camera maker. The Micro Four Thirds compact camera saw so many pre-orders that it became backordered rather quickly.

A single camera launch in one year feels a bit unusual for Lumix. Last year, Lumix introduced three cameras, all full-frame L mount, with the Lumix S1R II, S1 II, and S1 II E. The year before brought the Lumix S9 along with the Micro Four Thirds GH7 and the bridge camera FZ80D. 2023 was also a three-camera year with the Lumix S5 II, S5 IIX, and G9 II.

Lumix isn’t the only camera maker having a quieter 2026 (I’m looking at you, Fujifilm X Series). But Lumix fans are clearly hoping for another. The question that remains is what – and when.

Panasonic launched its first Lumix cameras in 2001 with two compact cameras, the Lumix LC5 and Lumix F7. Panasonic launched the first mirrorless camera ever commercially marketed with the Micro Four Thirds Lumix G1 in 2008.

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After the Kodak Charmera was released in September 2025, it didn' take take long for the tiny retro compact camera to become a viral sensation, with stocks quickly selling out. By Christmas, it was almost impossible to get hold of one – despite its very modest image resolution.

As demand grew, grey-market prices went through the roof. That's quite a contrast to its original retail price of just $34.95 / £35. And even if you managed to order one, you coudn't choose the design. Instead, you received a mystery model that might not even be the one you wanted.

Measuring just 58 x 24.5 x 20mm, and weighing only 30g, the Charmera is so small that you can attach it to your keyring. That's also the idea behind this miniature digital reinterpretation of Kodak's historic single-use and picket film cameras. And it hasn't just attracted attention from buyers: the camera has also picked up some major industry awards. So why has this low-resolution keychain camera become so popular?

The little keychain camera

The Kodak Charmera's award-winning streak shows that lo-fi image quality and thoughtful design can become highly sought-after. It won both an iF Design Award and Red Dot Design Award – two of the industry's most recognized design honors.

The keychain camera also earned a place in TIME's "Best Invention 2025" list.

The Charmera brings Kodak's disposable-camera heritage into a miniature digital format. With its retro styling, tiny dimensions, and low price, it's an easy fit for the gift market, too.

It features a 1.6MP sensor and a built-in LCD screen, delivering surprisingly decent images reminiscent of early camera phones.

The results aren't about sharpness and detail, but they have lo-fi character that's part of the appeal. The blind-box packaging adds a layer of novelty, with six regular designs and one rare edition to collect.

New to the market is the Kodak Charmera Millennium Edition, released in June 2026, available for $34.99 / £35.

What makes the Kodak Charmera so popula?

Part of the Charmera's appeal is its simplicity.

There's no need to worry about aperture, shutter speed, or ISO – you simply pick it up and shoot. So, when taking pictures, it's about capturing moments rather than getting every technical detail right.

You could, of course, do the same with a camera phone. But the Charmera offers a more hands-on experience and creative features like 7 creative filters and 4 decorative frames.

Its popularity has also reached a younger audience, with TikTok and Instagram helping introduce the camera to a new generation of photography fans.

The blind-box packaging is clever. It gives the Charmera a collectible quality that goes beyond its function as a camera – and, at its relatively low price, makes it an easy purchase to justify.

While stock was difficult to find at the beginning of the year, the camera is now much more widely in stock, making it easier to get your hands on one.

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Thypoch has announced a new lens in its Simera-C cine lens range. The Simera-C 100mm T1.9 is the longest entry in the now seven-strong line-up, complementing the existing 16mm, 21mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 75mm Simera-C lenses. The new 100mm telephoto prime is compatible with full-frame Sony E and Leica M cameras, and Thypoch also produces adaptors to convert the M-mount version to Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, L Mount, Arri and other cameras.

The 100mm Simera-C shares an identical mechanical design and positioning of its geared aperture/focus rings to the other lenses in the series, meaning it can integrate seamlessly into follow focus rigs. Thypoch has also taken care to ensure the 100mm is a similar weight to other Simera-C lenses to further improve common handling characteristics: the 100mm weighs just 477g in E-mount form, making it slightly lighter than the 16mm and 12mm lenses. The lens's 67mm front filter thread also matches that of the 75mm Simera-C.

The lens’s optical stack consists of 11 elements arranged in 8 groups and features a unified optical design that includes the series' low-saturation blue coating to ensure uniform color matching across the lens range. The longer focal length of the 100mm makes it easier to shoot close-ups with a shallow depth of field to better isolate your subject, while a 0.85m minimum focus distance increases shot versatility. Bokeh should also be super-smooth, as the lens is equipped with an iris consisting of no fewer than 16 blades. Focussing is manual only, but that's fairly standard for a cine lens that's likely to spend much of its time in a rig.

You can pre-order the Simera-C 100mm T1.9 now from B&H. Expect to pay $879 for the E-mount version, while the M-mount edition is priced at $959.

15 camera lenses from Pentax, Olympus, Fujifilm and Nikon are disappearing from the market, with some officially ending their production cycle while others are listed as discontinued by major Japanese retailers, including Yodobashi and Map Camera.

The list includes everything from fast professional zooms and telephoto lenses to compact primes. While retailer listings alone don't confirm a global discontinuation, such changes at Japanese retailers can be an early indication that availability in other markets may soon follow.

Some lenses remain available in the US and UK, although stock is becoming limited and harder to find, while others have successors or alternative options. Here's a breakdown of all 15 lenses, what's known about their status, and where photographers can still buy them.

Discontinued lenses

Pentax

• HD Pentax-DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED PLM AW
• HD Pentax-DA 21mm f/3.2 AL Limited
• HD Pentax-D FA* 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW
• HD Pentax-D FA* 70-200mm f/2.8 ED DC AW
• HD Pentax-D FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED DC WR
• HD Pentax-D FA* 85mm f/1.4 ED SDM AW
• HD Pentax-D FA 24-70mm f/2.8 ED SDM WR
• HD Pentax-DA 16-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 ED DC WR
• SMC Pentax-DA 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR
• HD Pentax-DA 35 mm f/2.8 Macro Limited
• SMC Pentax-DA* 300 mm f/4 ED [IF] SDM
• HD Pentax-D FA 150-450 mm f/4.5-5.6 ED DC AW

Ricoh officially confirmed that the 12 lenses are discontinued, following on from the announcement that production is stopping on all current DSLR cameras.

Olympus

• Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8

The Olympus silver version is now listed as discontinued at major Japanese retailer Yodobashi. There are OM System branded version of this lenses still available in black, however.

Fujifilm

• Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR

The Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR is now listed as discontinued at major Japanese retailers, including Map Camera – hopefully a Mark II version will be announced soon.

Nikon

The Nikon AF-S 105mm f/1.4E ED is listed as discontinued at US retailer B&H.

Nikon never released a direct mirrorless successor to the telephoto prime. Alternatives are the Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S or the Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena.

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Sony’s upcoming Rialto 65 cinema camera with a sensor that’s 2.2x larger than full-frame is no secret – but the camera giant has just unveiled the first footage shot with the upcoming camera system, along with the camera’s price tag.

The Sony Rialto 65 is an upcoming camera sensor that works with the company’s existing Venice 2 camera system. First teased back in July, the Rialto 65 has a sensor that’s 53.75mm wide and 35.83mm high. That’s about 2.2 times larger than a full-frame sensor. Sony says that makes it one of the largest commercially available sensors on a cinema camera, competing with other medium-format camera systems.

The Rialto 65 isn’t an entirely new camera but rather a sensor module for the existing Sony Venice 2, so it comes with the color science, 16-bit X-OCN recording, and other features already available from the Venice 2. Currently, the Venice 2 has two full-frame sensor options, one that’s 8.6K and one that’s 6K. The upcoming medium-format sensor will support 65mm format lenses, Sony says.

The upcoming sensor can attach directly to the camera system, but it can also be used in an extension mode where the head and camera body are separate for shooting in more compact spaces.

Watch the first sample footage from the Sony Rialto 65

Sony already shared that the new sensor was coming, but now the company has shared the first official footage coming from the upcoming sensor. Naturally, YouTube doesn’t even support 9.6K, and the footage is in 4K, but the footage offers some insight into the depth of field and low-light capabilities of the upcoming sensor.

"Local People," by Cinematographer Łukasz Żal, PSC, shows off the Sony Rialto 65's low-light capabilities and colors

Sony also offered one more bit of information that it didn’t share when first teasing the Rialto 65 back in July: the price. The Rialto 65 is expected to retail for $80,000 / CA$ 113,800 – which is about £59,811 / AU$113,658 at current exchange rates.

Sony is still expecting the Rialto 65 to arrive sometime in the first half of 2027, though the company notes that the timeline is still tentative.

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Setting up a typical tripod usually means tightening each of the leg sections individually – and travel tripods with a higher number of leg sections are among the worst offenders. But one tripod maker is bringing its one-touch leg deploy system into a tripod that fits in a carry-on suitcase and weighs just 3.5 lbs / 1.6 kg.

The Coman T1 Mini is a travel tripod built with quick-deploy legs, a rapid quick-release plate, and modular capabilities with extension ports, a MagSafe phone mount, and an extension to allow the tripod to double as a light stand.

Each of the Coman T1 Mini’s legs has a lever that deploys all four leg sections – the company says it only takes about three seconds to deploy all the legs and get the tripod to full height.

The T1 Mini isn’t the first tripod to use legs that deploy with one lever rather than individual locks on each leg section. Coman also has the full-size T1 S snap-open tripod and last year announced a similar monopod.

But Coman says the T1 Mini is the world’s lightest one-click tripod, bringing the quick-deploy technology to a lighter, smaller tripod. The Mini uses smaller 26mm leg tubes and packs down small enough to fit inside a 20-inch carry-on suitcase with the center column removed.

The smaller size comes with a lower weight limit. The Mini supports up to 13.23 lbs / 6 kg of gear, while the larger T1 S supports 44.1 lbs / 20 kg. But the Mini is two pounds / 829 g lighter and has a maximum working height of 62.8 inches / 1.595m, just two inches / 50mm shorter than Coman’s T1 S.

Built from carbon fiber and aerospace-grade aluminum, the Mini folds down to about 21 inches / 533mm. The tripod can also be used with an optional short center tripod for more portability and to shoot as low as 6.97 inches / 177mm off the ground. Alternately, the center column can also be inverted for low-angle shots. The leg angles and length can also be adjusted independently for uneven terrain.

The Mini also uses a new Arca-Swiss-compatible quick-mount system that the company says mounts the camera in one click. The compact tripod head supports 360-degree panoramic rotation and also switches between horizontal and vertical shooting.

Three 1/4-inch ARRI ports are built in for adding accessory arms. An optional magnetic quick release plate allows creators to mount both a camera and a smartphone at the same time, while an add-on extension allows the tripod to double as a taller light stand by swapping out the center column for an extendable one.

The tripod will be available in black, silver or army green.

The Coman T1 Mini is launching on Kickstarter, where the campaign has already exceeded its original goal. Pledges that include the tripod start at about $280 / £210 / AU$396 / CA$391 – about a 30 percent discount from the expected retail price. The shorter center column, MagSafe attachment, and light stand extension are optional add-ons sold separately.

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This compact camera somehow squeezes a 61MP full-frame sensor and a Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens into a body that's smaller than almost anything else on the market – DCW described it as the most compelling model on the market.

Launched in July 2025, almost 10 years after its predecessor, the Sony RX1R III was a long-awaited addition to Sony's premium compact camera lineup. It has since earned two major industry honors: Best Professional Fixed Lens Camera at the 2026 TIPA World Awards and recognition in the 2026 iF Design Award.

For photographers who want high-end image quality without carrying a full camera system, the RX1R III is almost perfect. But what makes it so popular – and what are the drawbacks?

Why is the Sony RX1R III so popular?

The RX1R III features a 61MP Exmor R CMOS sensor paired with a Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2 lens – an optic that "enables you to take photos with unprecedented freedom," as IF Design Awards highlight.

The camera's design philosophy hits a nerve with photographers.

It's small, remarkably capable, has a viewfinder, and is built around a full-frame sensor – a format more commonly used in mirrorless cameras.

In the premium compact category, the Leica Q3 is one of its closest rivals.

It's lighter than you expect (498 g), sharper than it has any right to be, and its 693-point autofocus system is, frankly, leagues ahead of most fixed-lens rivals.

That built-in electronic viewfinder is another important feature. Many photographers prefer composing images through a viewfinder rather than relying exclusively on the rear screen, yet it isn't a feature found on every compact camera.

What are the Sony RX1R III downsides?

You've heard the specs, and those certainly don't come with a budget-friendly price tag.

The RX1R III is available for $5,098 / £4,199. That puts it out of reach for many photographers, particularly those who aren't earning money from photography.

Its closest competitor, the Leica Q3, features a 60MP full-frame BSI CMOS sensor and a Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens, priced at $7,350 / £5,650.

Also to mention, the RX1R III lacks in-body image stabilization (IBIS), although how much that matters depends on your shooting style.

If you want more resolution, the Fujifilm GFX100RF takes a different approach. It features a 102MP medium-format sensor and is the highest-resolution compact camera available to date.

Ultimately, the question is how much value photographers place on combining high resolution and full-frame image quality in a compact camera.

For those who prioritize portability without wanting to compromise on sensor resolution, the RX1R III offers an almost perfect combination of features.

For others, the same budget could buy a more versatile mirrorless camera and a selection of lenses, offering greater flexibility across different types of photography.

But in the end, that money won't buy the same combination of 61MP full-frame sensor, a Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens and built-in electronic viewfinder in a body as compact as the RX11R III is.

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We love the Hasselblad X2D II 100C. In fact, we reckon it's the finest stills camera ever made. But the key word there is 'stills', as the X2D II cannot shoot video. Well, it turns out that's not completely true. A clever hacker that goes by the handle 'Cheese' has posted a short video to the Chinese site xiaohongshu.com showing an X2D II 100C capturing video.

The brief video description states that the hacker has developed a custom firmware for the camera that enables video capture, and aims to add raw, Open Gate recording in future. The video itself shows the capture and subsequent playback of a 6-second clip, as well as video record status indicators and capture controls coded into the camera's touchscreen interface. The result more closely resembles an original feature than a DIY hack.

But don't get too excited: this hack probably won't enable X2D II owners to capture video as though it was a factory-implemented feature. As Cheese points out in response to a comment, "An experimental function and a truly stable function are two different things...if you really want to do high-quality video rerecording, [the camera's] form factor will definitely need to be significantly changed" (auto translated from the original Chinese).

Though not specifically mentioned, it's highly likely that a major reason why Hasselblad never designed the X2D II 100C to record video was due to heat build-up. The camera already gets very toasty when shooting bursts of images over a prolonged period, so Open Gate raw video recording, though potentially possible, could well endanger the lifespan of key components. Even so, Cheese does say that the modded firmware will be available as open source after the code is perfected. I'd expect the firmware to include a record duration limit to help prevent destructive heat build-up.

So there you have it: the X2D II 100C can actually record video, but if I was an X2D II 100C owner, I wouldn't be risking my valuable camera by installing non-genuine firmware that has the potential to damage the camera's hardware.

7Artisans, the Chinese budget lens manufacturer, has released its long-awaited ultrawide AF 10mm f/4 APS-C pancake lens, and this thing is so light you might forget that it’s even attached to your camera.

Coming in at just 2.5oz (71g) – yes, you read that right – the new 7Artisans lens is just half an ounce heavier, if you can even use that word here, than the TTArtisan AF 24mm F3.8 Mini, which, weighing approximately 2oz (57g), is the lightest AF pancake on the market.

Acccording to Chinese technology news publisher, ITHome, The new 10mm f/4 APS-C pancake launched today, October 29, for Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount, with a price tag of ¥699 (approximately $100 / £75) on the Chinese e-commerce site JD.com (unfortunately tricky to access outside of China).

Tucked inside its insanely light, 1.2-inch (33mm) body are nine optical elements in seven groups, including one extra-low dispersion (ED) element, one high-refractive-index element, and two aspherical elements. There’s also a stepping motor (STM)-driven AF system that has a minimum focusing distance of 0.6ft (0.2m).

But considering the inherently massive depth of field that an ultrawide focal length like 10mm boasts, AF might seem unnecessary. And, in all honesty, it may well be.

While AF definitely brings added convenience, when shooting at this focal length, almost the entire frame stays in focus simultaneously, arguably making precise autofocusing redundant unless taking close-up shots.

AF has increasingly crept into wide-angle pancake lenses over the last few years, with recent APS-C releases like the TTArtisan AF 27mm f/2.8 and Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 touting the feature. So, no doubt a driving force behind the decision to include AF in the 7Artisans 10mm f/4 pancake was competitiveness.

Still, if you’re not a fan of manual focusing, then, regardless of necessity, the STM AF in the new 7Artisans 10mm f/4 pancake will surely be a welcome feature. But we’ll have to wait for a wider release to find that out for sure.

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Here’s our expert take on the best pancake lenses. The super-skinny primes and zooms save on size and weight

For some arcane reason, I was taught Latin at school, so here’s one for you… omne trium perfectum. According to the ancient Latin ‘rule of three’, things that come in threes are complete or perfect. As if to prove the point, the new Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro for Nikon Z and Sony E completes a trilogy of full-frame compatible prime lenses with classic focal lengths and fast f/1.4 apertures. The existing dynamic due comprised the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro and the Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro.

The triplet 35mm, 50mm and 85mm primes deliver my favorite focal lengths for everyday shooting, product photography, still life and portraiture. As well as having the same desirably fast f/1.4 aperture rating, all three lenses are virtually identical in terms of size, weight and handling characteristics. Does that matter? Well, to me it does. It means I can chop and change between lenses and everything feels the same, so there’s no interruption to the creative flow while I’m adjusting to a ‘different’ lens.

In a nutshell, the new 35mm Pro aims to be one of the best lenses for Nikon Z system cameras, best lenses for Sony E-mount cameras and best lenses for street photography. Let’s see if it can deliver on its promise.

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Specifications

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Price

The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro lists for $829 / £739 / AU$1,299. How much of a bargain is that? For context, the directly competing own-brand Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM sells for $1,498 / £1,429 / AU$1,999, while the E-mount Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG II Art costs $1,059 / £849 / AU$2,049.

Over in the Nikon camp, the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 is a more basic, low-budget lens but still has an asking price of $678 / £649 / AU$1,129, whereas the faster Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S (S-line lens) has a gilt-edged price tag of $2,997 / £2,899 / AU$4,899.

All things considered, I’d say the Viltrox 35mm looks to be very competitively priced, although the previous lenses in the trilogy appear to be even better value for money, with the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro at $549 / £525 / AU$889 and the Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro at $598 / £569 / AU$999.

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Design & Handling

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Viltrox looks to have taken this advice onboard, so the new 35mm Pro lens adheres to the same winning formula as its 50mm and 85mm forebears. All three lenses look, feel and work exactly the same. The 35mm lens measures 85x112mm / 3.3x4.4in and weighs in at 795g / 28oz, making it essentially indistinguishable from the other two lenses. To be really picky, it’s one-tenth of an inch shorter than the 85mm lens and 0.2 ounces lighter, but nobody’s going to notice that.

Staying on trend, the 35mm inherits the same HD Nano multi-layer coatings and fluorine coating on its front element. All three lenses also have the same 77mm front filter attachment thread. That’s naturally good news if you like using screw-in filters, as you can share one set of filters between all three lenses, without the need for using any step-up or step-down rings.

Another filter-friendly fact is that all three lenses have fully internal focus mechanisms (more on that in a moment), so the filter thread neither extends nor rotates during focusing, ideal for using the likes of circular polarizing and ND grad filters.

The autofocus system itself again follows suit in the Viltrox Pro range, being of the Hyper VCM (voice-coil motor) variety. That’s a step up in quality and performance, compared with the kind of linear stepping motor that’s usually fitted to modern lenses. Voice-coil motors tend to be even faster for acquiring and tracking subjects while still enabling smooth autofocus transitions when shooting video. They’re also virtually silent in operation, which is another bonus for videography.

There’s an AF/MF (auto/manual) focus mode switch on the side of the barrel. I always much prefer this to having to delve around in camera menus when I want to make the change. It’s so much more immediate and intuitive. Another nice touch, so to speak, is that there’s a customizable function button just below the AF/MF switch. You can typically assign this to a range of actions, depending on the camera body, but a logical choice is AF/L (autofocus lock).

Towards the rear of the barrel is a dedicated aperture control ring. It’s clearly marked in one-third f/stops, going all the way from f/1.4 to the narrowest available aperture of f/16. Again, I prefer this arrangement to a ‘customizable’ aperture ring that can be used for various functions, but lacks any markings. With the dedicated option, you can literally see where you are, or at least what aperture you’ve set. Just off the scale at the narrow end, there’s an orange A (Auto) marking, for controlling the aperture from the camera body instead of using the control ring. It’s essential for shooting in Program and Shutter-priority modes. My only niggle with the aperture ring of this and other Viltrox lenses is that there’s no locking switch or button, to safely lock the ring in its Auto position.

Hybrid photography is all the rage nowadays and to keep in step, the lens is designed to deliver premium video performance as well as being eminently suitable for stills. Towards the rear of the barrel, behind the AF/MF switch and function button, there’s a Click off/on switch. De-click mode enables smooth, silent and step-free operation of the aperture control ring, ideal for videography, whereas the option of one-third f/stop click steps enables greater precision when shooting stills.

The optical path is relatively complex for a 35mm prime lens, based on 16 elements in 12 groups. There’s actually a difference in this respect from the 50mm and 85mm lenses, both of which have one less element and one less group in their configurations. High-tech glass includes two Ultra-Precision aspherical elements, three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and four HR (High Refractive index) elements. The overall aim is to optimize sharpness and clarity, while minimizing unwanted aberrations like color fringing.

HD Nano multi-layer coatings are on hand to combat ghosting and flare and the lens is supplied with an efficient petal-shaped hood. It’s actually exactly the same hood that’s supplied with the 50mm lens, whereas the 85mm lens has a circular profile hood.

Build quality feels very robust. Again, continuing the theme set by the earlier 50mm and 85mm lenses, the 35mm has a sturdy metal barrel as well as a metal mounting plate. Extensive weather-seals are fitted throughout the lens, including a rubber gasket on the mounting plate, to guard against the ingress of dust and moisture through the joint between the lens and camera body. The mounting plate also features a USB-C port, for applying firmware updates if and when needed.

For the journey, the lens is supplied complete with a high-quality drawstring pouch. Even if you don’t use the pouch for carrying the lens, it can come in handy for protecting other bits and bobs in transit.

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Performance

Having been mightily impressed by the companion Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro and Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro, I had high hopes for this lens. I wasn’t disappointed. After extensively using the other two lenses over the last few months, I felt right at home with this one. The exact same high-end handling characteristics made the lens feel instantly familiar, and I’d class the excellent ergonomics as a performance plus point, when it comes to actually ‘getting the shot’. That’s especially true when nailing a definitive moment in street photography, for which the 35mm focal length is ideal.

Sharpness is thoroughly excellent, as demonstrated in the images above and below, within the bounds of depth of field. You can be assured of capturing ultra-fine detail and texture, and sharpness remains on song right out to the edges and corners of the frame.

Clarity, contrast and color rendition are equally impressive. I found that the lens had plenty of bite even when shooting outdoors under very dull, flat lighting on an overcast day, and indoors with no artificial lighting, just a bit of dull daylight seeping in through the windows.

For front to back sharpness in street scenes (or on a railway platform in the image below), a medium aperture setting of f/8 enables a generous depth of field at moderate focus distance settings, thanks to the 35mm focal length.

Naturally, you don’t need to buy a ‘fast’ lens if you only want a large depth of field. The flipside is that the widest aperture of f/1.4 enables a really tight depth of field, especially for close-ups. Sharpness remains excellent while the quality of bokeh is beautifully soft and smooth, with a natural fall-off between focused and defocused areas. You’ll see this in the shot below, featuring a row of levers in a lever frame, for operating signals and points in a restored railway signal box.

Not exactly creating a ‘toytown’ photographic effect from a real-world scene, the following shot is of an actual model village. Again though, the f/1.4 aperture enables a tight depth of field, isolating the model train within a scene by blurring the foreground and background areas.

The quality of bokeh remains excellent when stopping down, helped by the lens’s particularly well-rounded 11-blade aperture. It’s yet another facet that it shares with the 50mm and 85mm lenses, and helps to ensure that ‘bokeh disks’ caused by defocused lights and bright spots don’t take on noticeable multi-sided shapes. Bokeh disks look nice and smooth as well, free of the ‘onion ring’ effect that’s renowned for giving rise to concentric lines within the disks.

There’s hardly any distortion to be seen, even with automatic in-camera correction disabled. That’s a marked difference to most modern lenses designed for mirrorless cameras, which often rely massively on auto correction to the extent that you can’t disable it in camera menus. The same goes for color fringing, which again is extremely negligible.

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Sample Images

The following gallery contains a variety of images shot at the East Somerset Railway in the south west of England, which was inaugurated in 1855 and has more recently been lovingly restored by volunteers, the working railway being run as a registered charity. My shots were mostly taken outdoors on a gloomy, overcast day with very flat lighting, posing a challenge to any lens in terms of delivering good sharpness, clarity and contrast. That said, the sun did break through and make a welcome appearance every now and then. The indoor shots were taken without any artificial lighting, relying solely on light coming in through windows. I used wide and medium aperture settings, to give a more comprehensive picture of the lens’s performance and pictorial qualities.

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Lab Results

We run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.

We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the center of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths. The tests also measure distortion and color fringing (chromatic aberration).

Sharpness:

For such a ‘fast’ lens, sharpness across the entire image frame is highly impressive at f/1.4. Edge-to-edge sharpness becomes completely excellent at a still wide aperture of f/2 and remains that way through most of the aperture range, only dropping off by a modest amount at f/16, due to the usual phenomenon of diffraction.

Fringing:

Lateral chromatic aberration is negligible throughout the entire aperture range, even at the extreme edges and corners of the frame. Longitudinal/axial chromatic aberration (sometimes referred to as bokeh fringing) is also minimal at f/1.4, which is a particular challenge for fast lenses at wide apertures, and can occur across the entire image frame where there are high-contrast transitions just in front of or behind the plane of focus.

Distortion: 0.89

There’s the slightest touch of pincushion distortion but even with automatic in-camera correction disabled, you’d be hard-pressed to spot it in real-world shooting.

Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro: Verdict

I’ve been loving my Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro and Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro over the past few months. The former gives an entirely natural perspective, the latter is a pretty much perfect portrait lens. The only problem is that I tend to favor a 35mm focal length for walkabout and street shooting with a full-frame camera. This new 35mm fits the bill completely. I love that it’s a virtually identical size and weight to the other two lenses in the trilogy, so that if I’m on a shoot and need to swap between them, they feel the same and have identical handling characteristics, right down to the action and placement of the dedicated aperture ring and its click off/on switch, the AF/MF focus mode switch and the customizable function button.

Further similarities with the previous two lenses also make the 35mm a seriously pro-grade prime in its own right. These include Hyper VCM (voice-coil motor) autofocus, an 11-blade aperture diaphragm, a robust and weather-sealed metal barrel and high-end handling.

Image quality is the bottom line and it’s here that the lens really excels. It’s super-sharp with excellent clarity and contrast, even when shooting wide-open, while also delivering beautifully smooth bokeh. Meanwhile, color fringing, distortion, ghosting and flare are all negligible. It’s simply a fabulous lens that lives up to its ‘Pro’ billing on all counts, apart from its bargain price tag.

Alternatives

To all intents and purposes, the new Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro is exactly the same size and weight as its existing Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro and Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro counterparts. All three lenses also have identical handling characteristics, with the same set of control rings, switches and buttons. That’s undoubtedly more by design than accident, resulting in a threesome of ‘Pro’ f/1.4 primes with highly desirable focal lengths, that don’t interrupt your creative flow when swapping between them.

Typical of Viltrox, the 35mm gives you a lot of bang per buck. Optical highlights include two Ultra Precision aspherical elements, three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and four HR (High Refractive index) elements in a layout that comprises 16 elements in total, arranged in 12 groups. There’s an especially well-rounded 11-blade aperture diaphragm and HD Nano multi-layer coatings, the overall aim being to deliver ‘Pro-grade’ image quality.

Build quality is similarly high-end, with a sturdy metal barrel and mounting plate that feature a comprehensive set of weather-seals and a fluorine coating on the front element. The same applies to pro/enthusiast-grade handling characteristics, including a dedicated aperture control ring with a click/de-click switch, a customizable function button and an AF/MF focus mode switch. Autofocus itself is courtesy of a fast and virtually silent Hyper VCM (voice-coil motor) system, going one step beyond the more standard linear stepping motor.

Although new, the Pro isn’t the only Viltrox 35mm party in town. We’ve been previously impressed by the compact, lightweight and budget-friendly Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8 Evo II, as well as the top-end and super-fast Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 Lab, both of which are also available in Nikon Z and Sony E-mount options. The new Pro prime sits between these two lenses in the line-up, both in terms of size and weight as well as price.

And speaking of price, the AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro launches at $829 / £739 / AU$1,299. The price tag is a bit weightier than for the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro at $549 / £525 / AU$889, or the Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro at $598 / £569 / AU$999, but the 35mm still looks potentially very good value for money nonetheless.

Canon gear could become more expensive next year on the heels of an AI-driven memory shortage. During a question-and-answer session, Canon told investors that if higher memory costs persist into next year, those higher costs will be absorbed through price increases.

The insight comes from Canon’s October 27 financial update, where Canon lowered its initial predictions for the final three months of the year due to a component shortage for compact cameras and a slight decline in mirrorless sales numbers. Despite those predictions, the company’s imaging division – and the company as a whole – is still expected to finish the year with growth from last year’s numbers.

Now, Canon has shared the translated questions and answers from this week’s presentation in Japan – and it warns of a potential price increase next year if the high costs on memory components continue.

Early on in the questions, Canon explained how the company plans to address the continued supply shortage.

“For components that are in short supply, we are using every possible means to secure the quantities we need for next year,” the company said. “As a result, we expect higher procurement costs, but our policy is to offset those increases through price increases from next year onward. We have already been making pricing adjustments in response to cost increases as they occur, and we will continue to make decisions on passing on costs from a long-term perspective, while considering the potential impact on sales volumes and balancing that against profitability.”

While the company did not say which business segments would be affected, Canon confirmed it is considering a price increase for next year in the imaging division when asked why fourth-quarter operating profit is expected to decline compared with the previous year. Canon explained the outlook is a combination of higher memory costs and cost increases stemming from conflict in the Middle East, as well as unusually strong network camera sales.

“At this point,” Canon told investors regarding the imaging division, “we have not been able to fully pass these higher costs on through pricing. If these higher costs persist next year, we will absorb them through price increases.”

One of the reasons that Canon hasn’t already adjusted its prices is that the company saw the writing on the wall and started stockpiling the memory that it would need for 2026 early, something that Canon has told investors in previous meetings.

There’s still an “if” attached to the suggested price increase. If the higher memory costs continue once Canon has burned through that previous inventory stockpile, then a cost increase is likely.

Photographers have already seen the effects of the AI-driven demand for memory as the price of memory cards and external hard drives has risen significantly this year. Even cameras without built-in photo storage require memory components, including the processor and the memory buffer.

During the same meeting, Canon also said that the component shortage would prevent the company from fully reaching its increased production goals amid the increased demand for popular cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III.

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Best known for its affordable anamorphic lenses, Sirui is launching another range of more conventional autofocus lenses for mirrorless cameras. The Swift lens promises compact and affordable primes, and is being launched with both a 20mm f/2.4 and a 40mm f/2.2 which will go on sale before the end of the year.

The Swift 20mm F2.4 is described as an ultra-wide lens for landscapes, architecture, street photography and vlogging. Meanwhile the Swift 40mm F2.2 is touted as giving a natural angle of view for portraits, street scenes and everyday photography.

Weighing between 207g and 215 g, depending on lens and mount, the lenses are also described as being well-suited for APS-C mirrorless cameras as well as full-frame ones (hence why they will be available in Fujifilm X-mount).

The two lenses share the same outer shell, with a diameter of about 69.5 mm, a length of 60-62 mm, a 58 mm filter thread, and a nine-blade aperture. The 20mm has a minimum focus distance of 0.2m, whilst the 40mm will focus down to 0.4m.

The 20mm F2.4 is constructed from 11 elements in 9 groups, including two aspherical elements, two ED (extra-low dispersion) elements and two HRI (high refractive index) elements. The Swift 40mm F2.2 has 11 elements in 8 groups, with one aspherical element and two ED elements.

Each lens uses an STM stepping motor for autofocus, and has a clicked aperture ring, an AF/MF switch and a customizable Fn button for AF lock or other camera functions. A weather-resistant construction is designed to the lens against dust, stains and splashes.

The Sirui Swift 20mm f/2.4 and 40mm f/2.2 will retail for $149 / £129.90 each, and will be available in Sony FE, Fujifilm X, and L-mount options.

Nikon has officially announced the Nikkor Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S – a fast telephoto zoom with a built-in teleconverter – which will go on sale from the middle of November. The lens which will be become a must-have for professional sports photographers was teased as a development announcement by Nikon back in May.

The lens is the modern successor to the 300mm f/2.8, which was the standard lens of action photographers in years gone by, and is a full-frame Z-mount replacement for Nikon's own 120-300mm f/2.8E AF-S FL ED SR VR for its autofocus DSLRs.

The lens not only provides a constant aperture zoom range, but offers a 1.4x teleconverter that can be engaged with a flick of a switch - stretching the maximum focal length to 420mm (with the maximum aperture dropping to f/4).

Weighing in at 2735g, or just over 6 lbs, it is around 1.5 lb (705 g) ligher than its F-mount predecessor, despite the addition of the teleconverter.

It becomes the third pro telephoto lens in the Nikon Z lens range to come with this built-in teleconverter facility, joining the existing the Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S and the Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S.

Specifications

Mount: Nikon Z
Full frame: Yes
Autofocus: Yes
Stabilization: Yes (up to 6.5 stops)
Lens construction: 30 elements in 24 groups
Angle of view: 20° 20′ to 8° 10′ (14° 40′ to 5° 15′ with teleconverter)
Diaphragm blades: 9
Minimum aperture: f/32 / 45
Minimum focusing distance: 2m at 300mm, 0.98m at 120mm
Maximum magnification ratio: 0.14x / 0.2x
Filter size: 112mm (plus 46mm rear drop-in)
Dimensions: 5.1 x 14 in / 128 x 1,353.5mm
Weight: 96.5oz / 2,735 g)

The lens uses a Silky Swift VCM (SSVCM) autofocus motor which Nikon claims is its most advanced AF motor, driving focus elements with extraordinary speed, accuracy and quietness.

An anti-reflective Arneo coating developed by Nikon has been used in conjunction with Nano Crystal Coat, to further reduce ghost and flare effects caused by incident light entering the lens vertically. This this is allow for the outstandingly clear capture of images even when a light source is located within the frame. Diagonal incident light, meanwhile, is dealt with using a Meso Amorphous coating on the lens.

Pricing

Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S is available to pre-order from to day for $13,999 / £13,999 / AU$21,999 and is expected to start shipping from mid November.

🇺🇸 Pre-order at BH Photo for $13,999

🇬🇧 Pre-order at London Camera Exchange for £13,999

🇦🇺 Pre-order at Teds Cameras for AU$21,999

Zeiss has reminded the photography world that it is still making lenses for the Leica M-mount, and while that might sound like good news for rangefinder enthusiasts, I can't help but feel that it also highlights just how little has changed in more than two decades.

According to Leica Rumors, the German optics manufacturer recently took to social media to remind photographers that its ZM lens lineup is still very much alive, offering a respectable selection of optics for Leica's legendary M system. And while I am certainly pleased to see another established name supporting the M-mount, I do wonder whether Zeiss has become a little too comfortable relying on its past successes, rather than looking toward the future.

To put things into perspective, the Zeiss ZM system dates all the way back to 2004, when lenses including the Biogon T* 21mm f/2.8 ZM were first announced. That was 22 years ago, and while the range has seen some additions over the years, including the excellent Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 ZM introduced in 2014, the overall lineup has remained remarkably familiar. Today, Zeiss still offers everything from the ultra-wide Distagon T* 15mm f/2.8 to the classic Planar T* 50mm f/2, providing Leica photographers with a healthy selection of focal lengths. However, when you consider just how much the camera industry has evolved since 2004, it does feel as though Zeiss has largely been standing still, particularly when it comes to developing something genuinely new for the M system.

Of course, there is absolutely no denying the optical quality of Zeiss lenses. The company has built its reputation on producing exceptional glass, and its ZM lenses are no exception, offering excellent sharpness, contrast, beautiful rendering, and the sort of mechanical construction that feels perfectly at home on a Leica rangefinder. Perhaps more importantly, they deliver much of what photographers love about Leica lenses without the considerably higher price tag that often comes with that famous red dot. For anyone looking to build a Leica M system without spending a small fortune on native optics, Zeiss remains a compelling alternative, and I would certainly never discourage anyone from considering one. After all, a great lens doesn't suddenly become a bad lens simply because it is getting older.

However, as someone who shoots with Leica M cameras regularly, I can't help but feel that the ZM system is beginning to show its age. Leica has continued to refine its optical designs, introducing close-focusing capabilities and making the most of modern digital M cameras, while other third-party manufacturers have been pushing the boundaries of what affordable rangefinder lenses can offer. Zeiss, meanwhile, seems content to keep offering essentially the same familiar designs, with little indication of a major refresh on the horizon. I would personally love to see a new generation of ZM lenses, perhaps with more compact designs, improved close-focusing capabilities, or even entirely new optical formulas that take advantage of today's increasingly demanding digital sensors. Zeiss certainly has the expertise to make it happen, which makes its apparent lack of ambition in this particular corner of the market all the more frustrating.

Then again, perhaps I am missing the point entirely. One of the greatest attractions of the Leica M system is that it doesn't demand constant technological reinvention, and a lens designed more than two decades ago can still produce incredible photographs today.

There is something rather refreshing about a manufacturer continuing to support products that have already proven themselves, rather than replacing them simply for the sake of having something new to sell. As the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and perhaps that is exactly the philosophy Zeiss has adopted. Nevertheless, while I am delighted that Zeiss hasn't abandoned the Leica M-mount, I would love its next announcement to be about an exciting new lens rather than another reminder that it still makes the old ones.

Because after 22 years, surely it is time for something new?

Check out our guide to the best Leica M lenses

I’ve started to notice an unusual trend popping up in my social media feed: Photographers are giving new life to decades-old DSLRs by adding custom firmware that gives the old cameras different film stocks to choose from.

Photographers using custom firmware for cameras isn’t particularly new – firmware hacks date back well over a decade to mods like the Canon Hack Development Kit and the reverse-engineered Magic Lantern software for Canon DSLRs.

But lately, across Instagram and Reddit, photographers have been sharing “hacked” DSLRs loaded with new software that gives the old cameras the option to choose from different film-inspired looks directly on the camera.

In many cases, the custom firmware is vibe-coded, built with coding assistance from artificial intelligence. Using AI to make photos look like film feels both like an oxymoron and like the most 2026 thing ever. And yet, as a collector of old cameras and someone who bought my current camera (a Fujifilm) specifically for the film simulations, the idea of bringing new life to an old DSLR is intriguing.

Custom firmware carries the risk of potentially bricking the camera and, in many cases, could void the warranty on a newer camera. Which is likely why the vibe coding trend seems to be drawn to older cameras, like the 2005 Canon EOS 5D – bricking an old DSLR that doesn’t cost much and is already well out of warranty comes with less of a risk. That and, with the custom firmware designed for an old-school look, using an older camera just makes sense.

One photographer on Reddit shared a beta vibe-coded hack called Soup Engine for the Canon EOS 5D that builds on Magic Lantern to give the camera 13 different looks inspired by film stocks. The looks are applied to JPEGs, while the RAW file is untouched.

In another hack, software company Latent Studios is working on firmware that puts the company’s film-inspired desktop RAW photo editor into the Canon EOS 5D and 5D Mark II. But beyond the look of the photos themselves, the software also locks photographers into a “roll” for that look.

Photographer Florin Kirtescu developed a similar hack for the Canon EOS 6D, built from Magic Lantern, that adds film-inspired looks, including color and lab-like adjustments for pushing and pulling and correcting for light sources. The firmware, called Film Roll, also limits photographers to rolls of 12, 24, or 36 shots. The software lives on the SD card, so photographers can theoretically pull the card out and use a different one (or format the card) for the camera to function normally again.

While those hacks use Canon DSLRs, other photographers on Reddit have reported trying hacked firmware with other camera brands. The Phoblographer's Chris Gampat hacked an old Sony A7 to bring back the PlayMemories App support.

Locking the camera into a color preset for the length of a typical roll of film reminds me of another trend: the screen-free camera. Some screen-free cameras have similar tools that are designed with the limitations of film.

The Fujifilm X Half’s film mode, for example, won’t show creators the files or allow for swapping the film simulation until after a roll is finished and “developed.” Truly screenless cameras like the Flashback One35 V2 are also based around the concept of digital “rolls.”

Beyond the older CCD sensors and look of older DSLRs, the creators behind some of the hacks are also drawn to 21-year-old DSLRs because the slower performance of much older tech feels closer to film than modern cameras.

Personally, I wouldn’t even consider a firmware update that wasn’t sanctioned by the manufacturer itself on a modern camera. But on a camera that was otherwise sitting on a shelf and not getting any use? The idea is far more intriguing.

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Retro camera designs are a longstanding trend in photography. But while photographers have multiple options for retro-inspired digital cameras, a retro-inspired lens is arguably much harder to find.

That’s what grabbed my attention when Sigma announced a new “CL” lens series last week, which will debut in 2027 with the L-Mount and E-Mount Sigma 50mm f/1.4 CL DG Contemporary.

The upcoming 50mm lens looks quite retro with its metal exterior and focal distance scale. But Sigma seems to hint that the new CL lens isn’t just about a retro look to the lens itself, but to the image that it creates too.

Sigma describes the images coming from the lens as a “gentle softness within the in-focus plane” and a “soft rendering of texture that helps the subject stand out.”

Sigma has so far only announced the development of the lens for a Spring 2027 launch, but Australian photographer Mitch Lally tested an early sample at a portrait shoot and described it this way: “The subject remains sharp and detailed, but the transition into the out-of-focus areas has a softer, less clinical quality. Wide open at F1.4, the backgrounds have a softness and character that adds to the overall feel of the image.”

That “less clinical quality” grabbed my attention. Retro cameras and photographs that look like they were shot on film are trending – but the lens is half the equation to getting that look and often forgotten.

Modern camera lenses have made significant strides forward in creating tack-sharp subjects and fighting off flare and ghosting with modern coatings. But at what point does a lens become too technically perfect?

I want a reasonably sharp subject, but not so sharp that I can count the pores in my portraits. This feels particularly true lately: toss an overly sharp, “perfect” image on the internet today, and watch the AI accusations roll in. I’ve even started toning down the skin edits in my portraits. Skin without texture isn’t human.

And then, there’s lens flare. Many modern lenses brag about using coatings to prevent lens flare, but I actually love lens flare most of the time. Yes, there are scenarios when I want full clarity in challenging backlight, but most of the time, I’d rather have streaky golden light.

I’ve adapted old film lenses to my modern mirrorless camera in order to really try to get a more film-like look on digital. But I want to have my cake and eat it too – I want lenses that have both character and modern features. I’ve taken to using a warm diffusion filter on a majority of my portraits so I can get warm tones and glowing light, but on a modern autofocus lens.

Looking at the sample images from the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 CL DG Contemporary, I’m drawn to the soft colors and smooth bokeh. The subject still looks sharp, but not overly so, and there’s a nice fall-off to that soft background.

While Sigma has already shared a full set of technical specifications, the development announcement lacks a key detail: Price. The upcoming CL will be smaller and lighter than Sigma’s 50mm f/1.4 Art. I think if it’s also more affordable, it may draw a lot of photographers who prefer a softer, more retro style.

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Dash cams have become increasingly popular in recent years – but these in-car boxes can often look rather boxy or plain ugly. South Korean manufacturer Vueroid is promising to change this with the introduction of its H1 QHD, which is designed to look different from its rivals.

The key attraction is its 1.6in circular touchscreen – which is meant to give you a device that feels similar to using a smartwatch. This interactive monitor works in conjunction with voice control to make it easy to set up the dashcam and make you less reliant on the phone app. We are told that users can easily start, stop, and save a manual recording, turn audio recording on or off, and activate Wi-Fi using voice commands, all hands-free.

Another useful feature is the simple parking feature, which allows you to recording when the camera is stationary without draining the car's battery. This is achieved by plugging the camera into an external power bank via its USB-C socket while you are parked up. An optional hardwiring kit is available if you want more advanced parking options.

The H1 QHD uses a 1/2.8in Sony IMX675 sensor with a 5 megapixel resolution, recording 2.5K (1440p) video. The lens of the front-facing camera gives a 120° view of the road in front of you. There is a built-in GPS to provide location data, a polarizing filter to minimize reflections from the windshiled, and a microSD card slot.

The unit measures 55 x 80 x 60mm and weighs 121g.

The Vueroid H1 QHD is now on sale for $167.99.

Check out our full guide to the best dash cams

The compact cinema camera market has become increasingly competitive in recent years, with manufacturers finding new ways to squeeze professional filmmaking features into smaller, lighter, and more affordable bodies. However, one camera that continues to catch my attention is the Nikon ZR.

Priced at $2,199.95 in the US at Adorama, or B&H, and currently available for just £1,999 in the UK from Wex, or Park Cameras, down from £2,199, Nikon's first cinema camera developed with RED represents a particularly interesting proposition.

We're talking about a full-frame cinema camera with some genuinely impressive filmmaking credentials, yet it costs considerably less than many of the established professional alternatives. For independent filmmakers, content creators, and even photographers looking to explore filmmaking, I think that's a pretty compelling starting point.

But what exactly are you getting for your money? Well, underneath that rather understated exterior sits a 24.5MP partially stacked full-frame sensor capable of recording 6K video at up to 60fps, including internal 12-bit RAW recording using Nikon's R3D NE format, developed with RED.

That's a pretty serious specification for a camera at this price point, especially when you consider the RED color science, dual-base ISO settings of 800 and 6400, and Nikon's claimed dynamic range of more than 15 stops. There's also support for N-RAW and ProRes RAW, giving filmmakers considerable flexibility when it comes to editing and color grading. To me, this is arguably the ZR's biggest selling point. You're getting access to a genuinely sophisticated RAW video workflow without having to invest in a much larger, more expensive cinema system.

However, it's not just the image quality that makes the Nikon ZR interesting. Nikon has clearly understood that modern filmmakers want equipment that works just as well when shooting independently as it does on a professional production. The ZR features a large 4-inch vari-angle touchscreen, in-body image stabilization, intelligent subject-detection autofocus, and perhaps one of its most impressive features, internal 32-bit float audio recording.

Being able to capture high-quality audio directly into the camera, with greater flexibility to adjust levels in post-production, is a huge advantage for anyone recording interviews, documentaries, or spontaneous content. Better still, the entire body weighs approximately 540g, making it incredibly portable and ideal for handheld shooting or mounting on a compact gimbal. For someone who appreciates smaller cameras that don't compromise on their creative potential, there's a lot here to get excited about.

Of course, Nikon isn't operating in an empty market. Cameras such as the Sony FX3, Sony FX30, Canon EOS C50, and Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K have already demonstrated just how much demand there is for compact filmmaking systems. Yet I think Nikon has approached things slightly differently with the ZR, combining the familiarity and versatility of its Z-mount mirrorless ecosystem with the filmmaking heritage of RED. It isn't perfect, of course.

There's no built-in electronic viewfinder, no internal ND filters, and the inclusion of micro HDMI rather than a full-size connection might frustrate filmmakers who rely on external monitoring equipment. You also only get one CFexpress Type B slot alongside a slower microSD slot, which limits your options for redundant high-bitrate recording. Nevertheless, these are compromises I can understand when you consider the camera's size, price, and overall capabilities.

So, is the Nikon ZR worth its asking price? Personally, I think it's one of the more interesting compact cinema cameras currently available, particularly when you consider what Nikon has managed to offer for around $2,200 or less than £2,000. Naturally, you'll still need to factor in lenses, memory cards, and potentially some additional accessories, but the foundations of a remarkably capable filmmaking setup are already there.

What excites me most, however, is what the ZR represents for the wider camera industry. Professional filmmaking technology is becoming increasingly accessible, and cameras like this are challenging the idea that you need to spend thousands more to produce genuinely cinematic results. The market might be crowded, but if Nikon can continue delivering this level of performance at such competitive prices, I have a feeling the ZR could be just the beginning of something much bigger.

Godox has shrunk the size of the hotshoe flashgun yet again! The new iM10 carries on the quest that the Godox iM20 started last year offering a miniature strobe that can carry with you anywhere, and give you the opportunity to add a burst of flash to your shots when you need it.

The iM10 is smaller and cheaper that the iM20, but this new addition to the Godox iFlash family still offers the same basic manual-only flash operation. It will work with all mirrorless models and with compact cameras that have a traditional hotshoe.

It is a type of flash that there is a real need for nowadays, as more and more cameras make do without the pop-up flash that used to be a standard feature. Sure the need for flash is not so great, now that high ISO performance is so much better – but a burst of light is still invaluable in very dark conditions, or when trying to eliminate shadows when shooting portraits.

The iM10 weighs under an ounce at just 23g - but conveniently has a built-in rechargeable battery that can be recharged using a standard USB-C cable. A single charge can provide up to 350 flash bursts if the unit is set to full power. If you need less flash, there are 1/2,1/4, and 1/8 power settings available. Recycling time is 3 seconds.

The Godox iM10 is now on sale costing $24.90 / £22.

Above: watch our podcast where Mike and I discuss the demise of the built-in pop-up flash and the rise of the mini accessory flashgun

Check out our full guide to the best flashguns for your camera

For years, Micro Four Thirds cameras have been fighting an uphill battle against larger full-frame and APS-C sensors, particularly when it comes to dynamic range and low-light performance. But what if the next big leap in image quality has nothing to do with increasing sensor size?

According to a fascinating new rumor, the future of Micro Four Thirds could be about to get considerably brighter, with an entirely new generation of sensors reportedly being developed using LOFIC technology. If the claims prove accurate, we could see Four Thirds sensors capable of delivering more than 17 stops of dynamic range, potentially transforming what photographers and filmmakers can achieve with smaller cameras.

The technology in question is known as LOFIC, short for Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor, and it could represent one of the most significant developments in digital sensor technology in years. Unlike conventional sensors, which can struggle to retain information in extremely bright areas of an image, Lofic uses additional capacitors to capture excess electrical charge that would otherwise be lost when a pixel reaches its capacity.

In simple terms, this means a sensor can preserve considerably more highlight detail without sacrificing the information captured in darker areas. For photographers, that could mean greater flexibility when editing RAW files, while filmmakers could benefit from an enormous increase in exposure latitude when recording challenging, high-contrast scenes.

According to 43 Rumors, information originating from a Chinese source suggests that new Four Thirds sensors incorporating this technology could arrive between 2027 and 2028. The source claims, "New domestic M43 sensors featuring LOFIC technology are on the horizon, promising even greater dynamic range and faster readout speeds compared to their predecessors."

More interestingly, the rumored sensors could combine dual conversion gain technology with LOFIC to achieve 14-bit sampling at 60fps, more than 17 stops of dynamic range, and a claimed exposure recovery range extending from +9 to -4 EV. The report also suggests the next generation could be based on a larger Four Thirds-format version of OmniVision's OV50X sensor, although none of these developments or performance figures have been officially confirmed.

What makes this rumor particularly exciting is that Lofic isn't simply theoretical technology waiting to be proven. We have already seen what it can achieve in the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P, which features a 1-inch sensor incorporating the technology. Independent testing by CineD measured an astonishing 16 stops of dynamic range at a signal-to-noise ratio of 2, increasing to 17.2 stops at a ratio of 1.

Those are remarkable figures from such a small sensor, and they demonstrate why this technology is attracting so much attention. If similar performance could be achieved in a larger Four Thirds sensor, it could fundamentally change expectations of what compact camera systems are capable of, particularly for photographers who want exceptional image quality without the size and weight associated with larger formats.

Of course, there is still a considerable difference between a promising sensor rumor and seeing that technology inside the next OM System or Panasonic Lumix camera. The suggestion is that DJI products could receive these sensors first, with no guarantee that traditional Micro Four Thirds manufacturers would have access to them.

Nevertheless, I find the possibilities incredibly exciting. Micro Four Thirds has always offered a compelling balance of portability, lens reach, and performance, but imagine combining those advantages with dynamic range that could rival, or potentially surpass, what we currently expect from much larger sensors. Sensor size will still influence noise, depth of field, and overall image quality, but Lofic could help remove one of the format's most persistent disadvantages.

If these rumors become reality, perhaps the future of Micro Four Thirds isn't about trying to compete with full-frame cameras by becoming something bigger, but by proving just how much more a smaller sensor can achieve.

Check out the best Micro Four Thirds cameras you can buy today

After a very quiet time in terms of new camera releases, there’s been a bit of a flurry of activity recently, but to be honest, with now being the buy-in time for retailers preparing for the busy Christmas and New Year period, more activity might have been expected. Nevertheless, the recent newcomers are very interesting in terms of the different ways that their makers are tackling a challenging market situation.

Both the OM System PEN (pictured above) and the Nikon Z5IIC are different takes on how to convince smartphone users of the benefits of actual cameras, beyond it just being fashionable. So far, it’s the fixed-lens compact camera that’s made all the running here, offering the benefits of a much bigger sensor, but still being comparatively small and so still easy to carry around all time.

Panasonic’s Lumix L10 has upped the ante by packing all its mirrorless camera tech into a fixed-lens package that’s bigger and more expensive, but hugely capable so its appeal extends to more experienced photographers. The new PEN has a similarly broader appeal, but with the added flexibility of interchangeable lenses. However, with its kit zoom, it’s pretty close in size to the L10 and also quasi-retro in its looks, which is important because real cameras have to look like real cameras, and that means at least a hint of a more classical styling. The L10 is quite a bit more expensive than the PEN kit, but it’s a better-featured camera, especially when it comes to shooting video, but both cameras are targeting first-time users.

The more left-field offering here is the Nikon Z5IIC which is aiming to slot first-timers straight into a full-frame camera, and a very well-featured one at that. Under the skin it’s mostly the Z5II – the best-selling Z mount mirrorless body at the moment – but there’s no EVF and only a single memory card slot. However, ditching the ’finder makes the Z5IIC smaller, lighter and cheaper; plus Nikon has added a set of subject/scene modes to enhance its appeal as a high-end point-and-shoot. None of this is random, of course. The much-underrated ‘APS-C’ format Z30 has found a niche as a better-featured compact camera so Nikon thinks a full-frame model could do the same… the Z5IIC is as much designed for photographers as videographers, but the emphasis is on it being easy-to-use or, as we were told at the press preview, a “super fun” camera. And, funnily enough, it sort of is.

The Z5IIC still looks a bit on the serious side, but it handles beautifully and with the subject mode AE and subject recognition AF, works brilliantly at a push of the shutter button. It’s still expensive in compact camera terms, but Nikon also sees the Z5IIC as being a longer-term investment with users able to grow with it as they gain experience. Much will depend on how it’s marketed, but the Z5IIC makes a whole more sense than you might first imagine. In fact, it’s actually rather clever. And, if you really want an EVF, there’s always the Z5II isn’t there?

There have always been so-called entry-level interchangeable-lens cameras to attract first-timers, but promoting the idea that you’re getting something less hasn’t really ever seemed like a great idea. Anyone graduating from a smartphone wants to get more serious about photography so they’re looking at a camera that’s going to help them do that. They probably won’t ever use all the features of cameras like the L10, the PEN or the Z5IIC, but they really want to have them… and maybe a big sensor too. Well, why not?

It’s encouraging that we’re seeing some innovative approaches to designing cameras that are more attractive to beginners, but that aren’t the old-school, pared-down, yesterday’s tech models. Thanks mainly to the smartphone, the market is now much more visually literate and savvy – which is why more users want to move to a real camera – and, notably, price isn’t everything. These newbies want the latest and greatest in capabilities and are prepared to pay for them, so it’s more about how they’re packaged and presented. For camera designers, this is about thinking outside the square and maybe breaking with established conventions to appeal to a whole new category of potential buyer… the advanced beginner. And it could be good for all of us.

The Nikon Z5IIC launched following rumors of a Nikon camera without a viewfinder. While there were whispers of a fixed-lens full-frame compact camera and a stills-focused Nikon ZR, nobody could have predicted a ‘viewfinderless’ clone of the Nikon Z5 II.

Viewfinderless cameras have always been divisive. Photography purists cite the stability and sun-glare-free nature of shooting through the viewfinder as too crucial to pass up. But plenty of modern photographers ignore their EVF in favor of their mirrorless cameras’ rear LCD and a more dynamic method of shooting.

What works for you, works. But the big question I’ll be trying to answer is what benefits the Nikon Z5IIC’s viewfinderless design brings to the table. One such benefit is price. With reports of the Nikon Z5 reaching the end of its lifecycle, the Nikon Z5IIC could soon become the most affordable entry point into Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless lineup at $1,399.95 / £1,349 / AU$2,399 (body only).

And that entry point is exactly what Nikon is targeting. The ‘C’ in the camera’s name is supposed to represent ‘Casual’, which is why the Nikon Z5IIC is also the very first full-frame Z-series camera to feature Scene Modes.

I took the Nikon Z5IIC for a spin around the beautiful city of Bath to find out how its viewfinderless design fared in a street photography setting. Read on for a deep dive into the camera’s specs and to find out how it performed in real-world scenarios.

Nikon Z5IIC vs Z5II: Specifications

Nikon Z5IIC: Price

The Nikon Z5IIC is priced at $1,399.95 / £1,349 / AU$2,399 (body only). Compare that to the Nikon Z5 II, which is typically listed around $1,599 / £1,499 / AU$2,699, and that’s a decent saving of around $200 / £150 / AU$300. But one thing I’ve had in mind is where the Z5IIC will end up. As time goes on, we could see that body-only price creep towards the $1,000 mark.

You can also opt to choose from various kits or bundles, such as the Nikon Z5IIC + Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 ($1,699.95 / £1,609 / AU$2,949). This prime-sized zoom is a great choice for the camera’s viewfinderless design. While the Nikon Z5IIC + Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR ($TBC / £2,049 / AU$3,699) might seem like a great all-in-one option, I’d be wary of any lens bigger than the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S, which I used during my review.

When you stack the Nikon Z5IIC against the Panasonic Lumix S9 and Sony A7C II, it’s priced between them. Overall, I think it’s competitively priced given its specs and the economic challenges the consumer tech industry is currently facing.

Nikon Z5IIC: Design & Handling

The Nikon Z5IIC largely follows the same formula as every other mainline Z-series camera: it’s solid, bulky, has a deep grip, and plenty of physical controls. The big difference is that it doesn’t have a faux pentaprism bump in which to house an electronic viewfinder.

It’s less bulky and inherently more ‘riggable’ than any other full-frame Z-series camera (Nikon ZR aside). This allows it to occupy marginally less space in a backpack, weigh marginally less in the hand, look marginally less professional and intimidating, and cost marginally less than its blueprint, the Nikon Z5 II. The big question I had when using this camera was: Is ‘marginal’ enough to warrant the downgrade in functionality?

I get it. Not every photographer wants to use a viewfinder, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. If you’re prepared for bright, sunny conditions reflecting off the rear LCD and that doesn’t faze you, who am I to tell you otherwise? But the difference here is that the Nikon Z5IIC is a beefy, full-frame camera and that does change things.

Take the Panasonic Lumix S9 for example; a viewfinderless full-frame camera that’s roughly 135g lighter than the Nikon Z5IIC. That does make a difference. I’ve handed the Z5IIC off to various colleagues, and they’ve all been surprised by the same thing: its weight. The camera’s body weighs 538 g, which is a not-insignificant 82 g lighter than the Nikon Z5 II.

And yet, the way you handle a viewfinderless camera is just different. Peer through a viewfinder and you’ll instinctively cradle a larger camera with both hands, but viewfinderless cameras need to be held farther from the body. The Z5IIC might be lighter than the Nikon Z5 II, but I noticed its weight more.

That’s not to say the weight is a constant pain point, but it is a consideration. I used the camera with the Nikon Z 40mm f/2 and Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S. The latter is as heavy and bulky as I’d want to go for regular, handheld shooting. And even then, this is a relatively hefty setup for an everyday carry.

Use the Nikon Z5IIC for video, though, and the form factor isn’t an issue. Again, you tend to hold a camera differently when shooting video. Your forefinger doesn’t have to rest on the shutter button, meaning you can hold it in any way that feels comfortable to you. And of course, if you mainly shoot stills from a tripod, the form factor won’t be an issue at all, and most tripod users compose via the rear screen anyway.

Ultimately, the lack of a viewfinder won’t be a turnoff for everyone, but the size and weight of the camera could be. I recommend trying it on for size in your local camera shop before buying, and considering very carefully what lenses you want to use with it. A telephoto-friendly camera this is not.

A disappointing oversight from Nikon on paper is the Z5IIC’s rear screen. It’s actually lower resolution than the Nikon Z5II’s 2100k-dot screen (it’s 1040k dots). This really is a curious decision from Nikon and one that I can only assume was a budgetary measure. Still, you’d think the rear screen on a viewfinderless camera would be a core spec. And yet, despite my displeasure, if I’m going to be truly honest, I didn’t find this to be an issue out in the field. An oversight, yes, but not one that will impact the camera’s day-to-day usability.

Now that I’ve addressed the elephant in the room, let’s move on to some of the positives, of which there are plenty. As you’d expect from a mainline Z-series camera, the entire body feels solid. It’s built from magnesium alloy and durable-feeling plastics, while the grip is deep and covered in Nikon’s grippy leatherette.

It’s also weather sealed, and while I’m not going to leave a $1399.95 / £1,349 camera out in a downpour, the UK’s dreadful weather meant I spent a lot of time using the Z5IIC in light showers. I never advise letting any camera get saturated, but I felt entirely confident using the Z5IIC in wet conditions.

As per usual, Nikon has churned out a utilitarian device that’s built like a tank. But what’s unheard of from a mainline Z-series camera is that the Z5IIC comes in two colors. That’s right, it’s not just all-black with the classic red stripe; you can also opt for a silver variant. This paint job is only applied to the top plate, giving the camera a definite Sony A7C II vibe. Some of my colleagues think the silver looks plasticky, but as somebody who often moans about silver cameras looking cheap, I’d opt for the silver variant. Consider me a fan.

On the aforementioned top plate, you’ll find a fairly minimalist setup that’s functionally almost identical to the Nikon Z5 II. You’ve got a chunky mode dial that’s satisfyingly stiff, albeit slightly different to the Nikon Z5II’s in that it has only two U options instead of three. This is to facilitate the new Scene Mode icon (more on that later).

Like the Z5 II, there’s also a very handy Picture Control button. Simply tap it and use the rear command dial to scroll through 31 ‘looks’ which are applied to images in real time. The left side of the top plate is typically bare, but without the viewfinder bump, it might have been nice to have included an ISO or exposure comp dial.

Moving on to the rear, it’s standard fare except for the lack of a joystick. This is a real backwards step as far as I’m concerned. I can’t imagine it would have been an expensive addition. It simply means you’re forced to use the d-pad, which isn’t always as comfortable for your thumb, when holding the camera to accommodate its viewfinderless design. Thankfully, though, the buttons are solid and pleasantly spongy.

The Nikon Z5IIC has a single SD-card slot, which is a downgrade from the Z5 II. However, this isn’t a pro-grade camera, and if you’re a stickler for pro features, you’re going to want a viewfinder anyway. As such, I think this is a sensible cost-saving measure that won’t bother most, especially with the ever-increasing price of memory cards these days.

On the front of the camera, you’ve got two Fn buttons, which can be reached by extending your middle and forefinger from the grip, so they can be activated one-handed. And, like other Z-series cameras, the Z5IIC’s controls are highly customizable, so you can make the setup work for you.

The camera uses Nikon’s standard EN-EL15c rechargeable Li-ion battery. According to the CIPA Shot Rating, it’s rated for 350 shots, which isn’t much different from the Nikon Z5II’s 330-380. During use, I can confirm that the battery held up as well as could be expected. Any concerns you might have about the rear LCD always being on can be easily dispelled. Firstly, by getting into the habit of switching your camera off when not in use. And secondly, by the fact that a standard mirrorless is constantly switching between an EVF and a rear LCD, the power usage isn’t going to be much different.

Nikon Z5IIC: Performance

Nikon’s second-generation Z-series lineup consists of the Nikon Z9 at the very top of the pyramid, with varying degrees of tech trickling down to other cameras in the range. As such, all of Nikon’s cameras boast very solid core performances and the Nikon Z5IIC is no different.

In a world of high-megapixel sensors, you could look down upon the Z5IIC’s 24.5-MP sensor, but like all of Nikon’s full-frame image files, the stills you get from the Z5IIC really are top tier. RAW files stand up to generous cropping and are extremely pliable in post; they’re just an all-around treat to work with.

And if editing RAW files isn’t your thing, the Nikon Z5IIC is loaded with Nikon’s Picture Controls. Think Fujifilm Film Simulations, but not as good fresh from the box. Thankfully, Picture Controls can be edited so you can come up with your own ‘recipes’, and you can even download examples from other creators.

A fairly recent update that debuted on the Nikon Zf is Film Grain. This complements Picture Controls by adding retro film grain to images. Not only does it look the part, but the grain isn’t uniform, so each application is different. I tested this myself and can confirm that it does indeed hold up to scrutiny. You can customize the grain by choosing from three different sizes and seven different intensities. I wouldn’t recommend using everything maxed out, but the default settings do look very convincing.

Another feature that really lives up to the Nikon Z5IIC’s ‘Casual’ moniker is the presence of Scene Modes. The Z5IIC is the first full-frame Nikon camera to feature Scene Modes, and while that might not seem like a big deal, I think it’s a great addition. These modes are a great way for novice photographers to exercise a little creative agency beyond the one-size-fits-all Auto Mode.

There are 15 Scene Modes in total, allowing you to adapt quickly to a variety of shooting situations. For example, I photographed my dog using the Pet Portraits Scene Mode. The camera instantly opened up the aperture and switched to Animal-Detection AF, so all I had to do was compose my image and fire the shutter.

Similarly, I tried out Night Landscape and Autumn Colors; the camera instantly adapted to both scenarios, raising the ISO and opening the aperture in low light, and warming the image and boosting the saturation when capturing autumnal foliage. Picture Controls and Scene modes aren’t for everyone, but I think they fit the Z5IIC’s intended demographic and are definite selling points for the right photographer.

When it comes to autofocus, the Nikon Z5IIC performs very well. Sure, it can get a little stuck or confused at times, like any AF system, but provided you take the time to learn Nikon’s various modes, you’ll be well rewarded. I enjoy using 3D tracking, Wide-Area AF, and Single-Point AF, swapping between modes depending on the subject or scene at hand.

I own a Nikon Z8, and while the Z8 will certainly perform better in a side-by-side comparison, I didn’t find myself bemoaning the Z5IIC’s performance, which is high praise indeed. And of course, the Nikon Z5IIC has an autofocus mod con that currently no other Nikon camera has – not even the flagship Nikon Z9 – and that’s fish subject-detection.

Now, I initially found this quite the novelty, but in a world of ever-expanding AF algorithms, why not? I actually used to know a professional photographer who photographed fish for fish-keeping publications, and I’m sure he’d be very happy indeed with this development. It’s exciting news for underwater photographers, too, because put a camera with fish AF in an underwater housing and you’re golden.

Speaking of gold, I did my due diligence and found myself a fitting subject to test out this new autofocus mode. Thomas is a rescued fairground goldfish who resides in a local art studio owned by incredibly talented wildlife artist Jacqueline Byrne (@jacquelinebyrne.art). Jackie kindly allowed me to use Thomas as a model and I was pleased to find that the camera not only detected the goldfish’s body, but also locked onto his eyes.

It did struggle at times, but the conditions were challenging. Reflections and scratches on the tank glass, not to mention underwater foliage, and my need to shoot wide open in low light, all contributed. But fish AF works and isn’t quite the joke addition it may at first seem.

The Nikon Z5IIC’s form factor certainly lends itself to videography, and just like the Nikon Z5 II it boasts some decent specs. Arguably the biggest selling point is internal 4K 30p full-width RAW video. And while it’s nice to have, I always thought it was a little out of place on the Nikon Z5II, and I still think it’s a little out of place on the Nikon Z5IIC.

A lot of pro videographers don’t shoot RAW video. After all, it fills up storage as a pastime, creates increased internal heat, and is power-hungry in the edit. That said, it’s nice to have as an option. Although, a word of warning: make sure you’re using a capable SD card. The Nikon Z5IIC will only record RAW video on a memory card that’s over 32GB. And if your memory card isn’t fast enough, it’ll stop recording before time.

When it comes to overheating, ambient temperature and camera usage will always affect the outcome, but I shot 13 minutes of uninterrupted RAW footage in real-world testing without issue. The Nikon ZR is proof that Nikon knows how to build a camera that’s very hard to overheat, and while I cannot comment on long-term video usage due to my very short time with the camera, I don’t have any immediate concerns. I also shot some 4K video. As you’d expect, the autofocus performed well; just be aware that 4K 60p enforces a 1.5x (DX) crop.

Another video boon is in-body image stabilization. It’s not surprising given that the Nikon Z5II also has it, but it was a crucial inclusion because the Z5IIC’s direct competitors also have IBIS. What they don’t have is 7.5 stops of stabilization, with the camera beating the Panasonic Lumix S9’s 6.5 stops and the Sony A7C II’s seven stops. This is a great feature for photographers, too. I’d argue it’s essential for the Z5IIC given its viewfinderless design, because you’re not holding the camera up to your eye, which is the most stable shooting position.

While the lower-resolution LCD screen didn’t really bother me when shooting stills, I do think it matters more for video. Metering is such an important part of videography, and while you’ve got aids such as zebras and histograms, every little helps if you’re not resorting to an external monitor.

One thing I would suggest that any Nikon Z5IIC owner does is head into Menu>Setup>Monitor Brightness and set the latter to its maximum setting. This will reduce battery efficiency, but you’ll get a brighter and more visible screen. As a photographer, I lament the flip-out screen craze, much preferring a tilting screen, but the Nikon Z5IIC is a camera built to adapt to both worlds, and a flip-out screen is definitely preferable for video.

Nikon Z5IIC: Sample images

Nikon Z5IIC: Lab Tests

Nikon Z5IIC lab test data

For this test, we have compared the Nikon Z5IIC with its closest competitors, the Nikon Z5 II, Sony A7C II, and Panasonic Lumix S9

Resolution

ISO

Nikon Z5 IICNikon Z5 IISony A7C IIPanasonic S9

Resolution Data

Timestamp (ISO)	Nikon Z5 IIC ()	Nikon Z5 II ()	Sony A7C II ()	Panasonic S9 ()
1	28	28	30	26
2	28	28	30	26
3	28	28	30	26
4	28	28	30	26
5	28	28	30	26
6	28	26	30	26
7	28	26	30	26
8	26	26	28	26
9	24	24	26	24

Dynamic Range

ISO

Nikon Z5 IICNikon Z5 IISony A7C IIPanasonic S9

Dynamic Range Data

Timestamp (ISO)	Nikon Z5 IIC ()	Nikon Z5 II ()	Sony A7C II ()	Panasonic S9 ()
1	12.51	12.52	12.21	12.19
2	12.5	12.52	12.62	12.02
3	12.51	12.27	12.51	11.95
4	12.5	12.37	12.52	11.99
5	12.12	11.99	12.45	11.71
6	11.79	11.59	11.88	11.32
7	10.9	10.26	10.9	10.99
8	9.82	9.35	10.02	10.03
9	8.81	8.59	9.26	9.16

Signal to Noise Ratio

ISO

Nikon Z5 IICNikon Z5 IISony A7C IIPanasonic S9

Signal to Noise Ratio Data

Timestamp (ISO)	Nikon Z5 IIC ()	Nikon Z5 II ()	Sony A7C II ()	Panasonic S9 ()
1	46.32	46.16	41.44	44.88
2	43.03	43.42	39.27	42.35
3	40.68	40.51	36.44	40.49
4	37.75	37.31	34.04	37.64
5	34.82	33.99	32.35	34.41
6	31.38	30.65	29.31	31.51
7	28.45	27.23	25.95	29.06
8	25.5	24.44	23.14	26.37
9	22.68	21.78	20.46	23.24

Resolution: It’s not surprising that the Sony A7C II comfortably beats the other full-frame cameras thanks to its 33-MP sensor, with the Panasonic Lumix S9 bringing up the rear with its 24.2-MP sensor. The bigger surprise is the Nikon Z5IIC’s performance in relation to the Nikon Z5 II, exhibiting sharper images between ISO3200 and ISO12,800. However, this could simply be a variation in optics, and in a real-world scenario, the difference is going to be negligible.

Dynamic Range: Each camera boasts impressive dynamic range and despite differences in resolution, there really isn’t much to separate them. The Sony A7C II just about wins, as to be expected, but the Nikon Z5IIC more than holds its own, performing better than both the Nikon Z5 II and Panasonic Lumix S9. Again, the race is so tight, you’re unlikely to notice much difference in a real-world scenario.

Signal to noise ratio: The lower-resolution sensors come out on top here, with the Sony A7C II’s higher resolution proving its undoing, although it doesn’t lag far behind. When it comes to the two Nikons and the Panasonic Lumix S9, you’d have to defer to a photo finish to work out who’s pipped who to the post, but it does look like the Nikon Z5IIC has outperformed the Nikon Z5 II once again.

Nikon Z5IIC: Verdict

The Nikon Z5IIC is a tale of two halves. On the one hand, it has a slightly awkward design. On the other, its performance punches above its weight. I’m no stickler for always looking through the viewfinder, but the biggest benefit of viewfinderless cameras is their increased portability.

And yet, losing the viewfinder doesn’t impact the size and weight of the Z5IIC enough; it’s still a big lump. The upside of this is that it’s built like a tank and feels like a premium, weather-sealed product. I’m not saying the heft is a dealbreaker; just make sure you try it on for size before you buy.

Under the hood is where the camera really gains some ground. It’s a fantastic all-around performer, with great autofocus, gorgeous stills, solid video specs, and impressive in-body image stabilization. Plus, you get the rather unusual (if superfluous) bonus of RAW video.

Scene Modes is an unlikely standout for me. It really lives up to the Z5IIC’s ‘casual’ moniker and allows anybody to get creative with the camera from the offset. Picture Modes and Film Grain serve as the next step in creative agency, allowing you to apply ready-made or custom presets to your images in real time.

Finally, the Nikon Z5IIC is competitively priced. At $1399.95 / £1,349, it sits between the Sony A7C II and Panasonic Lumix S9. It’s not a cheap camera by any means, and I do wonder how appealing that price point is to its ‘casual’ target audience. But it’s got the specs of a more expensive camera.

Overall, I was ready to hate on the Nikon Z5IIC when it was announced, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed my limited time with the camera. That said, I wonder if its size and weight could be its undoing.

It’s too big to be an everyday carry, and I fear it may be too intimidating for its ‘casual’ target audience. I hope I’m proved wrong, because this is a well-built, exceedingly capable full-frame camera. Just like its blueprint, the Nikon Z5 II.

Nikon Z5IIC: Alternatives

Check out our guide to the best mirrorless cameras, and our rundown of the best Nikon Z lenses

As a photographer using a Fujifilm mirrorless camera, there’s been more than a few times that I wish the viral X100VI compact camera was easier to get my hands on. But it’s not just the compact camera’s size that I’m jealous of – one of the features that I wish I could tuck into my mirrorless is actually the compact camera’s unusual viewfinder.

The Fujifilm X100VI uses a hybrid viewfinder design that fits both a traditional optical viewfinder and an electronic viewfinder into one. The hybrid design launched with the first X100 series camera and remains an iconic part of its retro design.

But despite Fujifilm’s hybrid viewfinder being around for more than a decade, the feature hasn’t bled into many of the company’s mirrorless cameras. The one exception is the X-Pro series. Cameras like the X-Pro3 also had a hybrid viewfinder, but the discontinued X-Pro3 is only available used.

The hybrid design mixes the best of optical viewfinders, which are pure optics, with the best of electronic viewfinders, which are screen-based viewfinders, because photographers can choose to switch between the two. (Or use the electronic rangefinder mode that puts a small EVF window inside the optical viewfinder.)

When I first transitioned from a DSLR to mirrorless, I loved the electronic viewfinder because I could see exactly what I was photographing, down to the exposure and colors.

But when I’m working with flash, I usually find myself missing the old-school optical viewfinder. When I’m exposing for the flash, the exposure preview on the EVF renders a dark image because, without the flash of light, that’s what the exposure would look like. I have to turn off the exposure preview option on the EVF in order to get around that darkened viewfinder.

That’s why I often find myself thinking about not just the X100VI’s small size, but its unusual viewfinder. The hybrid design allows photographers to choose whether they want a true optical viewfinder that shows the scene without screen lag or an electronic one that shows an accurate exposure and white balance preview.

I suspect one of the reasons that the hybrid design hasn’t become more widespread is that the optical view has a number of limitations, particularly when mixed with modern camera tech. The electronic viewfinder mode is a must for using features like eye detection and subject detection autofocus.

Putting a hybrid viewfinder on a camera with swappable lenses is a different beast from putting one on a fixed lens camera, but the X-Pro3 proves it’s possible.

Still, I love the film-like controls on my Fujifilm mirrorless, and the classic optical viewfinder feels much more classic than a modern EVF. The option to choose between either type depending on what I’m shooting and the experience I’m looking for is something that I would love to have without giving up swappable lenses.

The hybrid viewfinder seems particularly notable with the rise of screen-free compact cameras, digital cameras that use traditional optical viewfinders and skip the ability to view photos.

The price of the Fujifilm X100VI has me eyeing pancake lenses as a portable alternative instead – but mirrorless alternatives like the X-E5 don’t offer the same hybrid viewfinder experience.

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The first time I encountered SmallRig was when I bought its add-on hand grip for my Nikon Z fc a few years ago, which also serves as an L-bracket and Arca-Swiss compatible QR plate. It transforms the handling of this otherwise slippery camera and I’ve been so impressed that I’ve never removed it. Nikon was evidently also enamored, to the extent that when they launched the full-frame Z f, the accompanying SmallRig hand grip was bundled as a free extra with the camera.

Apart from hand grips, the Chinese company SmallRig has been making a growing range of gadgets since 2013, specializing in camera supports and stabilizers, smartphone accessories, lighting and control systems, and mobile power solutions. I’ve also been impressed by its SmallRig Camera Desk Mount and innovative SmallRig x Potato Jet TRIBEX Hydraulic Carbon Fiber Tripod Kit.

The SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L that I’m reviewing here currently seems to have a bit of an identity crisis. I’ve also seen it advertised as the SmallRig Outra 25 Outdoor Camera Bag 25L Backpack with Modular Pouches and Comfortable Harness (on SmallRig’s official website, no less). Whichever moniker it goes by, it’s designed to be a rugged and extensively customizable backpack for the great outdoors, suited to enthusiast and professional photographers and content creators. In short, it aims to be one of the best camera backpacks that money can buy. I’ll come back to the ‘money’ bit in a moment, after going through the specs.

SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L: Specifications

SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L: Price

Typical of kit from SmallRig and other Chinese photographic manufacturers, the SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L looks like good value for money at $199 / £180 / AU$295. Sure, it’s not cheap and costs around the same as some other dedicated camera backpacks on the market. However, the quality of materials and all the neat little extras that you get with this backpack (including three standalone gadget cases) mean that you’re getting a good deal.

SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L: Design & Handling

At first sight, the SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L looks big and bulky for a backpack of its ‘medium’ 25-liter capacity. First impressions are proven correct when you pick it up because at 3.8kg / 8.4lb, it’s relatively heavy for a 25L backpack, even when empty. The flipside is that the SmallRig is robust and very well padded, and packs a lot of neat extras that add to its overall size and weight. Quality materials and parts include Cordura (well known to outdoor adventurers and to me as a motorcyclist) and YKK zippers.

Considering that the SmallRig is a backpack, it seems logical to start with how you wear it. Unlike the relatively basic strap arrangements of many camera backpacks, this one has a fully adjustable harness. In fact, it adjusts here, there, and everywhere, starting at the top with an extending upper section that has adjustable straps, as shown in the image above, enabling you to customize how the pack sits on your shoulders. In the image below, you’ll see the adjusters at the bottom of the shoulder straps, which set their overall length.

A common theme throughout the design of this backpack is that there are pockets and pouches in pretty much every place it’s conceivable to put them. This includes a mesh pocket on the front of one of the shoulder straps. Pull the shoulder straps to the side, and you fully reveal the deeply padded and well-ventilated cushioning that adds comfort for your upper and lower back. There are also three rear straps that serve as grab handles, as well as teaming up to form a baggage trolley pass-through.

Adding further security and comfort to the fit, the backpack features a sternum strap that can slide up and down the shoulder strap and has its own fastening clip and length-adjustment clasp. Suffice it to say that the sternum strap is fully adjustable and works well to avoid the risk of the main straps slipping off your shoulders.

A pair of shoulder straps plus a sternum strap isn’t always enough to keep a backpack in place, especially if loaded with heavy kit, when you’re negotiating tricky terrain or climbing over obstacles. With this in mind, a similarly comfortable and well-padded waist strap is supplied with the bag. I like that it’s fully removable, so you don’t have to attach this additional bulky and space-hungry element of the bag unless you really need to. Conversely, you can detach the waist strap and use it on its own, taking advantage of yet another zippered pouch and optionally attaching one of the three supplied cases to it for quick access to items of your kit, which you can do with the waist strap attached to or detached from the backpack.

With so much emphasis being given in the design to how you wear the backpack, it’s good that there are also a generous number of grab handles. After all, it’s often a lot more convenient to simply grab a bag and move it around than to put it on and take it off every time. As well as the grab handles around the back, there’s a full-width grab handle up top.

There are two straps with magnetic clasps, one on each side of the upper section of the backpack. The lengths of these straps are individually adjustable, so you can use them to tether items to the side of the backpack.

Undoing both of the side straps gives access to the roll-top front pocket, which is pretty cavernous despite folding flat to the front of the bag. It also features a magnetic closure in addition to the roll-top and has internal organizer pockets. With a 4-liter capacity, the front pocket is designed to be able to carry an assembled stabilizer or similarly large item.

Moving down the left-hand side of the bag, there’s another large zippered opening. This one doesn’t give access to the main compartment, but it does feature an organizer section with yet more pouches and zippered pockets for small items, including a color-coded section for blank and full memory cards.

Just behind the left-hand pocket, there’s a specialized selfie stick holder with a flip-over cover that has a magnetic closure. Inserting a selfie stick into the holder enables you to extend the stick above your head and shoot when you’re on the move, while wearing the backpack as normal.

Moving from left to right, the side pocket on this side of the bag looks just like the one on the left from the outside, and has the same expandable outer carrier for the likes of drinks bottles. However, open the zipper, and you’ll find a flap with a different organizer layout. It’s a better fit for spare camera batteries or other items of a similar size.

A more fundamental difference is that the right-hand-side pocket has an internal flap that hinges out to give side access to the main compartment in which you’re likely to store your camera, lenses, and other main bits of kit.

As well as offering an additional access point to your camera, lenses, or other accessories, an advantage of the side-pocket access is that you can retrieve items from the backpack by swiveling around on one shoulder, instead of fully taking it off and lying it down on the ground. To finish off the side pocket collection, there’s a further pair of tall, slim pockets, one on each side of the backpack towards the front. Again, these have their own zippers for gaining access.

Up on top, there’s guess what? Yes, it’s yet another zippered access point. This one enables you to get into the top of the main compartment. Off the shelf, the backpack comes with one of the dividers acting as a floor, making the top section a separate space in its own right, complete with the largest of the additional cases fitted to its floor. However, you can reconfigure the divider to change the height of this area, or remove it altogether.

The top zipper not only gives access to the top pocket or the top area of the main compartment, depending on how you configure the dividers, but also to the dedicated laptop compartment. This is large enough to accommodate a 16-inch laptop and comes with a Velcro securing strap.

The largest of the lift-out cases that’s supplied in the bottom of the top pocket is just under 12 inches wide. It has securing straps with poppers, MOLLE loops, and Velcro strips to enable a wide range of attachment options, along with a Velcro closure. Furthermore, it has yet another selection of five organizer pockets on the inside, in addition to its main compartment.

Full access to the main camera compartment of the backpack is through the rear. That’s my personal preference because, if you need to lay the bag down on mucky ground to get at your gear, you’re not laying it on the surface that you’ll then need to wear against your back. I also like that you don’t have to fold the shoulder straps forward, out of the way, before you can undo the main zipper, which I feel is a failing of some other backpacks that have a rear-access design. Even then, the SmallRig goes one better by featuring an internal baffle panel that runs the height of the main compartment and attaches top and bottom by Velcro. This hinges outwards to enable access, while also reducing the risk of items moving from their designated positions when the bag is closed.

The main compartment itself has three main lateral dividers. These attach to the outer shell via durable loops and Velcro strips. You can use one, two, or all three of them to best fit your kit. Alternatively, you can remove all of the main dividers and use the backpack for general-purpose duty, such is the modular nature of the design.

Opening the main rear panel of the backpack also gives access to the laptop sleeve, as shown below. The upshot is that if you need to grab some of your camera gear as well as your laptop, you don’t need to open both the top and rear zippers.

To customize the main compartment and make it a tailored fit for your kit, the backpack is supplied with six smaller, folding dividers, each with Velcro attachment strips. They’re nicely padded and easy to move around to accommodate whatever you want to stash.

You might well be able to spot a theme developing at this point, if you’re not already ahead of the game. The additional medium and small cases follow the example set by the largest one. They have attachment straps with poppers, Velcro attachment strips and a Velcro closure plus Molle loops. They also feature multiple internal organizer pockets. Some might say ‘the more the merrier’. Others might wonder just how many separate storage areas, pouches, and pockets you actually need.

Although Cordura is renowned as a very hard-wearing and water-resistant fabric, the backpack nevertheless comes complete with a tailor-made, slip-over rain cover. This folds in on itself, wrapping up small and snug when not required, so it takes up fairly little room in a spare corner of one of the backpack’s many pockets and pouches.

Even though the backpack is voluminous, not everything’s going to fit inside. For large items that could be anything from a tripod to light stands or even a rolled-up picnic blanket, there are four attachment loops up top and another four at the bottom. That’s in addition to the four strips of MOLLE loops at the sides near the top of the bag, and the adjustable side straps. A pair of adjustable straps is supplied with the backpack, with hooks that are specially made to work with the attachment loops.

Yet more add-on attachments are featured, with two pairs of cords that run down the backs and fronts of each side panel. The cords are sewn in so that they form rows of additional loops for latching stuff onto. Alternatively, you could use the loops for securing the backpack to something else while in transit.

SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L: Performance

Getting right down to business, the zippered rear panel and its internal baffle, along with the main and supplementary dividers, enable quick access to all your main camera gear. The easy fitment or removal of the dividers, both the main lateral ones and smaller folding ones, enables a tailored fit for kit, as well as enabling you to convert the bag into a general-purpose backpack or a split camera/daypack, adding versatility.

You’ll notice in the image shown above that the top compartment is separated from the main compartment in the standard configuration of the backpack. You can change this and break through between the two compartments, merging them into one if you remove the top lateral divider, which by default also acts as the floor of the top compartment.

As you might remember from earlier, the right hand side pocket also acts as a side entry point to the main camera compartment, as shown above. It makes sense, therefore, to keep items that you want to grab quickly and most frequently ranked down the right hand side of the compartment.

When you need your laptop, it’s nice that you can access its safe and secure sleeve through either the top opening or the main rear opening of the backpack. Either way, an additional Velcro strap adds an extra layer of safety, ensuring that it doesn’t slide out accidentally.

In practice, I found that the magnetic clasps on the side straps, which you can use for tethering a tripod, were rather less secure. The smallest movement of the cord that releases the clasp is all that’s needed to undo the latch, the result being that the tripod can become untethered accidentally while you’re wearing or carrying the backpack. To avoid this potential pitfall, I tend to use the separate adjustable straps in conjunction with their partner attachment loops at the top and/or bottom of the backpack, which provides a much safer and more secure solution.

In general, all areas, compartments, sleeves, pockets, pouches, organizer sections, and the three additional cases work very well. My only problem from a performance standpoint is that there are just so many of them. Sure, it’s nice that ‘there’s a place for everything and everything in its place’. However, with so many pockets, sub-pockets, and sub-sub-pockets on the agenda, I found it easy to lose track of exactly where I’d stowed some of my items, which made it troublesome to locate them.

SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L: Verdict

Living up to its outdoor billing, the SmallRig Professional Outdoor Backpack 25L is robust, hard-wearing, and very weather-resistant, based on quality materials and components, including Cordura and YKK zippers, along with a tailored slip-over rain cover. I like its modular design, which enables you to remove some or all of the dividers and switch between use as a dedicated camera backpack, a general daily backpack, or a split camera/daypack. The ‘modular’ approach even stretches to the provision of three smaller cases that you can use inside or outside the bag and a large, padded removable waist strap with its own additional pocket and attachment points.

As a consequence of the many and varied parts, the backpack is quite bulky and heavy, even when empty, although you don’t need to use or carry the additional cases and waist strap if you don’t feel the need for them. Either way, the fully adjustable harness with adjusters at the top and bottom of the shoulder straps, plus the adjustable sternum and waist straps and deeply padded body contact areas, make the backpack very comfortable to wear even when fully loaded, for long periods of time.

My only real problem with this backpack is that it’s just so complicated. I feel it’s actually over-designed and over-engineered. I do appreciate the fact that SmallRig wanted to bring a sense of order to large collections of kit by featuring a myriad of pockets within pockets, to give every little thing its own special place. The idea is that this approach makes items quicker to find and easier to access. However, I actually found that the opposite was often the case. Instead of making everything quicker and easier, it took me longer to find bits and pieces, in what often turned into a game of hide-and-seek and something of a memory test.

Alternatives

When you think of cameras being hosted in museums, you probably think of early, Victorian era contraptions made of mahogany and brass. The sort of pioneering, cumbersome machinery that seems a million miles away from the sleek digital tech we covet today.

So it can feel jarring to learn that one of these modern devices has already earned its place in a major museum. But in this case, context is everything.

The Riedel RefCam weighs just 14g. It clips onto a headset. And it’s the actual unit that referee Slavko Vinčić wore during the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. This both helped him do his job and provided extra footage for broadcasters.

The tiny camera now sits opposite one from 1839, based on Louis Daguerre’s design, which weighs 7kg: that's 500 times heavier. It’s a neat visual shorthand to show how far technology has come.

Origin story

Riedel originally developed the RefCam with Patrick Kessel and Nicolas Winter, two referees in German's National League, as way for them to review matches from their own position on the pitch.

Its tiny head clips onto the headset that referees already use to talk to each other. It’s connected to a small beltpack, which can go in a pocket, on an armband, or on a belt. The camera shoots video up to 1080p, and a built-in mic picks up sound from the pitch.

Don't get too excited, though, because you can't actually buy one. Leagues and broadcasters can only book it as a managed service.

Shaky footage from a running referee is hard to use live, so FIFA’s technology partner Lenovo added a second, AI-based stabilization stage. That does, however, add a delay of about three seconds, so broadcasters mostly use the referee footage for replays.

The camera has also been used in handball and basketball, and Riedel’s brochure also mentions its use for fighting rings and ski slopes.

More broadly, it's a reminder to photographers and videographers that where you put the camera can matter more than how good the camera is. The RefCam puts viewers at eye level in the middle of the action, and the slightly shaky footage is part of what makes it feel real.

The RefCam is now on display in the Deutsches Museum’s photography and film exhibition. For more details, visit riedel.net.

The “handheld Hollywood” Sony FX5 cinema camera only existed for 24 hours before it was backordered due to the large number of pre-orders. After that initial popularity and a delay due to “production issues,” US retailers are now listing a mid-November ship date, while Sony UK’s ship date now appears to be pushed back until January.

Sony announced the FX5 on July 22, unveiling a compact cinema camera with a full-frame sensor, 5K open gate, and internal RAW recording. That puts the camera between the Sony FX3 and the FX6 in the company’s cinema lineup.

The camera was expected to be available in August 2026, but has since faced multiple delay announcements. Now, retailers in the US are listing a mid-November ship date for the camera, though Sony’s official US website doesn’t yet list a ship date.

Earlier this month, Sony UK was listing a November 16 ship date, but new orders for the camera now have a January ship date for the camera.

One day after the FX5 announcement, Sony Japan issued an apology saying that some customers could see delays due to a high number of pre-orders. Then in August, Sony Japan said shipments were delayed due to unspecified “production issues.”

Amid the production delay, some users on Reddit said they had experienced screen issues with the camera, leading to theories and rumors that the production issues could be related to the LCD screen housing.

Fans have long been waiting for a refresh of the 2021 Sony FX3, though the new FX5 doesn’t replace the FX3 but rather sits ahead of it in Sony’s cinema lineup. The initial delay suggests that the new body has been more popular than Sony expected.

The Sony FX5’s headline feature is 5K 60p open gate, recording to the full size of the 3:2 full-frame sensor for greater flexibility for formatting the video in post. At the announcement, Sony also said the FX5 would get 120p support with a future firmware update.

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Learn where to pre-order the Sony FX5, or take a look at the best cinema cameras.

Don't want to spend a fortune but need a solid mirrorless camera? Explore these three top mirrorless deals at B&H and save up to $250 – with or without an included lens.

The Canon EOS RP is now just $899, saving you $250 off its original $1,149 price. The Canon EOS RP with RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 is now just $1,199, also slashing $250 off its regular $1,449 price.

And the Canon EOS R100 is now just $429, knocking $130 off the standard $559 price. The Canon EOS R100 with RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 is now just $549, shaving $130 off its original $679 price tag.

• Canon EOS RP with the RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM: was $1,449.00, now $1,199. Save $250

• Canon EOS R100 with RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM: was $679, now $549. Save $130

Canon EOS RP

Best cheap full-frame camera

With a 26.2MP full-frame CMOS sensor, compact body, and Dual Pixel CMOS AF in Full HD, the Canon EOS RP is an accessible entry point to full-frame mirrorless.

It features a fully articulating screen and intuitive controls, while EF lens support via an adapter adds versatility. Although 4K video comes with a 1.6x crop and lacks Dual Pixel AF, stills are sharp and the dynamic range is impressive for the price.

The lack of IBIS and a single card slot might limit pro use, but at under $1,000 the EOS RP delivers unbeatable value as one of the best cheap full-frame cameras available.

Canon EOS R100

Best cheap camera for beginners

The Canon EOS R100 combines a 24.1MP APS-C sensor, fast Face+ Tracking autofocus, and beginner-friendly guided menus in a compact, lightweight package.

While the fixed, non-touchscreen, and cropped 4K video may limit hybrid use, the R100 excels as a stills-focused starter camera. It shoots up to 6.5fps and handles well with the included and versatile RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens (approx. equivalent to 29-72mm on a full-frame camera).

It features responsive AF and Canon's reliable image quality, making it ideal for phone upgraders and everyone who is seeking an affordable and easy entry into mirrorless photography.

Want to discover more? Explore the best cheap mirrorless cameras, the best cheap cameras, and the best mirrorless cameras.

Amid the popularity of models like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III, Canon has been steadily increasing production to try to keep up with demand – but now Japan’s largest camera maker says that component shortages will likely dampen those efforts and impact the number of compact cameras created.

The insight comes from Canon’s third-quarter financial results, which the company shared on October 27. Financially, Canon remains in a position of growth, posting a four percent increase in net sales and an 8.4 percent increase in operating profit as a whole.

While Canon still expects to finish the year with growth, component shortages, ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and a sluggish market in China are expected to have an impact, prompting the imaging giant to lower its predictions for the final quarter of the year.

Canon says that its compact camera sales increased by more than 50 percent in the third quarter alone, driven by a continued trend for point-and-shoots, which the company says is particularly strong among younger generations.

However, Canon has lowered the number of compact cameras it expects to sell before the end of the year. Last quarter, the company said that it would increase compact camera production again in the second half of 2026 in order to keep up with demand, as viral cameras like the PowerShot G7 X Mark III remain backordered at many retailers.

Now, the company says that component shortages will make that planned production increase fall short of the company’s original expectations.

While compact camera sales grew by more than 50 percent, Canon says interchangeable lens camera sales are lower than last year’s numbers. The company says that conflict in the Middle East and sluggish spending in China are impacting those numbers, but that demand for interchangeable lens cameras remains high outside those regions.

While Canon has sold fewer interchangeable lens cameras this year, the price of those cameras has increased, leading to a four percent growth in revenue so far this year and a prediction of 8.1 percent revenue growth by the end of the year.

Canon attributes this growth to full-frame cameras, including the EOS R6 Mark III and R6 V. The company expects the newly announced R8 Mark II to further push the mix of sales balance between crop sensor and full-frame towards the larger sensor, higher-end cameras.

In interchangeable lens cameras alone, Canon expects to sell 2.75 million bodies before the end of the year. The company expects an 8.1 percent growth in camera sales, while growth in the company’s network cameras is expected to push Canon’s imaging segment as a whole to a 12.9 percent increase.

While Canon is experiencing component shortages for compact cameras, the company says that it has already secured the memory components that it needs for the rest of the year, with prices remaining in line with what the company expected amid the AI-driven memory shortage.

Canon also says that it has built up inventory ahead of the holiday shopping season, including within the camera and printing divisions.

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The last DSLR lens Nikon announced, back in 2019, was the Nikon AF-S 120-300mm f/2.8E FL ED SR VR. Its spiritual successor leaked online before Nikon revealed official images or specifications, fuelling speculation about the much-anticipated lens. Now, major US retailer B&H has listed the Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S as "coming soon".

What's also "coming soon" is the price of Nikon's latest professional-grade S-line telephoto zoom. Its DSLR predecessor launched at around $9,500 / £9,500 six years ago, but photographers online speculated that the new Z-mount version would cost significantly more.

Rumored to be the most expensive lens in Nikon's Z lineup, the optic has attracted price speculation as high as $16,000 / £12,000. Now, Nikon Rumors report that "the US price of the upcoming Nikon Nikkor Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens will be $13,999" – around $2,000 less than some photographers had expected.

However, even at this rumored price, Nikon's new lens remains out of reach for many photographers, especially those who don't work full-time professionally and there's another catch…

Nikon's most expensive S-line telephoto lens?

To date, Nikon's most expensive S-line lenses are the Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S, priced at $16,196.95 / £14,999, and the Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S, available for $14,696.95 / £13,499. Both optics are currently discounted at B&H in the US, with savings of up to $2,000.

The Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S is rumored to be announced on October 28 or 29, so we could soon find out the retail price of Nikon's highly anticipated telephoto zoom.

The Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S will feature an integrated 1.4x teleconverter, extending its maximum focal length to 420mm while reducing the maximum aperture to f/4.

Nikon has already incorporated the same teleconverter technology into its Z 600mm f/4 and Z 400mm f/2.8 fast telephoto prime lenses.

The Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S is expected to be produced in very limited quantities, and Nikon Rumors reports that long waiting times are expected.

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I've always admired Leica for its willingness to do things differently, and perhaps one of the best examples of that philosophy is its S-series of medium format cameras. While the Leica M-series has become synonymous with rangefinder photography, and the Q and SL systems have established themselves as incredibly capable modern cameras, the S-series has quietly faded into the background.

Its most recent model, the Leica S3, arrived back in 2020, and for years there have been rumors suggesting that a successor, widely referred to as the Leica S4, was in development. However, more recent reports suggest Leica has significantly reduced its medium format development activities, with engineers previously working on the S-series reportedly reassigned to the company's SL and M divisions.

For me, that raises an interesting question: as much as I would love to see another Leica medium format camera, does the world really need an S4, and more importantly, does Leica?

To understand why this is such a difficult decision, you first have to appreciate what made the Leica S-series special. Originally introduced with the Leica S2 in 2008, the system was Leica's answer to professional medium format photography, combining the image quality and larger sensors traditionally associated with studio cameras with the familiar handling of a DSLR.

The latest Leica S3 took that philosophy further, introducing a 64MP medium format sensor measuring 45 x 30mm, an optical viewfinder, and Leica's exceptional S-mount lenses. It was a beautiful camera capable of producing extraordinary images, but it was also a rather chunky piece of equipment, particularly when compared with today's increasingly compact mirrorless systems. And therein lies one of the biggest problems facing any potential successor. The photography industry has moved on considerably in the six years since the S3 arrived, and I struggle to see how Leica could simply update the existing formula and expect it to compete with the likes of Fujifilm and Hasselblad.

The rumored Leica S4 has been an interesting story to follow. Previous reports suggested Leica was working on an entirely new mirrorless medium format system, potentially featuring a new lens mount and accompanying optics. In May 2025, Leica chairman Dr. Andreas Kaufmann was reported to have acknowledged that the camera was still being developed. Yet, by May 2026, Leica Rumors was reporting that the dedicated medium format development structure had effectively been dissolved, with personnel moving to other projects.

Interestingly, Leica's vice president of global marketing and communications, Andrea Pacella, subsequently told Digital Camera World in August that the company had not abandoned medium format, but had paused development of its next-generation S camera while waiting for advances in sensor and processing technology. So, while the S4 may not be completely dead, its future certainly appears uncertain.

I think one of Leica's biggest headaches would be deciding exactly what a modern S4 should look like. Today, we have cameras such as the Fujifilm GFX100S II delivering 102MP resolution in relatively compact bodies, while Hasselblad has established itself as another major player in the 100MP medium format market. For Leica to launch a new S4 with the S3's existing 64MP resolution would undoubtedly raise eyebrows, even though I personally believe 64MP is more than enough for almost any photographic application.

However, moving to a 100MP sensor introduces another question: what happens to all those wonderful Leica S lenses? While increasing resolution doesn't automatically mean existing lenses need replacing, it would certainly put their optical performance, autofocus capabilities, and compatibility with a modern system under greater scrutiny. Would Leica have to redesign some of its glass to deliver the performance photographers expect from a new flagship? And if so, how much would that add to the already considerable cost of developing a new camera system?

Then there is the physical design of the camera itself. The Leica S-series has always followed a traditional DSLR-style design, complete with a mirror box and a substantial body, which made sense when the system was first introduced. But I cannot imagine Leica releasing a new medium format DSLR in today's market.

A mirrorless S4 would almost certainly be the direction to take, allowing for a slimmer camera body, an electronic viewfinder, improved autofocus, and potentially in-body image stabilization. However, making that transition properly could mean developing an entirely new lens mount, something previous rumors had already suggested. Leica could potentially retain compatibility with existing S-mount lenses through adapters, but that still leaves the prospect of developing a new generation of native lenses designed specifically for the shorter flange distance and more compact proportions of a mirrorless system.

Suddenly, what initially sounds like a relatively straightforward upgrade from 64MP to 100MP becomes the development of an entirely new camera ecosystem. And knowing Leica's commitment to optical quality, I cannot imagine the company wanting to cut corners.

What makes the situation even more complicated is Leica's current position in the photography market. The Q3 and Q3 43 have helped make the Q-series one of the most compelling premium compact camera systems available, while the SL-series continues to develop into a serious professional alternative to Canon, Nikon, and Sony.

Then, of course, there is the M-series, which remains at the very heart of Leica's identity and offers something genuinely different from almost anything else on the market. These are camera systems with established audiences, recognizable identities, and extensive ecosystems that Leica can continue refining. Developing a new medium format system would require enormous investment in research, development, manufacturing, and marketing, all to compete in a relatively small segment already served incredibly well by Fujifilm and Hasselblad.

When I look at it that way, the reports of Leica redirecting resources toward its SL and M systems make perfect business sense, particularly when those resources could help develop the next generation of cameras and lenses that existing Leica customers are already invested in.

Of course, the photographer in me would still love to see Leica surprise us with an S4. There is something undeniably appealing about a beautifully engineered Leica medium format camera, particularly one that could combine the company's outstanding lens design with a modern 100MP sensor and a more compact mirrorless body.

But the realist in me thinks Leica has a much bigger decision to make than simply whether to release another camera. To bring back the S-series successfully, Leica would need to create something that feels genuinely different from what Fujifilm and Hasselblad are already offering, rather than simply attaching a red dot to another high-resolution medium format system. And that would be no small undertaking. I would much rather see Leica continue pushing the boundaries of its hugely capable Q, SL, and M cameras than spend years and significant resources resurrecting a system that might struggle to find its place in today's market.

The Leica S-series deserves to be remembered as something special, but perhaps, just perhaps, its greatest legacy is what it has already given us, rather than what Leica might attempt to create next.

I must confess to not originally being aware of the film-era Olympus Pen, launched way back in 1959. At least not until the digital version, 2009’s Olympus PEN E-P1, landed a cool 50 years later, complete with a press trip to a cinema in Berlin, where the usherettes were dressed in 1960s garb.

Nevertheless, the retro styling of the PEN E-P1 had the effect of making me feel nostalgic for something I’d never experienced. Which is a neat trick to pull off, in terms of marketing.

I’ve owned one of the digital PEN’s compact mirrorless successors, the E-PL7, for a decade now and it’s the camera I return to the most, for a very simple reason: its balance of portability and quality hits the sweet spot for me.

I don’t need a full-frame sensor or anything bigger than what the Micro Four Thirds system offers as my photographs are used almost exclusively online these days and I’m never asked for prints, let alone billboard sized ones.

When Olympus’s former camera division became the newly formed OM Digital Solutions shortly after the Covid pandemic, it seemed, briefly, that the PEN range had been put out to pasture. So, I was pleased to see it resurrected and hopefully re-invigorated as, simply, the OM System PEN. It wasn’t the PEN F Mark II continuation some were expecting, but a case of dialling it right back to the beginning again, like rebooting a movie franchise.

Resembling a modern classic from the get-go, the 2026 PEN more expectedly features various under-the-bonnet tweaks to bring it in line with more recent OM System releases, including a Computational Photography button plus, this time around, phase detection auto focus with 121 AF points.

OK, if I’m being picky, I would have preferred a metal chassis to the plastic / polycarbonate body we’ve been given, but then that would have impacted both lightweight build and price. While I approve of its weather-sealed construction, I also like the fact that, in the age of the influencer, its maker has kept this very much a ‘photography first’ camera. In an age where competitors have sought to primarily seduce videographers as the most ‘sticky’ form of content creation, that almost feels like a rebellious stance.

Now all I need to work out is how I can blag one from the former Olympus to update my ageing E-PL7 workhorse.

I’ve shot with almost every current Instax camera, but ask me what my favorite model is, and I won’t even have to think: The Instax Mini Evo. Now, Fujifilm is back with a refresh, and the Instax Mini Evo 2 takes the creative shooting modes and retro design but updates the sensor and overhauls the controls with a giant touchscreen.

The Instax Mini Evo 2 is my new favorite Instax camera, no question – but I also think it makes a worthy contender as a cheap point-and-shoot even for creators who weren’t looking for an instant film camera.

Fujifilm Instax Evo 2 review: Specs

Fujifilm Instax Evo 2 review: Price

The Instax Mini Evo 2 retails for about $289.95 / £229.99 / CA$379.99 (about AU$413). Shipping is expected to begin at the end of November, 2026.

That’s a slight price increase over the original Mini Evo, which retails for about $234 / £174 / CA$299 / AU$299.95.

As a digital camera, it can keep shooting without any additional costs beyond a microSD card. But if you want instant film prints, a pack of 20 prints costs about $19.49 / £16.99 / AU$34.95 / CA$25.98.

Fujifilm Instax Evo 2 review: Design

The Instax Mini Evo 2 fully embraces the retro look – not just in the silver body and textured wrap but in the camera’s different controls. A dial at the top of the camera flips through different color presets, while the control to print photos is a lever that feels like the film advance lever on an old film camera.

At the front, a dial around the lens swaps through the camera’s different creative modes like double exposures and light leaks. There’s a secondary shutter release button at the front too, along with the on-off toggle and a small selfie mirror.

From the front, you’d be forgiven for mistaking the Instax Evo 2 for the original – but from the back, the difference is far more obvious. The screen on the Evo 2 is much larger than the first generation, taking up almost the entire back of the camera. It’s so large, there’s no room for the menu buttons, but that’s okay because the screen is a simple-to-use touchscreen.

Beyond being oversized, the screen shows more than what the lens is about to capture, giving a sort of peripheral vision of what’s going on just beyond the frame. A frame indicates what’s in the shot.

The oversized touchscreen will likely be easy to pick up for anyone who has ever used a smartphone for photos, down to the icon in the corner to view the shots that you’ve already taken. The screen also houses shortcuts for exposure compensation, as well as settings to turn the flash on and off and even enter into a macro mode.

The Evo 2 mixes color presets with creative looks – and that’s a lot of different settings to flip through. Thankfully, the camera does allow creatives to save their favorite combos with three custom presets accessible from the touchscreen.

My only complaint about the screen is that there is no viewfinder, and the screen is sometimes hard to see in bright sunlight. The original Mini Evo didn’t have a viewfinder either, though the smaller Instax Pal 2 does.

The instant film loads by popping a lever just under the screen, then prints spit out the side of the camera.

The built-in printer means the Evo 2 is a bit oversized compared to traditional point-and-shoots – it may fit in a jacket pocket, but wouldn't fit in the pocket of my jeans. That printer can be used not just for photos taken with the Evo 2, but also for shots from another camera using the Instax Evo app and a smartphone.

There is a cold shoe slot at the top of the camera to house accessories like a constant LED light.

The Evo 2 uses a built-in battery that recharges via USB-C. I would have liked to see a bit more battery life – it’s rated for about 90 shots.

There’s enough internal memory to hold 45 photos, but a microSD card is required for the immersive movie and wide-angle lens settings.

Fujifilm Instax Evo 2 review: Performance

The Instax Mini Evo 2 is a camera that’s more about creative possibilities than technical specifications. The camera has ten different “film effects” or color profiles built in, along with ten different “lens effects.” Multiply those ten film profiles by the ten lens effects, and that’s 100 different creative combinations.

The film effects are like Fujifilm’s film simulations, though on an Instax camera these are far different from Fujifilm’s X series. The “normal” mode did feel a bit plain and undersaturated to me, but I loved the retro mode and the different color options. The monochrome mode is full of contrast and probably my favorite out of the ten.

The “lens effects” contain a myriad of effects beyond just the look of the lens. There’s a double exposure option, which was my favorite one to play with, as well as a half frame to put two photos side-by-side. I love the light leak effect, though I wish it would randomize the effect a bit so it doesn’t place the light leak the same way in every shot.

The lens effects also include a blur option that keeps the center sharp but blurs the edges, along with a soft focus that gives the entire image a hazier look. The after image setting mixes a first exposure with a second in quick succession.

One of the new lens modes is the wide-angle, which replaces the fisheye lens mode from the original Mini Evo. This mode actually comes with a higher resolution than the normal photo mode.

The Instax Evo 2 uses a 1/2.77-inch sensor. That’s larger than the 1/5-inch from the original. But, the Evo 2 also uses an “expanded view” screen, which shows more than what the camera is actually capturing, leaving a white frame to indicate what’s actually being captured. That, along with the higher-resolution wide-angle mode, suggests that some of the sensor is being used for the wider view. The larger sensor than the original version, then, isn’t quite as exciting as it sounds.

In the standard photo mode, the Evo 2 takes photos that are about 6.13MP. The wide-angle captures a higher resolution at 12.8MP.

Like other Instax digital-film hybrids, the photos from the Evo 2 are a low resolution that’s great for printing on Instax film and sharing on social media. But it’s not going to do well printing out larger than Instax Mini film. Zoom in on the digital files, and the details get muddled and noisy quickly.

The smaller sensor also means that dynamic range is limited. I found that the camera tended to overexpose a bit. But thankfully, there’s exposure compensation accessible from the touchscreen, so it’s easy to prevent that overexposure.

The Evo 2 does get a new “movie” mode – but it’s not quite a typical movie mode. The Immersive Movie setting records the four seconds up to taking a photo, and adds a cute Instax animation to the footage. It feels a bit like Instax’s take on Apple’s Live Photos.

Like the still photos, the Immersive Movie footage is low-fi at 560x992. Unfortunately, this mode also downsizes the resolution of the photo itself, turning a typical 2860 x 2144 resolution down to just 616 x 464, so these photos really aren’t usable. I was rather bummed when I plugged in the microSD card and realized using the Immersive Movie seriously downgraded the photo quality.

I can see this mode being used to share behind-the-scenes shots on social media of how a photo was taken, but not much else beyond that. I love that the video mode also works with double exposure, though it just shows the second shot.

The photos from the Evo 2 aren’t meant for pixel peeping – but I do think that the photos hold up well among other point-and-shoots that cost under $300. Other cheap compacts like the Kodak Pixpro FZ55 offer zoom that’s missing on the Evo 2. But there’s not really much else like the Evo 2’s built-in creative modes with different color filters and tools like double exposure.

The built-in printer mixes those retro-inspired digital photos with actual film. As a hybrid, there's no wasted film – you only print the photos that you want to rather than every single photo.

Printing a digital photo on instant film isn't quite the same thing as using an analog instant camera, but prints still have the colors and charm of instant film. The credit-card-sized prints are colorful and sharp for their small size. Using the app, you can also print photos from a smartphone, including photos shot with a more advanced mirrorless camera.

Instax Mini Evo vs. Instax Mini Evo 2

The original Instax Mini Evo is one of my favorite Instax cameras, so how does the second generation compare?

The Mini Evo 2 has a larger sensor at 1/2.77-inch over 1/5 inch, but keep in mind that some of that sensor size is used for overshooting the view on the screen, so the difference is smaller than it sounds. The Evo 2 shoots a still resolution in the standard mode of 2860 x 2144, an improvement over 2560 x 1920 pixels. The Evo 2 does have a boost in image quality, but both cameras still fall under small-sensor, low-fi cameras.

A handful of the Evo 2’s shooting modes are different from the original. The wide-angle mode is new, and so is the after image mode. Those two modes seem to replace the fisheye option and mirror from the first generation, which aren’t part of the Evo 2.

The Evo 2 has the same well-loved retro design of the original, but the back of the camera is much different, with a very large touchscreen. The touchscreen is simpler to use and is an easy entry into the camera for anyone who has ever taken photos from a smartphone.

The Evo 2 does cost a little more than the original – in the US, the price difference is about $55. I think the larger screen and enhanced resolution are worth that price difference when deciding between getting the old version or the new. That said, as an owner of the original Evo, upgrading to the newest model feels more of a want than a must. Those updates are nice, but not total game-changers.

Fujifilm Instax Evo 2 review: Verdict

The Instax Mini Evo 2 takes retro photo styles and mixes them with creative tools like double exposure – and then wraps it up into a cheap compact camera. Like other cheap compact cameras, the Evo 2 isn’t for pixel peeping – but the creative modes are unlike any other cheap point-and-shoot that I’ve seen.

The original Instax Mini was my favorite camera from Instax because of the mix of different creative tools – and the fact that I don’t waste any film and can choose to print only the photos that I love. I say it was my favorite because now the Instax Mini Evo 2 has taken that title.

Beyond being my favorite Instax, the Evo 2 is also worth looking at as a cheap point-and-shoot. It’s not as small as other compact cameras, but the instant film prints offer a lot of value over smaller cameras.

The Evo 2 isn’t perfect. I would have loved to see longer battery life than 90 shots. The camera tends to overexpose, and its resolution and dynamic range are a reminder that the camera falls in the budget category. The new video mode may be cute for creating social media videos, but it severely downsizes the resulting still photo. But overall, I think the Evo 2 is going to be a major hit.

Alternatives

The Evo 2 is worth looking at as an alternative to a cheap compact camera, as well as simply as an instant film camera. A few notable cameras that also fall under the description of cheap, compact, and retro include the Instax Pal 2 and the Camp Snap CS-Pro. Another more affordable option that also has a printer built in is the Instax Mini Li-Play+, or for larger prints, the Instax Wide Evo.

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For more inspiration, take a look at the best hybrid instant film cameras or the best point-and-shoots.

One of Fujifilm's most popular Instax cameras is back for a second generation. The Instax Mini Evo 2 brings back the hybrid camera’s much-loved creative effects with an updated sensor, oversized touchscreen, and new four-second video mode.

Announced late on October 26, the Instax Mini Evo 2 is a hybrid camera – it houses a sensor for digital photos, but also uses a built-in printer to spit out instant film prints. Unlike a fully analog camera, the hybrid design allows the camera to print only the best shots, avoiding wasted film.

The original Instax Mini Evo was my favorite camera among the Instax lineup. When Fujifilm sent me the Instax Evo 2, I was happy to see the creative features that I love are still very much intact. But thanks to a new oversized screen, the Evo 2 feels like a smartphone and a film camera had a baby – and it's a wonderfully fun camera to shoot with.

The Evo 2 has a film mode dial and advance lever for printing photos, but the oversized touchscreen will feel immediately familiar to a smartphone interface. A new oversized 4.5-inch touchscreen dominates the back of the camera.

The Evo 2 stands out from other hybrids like the LiPlay+ for its creative tools. The Evo 2, like the first generation, has ten film simulations and ten different lens effects, which combine for 100 creative possibilities. Those effects include double exposures, light leaks, lens blur, and half-frame diptychs.