Thinking about ditching your DSLR, switching camera systems, or upgrading to full-frame? These three mirrorless models deliver excellent price-to-performance value – and right now, you can save up to £700 at Wex or Amazon.

The Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX + 20-60mm and 50mm is now just £1,699 (inc. cashback) at Wex – you save £700 off the bundle's RRP of £2,399. (The body alone is reduced to £1,399 inc. cashback...)

The Sony A7 IV is now just £1,799 at Wex – this new low price lets you save £601 off its original £2,400 price tag.

The Nikon Z5 is now just £633 on Amazon – you save £616 off its £1,249 RRP.

Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX

Ideal for hybrid shooters, DSLR, and system switchers

If you've been shooting on an APS-C or DSLR camera before, the Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX is a fantastic upgrade. It's notably smaller and lighter than many DSLRs.

So while the handling might feel a bit different at first, you'll quickly appreciate the more compact, less bulky design. There are not as many native lenses for the S5 IIX available as is the case within the Sony and Nikon lineups, but there are third-party options like Sigma available.

And if you want to keep using your older glass, Canon EF to L-mount adapters, for example, are available.

Sony A7 IV

Best for DSLR and system switchers, as well as content creators

Switching to Sony means unlocking incredible mirrorless flexibility. The Sony E-mount system is the most mature on the market, with an extensive range of native lenses and strong third-party support from trusted brands like Tamron and Sigma.

The A7 IV shines with its real-time Eye AF detection and tracking options – features that make focusing faster and more accurate than many DSLR systems. So, if you're coming from a DSLR, this camera feels like a serious step up in autofocus and creative control.

Nikon Z5

Budget-conscious DSLR option, best for stills-focused shooters

If you are on a budget, the Nikon Z5 offers one of the most affordable ways into full-frame mirrorless with great image quality.

The body design will feel very familiar if you're upgrading from a Nikon DSLR, and thanks to the FTX adapter, you can continue using your trusted F-mount lenses seamlessly.

And if the bundled lens doesn't suit your photography style, there are plenty of alternative lens bundles available on Amazon or Wex – many of which offer great savings too.

Comparison

Personally, I would lean toward the Sony A7 IV. Its autofocus performance is unmatched, as well as its lens options. The flexibility makes it a standout choice, especially if you're open to switching systems entirely.

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

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

Many astrophotographers capture images of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis), but snapping the awe-inspiring frames of the solar activity dancing in our atmosphere requires not only skill, but timing too.

For Bulgarian astrophotographer Radoslav Sviretsov, during a trip to Iceland this January, the timing was spot on. And now, the image he captured has been awarded first place in the “Aurorae” category of the ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award.

Sviretsov was on the hunt for the Northern Lights during what he told the photography competition organizers was a “particularly strong” geomagnetic storm.

Radoslav Sviretsov gear and settings

• Canon EOS R
• Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2
• 15mm | f/2.8 | ISO 3200 | 2.5 seconds
• Location: Fúlipollur, Krýsuvíkurvegur, Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, 20 January 2026 

He came across a traditional Icelandic church between the small coastal town of Keflavík and the capital city, Reykjavík, far from light pollution. The dark sky intensified the already strong solar activity, enabling Sviretsov to snap the Northern Lights in a way, he said, they’re “rarely seen”.

"In moments like this, I feel nothing but gratitude for being in the right place at the right time,” he added.

Phil Halper's gear and settings

• Sony A7S III
• 15 mm | f/2 | ISO 3200 | 2.5 seconds
• Location: Kjósarhreppur, Capital Region, Iceland, 12 November 2025 

British astrophotographer, Phil Halper, clinched second with his frame “Aurora Between Two Continents.”

He told the competition organizers how, in November last year, he traveled to Iceland with just one day’s notice to snap a “multitude” of powerful CMEs – or coronal mass ejections (large eruptions of plasma from the Sun’s surface) – which had sent aurorae “rippling far beyond” their usual reach.

“On the Edge of Glory” was the final commended image in the “Aurorae” category, and it came from US photographer MaryBeth Kiczenski.

MaryBeth Kiczenski's gear ad settings

• Sony A7 IV
• Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
• 24 mm | f/4 | ISO 2500 | 2.5 seconds
• Location: Skibotn, Troms, Norway, 6 November 2025 

Taken in Norway late last year, Kiczenski explained how moonlight and clouds are often “overlooked” when aurora chasing, but that, in the Arctic, they can provide an unmatched “dreamlike quality”.

The ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year is the world’s largest astrophotography competition, hosted by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London.

This year’s overall winner was Ali Alobaidly (Kuwait) for his depiction of the rarely photographed Shark Nebula, snagging him £10,000 (approximately 13,000 / AU$19,000) along with the competition accolade. Category winners took home £1,500 (approximately $2,000 / AU$2,800).

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The Ocean Photographer of the Year not only recognized stunning ocean imagery, but also complex conservation issues playing out within our planet’s waters.

And at this year’s edition of the event, Mexican diver, tour operator, and underwater photographer, Daniel Taylor, highlighted the challenging relationships between conservation groups and local shark fishermen in Baja California, Mexico, with two powerful images.

In the first of Taylor’s frames commended in the “Conservation (Impact)” category, we see a silky shark, which he told the competition organizers was circling “helplessly” while snagged on an illegal longline.

And in the second, we see the deadly fate of these prized sharks, as a pair lie side by side on the beach, the bodily wounds from their fateful last struggle visible.

Daniel Taylor's gear and settings

• Canon EOS R
• Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8
• NA-R Nauticam underwater housing
• ISO 800 | f/10 | 1/500 sec

While generations of families in Baja communities have relied on shark fishing for survival, modern NGOs have realized that hard restrictions cause severe economic harm.

To enable more sustainable practices, in 2012, the Mexican government enacted a seasonal fishing ban (May 01 to July 31) to safeguard vulnerable shark and ray species during critical reproductive periods.

Taylor explained that he shot both photos in the hours after the ban lifted but that longlines – very long main lines with hundreds or thousands of baited hooks attached – remain illegal because they cause severe overfishing and accidental bycatch.

Daniel Taylor's gear and settings

• Canon EOS 70D
• ISO 100 | f/ 10 | 1/320 Sec

But Taylor said that he didn’t take these shots to “condemn” the fishermen, rather, he wanted to confront the ongoing “complex relationship” where threatened wildlife and human livelihoods intersect.

What's more, the diver and photographer hopes that the images will further highlight the “urgent” need to provide local fishermen with more sustainable income alternatives.

The Ocean Photographer of the Year is an annual competition run by London-based Oceanographic Magazine and co-presented with Blancpain to celebrates the sea and highlight marine conservation.

Selected from over 15,000 entries, the 2026 competition featured multiple core categories and key winners, which you can see here.

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Camera traps continue to provide vital evidence and data for zoologists. A recent study in Tanzania by the conservation organization Panthera involved over 300 camera traps occupying an area the size of West Africa’s Cape Verde. The result was more than 150,000 images of the location’s diverse range of wildlife, providing valuable insight into the location’s ecosystem.

Such data has included photographs of servals with a rare morph coat pattern for the first time in Tanzania, as well as some of the first records of aardwolves, bat-eared foxes, and springhares in the country’s western region. The project has also provided evidence of dwindling lion populations in Ugalla and Luganzo-Tongwe Game Reserves.

I got to talk with lead scientist Paolo Strampelli about Panthera’s methods when distributing camera traps and collecting data...

How camera traps are used by conservationists

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Interested in the part photography plays in wildlife conservation? Photographer captures octopus riding rarely seen dolphin, provides valuable evidence for ongoing research. Photography is at the heart of remarkable discovery of a new cat species – even if it was science that delivered the definitive proof. Plus, here are the best cameras for wildlife photography.

When the original Canon PowerShot SX740 HS launched in 2018, the compact camera market was dominated by straightforward point-and-shoots, while premium compacts like the Leica Q3 43 were far less common. According to the latest sales data from major retailer Yodobashi, the little PowerShot triumphs again as the No.1 compact camera in Japan right now.

In 2024, Canon introduced the PowerShot SX740 HS Lite, a lightly updated version of the original camera. Despite changing just one small feature, the model has proven just as popular. Since its original launch 8 years ago, it has become a cult favorite, with second-hand prices higher than its original retail price of $549.99 / £549.99.

Canon's unchanged formula continues to win for buyers looking for a genuinely pocketable camera with a powerful zoom lens. While the PowerShot SX740 HS comes with a 20.3MP 1/2.3-inch-type CMOS sensor, Yodobashi's Top 10 also features models with significantly larger sensors, with the top model featuring a 60MP full-frame sensor.

Yodobashi's Top 10 best-selling compact cameras, 2nd Half Aug 2026

1. Canon PowerShot SX740 HS / Lite | Silver | Black
2. Sony ZV-1 II | Black | White
3. Fujifilm X100VI | Silver | Black
4. Panasonic Lumix TZ99 / ZS99 | Black | White
5. Kodak Pixpro C1 | Brown | Black
6. Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III | Black | Silver
7. Canon IXY 650 / PowerShot Elph 360 HS A / Ixus 285 HS A | Black | Silver
8. Sony RX10 V
9. OM System Tough TG-7 | Red | Black
10. Leica Q3 43

The two extreme compact camera types in today's market

Yodobashi's latest Top 10 reveals the compact camera market's current state. There are two extremes: the cheap and cheerful, straightforward models like the Canon PowerShot SX740 HS / Lite (No.1), or even simpler and more affordable models like the Kodak Pixpro C1 (No.5), available for only $99.99 / £94.

On the other side, there are premium compacts like the hugely popular Fujifilm X100VI (No.3), featuring a 40.2MP APS-C sensor, and the high-end Leica Q3 43 (No.10), a full-frame 60.3MP model, with a hefty price tag of $7,950 / £5,890.

Also in demand, and back in Yodobashi's Top 10, is the OM System Tough TG-7 (No.9), a point-and-shoot that can handle way more than other models in the chart. It's a 12MP adventure companion that withstands freezing temperatures of -10°C (14°F) and is waterproof up to 15 meters (50 feet).

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There are plenty of exciting new cameras available to pre-order right now, but I’m not sure many of them can compete with this one when it comes to sheer value for money. This wonderfully inexpensive little digital camera is currently available to pre-order at Amazon UK for just £20.99, making it the sort of camera purchase you can make almost entirely for the fun of it.

• Pre-order at Amazon: £20.99

And that is really where the appeal lies. Not every camera needs to have a full-frame sensor, blisteringly fast autofocus or cost more than your first car. Sometimes you simply want something small, fun and inexpensive that you can throw into a bag, hand to the kids, take on holiday or carry around without worrying about damaging thousands of pounds' worth of equipment.

Cheap compact digital cameras have also become unexpectedly fashionable again. The resurgence of the humble digicam has seen photographers and younger creators embracing the imperfect, slightly nostalgic look that these cameras can produce, particularly when compared with the heavily processed photographs we have become accustomed to seeing from modern smartphones.

At £20.99, this camera sits firmly at the fun end of the market, and that is exactly why I think it is so appealing. It costs less than plenty of camera straps, memory cards and even some lens caps, yet gives you an entirely separate camera that you can experiment with. At this price, expectations obviously need to remain realistic, but that almost feels like part of the charm.

It could also make a brilliant first camera for someone who simply wants to experiment with photography without immediately reaching for their phone. There is something very different about carrying a dedicated camera, however inexpensive it might be, and having a device whose sole purpose is encouraging you to look for photographs.

Sample images

You can currently pre-order the camera from Amazon UK for just £20.99. In a world where new cameras regularly arrive with four-figure price tags, there is something refreshingly entertaining about seeing a new camera that costs little more than a takeaway for two. I certainly wouldn't expect it to replace my Leica, but for £20.99, I would have an awful lot of fun finding out what it can do.

Honor has officially launched its Magic 9 series in China, and while there are a couple of new models, it is the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max that is the most exciting for photographers and filmmakers.

The headline feature is an ambitious triple-camera system developed around Honor’s new partnership with cinema camera specialist ARRI. This is the second Honor-ARRI collaboration after the niche Honor Robot phone – which put a pop-up gimbal camera on the back of a smartphone – and the first taste of ARRI’s contributions in a mainstream device.

ARRI’s involvement goes beyond simply lending its name to the cameras. The Magic 9 Pro Max can record up to 4K 60p using an ARRI Cinema Mode, with ARRI LogC3, 10-bit color and ARRI Wide Gamut 3. For more tuned footage straight out of the camera, there are 14 ARRI Looks built in, with access to a wider library of 87 Looks that can be imported and applied to footage.

The Magic 9 Pro Max camera system consists of a 200MP main camera with a large 1/1.28-inch sensor, f/1.57 aperture and OIS, alongside a second 200MP telephoto camera using a 1/1.4-inch sensor and f/2.6 aperture, while a 50MP f/2 ultrawide completes the trio.

Up front is a 55MP camera paired with a 3D depth sensor, with an Apple-style square-format sensor allowing landscape or portrait compositions without physically rotating the phone. It’s unclear at this stage if either the front or rear cameras support open gate recording.

Honor is making particularly bold claims about stabilization. Both the 200MP main and telephoto cameras carry a CIPA 8.0 stabilization rating, while the main camera offers what Honor calls 3-degree “gimbal-level” stabilization, designed to compensate for considerably more movement than conventional smartphone OIS, and without having to rely on electronic image stabilization (EIS) cropping into an image.

While internal audio often gets overlooked on phones, with wireless mics so cheap and prevalent, the Magic 9 has ambitions to make internal audio recording more feasible without needing additional accessories with a four-microphone Cinematic Directional Microphone system. Honor is promising targeted directional pickup, isolating background noise around your subject, even from a distance. The demos so far look very cool, but I’m eager to see how this compares to external mics in less controlled situations.

Finally, in the camera department, it seems no modern Chinese flagship phone is complete without an optional photography kit, so Honor is treating us to a new Photography Master Kit that includes 200mm and 500mm teleconverter lenses. The Magic9 Pro Max also supports a dedicated SmallRig mobile video kit with handles and connection points for accessories, including a cooling fan for long recording sessions.

Powering all of this is Qualcomm’s newly announced Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, paired with Honor’s own H1 imaging processor. Interestingly, despite Qualcomm advertising support for 8K/60p and 4K/240p capture from the Extreme chip, the Magic9 Pro Max itself tops out at 4K/60p.

The other number of note is the enormous 8,800mAh battery (although that number is likely to be lower when the phone reaches the EU due to battery regulations) with 100W wired and 80W wireless charging. There is also a 6.8-inch 1-120Hz LTPO OLED display, and up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The Honor Magic 9 series has just gone on sale in China, and Honor has confirmed that an international launch is planned, although it has yet to say when the Magic 9 Pro Max will arrive in markets including the UK and Europe (the US, as usual, won’t get an official launch).

When it does make the journey overseas, the Magic 9 Pro Max looks set to be one of Honor’s most serious attempts yet to challenge the best camera phones and best phones for video.

At just 14 years old, wildlife photographer Camilo Sanabria Grajales became Audubon Photography Awards' first youth prize winner from South America, Camilo Sanabria Grajales. Now, his image showcasing a Ruby-topaz Hummingbird has received an Honorable Mention in the 2026 competition. The highlighted image is a colorful split-second capture, shot at 1/2500 sec. "I searched for the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird for years," says Camilo.

Camilo explains that there were several attempts at photographing the species, including one where he had to deal with an allergic reaction, as well as trips to Uva National Park in Colombia where he had no luck seeing the bird. "But then it came, my big day. I was invited to a site that was full of flowers in Buga and was in for a surprise: more than ten hummingbirds, both male and female," he explains.

Since the birds were fluttering around Camilo so quickly, it was a challenge to capture their beauty in sharp focus. He says, "Then one approached me. I focused on it just in time. As it was about to dart away, I got this unique photo that captures its sun-drenched colors."

Honorable Mention: Youth

Contest: Chile and Colombia
Species: Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Location: Guadalajara de Buga, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Gear: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) + Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C
Exposure: 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 3200

Bird Lore
Very small but adorned with brilliant colors, the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird is widespread in northern South America. It favors relatively open country, such as savannas and forest edges, and even visits city gardens.

The female takes sole responsibility for building the tiny, cup-shaped nest and raising the young, and she is appropriately camouflaged, lacking the male’s bright hues. In this image, the nictitating membrane – a translucent “third eyelid” that helps to protect the hummingbird’s eye as it zooms about the flowers – is partly closed.

Judge’s Take (Jaír F. Coll)
"The photographer captures the dynamic flight of this hummingbird and integrates it into a harmonious dreamlike setting where the flower’s orange hues play off those of the bird.

"The bird’s subtle expression, as if absorbed in its surroundings, conveys a sense of peace, immersing the viewer in a natural trance where time seems to stand still."

The Audubon Photography Awards
The Audubon Photography Awards is a competition celebrating photographers who use their skills to highlight the beauty, challenges and threats facing birds across Chile, Colombia, Canada and the United States. You can explore all 2026 winning images here.

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Jessops camera store business has been sold by Dragons' Den star Peter Jones to the white goods retailer AO for an undisclosed sum.

Jones' PJ Investment Group bought the UK photographic business out of administration in 2013, but struggled to turn the purchase into a success, with the company forced into administration again in 2019 and 2021. Jessops made a pre-tax loss of £1m in 2025 on a turnover of £19.8m.

The purchase by the well-known fridge and washing machine business "supports our strategy of expanding into adjacent categories, giving customers and members more reasons to shop with AO and increase our share of wallet,” AO World commented to The Guardian newspaper.

“Jessops brings a trusted brand and specialist expertise in cameras and optical technology, while its re-commerce business, Camera Jungle, is highly complementary to our existing musicMagpie operations and further strengthens our circular economy credentials.”

AO posted a turnover of £1.27 billion and an adjusted pre-tax profit of £50.5 million in its most recent financial results.

Jessops was founded by Frank Jessop in 1935 in Leicester, and the family business was then grown by his son Alan into a well-known high street brand and mail order business. Following a management buyout in 1996, the company saw rapid growth, and at one point had over 300 stores.

AO is planning to keep the seven existing Jessops stores open in London, Kingston-upon-Thames, Shrewsbury, Leeds, Sheffield, York and Glasgow.

If you don't know much about fashion photography, you might assume it's relatively straightforward stuff: dress a model, pose a model, shoot a model. A quick flick through the pages of a modern fashion magazine though, and you'll be swiftly disabused of that notion. At the high end of the market, a contemporary fashion shoot is more like fine art, and there's no finer exponent than British photographer Tim Walker.

Known for his outsized props, elaborate sets and scenes that look like they've escaped from a children's picture book, he's spend the last three decades filling the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, W and i-D with epic, thrilling and outlandish images. So when I first glimpsed some of the press images for his latest exhibition – a series of standard-looking portraits shot against plain white backgrounds – I assumed I'd opened the wrong folder on my computer.

But there was no mistake. Walker is going in a very different direction here.

50 years of activism

Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and Legends at London's National Portrait Gallery brings together 250 new portraits celebrating "over 50 years of Queer activism, community and love", with subjects range from little-known activists and nurses to actors such as Ian McKellen, Ncuti Gatwa and Ben Wishaw and musicians including Lady Gaga, Kay Tempest and Chappell Roan.

The stark look of many of these portraits was a deliberate choice: Walker assisted Richard Avedon in New York in the 1990s, and the press materials describe the white backdrops here as a nod to his old boss. But ultimately, a successful portrait is not about the background, it's about the sitter. And across this collection, Walker demonstrates his usual ability to bring out a unique element of their personality.

Walker asked some of the sitters to bring an object that meant something to them. Author Jane Cholmeley brought the original shop sign from Silver Moon Women's Bookshop, founded in 1984. Filmmaker Isaac Julien holds a conch shell, a motif from his 1989 film Looking for Langston. And photographer Sunil Gupta, naturally enough brought his camera; by the look of it, a Leica rangefinder.

Walker's portrait of Ian McKellen, titled Love, goes further, with a tangle of hands forming the letters of the word in front of him.

Kitsch in sync

If you're a fan of the epic and fantastical, though, don't fret; that's also represented in the exhibition, which was designed by Shona Heath; a longtime collaborator of Walker who won both a BAFTA and an Oscar for her production design on the 2023 movie Poor Things.

The show opens with portraits of founding members of the Gay Liberation Front and Stonewall, styled after the Tudor portraits of Hans Holbein the Younger and Nicholas Hilliard; Walker calls them his "queeristocracy".

A central room, meanwhile, is given over to large-scale portraits of the post-punk collective the Rebel Dykes, inspired by Karlheinz Weinberger's photographs of 1960s biker gangs. One shows four women in leather jackets and towering beehives, sitting on chairs in a field. The word "peak kitsch" comes gloriously to mind.

The second half of the show turns to fashion and performance, including a rococo tableau of two British comedians – Julian Clary and the late Paul O'Grady and – as the Glitter Queens, and actor Ben Whishaw lit by a vertical stripe of rainbow light from a prism. It all closes with a room of staged erotic scenes that subvert fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

Coming full circle

Walker was born on 27 November 1970, the same day as Britain's first gay rights protest on Highbury Fields, and he sees the show as a full circle moment. "Just as I learned from the queer artists who came before me, some of whom I'm lucky enough to have met and photographed here, Fairyland is me saying you are not alone," he says. "I want visitors to the exhibition to remember that your difference is your power."

Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and Legends runs from 9 October to 7 February on the ground floor of the National Portrait Gallery, and members can enter for free. The show is accompanied by a 320-page catalogue (£35), which includes an extended interview between Walker and Brown, plus essays by Travis Alabanza, Russell T Davies, Shon Faye, Lisa Power and Joelle Taylor.

Tether Tools has released two new storage products designed for a rather unusual location: the space between the legs of a tripod. These 'tripod hammocks' turn what would otherwise be dead space into somewhere to place frequently used gear, keeping it safe, off the ground, and easily accessible during a shoot.

Two hammock versions are available: the Tripod Hammock Sport, and the Tripod Hammock Multi-Pro.

Tripod Hammock Multi-Pro

Priced at $99.99, this is the premium offering. It serves not just as a temporary open storage hammock, but can also be zipped up and transported as an enclosed triangular kit bag. Inside are three segments, separated by removable padded dividers. Within each section are three removable pouches, each large enough to fit a small lens, or other accessories like batteries, filters, or cables. Around the edge of the main hammock unit you'll also find multiple exterior quick-access pockets ideal for memory cards.

The Tripod Hammock Multi-Pro is suspended from a tripod's legs using a magnetic quick-connect system that holds securely but is still easy to attach and remove. This enables rapid setup and teardown, after which the hammock can be zipped closed and moved using the integrated carry handle, or attached to a backpack. A durable, weather-resistant rip-stop construction keeps the hammock usable in inclement conditions.

Tripod Hammock Sport

If you like the idea of having a convenient place to put gear during a shoot, but don't need the enclosed storage design of the Tripod Hammock Multi-Pro, then the Tripod Hammock Sport is for you. It's priced at $49.99, and does away with the closable top of the Multi-Pro, as well as its interior dividers and three separate storage pouches. Instead you get a single open area to temporarily place frequently used gear, though there are small, quick-access pockets on the side where you can keep smaller items. Thanks to its more minimalist design, the Sport is able to fold small for compact transportation, but still features a protective PU coating and a tear-resistant design for enhanced durability and weather resistance.

Both the Tripod Hammock Sport, and the Tripod Hammock Multi-Pro are available to buy now from B&H.

Shooting super-slow-motion video can be a great way to create engaging content, or to better understand intricate processes in technology or the natural that would otherwise go unnoticed by the naked eye. Many cameras have slow motion settings - some up to around 1000fps - but even this frame rate is nowhere near fast enough for a viewer to fully appreciate every moment of a really fast 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' event.

That's where high-speed cameras come into their own. Some can be highly specialized devices for industrial applications, but others are more consumer-orientated, with (relatively) accessible price tags. And it's in this latter category where the new Chronos Q12 camera from Kron Technologies belongs. Measuring 188mm x 111mm x 53mm (7.40" x 4.37" x 2.08") without a lens, and weighing just 1.32 kg, it's amazingly light and compact for a high speed camera. It's been designed for researchers, engineers, scientists and industrial professionals, but is also suitable for creatives wanting to record captivating slow-motion footage, enabling viewers to appreciate events that happen too quickly to observe with conventional cameras.

At its maximum 2560 x 2016 resolution, the Q12 can shoot at 2,313fps - that's more than twice as fast as most consumer cameras max out at. But there's more. If you're prepared to lower your capture resolution, the Q12 is capable of even more speed. Just by dropping to 2560 x 1440, 3,116fps is possible, while 1080p footage can be captured at an incredible 5,148fps. If you really want to max out a Q12, a barely-believable 29,515fps is possible, though only by setting the video resolution to a largely-impractical 128 x 32. And remember, this is all from a camera not much bulkier than a typical Sony or Canon mirrorless body.

The Q12 uses an APS-C image sensor that records in full color (some very high speed cameras can only capture in monochrome). Two versions of the camera are available, differentiated by the size of their internal memory buffer. The 64GB model is capable of recording 5.7 seconds of video in one burst, while the 128GB Q12 can record 11.5-second clips. That might sound paltry, but remember, the kind of fleeting moments you'll likely want to record with a camera like this - a bullet shattering a pane of glass, for instance - will be over in a fraction of a second, let alone 5 or 10 full seconds. When the internal memory is full, video can be stored on the Q12's built-in 1TB NVMe SSD, or there's an SD card slot. A USB-C SSD can also be attached to the camera to supplement the internal storage.

Video can be shot in Raw or compressed H.264/H.265 formats, with 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit user-selectable color modes available. Settings are controlled via a large 5-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen display, which can also be used as a field monitor thanks to its high 1000-nit brightness, negating the need for a separate monitor or tethered laptop. The camera can be paired with a lens of your choice, with support for C-mount, E-mount, F-mount, EF-mount, PL-Mount, and MFT-mount lenses via an interchangeable lens mount.

The Chronos Q12 is available now, with pricing starting at $19,995 for the 64GB model and $21,995 USD for the 128GB version. Obviously that's quite a lot more than a more conventional APS-C mirrorless camera, but when you consider that high speed cameras can cost well into six figures, Kron's pricing is fair.

Ever got frustrated that your camera's subject-detection AF missed some small detail in a picture? Spare a thought for David Koppel. For him in the 1980s and 90s, a bad day at work involved David Bowie climbing onto a table and punching him in the head.

That wasn't a one-off, either. Along the way, the London paparazzo was thumped by Mick Jagger, swatted with a rolled-up newspaper by Bob Dylan, put in a headlock by Pierce Brosnan and scolded by Joanna Lumley.

It all adds entertaining color to his new book, Spotlight, which brings together some of his best images and the stories behind them. And if that were not enough, Frank Sinatra, Princess Diana, Marlon Brando and Kate Moss all make appearances too.

Spotlight is the second volume of his archive, following 2025's Limelight, which reflected on his years as house photographer at the eponymous Soho nightclub. But where that book captured a scene, this one's all about the chase.

Take his Marlon Brando picture from 1992, shown below. A tip about the iconic actor arriving at Heathrow Airport turned out to be a bust, so he and a rival pap went for a Chinese meal in Bayswater, only for Brando to walk in and sit at the next table.

Koppel waited in a parked car until he left, then opened the door of Brando's taxi and fired six frames in two seconds. The picture ran across the national papers the next morning and earned him around £5,000 (approx. $6,625), the equivalent of around £15K (approx. $19,875) today.

Six frames in two seconds won't sound impressive to anyone used to the burst modes on a modern digital camera, or even a phone. But back in those days, all Koppel had to work with was a roll of film, no screen to check and no idea whether his shots were in focus until he'd processed it.

His kit was top of the range for the time, though. John Stoddart's portrait of him shows him with a Nikon F4, a second body, a flashgun and an Aircall pager clipped to his belt. But being a pap wasn't about the equipment; it was about getting yourself in the right place at the right time. That wasn't always as easy as it might seem, but he usually found a way around it.

For instance, he wasn't on the press rota for the 1991 royal premiere of the comedy musical movie Stepping Out. So he bought a ticket, smuggled a dismantled Nikon past security, reassembled it in the toilets and posed as an usher. His shot of Diana greeting Liza Minnelli made the front page of The Sun newspaper, which, despite his request to leave him uncredited, printed his name in large type. "There goes the knighthood," he reflects.

Rude awakening

To get his lens in front of as many celebs as possible, he drew on a network of drivers, doormen, PRs, hotel staff and informers, and stood outside hotels for as long as it took. He found the GoldenEye set in Monte Carlo after a tip from a friendly electrician. He caught Bob Dylan and his son Jakob by sprinting after their car into a hotel car park and shooting through the window.

While most of us can admire his ambition, in 2026, few of us nowadays will admire his profession. It's hard to argue with Bowie's verdict that Koppel was "SO rude" after he'd climbed down a fire escape into a club kitchen to shoot him and Jagger after being asked not to.

Public tolerance for this kind of pursuit finally collapsed after Diana's death in Paris in 1997. When Koppel bumped into Brosnan again in Phuket around that time, the actor called him "paparazzi scum" and walked off. It was Koppel's last paparazzi job.

The pictures endure, though, because they're unguarded. As the Sunday Times once wrote, he caught stars "without their minders, their make-up and the airbrush". And in an age of carefully managed Instagram grids, that's rare.

Spotlight by David Koppel will be published by Pap Art in November, priced £75. For more information, visit www.davidkoppel.co.uk.

For the second time in a row, Norwegian photographer Tobias Gjerde has won the Fritz Pölking Junior Prize with an atmospheric image series titled The magic of the Nordic wilderness. The photos showcase Nordic birds in his homeland, masterfully using fog, light, and minimalist composition to highlight the wildlife.

The 23-year-old photographer also won last year's Fritz Pölking Junior Prize with powerful portraits of resilient Norwegian wildlife braving extreme conditions. Now he has scooped the 2026 competition with quiet moments of birds in the barren tundra and endless forests in the early morning or late evening.

Gjerde's skillful use of the mysterious magic of light and dusk draws the viewer's eye beyond the animal itself to the character of the landscape as a whole, awakening curiosity and calmness.

Gjerde is an established member of Norske Naturfotografer / NN – an association for professional Norwegian nature photographers and served in the Norwegian Army as a combat photographer for the Arctic Ranger Battalion (GSV) for his national service.

Why Gjerde's work is award-winning

Gjerde's work convinced the jury due to its "exceptional coherence" of "style, subject matter and a sensitive handling of light and space combine the individual images into a unified body of work."

The jury explains that his portfolio is an excellent result of "technical skill, a fine sense of composition and countless hours of patient observation in the field," inviting the viewer to wonder what lies beyond the visible.

Gjerde will be honored as part of the official award ceremony of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition, held at the International Nature Photography Festival on the evening of October 23, 2026.

Discover more of Gjerde's work

Gjerde combines technical skill with a deep passion for nature and wildlife conservation.

In 2025, he began sharing mini-documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage on YouTube and Instagram, inviting us to witness the raw realities of wildlife photography in the extreme world.

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Gordon Parks is one of the towering figures of 20th century American photography. Born in Kansas in 1912, he bought his first camera secondhand for $12.50, taught himself to use it, and worked his way from Farm Security Administration trainee to Life magazine's first black staff photographer, a post he held for more than two decades.

Known for capturing poverty, segregation and the civil rights movement alongside fashion and portraiture, he described his camera as a weapon against racism and injustice.

Now a major exhibition of his work is opening in New York. But this is by no means a conventional retrospective.

Instead of curators or critics providing the context for Parks' work, the gallery has gone back to the people who stood in front of his lens and asked them what they remember.

Why it makes sense

That's an unusual way to build a photography show, but it makes sense in the case of Parks. His pictures have been reproduced, studied and analysed so much, there's a danger the people begin to feel like symbols rather than individuals in their own right. Marking the 20th anniversary of the Gordon Parks Foundation, Gordon Parks: Voices in the Mirror, aims to reset that balance.

Take At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama, shot in 1956 for a Life essay on daily life under the Jim Crow laws. One of his subjects, Cora Taylor, recalls not knowing who to trust that day and warning her mother about the photograph in case anything went wrong.

The 1947 Doll Test series featured Dr Kenneth and Mamie Clark's psychological experiments about the effect of segregation on black children. Their daughter, Kate Clark Harris, remembers Parks's gift for reaching past the surface of a scene. Another highlight is Eldridge Cleaver and His Wife, Kathleen, Algiers, Algeria? Taken in 1970 while Eldridge, a Black Panther leader, was in exile, it's accompanied here by words from Kathleen Cleaver on how photography can isolate what matters from a place.

Others contributing reflections include Lonnie Ali, widow of the iconic boxer Muhammad Ali, and Qubilah Shabazz, daughter of the civil rights leader Malcolm X. They're joined by Anderson Cooper and Isabella Rossellini whose mothers – the artist and writer Gloria Vanderbilt and the film star Ingrid Bergman respectively – were both photographed by Parks.

And that's not all. The show also draws in people who worked alongside Parks or have studied his legacy closely: filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, author Alice Walker and her daughter Rebecca Walker, curator Thelma Golden, photography historian Deborah Willis, artist Hank Willis Thomas and Ambassador Andrew Young, who was present at the 1963 March on Washington that Parks photographed.

Parks, says DuVernay, didn't bring elegance to black life; he captured the elegance that was already there. And surely that's as good a tribute as any photographer could ever hope to receive.

Gordon Parks: Voices in the Mirror runs at Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street, New York, until 6 November.

Film cameras can be handmade with a piece of light-sensitive paper, a small hole, and a light-tight container – but could a digital camera be built from everyday objects lying around the house? An architecture student and viral creator answered that question when he built an oversized digital instant camera using cardboard, a magnifying glass, a mirror, and a flatbed scanner.

Architecture student Nikita Merkushin (@noizebro) recently shared a viral video showing how he built a camera from a scanner-printer combo – and the video is a refreshing reminder of the basics of how a camera works.

Merkushin used a magnifying glass as the lens of the camera, demonstrating the concept by using the magnifying glass to project an image on a piece of paper.

Next, he built a cardboard house over the top of a printer-scanner combo, with the magnifying glass at the front. Importantly, the back of the cardboard is angled, and inside this angled piece is a mirror. That allows the image from the magnifying glass to hit the scanner bed, despite the lens being positioned perpendicular to the scanner.

Once assembled, Merkushin took the oversized, handmade camera out for a test run, scanning images to his phone. But since he used a scanner with a built-in printer, he was also able to print out instant images on site.

The result is an oversized, very impractical camera, yes – but the experiment also demonstrates the basics of how a camera works – using a lens to project light onto a sensor.

The scanner doesn’t scan the entire image at once, but slowly moves down the image. That means movement becomes distorted. But like the camera itself, this is the perfect example of a common camera design: a rolling shutter.

A camera’s rolling shutter, while much faster than a scanner, scans one line of pixels at a time. The rolling shutter works fast enough that most subjects don’t turn out distorted like the scanner, but the fastest subjects get a jello effect. Global shutters expose the entire sensor at once and don’t get that jello distortion.

Merkushin is no stranger to viral videos. He previously built a film camera on top of a bike helmet that used a pull string to take a photo every time his jaw dropped (literally!). The architecture student also experiments with projections, including a viral video of a projected horse running down the streets, thanks to a bike-mounted projector system.

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I go to lots of photography festivals, and I like it best when they have a theme. Not just because it makes them easier to write about, but because more broadly, I think it helps the public enjoy the event.

There's nothing worse than wandering around gallery after gallery, staring at photograph after photograph, not really knowing how you're supposed to feel about them, or what you're meant to be learning.

Yes of course, art is the eye of the beholder. But there's a happy medium between being told what to think, and having no idea what to think.

A theme, to my mind, provides a framework to give your thoughts some direction, without being too prescriptive about where they should end up. So I was intrigued to hear that the third edition of Bristol Photo Festival, the international biennial in south-west England, has the theme of "Time Machine".

What the theme means

The idea, in the words of the press release, is to explore time "not as a linear progression but as something layered, cyclical and continually unfolding." The artists, it says, will "consider how histories persist within the present, how personal and collective memories shape contemporary experience, and how culture can help imagining alternative futures."

That idea plays out across a range of exhibitions at the festival, whose second edition drew more than 115,000 visitors.

British visual artist Joy Gregory explores migration, memory and identity, while Akshay Mahajan, a photographer and curator based out of Goa, India., investigates folk culture, borders and material history through new commissions responding to the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection.

South African photographer George Hallett's photographs of writers and musicians in exile, curated by Christine Eyene, sit alongside Photo Kegham, which resurrects the archive of the first commercial photo studio in Gaza, founded by Kegham Deghalian Sr in 1944 and newly curated by his grandson, Kegham Deghalian Jr.

The programme also includes Canadian photographer, writer and collector Michel Campeau's study of the vanishing analogue darkroom, and Dark Tales, a group show curated by Isaac Blease examining the links between Gothic sensibility and British documentary photography.

Heat gathers 18 projects from Magnum Foundation's 2023 to 2025 Photography Expanded Fellowship, each of which addresses the climate crisis in a different way. Meanwhile Family Times, by Taiwanese artist Annie Wang and Liu Hsing Yu, reworks the family album as a form.

No Pasarán marks the 90th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War through contemporary work by Spanish photographers Anna Jornet and Julián Barón, alongside a newly commissioned piece by Barcelona-based curator and writer Natasha Christia on the International Brigades.

The late Martin Parr, whose Foundation is one of the festival's main partners, gets a dedicated show too: Common Sense, one of his most ambitious and widely discussed bodies of work. And in partnership with the Institut français du Royaume-Uni [the French Institute of the United Kingdom], the festival presents One of Many: An Alternative History of Photography, which sets out to complicate the standard version of photographic history with overlooked narratives and alternative lineages.

Traces of time

As festival director Alejandro Acín puts it: "Time Machine brings together artists and curators whose work reminds us that the present is never singular. Every photograph carries traces of multiple temporalities – memories that continue to shape us, histories that refuse to disappear and futures that remain open to possibility."

The opening week runs from October 14 to 18, with exhibitions staying open across the city until November 15 and some presentations continuing beyond that at the festival's main partner venues. All shows are free to visit, with donations welcome.

After previously failing to get the shot, a Portuguese astrophotographer has finally captured a highly detailed close-up of the Sun’s surface – winning a major astrophotography award.

Miguel Claro was recently named winner of the “Our Sun” category of the ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2026 for the frame, which shows an intricate abstract pattern created by writhing plasma within the Sun’s photosphere – the outermost layer of the star’s surface.

“After several attempts, a perfect opportunity eventually arose. The excitement that morning was palpable,” he told the competition organizers.

Claro had good reason to be excited. Not only did the astrophotographer and science communicator have a new high-powered, dual-band telescope, but he described the conditions that morning as “perfect” for capturing convection cells (areas of rising and falling plasma on the Sun's surface), along with filigree, or bright spots, found between them.

Miguel Claro's gear and settings

• Soleye 300 Dual-Band telescope
• Altair 2-nm G-Band filter
• Baader SunDancer II TZ-4S telecentric system
• Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount
• Player One Astronomy Apollo 428M Max Pro Solar Camera
• 1,200 mm | f/4 | 67 milliseconds from a 22-second video
• Location: Reguengos de Monsaraz, Évora District, Portugal, July 02 2025

To get the shot, he recorded several short videos at a high frame rate to freeze what he called “fleeting moments” of atmospheric stability. “Watching the first results of the pre-processed image appear on screen was a pure thrill,” he said.

Claro pipped retired airline pilot and multi-award-winning Australian astrophotographer, Peter Ward, to first place.

For his “compelling” runner-up scene, Ward used a spectroheliograph – a device that captures specific wavelengths of light – to depict calcium filaments and plumes of gas expelled from the Sun’s outer layers in the UV spectrum.

Peter Ward's gear and settings

• Astro-Physics 130GTX and 92-mm Stowaway telescopes
• Coronado SolarMax double stacking 90-mm etalon
• MLAstro SHG 700 spectroheliograph
• Paramount MEII mount, QHYCCD QHY533M and 678M cameras
• 910 mm | f/7 | multiple 1/250 to 1/500-second exposures
• Location: Barden Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, October 11 2025

British astrophotographer James McBeath was also commended for his frame of the 2025 partial solar eclipse. The photographer told the event organizers that he spent “several hours” tracking the eclipse in a local park with his camera, stopping to chat with curious passersby.

James McBeath's gear and settings

• Sony A7
• Canon EF 300 mm USM lens with 2x teleconverter
• Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini mount
• Pig Iron 720-nm R-72 Infrared filter
• 600 mm | f/18 | ISO 100 | 1/3,200-seconds
• Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 29 March 2025 

The ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year is the world’s largest astrophotography competition, hosted by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London. This year’s overall winner was Ali Alobaidly (Kuwait) for his depiction of the rarely photographed Shark Nebula, snagging him £10,000 (approximately $13,000 / AU$19,000) along with the competition accolade.

Category winners took home £1,500 (approximately $2,000 / AU$2,800), with Miguel Claro saying that seeing the “impressive level of detail” in his image made “every bit of effort worth it.”

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Ever noticed how the Covids lockdowns – the most profound and historically significant moment most of us will ever live through – are something we just don't like to talk about?

For some of us, it's because we don't want to dwell on the loneliness, boredom, emptiness and depression that period brought us. For others, who had a better time of it, maybe it's just guilt for enjoying the paid time off, or embarrassment for doing nothing constructive or self-improving with that time.

Every now and again, though, a creative project pops up that reminds us that, just a few years ago, the world turned upside-down, and we were there. And here's an example that comes at things from a highly original angle.

Crowds, published by Kehrer Verlag, is a new book by German photographer Wolfgang Zurborn, as part of its 2026 list. Across its 272 pages, there are 131 color images of, well, exactly what you expect. And it only exists because, during Covid, those pictures were impossible to take. In Germany, at least, crowds had literally ceased to exist.

Many of us in that time found ourselves trying to substitute what we were missing in artificial ways. I, for one, love travel. So I suddenly found myself bingeing TV travel shows I'd never been interested in before. Zurborn did something a little similar.

He'd spent the 1980s and 1990s photographing people in public spaces, at festivals, protests, religious processions, fairgrounds and tourist sites across Germany and France. During Covid, he went back into his own archive and started scanning hundreds of colour negatives.

Making connections

What's fascinating is that, from this new perspective, he found connections between these pictures he hadn't seen at the time. Recurring choreography. Echoes between a 1986 anti-nuclear protest at Wackersdorf and a 1991 street festival in Cologne. Patterns of desire and fear that only reveal themselves once you're looking at all the work, all in one go.

Looking at these pictures sparks unusual feelings in me, too. There's something a little strange about viewing photo after photo where there is no obvious subject, no clear focal point. Instead, there are bodies, gestures, half-stories, scattered across a frame. All shot in a saturated, 20th century palette that gives a theatrical charge to even the most mundane of scenes.

A 1988 shot at the Loreley festival crams brings together a dozen half-dressed festivalgoers, all mid-gesture, none of them quite the obvious subject. A 1989 image from Cologne's Spiel 55 fair juxtaposes a family with a pram against a bold stripe of architectural color. A woman in a striped jumpsuit unpacks shopping in front of a bomb-damaged Cologne building.

This is not portrait photography with a clearly identified subject. These are scenes with a hundred things all going on, all in tension. Working in the tradition of color street photography, Zurborn embraces the clutter and chaos, rather than trying to impose a hierarchy on it.

For anyone whose own photos are gathering dust, Zurborn's book is an inspiration. He didn't wait for the world to open back up to make something new. He found it by looking at material that already existed.

Crowds isn't specifically about lockdown, but it wouldn't exist without it. That's the strange gift some of us got from those empty months. Not a new way of shooting, but a new way of seeing what we'd already shot.

Crowds by Wolfgang Zurborn, with an interview by curator Alasdair Foster, is published by Kehrer Verlag in English and German, priced at $65 / £50.

Many photographers aim to create photographs that evoke a smile, but for Don McCullin, the British photojournalist who has spent decades covering war and global conflicts, his goal is a little different: he wants to create photographs that make people lose sleep at night.

McCullin, who has spent more than 50 years photographing wars and global conflicts, will release what he says is his final photo book in October, the same month as his 91st birthday. Ahead of the launch of the book titled Vietnam, McCullin spoke to CBS News for a mini-documentary on his iconic career as a war photographer.

Looking over McCullin's photographs may make viewers feel uncomfortable, but that’s by design.

“I always print my pictures dark,” he said. “I want my picture to hurt you. I don’t want you having any free rides. I’m there to upset you, and I’m there to make you feel uncomfortable the way I feel when I go to bed at night. Otherwise, there’s no point in me going there in the first place.”

McCullin may have retired from war photography at age 75, but the photographer says he still relives those battles every night. The February 1968 Battle of Haế in the Vietnam War is both the subject of the photographer’s final book and the memories that he relives every night.

“To this day, I live that battle every night I go upstairs in this house to go to sleep. Every night. It never leaves me,” he said.

McCullin says that he was told by a superior officer that the battle was to be a 24-hour mission. 11 days later, he was still there with the Delta Company US Marine unit that suffered a 40 percent casualty rate in the battle that stretched to 26 days.

It was amid the Battle of Haế that McCullin took what many consider to be his most iconic photograph: A photo of a shell-shocked soldier, staring vacantly into the distance. The photograph became an iconic representation of the war that sparked formal recognition for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

But McCullin says he actually hates that photograph. “Frankly, I hate this picture because people think it’s the only picture that I’ve ever taken,” he said. “It’s just that you have to be careful when you make these pictures. If you turn them into an iconic picture and they are bearable to look at, you haven’t done your job properly because it means that people will accept instead of turning away.”

McCullin may have spent a career taking photographs designed to make people feel uncomfortable, but he was also known for putting his cameras down when necessary. In the mini-documentary, he recounted photographing a man being held up by two soldiers in Vietnam. But when all three of them fell to the ground, he put the injured Marine on his back and carried him to safety.

McCullin says he has covered nearly every major global conflict during his decades-long career, including being wounded by a mortar in Cambodia – where he continued to take photos from the back of a truck.

“As long as people run armament factories and create weapons of war,” he said, “you’re photographing one war thinking there’s another war waiting in the background, as there is in this world we live in today.”

Don McCullin’s Vietnam will be released in October, retailing for $95 / £80 / CA$148. The hardcover photo book is available to pre-order from Amazon, with signed editions available directly from the publisher, GOST Books.

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Few British families have a history as rich, influential, and daring as the Throckmortons. Former aristocrats, the family once held strong political positions at the top of society and, in centuries gone by, even challenged the Tudor monarchy.

Now, the current generation of Throckmortons are exhibiting historic portrait photographs of their ancestors at the family’s grandiose Tudor home, Coughton Court, in Warwickshire, England.

Throckmorton Family: Through the Lens highlights a series of photographs exploring the lives of the different generations, from Sir William Throckmorton (1838-1919) and Henry Langford-Brooke (1843-1907) through to the present day.

The exhibition sheds light on the influential family members who called Coughton Court home over the past three centuries, exploring their personal histories, and that of the estate.

Rebecca Gee, curator at Coughton Court, said that the exhibition highlights the “pride” of the family home and “faith” of its current residents, Magnus and Imogen Birch-Throckmorton, and their children Isabella and Hector, to continue the historic building’s legacy.

This 600-year story dates back to 1409, when John de Throckmorton (1380-1445) acquired the Warwickshire estate through marriage.

Over the next century, the family established themselves as prominent English landowners, all while openly opposing Henry VIII’s infamous religious reforms.

As devout Roman Catholics, the Throckmortons faced centuries of persecution. In 1583, Sir Francis Throckmorton (1554-1584) concocted a cunning, yet ultimately failed, plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and return Catholic rule to the country.

Less than thirty years later, the family would once again be at the heart of another attempted royal assassination.

In 1605, conspirators of the infamous Gunpowder Plot gathered at Coughton Court to await the outcome of the event we now call “Bonfire Night” in the UK.

In more recent times, 1946, to survive post-WWII financial strain, the Throckmortons transferred Coughton Court to the National Trust under a unique 300-year lease, maintaining their right to remain in residence.

However, in February 2026, Magnus and Imogen brought control of the estate back into the family’s control, with Rebecca Gee saying that the new exhibition was to celebrate this.

Throckmorton Family: Through the Lens is on display Wednesday to Sunday, 11am – 4pm until the end of the year. Entry is included with all house and garden tickets. For further information, including prices and National Trust concessions, visit the Coughton Court website.

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When a sea turtle was spotted on the sand at a California beach this week, beachgoers immediately called a lifeguard over for help. But instead of an injured turtle, authorities found the first-ever documented case of a sea turtle nesting on the West Coast of the US. Photos prove that more than one mother turtle is nesting much farther north than usual.

On September 16, a sea turtle was spotted laying eggs near Saal Beach in Orange County, California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called the sighting the “first-ever recorded natural nesting for any sea turtle species on the US West Coast.”

But then, a few days later, another olive ridley sea turtle was spotted building a nest a few miles away at Huntington Beach Pier. At first, authorities weren’t sure if the turtle from both beaches was the same one, as olive ridleys are known to lay multiple nests in one season.

Now, an analysis of photos from both beaches suggests that those nests come from two different turtles. Research biologist Dr. Cali Turner Tomaszewicz analyzed photos of the two turtles and compared the shape and pattern on the turtles' shells, confirming that the two nests are from two different mothers.

While two turtles were spotted laying eggs on the West Coast for the first time, researchers aren’t sure if the occurrence is an anomaly or a potential sign that the olive ridley turtles are expanding their usual nesting grounds.

The species is known for coming on shore at the same time, with mass nesting bringing thousands of turtles to the same beach – typically in Costa Rica and Mexico. The California sighting is the farthest north that the turtles have been spotted building nests.

A number of theories are circulating as to why the turtles have built nests much farther north – one of them being the warmer waters triggered by El Niño.

The two nesting areas have been closed off to the public to protect the eggs, while multiple government agencies and organizations will monitor the nesting sites.

The olive ridley turtle female typically builds one to three nests each year, with each clutch averaging about 100 eggs. While the species is one of the smallest sea turtles, the olive ridley is one of the more abundant species.

NOAA says the public can help by reporting any West Coast sightings and avoiding the nesting sites.

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Shutter speed is typically associated with freezing a split-second moment or blurring movement – but sometimes shutter speed becomes a storytelling tool. One such photograph captured this week comes from the lens of photojournalist Sergei Supinsky.

The photograph, captured on September 20 in Kyiv, Ukraine, shows a woman holding a photograph of her boyfriend along with the words that translate to “I dream of hugging the one that I love.”

While the woman remains sharp and motionless, a slow shutter speed blurs commuters walking in front of the woman, the colors of their clothing blurring in a way that draws the eye to the subject.

The photograph comes from a demonstration in support of Ukrainian prisoners of war called “Do not be silent! Captivity kills.” Families and supporters have held regular demonstrations for more than two years.

Using a slow shutter speed helps tell the story behind the image: while daily life moves forward in Ukraine, for prisoners of war and their loved ones, something as simple as hugging a loved one is on pause.

Many of the photographs coming from the lenses of photojournalists in Ukraine tell a story of daily life continuing amid the ongoing war. But this photograph carries a feel of mixed timelines.

I don’t think a more typical, faster shutter speed would have created the same effect. The motion blur creates a sense of time passing while also doubling as an effective visual aid, drawing the eye to the subject.

Even the colors of the blurred movement are spot on – a monochromatic blur of gray, white, and black clothing that ties in with the colors of the subject and background.

Metadata suggests Supinsky took the photograph with the Nikon Z9.

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Modern cameras and lenses try to fix imperfections like vignetting and color casts, but a new trio of filters from PolarPro leans into the imperfections to embrace a look that feels like it stepped out of the 1970s. The PolarPro Radial Gradient filters create an edge of color with a clear center to build an old-school look in-camera.

The new Radial Gradient filters come in a three-pack – one blue, one red, and one orange – and are designed to build in dramatic, warm, cool, and atmospheric color shifts that are strongest at the edges.

PolarPro says the look created by the filters changes a bit with the light on the subject. The company demoed the look the filters create with a 1970s drive-in-themed photo shoot in LA. Behind-the-scenes videos show a variety of different modern cameras being used on the set, but the resulting photographs have the vignetting and color casts that build a more classic feel.

The colors aren't the only way the filters aim to build a retro look. The sample images and videos suggest the filters have a slight diffusion to them, creating softer blooms of light that feel like vintage lenses.

Linear gradients are a popular filter format, but the radial gradient is far less common, creating vignetting at the edges that many modern lenses aim to avoid. While radial gradients aren’t common among modern filter options, the look feels reminiscent of some creative filter sets from the 1970s and 1980s, like Cokin’s Creative Filter System.

The Polar Pro Radial Gradient Filters, announced earlier this week, come in four different circular screw-in sizes as well as a Helix magnetic filter system option. A set of three starts at about $180 for the smallest size (about £136 / AU$256 CA$254).

The sizes range from 49mm – which also fits with the company’s filter adapter for the Fujifilm X100VI – to 82mm.

Shipping is expected to begin on October 7, with pre-orders open now.

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Since digital cameras surpassed the one-megapixel mark, camera makers have been locked in a decades-long megapixel race. But some of 2026’s most viral cameras have abandoned the race entirely, reverting to single-digit megapixel counts and focusing on something else entirely: the joy of taking photographs.

Take, for example, the newly announced Instax Pal 2. The tiny camera houses a 10MP 1/3.06-inch sensor that takes images that, looking too closely, look more like paintings than modern photographs. As a professional photographer, I probably shouldn’t love something with such low-tech specs – and yet, I do.

The images aren’t what I love about Pal 2, but rather the experience of taking the photos, the joy of holding it in my hand. Besides the impossibly adorable small size, the Pal 2’s waist-level screen, retro controls, and built-in creative effects are simply fun.

The Pal 2 isn’t alone in abandoning the megapixel race without even a participation ribbon. Cameras like the Camp Snap CS-Pro, Kodak Charmera, Rewindpix, Flashback One V2, and Chuzhao prioritize the experience of taking photographs over the actual photographs.

Several of those lo-fi cameras have launched to viral success. The Kodak Chamera, for example, has less than 2MP, yet the tiny, collectible designs meant the camera sold out in a day. The Chuzhao is basically a toy camera, but its twin-lens reflex design pushed it to the top of Amazon’s best-seller list.

Picking up a camera with a wonderfully fun design reminds me of the fact that I’ve been taking too many snapshots with what’s essentially a box: my phone. And that’s exactly what these cameras are meant to replace – these low-fi cameras are snapshot cameras meant for shooting fewer photos on a phone. Cameras like the Pal 2 and Camp Snap CS-Pro are meant for snapshots, not professional photographers.

Part of the charm of these cameras is, perhaps, intentional imperfection. The trend for retro photos – and not necessarily retro cameras – has been building for a few years now, but I think AI is going to be the catalyst that puts charm, personality and emotion over perfection.

The professional camera world has not abandoned the megapixel race – though I would certainly argue that the race’s pace has slowed considerably. Mirrorless cameras are still launching with higher and higher resolutions, pushing 67MP and, yes, even triple-digit resolutions.

But while image quality remains the number one priority among serious cameras, the push towards exaggerating the experience of taking photos has not gone unnoticed by the major camera makers. Fujifilm, which long ago spotted the retro camera trend, seems to be experimenting with adding more dials, from film simulation to aspect ratio. OM System has finally revived its beloved retro PEN camera. Even Canon has joined in on the retro look (sort of) with the EOS R8 Mark II.

A retro look isn’t the only aspect of camera design that makes my hands happy. Lightweight designs are becoming a key focus, both for the camera bodies themselves, like the new Nikon Z5IIC, and the lenses, as with Sony’s new remarkably light telephoto primes.

The low-fi retro camera is built for an entirely different audience than pro photographers and serious hobbyists. But a handful of cameras sit somewhere in the happy medium between the two.

There’s the Fujifilm X Half, for example, which has a one-inch sensor well beyond the capabilities of the Pal 2, mixed with a design – and screen-free mode – that feels more film than digital. A few cameras blend both the large sensor and high resolution with an experience-focused design, like the Fujifilm X100VI’s hybrid viewfinder and retro dials.

The megapixel race isn’t over for mirrorless cameras and high-end compacts. But as even smartphones reach triple-digit megapixel counts, the consumer cameras that are going viral are the ones that prioritize the joy of taking photos over pixel-perfect image quality.

After the smartphone killed the compact camera market, the point-and-shoot is returning with a vengeance as more people reach for cameras that feel like the exact opposite of the thin rectangle that’s always on hand. Cameras should be fun – and that’s a trend I’m in love with.

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Take a look at the best screen-free cameras for a distraction-free shooting experience. Or browse the best retro cameras.

I can’t think of many situations more stressful for a professional photographer than having your equipment confiscated by authorities when you’ve got a client shoot coming right up.

Well, that’s exactly what happened to British-based photographer and filmmaker, Jacob Zatorsky, who recently saw roughly £5,000 (approximately $6,500 / AU$9,500) of his equipment seized by Belgian customs officials, leaving him in a right pickle the day before a client gig.

In a viral video shared on Instagram, Zatorsky explained that, upon arrival in Brussels on a Eurostar train, an overzealous customs official singled him out before questioning him about his equipment.

According to Zatorsky, the customs officer had clocked his professional gear – which, when you watch the video, wasn’t hard, as the Polish-born filmmaker was essentially hauling a mini full production setup – and was especially interested in knowing whether he had an ATA carnet.

Above: listen to Jacob Zatorsky explain his ordeal at the Belgian border

You see, Zatorsky needed an ATA carnet – “ATA” standing for the combined French and English words “Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission” – to bring his expensive gear into Belgium from the UK.

That’s because an ATA carnet acts like a passport for goods, enabling you to take valuable equipment into participating countries without raising alarm bells with customs officials.

You apply for an ATA carnet through an authorized chamber of commerce in your home country before your trip, registering all the items of equipment you plan on taking with you.

The carnet lasts for a certain amount of time, usually a maximum of 12 months, depending on the country(ies) you plan on spending time in, by which all of the equipment you brought in must be taken out.

If ATA carnets weren’t a thing, then you’d be able to import and export expensive professional equipment to either sell or use for work, both of which would put money in your pocket, but none into the local government’s in the form of tax. And we all know how upset Mr. Taxman gets when done out of his cut.

Unfortunately for Zatorsky, this was the first he was hearing of the necessary document and, as he was carrying much more than the £5,000 of equipment that was ultimately seized, the customs official honed in on him like a heat-seeking missile.

Now, the annoying thing about ATA carnets is that, even if you're not intending on selling or using the equipment for professional work during your trip, you may still need to acquire one, and they’re not cheap.

The price varies between Chambers of Commerce and also depends on the total value of the equipment you want to cross borders with and the carnet duration you need. However, the London Chamber of Commerce, for example, charges over £600 (approximately $800 / AU$1,100) to issue one of the cheapest forms of ATA carnets.

Ouch! That’s a hefty price to pay if you’re a serious amateur who’s traveling with a couple of camera bodies and lenses, but with no intention of earning any money from them.

And don’t think that your own social media and YouTube channels aren’t included either. If these are monetized, even if you’re only earning pocket money from advertising revenue, you technically still need an ATA carnet.

What’s even more frustrating is that there are no hard and fast rules for when you need one. For example, a professional photographer taking £15,000 (approximately $20,000 / AU$28,000) of kit from the UK to the US to shoot an assignment and then bringing exactly that kit back to the UK is a textbook ATA situation.

Whereas, a prosumer taking a single camera body, three lenses, a drone, and a tripod, all within the same backpack, might be alright without an ATA carnet, despite that equipment potentially being valued at, say, £9,000 (approximately $12,000 / AU$17,000).

Essentially, if you’re temporarily taking expensive equipment out of a carnet-participating country into another, the kit is eligible for ATA treatment, and you plan on eventually exporting the goods back to your country of origin, then you might need a carnet.

But, whether you actually get asked to present the document during a border crossing ultimately comes down to just how obvious the amount of equipment you’re carrying is and how keen individual customs officials are to enforce the law.

It’s all headache-inducing stuff, but I don’t want to complain too much about ATA carnets. After all, I’ve never been asked for one while traveling with my Sony A7 III, Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD, Sony 24-105mm G Master, nor my FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G Master – and it’s unlikely you will if carrying a similar amount of equipment.

Plus, if people heading to another country to work a standard 9-5 job need a visa, then it makes sense that freelance filmmakers and photographers also need to pay for some sort of permission too.

In fairness to Zatorsky, he admitted being at fault for not having the carnet. Although, it’s still a hard pill to swallow…

In his video, the videographer didn’t clarify whether he was able to get hold of replacement equipment in time for his shoot, but he did say that he got his kit back when leaving Belgium with no problem. Phew!

I did reach out to Zatorsky, however, as I’d like to know what happened after his gear was seized and how he handled the situation with the client. No response yet, but I’m keen to hear back, as there could be some golden nuggets of advice for us all on how to handle last-minute commercial job blips.

In the meantime, if you use your camera gear professionally, or even have a serious-looking setup as an amateur, I recommend familiarizing yourself further with carnets to be on the safe side before any future trip.

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Here’s our pick of the best professional cameras, which includes top mirrorless rigs as well as DSLR models.

We have a new podcast out today… part of a new series of podcasts that we aim to record every week, looking at the key launches that we have reported in the past seven days. Our team will give their candid, and sometimes controversial, views on these new announcements - debating the strengths, weaknesses, and controversies.

This week, Editor-in-Chief James Artaius and Managing Editor Adam Juniper join me for a chat about the big announcements from Nikon and Adobe – as well as trying to unpick what Snapchat's latest augmented reality camera glasses are all about!

Above: Watch the DCW News Podcast on YouTube now

First up, Nikon has announced the Z5IIC, a new full-frame mirrorless camera designed to make high-quality photography simpler and far more accessible. However, with so much in common with the existing Z5II, it raises a few eyebrows: who exactly is this camera built for, and is Nikon risking cluttering its own lineup with unnecessary overlap?

Next, we shift our focus to augmented reality as we break down Snap’s new SPECS camera glasses. Packed with integrated cameras, spatial displays, and onboard AI, they certainly sound like something straight out of sci-fi—but they also arrive with a seriously high price tag. Are wearable devices like this truly the next evolution of photography and everyday computing, or are they still an over-engineered solution looking for a problem?

Finally, we dissect the major industry news that Adobe has acquired Topaz Labs, officially bringing one of the biggest names in AI-powered image and video enhancement into the Creative Cloud ecosystem. We discuss what this high-stakes deal could mean for photographers, video editors, and current Topaz license holders, before tackling the broader debate: how is rapid AI integration changing the media landscape, and where should creators draw the line between enhancement and manipulation?

We’d love to hear your thoughts…
• Who do you think the Nikon Z5IIC is actually targeted at?

• Would you ever wear a pair of SPECS out in the wild?

• How do you feel about Adobe absorbing Topaz Labs?

Let us know in the comments below:

You’ve probably heard the global news that a new species of cat has been discovered, something that hasn’t happened for over a century. And while it took years for the little feline to be officially recognized in a published paper in Current Biology, not to mention state-of-the-art genomics, it’s nice to know that photography still had a huge role to play in the investigation.

In fact, if it wasn’t for photography, this new Bolivian species Leopardus tilcayo might still be undiscovered. While science certainly played its part, photography is threaded throughout this rather bushy little tale.

Biologist and National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz was quoted by National Geographic as taking “a hundred pictures,” when first encountering the wild cat in question at a sanctuary in Bolivia, and later using a photograph of another wild cat from a guidebook to discover that the new specimen’s markings were unique. From 19th-century scientific illustrations to Paola’s initial photographs of the little tiger cat, imaging always has and continues to be a key component of zoology.

The camera trap

But photography isn’t the be-all and end-all. Digital Camera World publishes a lot of stories about photography’s role in both wildlife and marine life research and conservation, but photography can’t always produce the evidence researchers need, which is where scientific processes such as genomics come in.

Nogales-Ascarrunz et al.’s paper highlights the limitations of photography in relation to identifying wild cats, specifically camera traps, explaining: “Prevalent misidentification highlights a key limitation of camera trapping methods”.

But I certainly don’t take that to mean that camera traps are useless. Camera traps are particularly useful at capturing elusive animals in hard-to-access areas or areas that might be entirely off limits for parts of the year. If you’re interested in how professionals use camera traps to document wildlife, I highly recommend watching The Wild Ones on Apple TV+. This series follows a trio of specialists, including camera trap expert Declan Burley, in search of some of the world’s most elusive species. The program goes into great detail about Declan’s methods for maximizing camera traps.

Cameras for wildlife enthusiasts

If you’re a wildlife enthusiast first and a photographer second, the cameras that I always recommend are bridge cameras like the Nikon Coolpix P1100 and Sony RX10 V. These all-in-one cameras look like serious DSLR or mirrorless cameras, but have fixed lenses. The Nikon Coolpix P1100 grants you a monstrous 35mm equivalent focal length of 24-3000mm, while the Sony RX10 V packs 24-600mm. While the Nikon wins on reach, the Sony wins on image quality and autofocus.

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Check out the best camera for wildlife photography and the best camera bags. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

I’m once again left feeling jealous of all the photographers with access to Nikon Japan’s Nikon Direct storefront, because the ‘Big N’ has launched more tantalizing swag: a neck warmer and paper cups based around the fastest Nikkor lens in history, the Nikon Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct.

Okay, so paper cups certainly weren’t on my bingo card for 2026, and more Nikon swag wasn’t exactly the big new release I’ve been waiting for, but I’ll take a neck warmer and paper cup that looks like the mighty Noct.

The Lens Neck Warmer Noct is definitely something I could see accompanying me on a cold hike. Ribbed fabric represents the focus ring, and the classic Noct script is embroidered just below the focal length and aperture markers. The fabric is fleece, so I’m guessing it’s pretty warm, too.

The Lens Paper Cups Noct come in a pack of 25 and feature a similar Noct-inspired design to the neck warmer, but more detailed, with printing made to look like a control ring, LED screen, tripod foot and more. I guess these 280ml cups would make a great talking point at a photography-themed party, exhibition or camera club meet.

Pricing and history

Sadly, these items are Nikon Direct exclusives, which means they are available only to Japanese domestic customers. The Lens Neck Warmer Noct is priced at 4,500 yen (roughly $29, £21, AU$40), and the Lens Paper Cups Noct (Set of 25) are priced at 1,500 yen (roughly $9.50, £7.15, AU$13.44).

If you’re wondering why the Nikon Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct is such a big deal, it’s the latest in a very exclusive line of premium lenses that represent the pinnacle of Nikon’s optical engineering. The Z-mount Noct was released in 2019 with an eye-watering RRP of $7,997 / £8,299. Think of it as a conceptual lens that's available for purchase, designed to showcase the very pinnacle of the Z mount’s capabilities.

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

Time-lapses capturing the growth of a plant can be mesmerizing – both those shots typically require careful shooting over the course of several days and even months. But a plant-obsessed tech company wants to build a smart camera that’s purpose-built for ”plant-lapses.”

Dedicated time-lapse cameras are built specifically for shooting across long intervals while automatically creating a stitched video that speeds up time. FernSnap takes that same concept but builds the time-lapse camera into a grow light that both helps light up the shots and aids plant growth.

The LED light has a full-spectrum mode meant to mimic sunlight as well as a blue-violet mode for seedlings and a red-orange option for buds and fruit.

The FernSnap light and camera are built into a clamp base with a flexible arm, designed to continue to take photos of houseplants from the same spot across several days or even weeks without moving the camera. Controls for the light and camera are built right into the base.

The camera uses five different time-lapse modes built for specific purposes, from seed growth to flowers unfurling. Those preset modes range from watching plants for 10 days to 60 days, while users are also able to create custom intervals. Finished videos are 2K MP4 files that can be saved to a microSD card or sent to cloud-based storage.

The dedicated plant camera uses AI to automatically stitch those photos into a time-lapse video, using AI tools to correct exposure and fix small camera shakes. The term “smart” camera also comes in because FernSnap can recognize different types of houseplants.

The Hong Kong-based developer Linne International Limited didn’t say how long FernSnap’s battery is rated for, but the plant cam recharges via a USB-C cord.

The company is turning to Kickstarter to fund the FernSnap, with pledges including the camera starting at about $99 / £75 / AU$140 / CA$140, plus shipping.

All crowdfunding carries some risk, but FernSnap has already exceeded its original funding goal. If manufacturing and quality control proceed as expected, then the company expects to get the plant camera into the hands of the first backers in December 2026.

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A Chinese company has unveiled a new camera that has caught the attention of the Sony and Micro Four Thirds (MFT) communities.

Revealed at the IFA 2026 show in Berlin earlier this month, the camera from NBD – a sister brand to Songdian, both owned by Sonida – looks a lot like a Sony A7C II and seems to be about the size of the new OM System PEN.

And it is being widely speculated that this is the new Micro Four Thirds camera that was teased by Songdian earlier this year… but is this actually an MFT camera?

"N-Mount" or Micro Four Thirds?

That's certainly what the folks at 43 Rumors think. The outlet shared images from an IFA attendee, who identified it as "a prototype – or possibly just a mockup – of a camera with an MFT sensor".

However, closer inspection reveals that the mount is clearly labelled "N-Mount" (no doubt after the NBD brand) and only has ten electrical contacts instead of the eleven possessed by the Micro Four Thirds mount.

As such, while this may indeed be the anticipated Songdian / NBD camera, it doesn't actually appear to be an MFT camera. Yes, it appears to use a Four Thirds sensor, but if it's using a proprietary N-Mount then it's a new format altogether. Indeed, the camera was displayed with an unbranded lens possessing the same 11-contact mount – so this NBD camera could be a completely separate proposition to what Songdian teased.

Of course, it's completely possible that the people creating the mockup simply got the number of contacts wrong and this is in fact a Micro Four Thirds camera. And it's also possible that "N-Mount" is just a bit of visual decoration for the purposes of the show, which will not actually be on the production camera. Speaking of which…

Sony lawsuit in waiting?

The NBD camera is clearly styled after an A7C body, aping the Sony styling right down to the orange ring around the lens mount. And, as pointed out by a 43 Rumors user, that orange ring is part of Sony's "trade dress".

Designing a camera that so overtly bites on Sony's design grammar might be fair game for a prototype product trying to drum up interest at a trade show, but if this product ever made it to market than you can be pretty sure Sony will send an army of lawyers after it.

This wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened. Once upon a time, Sakar licensed the Polaroid name and made a camera that brazenly stole its design from the Nikon 1 series. Following a trade dress lawsuit by the Big N, the Polaroid IM1836 was pulled from sale.

Smart money says that this camera has a visual overhaul before launch, otherwise it's likely to fall foul of the courts.

Songdian / NBD camera specifications

So, mount and lawsuit-inciting design aside, what do we know about this camera? Precious little, but enough to start forming opinions.

First of all, it appears to be about the size of the newly-released OM System PEN – or, indeed, perhaps even the Sony A7C. As you can see in the image below, the NBD camera is slightly bigger than the older (and smaller) Olympus PEN E-PL8, putting it in PEN 2026 territory.

In fact, it has more than a few things in common with the older PEN models. The NBD camera eschews an electronic viewfinder (EVF), relying instead on a fully articulating rear screen. However, according to 43 Rumors, it also possesses an expansion port beneath the hotshoe that is "likely" for an optional external electronic EVF.

This is one of my favorite features on smaller cameras, giving the option to forego the EVF for compactness and convenience when you need to, and I'd personally love to see it return.

While the NBD camera does boast dual exposure control dials, in addition to a dedicated exposure compensation dial on the left shoulder, a big thing it's lacking is in-body image stabilization (IBIS). The 43 Rumors source voiced to the representative on the stand that consumers would like IBIS and an EVF, but was told that the company is emphasizing "compactness".

We know nothing in terms of specs, but it's fairly safe to say that this probably won't set new standards for cutting-edge imaging. After all, Amateur Photographer called one of Sonida's other products "the worst camera I've ever used" – so we're probably looking at something more remedial than the much maligned Yongnuo YN450 camera using an MFT sensor.

Still, as a longtime Micro Four Thirds user, I'm fascinated to see how this product develops! Make sure to check out the full article at 43 Rumors for more pictures of the camera along with observations from the MFT faithful.

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Take a look at the best Micro Four Thirds cameras from OM System and Panasonic, along with the best Micro Four Thirds lenses to use with them.

When it comes to music photography, famous artists tend to be the center of attention. But, at the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards 2026, it was the fans who stole the show.

Today, the annual global music photography competition revealed its winners for the 2026 edition, among them a series of high-octane frames of fanatic fans capturing the charged energy of the moments.

Perhaps the most electrifying of all the 9 category-winning images was Joshua Halling’s, of an Oasis fan caught in the middle of a swirling vortex within the crowd.

Winning the “Music Moment of the Year” category, Halling’s image was captured during Oasis’ 2025 tour in Buenos Aires, with Noel Gallagher later describing that night to a radio show as one “none of us will ever forget.”

There was more fan frenzy in the “Underground Scenes” and “Behind the Scenes” categories. AF Cortés was crowned winner of the former with her frame of audience members crowd surfing at a secret KARTEL show on an abandoned rail track in Brooklyn.

While Gabrielle Ravet took the latter for her shot of My Chemical Romance fans painting their faces before the band’s first show of the Long Black Parade Tour, Seattle.

Famous artists also feature in several winning shots, the pick of the bunch coming in the “Judges’ Choice” category. Here, Angus Jenner was named winner with an iconic frame of Oasis taking to the stage on the first night of its Reunion Tour in Cardiff last year.

A beautiful portrait of British singer Billie Marten atop a horse, taken by Frances Carter, as well as a euphoric frame of Yungblud performing, shot by Tom Pallant, captured the judges’ votes in the “Portrait” and “Live Music” categories, respectively.

Hosted by the famous Abbey Road Studios, London, the 2026 edition of the free photography competition saw over 24,500 images submitted from across 42 different countries.

Alongside the 9 category winners, an “ICON” career honor was also awarded to Roberta Bayley – famous for documenting the 1970s New York punk scene – as well as a “Lifetime Achievement” award to Masayoshi Sukita, for his legendary 44-year photographic collaboration with David Bowie.

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Low-fi keychain cameras have become a viral trend – and Yashica has just introduced four more versions of its collectible tiny camera. The Yashica Funtastic keychain camera, a 1MP keychain camera with a flip screen, just gained four new designs for the collectible camera that Yashica wants to customize to your mood and personality.

The new Yashica Funtastic designs contain the same guts as the keychain camera announced earlier this year. The 1/4 inch sensor and 1MP images are designed for early digicam nostalgia rather than image quality, while the different designs and a $28 / £21 price point hint at a collectible series.

Those designs now number eight, as Yashica has launched four new designs in addition to the originals. While the original launch had a model with the Yashica Boy mascot from the 1960s, that mascot is now joined by the Sailor Boy Edition, mixing that retro mascot with a design that looks inspired by historic Japanese artwork.

The new looks also include a basketball-themed Snoopy and two Helly Kitty designs – one with polka dots and another with cherries.

The new designs come in the same 22g, keychain-ready camera that measures 6.3 × 2.2 × 2.5 cm. Despite the size, Yashica managed to fit in a screen that flips 180 degrees for selfies and an LED light.

Yashica also launched what it calls Funtastic World, which divides up the keychain camera series into four different personalities and moods, sorting the different designs into those built for Wanderers, Dreamers, Sparks, and Blush.

“The things we choose to carry often say something about us,” Yashica wrote. “From the bags we wear to the accessories we attach to them, everyday objects can become reflections of our interests, style, memories, and personality. With Funtastic, Yashica extends that idea to photography, creating cameras that people can connect with not only for what they do, but also for what they represent.”

Driven by the success of the Kodak Charmera, keychain cameras have become a viral sensation, going even smaller than the compact camera trend while also touching on the low-fi trend. Yashica’s take includes a flip screen, though it lacks the tiny viewfinder of Kodak’s branded keychain.

Like the Kodak Charmera, Yashica’s keychain cameras are made by licensees and not the original company behind the historic cameras.

Yashica has opened pre-orders for the new Funtastic designs directly from the company’s website. The keychain camera retails for about $29 / £21 / AU$40 / CA$40.

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Leica is making an even bigger play for iPhone photographers with the launch of Leica LUX 2.0, the biggest update yet to its mobile camera app, alongside a new silver LUX grip and matching leather cases for Apple’s latest iPhone 18 Pro series.

The updated Leica LUX app brings the mobile experience closer to Leica’s wider camera ecosystem, with a new gallery interface based on the Leica FOTOS app, a redesigned user interface and a selection of alternative app icons inspired by some of Leica’s most recognizable cameras. Leica has also introduced elements of Apple’s Liquid Glass design language while keeping the main photographic controls in familiar positions, so existing LUX users shouldn’t have to relearn how to use the app completely.

One of the headline additions is a new Artist Look created in collaboration with legendary photographer Steve McCurry. Rather than attempting to automatically turn every photograph into something resembling one of McCurry’s images, Leica says the look has been designed around his distinctive approach to color, light, and atmosphere, giving photographers a starting point from which to develop their own images. It follows the earlier Greg Williams Artist Look and will be included with Leica LUX PRO, while also being made available for the Leica Q3 and Leica SL3 through the Leica FOTOS app.

“With Leica LUX 2.0, mobile photography is becoming more closely integrated with the Leica system. The shared gallery, the new user interface and Steve McCurry’s Artist Look offer photographers new ways to develop their own visual language using an iPhone. Together with the silver Leica LUX grip and matching cases, the result is a coordinated range for mobile photography,” says Marius Eschweiler, Leica Camera AG’s Vice President of Mobile.

Leica LUX 2.0 also introduces a number of useful workflow improvements. A new filmstrip makes it possible to select individual photographs directly from the detail view, while multiselect functionality has been added to the grid for photographers working through larger groups of images.

Adobe Lightroom and Capture One can also now be opened directly from the app alongside Darkroom, making it easier to move images into a more advanced editing workflow. The app will support the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max from launch, with additional optimizations designed around the photographic capabilities of Apple’s newest Pro models.

The app itself is only one part of Leica’s increasingly ambitious mobile photography system. The Leica LUX grip is now available in silver for the first time, joining the existing black version while retaining the same physical controls. That includes a two-stage shutter release, a control wheel, and two customizable function buttons, with the grip attaching to an iPhone via MagSafe and communicating with the phone over Bluetooth. Leica says its battery will last for up to 1,000 shots before needing to be recharged through USB-C, while compatibility stretches back to the iPhone 12.

Leica is also introducing new black leather LUX cases designed specifically for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The cases feature a red microfiber interior and are designed to work directly with the LUX grip and other MagSafe accessories. Leica has also replaced the previous open cutout around the iPhone’s camera button with an integrated button, creating what it describes as a more robust and completely enclosed design.

The new accessories are certainly positioned at the premium end of the iPhone photography market. The silver Leica LUX grip costs $395.00 / £260 and includes one year of Leica LUX PRO, while the leather Leica LUX cases are priced at $95 / £85 each. Both the grip and cases are available from today through Leica Stores, Leica’s online store, and authorized retailers.

The Steve McCurry Artist Look and support for the iPhone 18 Pro series are also available now, while the full Leica LUX 2.0 update, including its new gallery, redesigned interface and alternative app icons, will arrive on the Apple App Store in early October.

Leica says LUX has already been downloaded millions of times since its introduction in 2024, and with the company now bringing its app, physical controls and accessories closer together, it is becoming increasingly clear that Leica sees the iPhone as much more than simply another smartphone camera.

A "remarkably compact yet well-built" zoom lens is the No.1 best-selling lens in Japan right now, according to major retailer Kitamura. Interestingly, the most popular optics are from third-party manufacturers.

The Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C for E-mount sits at the top of the chart, followed by another Sigma optic for E-mount: the 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN | C. Close behind is the Sony FE 100-400mm f/5.6-8 OSS – an affordable telephoto zoom, available for $848 / £799.

Since I started reporting on sales charts in Japan years ago, I have never seen more than three optics sharing the same position. However, in Kitamura's latest August 2026 sales chart, five lenses from Fujifilm, Sony, Canon and Tamron are tied at No.9.

Kitamura's best-selling lenses, August 2026

1. Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C (E-mount)
2. Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN | C (E-mount)
3. Sony FE 100-400mm f/5.6-8 OSS
4. Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S
5. Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM
6. Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports (E-mount)
7. Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM
8. Sigma 20-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DG | C (E-mount)
9=. Fujifilm XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS
9=. Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II
9=. Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II
9=. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
9=. Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 (E-mount)

No.1 lens: Sigma's "remarkably compact yet well-built" zoom

In our review, we found that the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C is "remarkably compact yet well-built". At just approx. 290g, it punches well above its weight. It delivers impressive image quality, features weather-resistant construction, and comes with a budget-friendly price tag.

5 lenses come ninth – from Fuji to Canon, Sony and Tamron

Five lenses are tied at No.9 in Kitamura's best-selling chart for August 2026. From Fujifilm to Canon and Sony to Tamron, the five optics cover a broad range of focal lengths and uses.

Fujifilm's XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS launched in 2025 as the smallest and lightest zoom lens in the Fujifilm X-mount lineup, adding just 125g to the camera bag.

The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II is a light workhorse, while Canon's EF 50mm f/1.8 STM remains a compelling value option that delivers impressive image quality. Lastly, the Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 is an all-in-one superzoom.

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The Nikon Z5IIC has officially arrived, and if Nikon’s new compact full-frame mirrorless camera has already caught your attention, the good news is that pre-orders are now open on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, you can pre-order the Nikon Z5 IIC at Adorama or B&H for $1,396.95, while photographers in the UK can secure one at Wex for £1,349.

And I think Nikon might have something rather interesting on its hands here. The Z5 IIC takes much of what makes the Nikon Z5 II such an appealing full-frame camera and squeezes it into a smaller, flatter body designed to be carried around every day. The biggest change is the absence of a traditional electronic viewfinder, giving the camera a low-profile design that feels much closer in concept to cameras such as the Sony A7C series, or even Nikon’s own Z30 – only this time with a full-frame sensor at its heart.

Inside is a 24.5MP full-frame BSI sensor, backed up by Nikon’s latest autofocus capabilities and as much as 7.5 stops of in-body image stabilization. That combination should make the Z5 IIC a particularly attractive option for travel, street, documentary and everyday photographers who want full-frame image quality without carrying around one of Nikon’s larger Z-series bodies. Subject tracking is also a major part of the package, making this far more than simply a stripped-back Z5 II.

Video hasn’t been treated as an afterthought either. Nikon has included internal N-RAW recording, giving filmmakers considerably more flexibility when it comes to editing and grading their footage, while a front-facing recording indicator makes it easier to see when the camera is actually rolling. There is also 4K 60p recording available, albeit with a crop, alongside Full HD recording at up to 120p for slow-motion footage.

The Z5 IIC also supports Nikon Imaging Cloud, opening up downloadable Imaging Recipes that can give JPEG shooters different looks straight out of the camera, alongside automatic image transfers and firmware updates. For photographers who increasingly want to shoot, edit and share without spending an evening sitting in front of a computer, that could be one of the Z5 IIC’s more useful everyday features. SnapBridge support is also included for quickly moving images across to a smartphone or tablet.

For me, however, it is the combination of price, size and full-frame performance that makes the Nikon Z5 IIC particularly compelling. There are going to be photographers who simply cannot live without an electronic viewfinder, but for anyone happy composing from the rear screen, Nikon has effectively produced a more discreet route into its full-frame Z system without throwing away the image quality, stabilization or autofocus technology that makes the Z5 II so capable. At $1,396.95 in the US and £1,349 in the UK, this could prove to be a very tempting everyday full-frame camera.

Meta has announced a new generation of Ray-Ban Meta glasses – Gen 3 – bringing a raft of new features to the controversial camera glasses, as well as new style alternatives that will remove the connection with the classic dark 'Wayfarer' style and cameras.

The biggest change is the arrival of two new stlyes – Aviator and a more angular design dubbed Zena. Fans of the classic, worry not: Wayfarer is still an option.

This wider choice could mean that the glasses are even harder to identify for those who have begun to associate it with classic Ray-Bans, but of course it also opens up the tech to people who wouldn't consider that look for themselves.

My wife would point out to me that the choice of styles is important because glasses might go with one outfit and not another – pricing might keep us away from that point yet.

In fact, this generation does come at the cost of, literally, more cost. The latest models start at $449 / £409 which is a notable jump from the earlier Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, which launched at $379 / £379.

The increased cost also buys improvements, though.

Those improvements don't seem to include a change to the 12MP camera, but the audio quality has seen a bump. There is a new six-microphone array (up from 5) which can improve the quality of noise cancellation, and recorded audio conforms to Dolby Atmos standard – a new feature for Gen 3 video.

Personally, I don't see this being the platform for spatial sound systems, but more likely to be a hit is that landscape video is finally supported – yes, not everyone in the world lives on Instagram or TikTok!

Since the audio system is also key to interacting hands-free with the glasses, any improvement in its ability to listen is welcome.

There is also a programmable action button, as seen on the Meta glasses in the past. It can be set to trigger just about any action you choose – including capture.

The battery life has been increased from eight to nine hours, which (taken from the 5 hours or so on the originals) is good progress. Times, though, are not tested yet, and are generally based on audio playback.

Finally, there are adjustable temple tips on these glasses, so fitting them should be a little easier, making them a good candidate for the best camera glasses once they're available.

Oh, and probably not really one for us, but as predicted, the company also launched some Meta smart glasses without a camera.

Qualcomm has unveiled its latest chipset, which will power some of the best Android phones for photography for the next year. The flagship chip comes in two variants, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, both built on the latest 2nm processes and with performance improvements across the board – but it’s perhaps photographers and video creators who get some of the most substantial upgrades.

The headline features sit with the Extreme chip. Qualcomm says it can capture 8K video at 60fps and 4K at 240fps, while supporting the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec and 10-bit Log workflows.

A new Elite Color Engine is designed to improve color, gradients, and noise, while Intelligent Pixel Control can analyze scenes at the pixel level to reduce artifacts such as halos and flare. This extra power and control could come in handy as phones increasingly become more end-to-end production devices, capable of capture, editing, grading, and posting without leaving the handset.

The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 keeps the new Elite Color Engine and adds Motion Intelligence for stabilization, but Qualcomm reserves the Extreme model's 8K60, 4K240, and APV headline features for its top tier.

The Extreme Gen 6 adds these considerably higher video frame rates alongside a 44% faster GPU and 35% faster NPU compared to last year's top Gen 5 chip, according to Qualcomm.

Competition is also fierce. MediaTek's new Dimensity 9600 Pro supports native 4K240, 4K120 cinematic Log video and up to a claimed 17-stop dynamic range. Meanwhile, Apple's A20 Pro does not chase 8K, but the iPhone 18 Pro supports 4K120 ProRes, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and ACES support. Its new chip also doubles AI processing capability over the A19 Pro and increases memory bandwidth by 50%, potentially benefiting computational imaging and demanding editing tasks.

As always, silicon specifications are only part of the story. Sensor choice, lenses, thermal design, and each manufacturer's image processing will ultimately decide whether these gains translate into visibly better photographs and video. But we won’t have to wait long; the first phones to feature the new chips will be the Xiaomi 18 Pro & Pro Max (the Pro Max getting the Extreme version) and Motorola Signature 27 both due to land outside of China sometime soon.

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Snapping a beautiful wildlife scene is rewarding, but when the animal actually interacts with you during the process, it’s an extra-special experience, and can lead to extra spectacular shots.

That was the case for British underwater photographer, Jenny Stock, who was recently named the Ocean Photographer of the Year Female Fifty Fathoms 2026 winner.

Stock’s winning portfolio included an incredible scene of two sea lion pups, who not only interacted with the photographer, but even copied her movements, turning as she spun in the water.

“The playful animals chased, gently nipped, and twisted around the camera, fascinated by their reflections in its curved dome port,” Stock told the photography competition organizers.

Gear and settings: Canon 5D Mark IV in underwater housing | 1/200 sec | f/18 | ISO 400

Stock pictured the playful pups in Western Australia’s Jurien Bay Marine Park. According to the Australian Government, the site is the only sea lion breeding zone along Australia’s western coastline, and is home to roughly 20% of the region’s 800-strong population.

Interactions with divers have proven the marine mammals to be highly sociable and intelligent, with Stock saying that her experience revealed their “curious” nature.

Other images in Stock’s commended portfolio included a brilliantly composed shot of a green turtle passing above the coral floor near the surface of the French Polynesian Pacific waters. Stock commented that she used a fast shutter speed and a small aperture to control the “intense brightness”.

The Female Fifty Fathoms Award is a category of the Ocean Photographer of the Year Awards, celebrating the best women-created ocean photography. Unlike other categories, the recipient is nominated by her peers and judged by the Ocean Photographer of the Year jury.

Stock said: “To be nominated by fellow ocean photographers means more to me than I can easily express. I hope this recognition inspires more women to pick up a camera and discover the magic that’s beneath the surface.”

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Skydio Ascend 26, the American drone company's annual showcase of its latest tech, has not gotten any less exciting for tech fans but, realistically, the devices on display are unlikely to replace the DJI devices that the government are making it hard to buy in the USA.

CEO Adam Bry talked a great deal about being able to deploy drones within a few minutes for law enforcement and

The F10 will not be available until 2027 – though pre-orders are welcome now. The propeller-powered drone is launched from a robot arm and 'thrown', which is potentially cheaper than space-based platforms.

The software is nevertheless able to orbit and track a subject and use its wings (but obviously cannot hover in the same way that a traditional quadcopter can).

The drone has a curious-looking asymmetrical design which places a camera system at the end of the longer wing.

In flight, this wing stays lower, so the camera gimbal can keep the drone out of shot and 'eyes' on the ground while the A.I. builds a flight path to orbit a selected spot or even a moving subject.

Incredibly, in Bry's demo, the drone was able to automatically land on the arm too.

Admittedly, the dock appears to be the size of a storage container you might find on the back of a truck, but that would still make it portable for the kind of industries Skydio is now targeting.

The central fuselage is held in a box in a new autonomous 'MegaDock' automatic launching station, eliminating the need for a ground crew, and up to five drones can be stored and charged in the dock while the central robot arm holds one ready for dispatch – essentially letting it lift itself on its props.

He concluded that "there is no ultimate drone" – highlighting the company's two quadcopters X10 and R10 for urban and indoor use, respectively. The F10 is for range. At no point was creative use mentioned, however.

Check out the best camera drones you can buy today

Insta360 has already claimed a place at the top of the gimbal camera market with the premium Luna Ultra which includes a telephoto lens. This week the company also extended the camera's range in two ways – one is a firmware update that every customer can have for free, another is an optional piece of hardware as quirky and powerful as the original camera itself.

The update increases the maximum zoom of the Luna Ultra from 12x to 15x, although, of course, it doesn't change the optical hardware.

The other new piece of hardware, which I've been lucky enough to get my hands on early, is the 1.5x magnifying Ultra Telephoto Adapter (as I write, it is listed as temporarily out of stock on the Insta360 Store).

It clips over the Ultra's dual camera system and – slightly curiously, I admit – blocks the wide-angle lens completely.

Because this means that as you zoom out wide, the shot just goes black, this left me a little irked at first, but I imagine that I'd have been more annoyed by the alternative – a wide view always partly obscured by the rim of the telephoto lens!

The lens is priced at $49.99 / £46.99, and as I said, can already be found on the Insta360 site.

The firmware will include improvements to the telephoto stability and low-light modes, with an emphasis on concert capability.

There is one more significant software update for customers, potentially envious of the 1-lens Luna Pro's 4K vertical shooting feature.

Up until now DJI and even the Luna Ultra have offered a lower resolution (2.7K or 3K) for when the cameras were used to shoot vertically despite having monitoring screens that could rotate to a vertical position. Why? Because the imaging camera did not rotate.

The Luna Pro, however, managed to push that to 4K and, since it used the same sensor as the Luna Ultra's 1-inch wide sensor, this update was expected but still welcome.

All these changes have kept things very interesting in the best pocket gimbal camera guide.

Instant cameras built for kids allow kids to both take and print their photos – but the print refills either tend to be pricey or are black-and-white thermal type. But the new Photo Creator Instant Color Camera from Canal Toys is a kid-focused camera where prints cost less than 50 cents / 20p per photo.

Built for ages 6 and up, the Photo Creator Instant Color is a digital camera with a built-in photo printer. Hybrid digital-instant kid cameras tend either to use pricey Zink paper with embedded ink, real instant film, or thermal receipt paper that only prints in monochrome.

The Photo Creator Instant Color instead uses a built-in printer that requires both a pack of photo paper and an ink cartridge, but the refill packs tend to sit cost-wise under the cost of Zink and instant film refills. A pack of 100 print refills cost about $48 / £20, coming out to about 50 cents / 20p per photo. The camera itself ships with 100 prints already in the box.

The camera uses a built-in 2.4-inch screen that allows kids to add filters, frames, and stickers before printing those photos.

The company did not share specs on the camera’s resolution, but the camera can shoot both stills and videos. A built-in flash aids low-light and indoor shots.

The camera has some built-in memory, which can be expanded by buying a separate microSD card.

The camera uses a rechargeable Li-ion battery.

While there are plenty of hybrid digital instant cameras available, including some built for kids, the new camera’s key selling point is the price for photo refills while still getting full-color prints. Instax Mini prints tend to cost about 88 cents / 85p. Refills for Zink-based printers are a bit more competitive, costing around 50 cents / 60p for each photo.

The new Photo Creator Instant Color camera is available now, starting at about $130 / £90 / AU$153 for the camera with enough ink and paper for printing 100 photos in the box.

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The Nikon Z5IIC is Nikon’s first camera launch in over a year, and as the name suggests, it’s a variant on the Nikon Z5II, which was Nikon’s entry-level full-frame camera. But now that mantle has been taken by the Z5IIC. Does the ‘C’ tagged onto the end of the name of the original camera suggest a more ‘compact’ form factor, or does it perhaps signify ‘choice’? A bit of both, as it turns out.

It is, essentially, a Z5II without a viewfinder: a full-frame 24.5Mp camera aimed at videographers, photographers who chiefly use tripods and the rear screen to compose their scenes (such as landscape or still life photographers), and those migrating from smartphones, who have never used or see the point of viewfinders. That lack of a viewfinder offers two distinct advantages.

First is a lower price point. Nikon’s electronic viewfinders are sophisticated and expensive components, packing a high-resolution screen and a chunk of precision Nikkor glass into a crisp, responsive display for a lag-free view of the world.

Removing this has enabled Nikon to launch the Z5IIC at a very reasonable $1399.95 / £1,349 / AU$2,399, compared to today’s typical Z5II selling price of $1,599 / £1,499 / AU$2,699, thereby saving around $200 / £150 / AU$300 (and this is the launch price, let’s not forget, which is bound to fall over time).

Second, the camera has a more compact and lighter form factor. The Z5IIC weighs in at 537 grams, as opposed to around 700 grams for the Z5II, and with no viewfinder bump on the top, the camera is squatter and more pocketable. It does retain the deep grip for comfortable handholding, though.

The camera is available in two colour schemes: an all-black version, or a black body with a silvered top section, which gives the camera a retro vibe (though not quite as retro as the Nikon Zf). Both these colorways are available at launch (rather than one following later down the line, which has been the case with other Nikon cameras with different color options).

The headline specs are the same as in the Z5II. At the heart of the camera is the powerful EXPEED 7 processor. There’s the same 24.5-megapixel full-frame sensor, which offers superb dynamic range, great color rendition, and exceptional low-noise performance, with a top ISO setting of ISO64,000 for stills and ISO51,000 for video.

The maximum burst rate is 14fps using the mechanical shutter to shoot Raw or JPEG images, or a blistering 30fps using the electronic shutter, though only JPEGs are available in this mode. Other goodies include a vari-angle touchscreen, in-body image stabilization to enable steady handheld shooting at up to 7.5 stops slower-than-normal shutter speeds, and a rugged magnesium alloy frame with weather sealing to allow you to keep shooting in inclement conditions.

You also get access to Nikon Imaging Cloud, with which you can upload your photographs over the airwaves, download imaging recipes to customize the look of your shots, and keep the camera's firmware updated automatically.

Z5IIC Specifications

Introducing Fish AF!

While there is little difference in the specs, aside from the lack of a viewfinder, the new camera does have one new feature that is not found on the Z5II, or any other Nikon camera, for that matter. It is the first to have a specialized Fish AF tracking mode.

Just as Bird AF mode is distinct from the Animal AF mode and locks onto avian subjects, this new mode is specifically designed to lock onto aquatic subjects and is sure to be popular with marine photographers, for whom a viewfinder-less camera is particularly ideal, given that using the rear screen is the only practical way to compose when underwater. Nikon has said that it has no plans to make its own aquatic housings, but it’s a sure bet that companies such as Nauticam and Ikelite will provide watertight cases for the camera.

In addition to Fish AF mode, the camera has all the Face, Animal, Vehicle – and so on – tracking modes found in other Z-series mirrorless cameras, bringing the total to 10 in all. I’m sure that, over time, this new Fish AF mode will make its way to other cameras in the range via firmware updates, but for now the Z5IIC is the only camera to have this autofocus mode.

Make a scene

The camera also borrows a feature from the Nikon Z DX APC-S sensor models, such as the Z50 II. It is the first full-frame camera to support Scene modes: beginner-friendly modes designed to make it easy to dial in the appropriate settings for whatever subject you're shooting without the need to think about the best aperture, shutter speed, and focus mode settings yourself.

There are options for food photography, landscapes, portraiture, wildlife, pets, sports, low-light portrait, and so on. This further reinforces that Nikon is aiming this full-frame camera at beginners as well as enthusiasts.

Vlogger's delight

This isn’t the first Nikon full-frame camera without a viewfinder; that honor goes to the Nikon ZR. But while that camera, which is based on the Nikon Z6III higher up the line, is a specially video-focused model, with an oversized 4-inch monitor and the ability to record 120fps 4K video, the Z5IIC is more of an all-rounder that is suited to bloggers, influencers, and more casual movie-making; its video tops out at 4K 60fps as opposed to the ZR’s 4K 120fps.

Video-friendly features include in-camera Raw recording, a product review mode (where the camera automatically switches focus from the presenter to objects shown to the camera and back again), and the ability to use imaging recipes to give video a filmic look, including those developed by RED, the professional video camera maker that Nikon acquired and developed the ZR in conjunction with.

When I reviewed the Nikon Z5II, I found it to be the ideal full-frame camera for the majority of us, offering a great feature set that will suit all but the most demanding photographers at a more affordable price point than Nikon's more professionally oriented cameras.

The Z5IIC looks sure to offer the choice of the slimmed-down version of that camera to a whole new generation of photographers looking to make the move from smartphones and compacts, who want the image quality that only a full-frame sensor can offer, the flexibility of interchangeable lenses, and all without the steep learning curve that most ‘serious’ cameras demand.

Z5IIC image gallery

The Nikon Z5IIC will be available in October. As well as the body-only price of $1,399.95 / £1,349 / AU$2,399, it will be available bundled with the Z 24-50mm f/4-5.3 standard zoom kit lens for $1699.95 / £1,609 / AU$2,949.

Other kit bundles will be available in different territories, including with the Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR superzoom in the UK and Australia for £2,049 / AU$3,699, or the high-spec Z 24-70mm f/4 S in the UK for £1,879.

In Australia, there are a couple of alternative lens options: the Z 40mm f/2 bundle retails at AU$2,899, while the camera plus the Z 24-105mm f/4-7.1 goes for AU$3,049.

Not made your mind up? See our guides to the best Nikon cameras and best cheap mirrorless cameras.

It's a story that has become well publicized during 2026: the rising price of solid state storage and memory cards. Everything from portable SSDs to CFexpress cards has seen huge price rises since the start of the year, and the global shortage of NAND flash memory has also been felt in the wider electronics sector, with the cost of games consoles and phones also increasing.

It's left many people asking when the memory crisis will end. However, the general consensus is - sadly - that prices probably won't be coming down significantly any time soon. This analysis was echoed by Roman Rabitsch, founder of Angelbird, in a recent interview with Cine D. Rabitsch points out that during COVID NAND flash and DRAM production was high but demand relatively low, which in turn kept prices down. He says that at one point memory was even being sold at a loss in order to clear stock.

Yet in a fairly short timeframe since then we've seen the rise of AI and its insatiable appetite for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) in AI data centers. Consequently, memory manufacturers have been diverting their resources to produce this highly lucrative commodity, leaving reduced supply of the NAND flash used in camera memory cards and SSDs. And as we know, when supply is tight, prices rise, which is why we've seen such a relentless increase in the cost of memory cards throughout 2026.

This now means the output of memory fabrication plants is already allocated for years to come, with capacity sold out until 2029-2030. So with this in mind, should you bite the bullet and buy storage and memory cards now, in case prices rise still further in the coming months/years?

Rabitsch suggests there probably isn’t a need to panic buy flash memory products right now. He says the availability and pricing of memory looks like it may remain fairly stable for the next 2-3 years, with a potential for a price drop in late 2027, though this may only be in the region of 2-5%. While this outlook suggests prices might not continue to rocket, it does unfortunately confirm what other industry analysts have reported: that prices won’t be dropping significantly for several years.

Software giant Adobe now owns Topaz Labs, the AI platform known for its upscaling and denoise tools.

After announcing an acquisition agreement back in June, Adobe has now completed the acquisition of Topaz Labs, the company shared on September 23. Topaz Labs will remain available as standalone apps, while the company’s CEO has joined Adobe’s Digital Video and Audio team.

But Adobe Photoshop already incorporated several Topaz Labs tools before the acquisition, including AI Sharpen, AI Denoise, and Generative Upscale. Meanwhile, Adobe Firefly Boards already has a video upscaler from Topaz.

That raises a key question: What’s going to change with Adobe now owning Topaz Labs?

Adobe’s Vice President of Product Marketing for Creative Professionals, Deepa Subramaniam, has dropped a major hint: “Restoring archival footage, refining low-light shots, enhancing mobile clips, preparing content for the big screen, and bringing AI-generated videos to professional quality through creative upscaling will soon be possible within even more existing workflows, helping creatives accomplish more of the work they love.”

There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, but it hints at where Adobe users will see new Topaz-based tools in the future. Video upscaling seems to be a key focus, as such a tool would cover reviving older clips, enhancing smartphone shots, and enhancing the typical lower resolution of AI-generated videos. The mention of “existing workflows” hints that video upscaling could be coming to Adobe’s existing video editing tools.

Adobe also says that the acquisition will help creators to spend less time switching between different tools. Subramaniam also says that Adobe technology will also improve Topaz Labs models.

“The future of creativity will continue to be defined by creative storytelling and human craft regardless of whether content was captured on a professional camera, mobile phone, or generated with AI,” Subramaniam wrote.

While Adobe says that Topaz Labs tools will be integrated into more existing workflows in the future, the company also says that Topaz Labs’ existing apps will remain available as standalone products.

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The OM System lineup has just one camera remaining that hasn’t taken on the new name since the split from Olympus: The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. But the launch of another budget mirrorless – the new OM System PEN – has fans questioning what’s next for the long-standing E-M10 line.

Earlier this year, Japanese retailers began listing the E-M10 Mark IV as discontinued, but when Digital Camera World reached out to OM System, a representative told us back in January that the E-M10 Mark IV would remain available in the US. Now months later, the budget mirrorless still remains available on OM System’s official online stores in the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada.

But that was in January – and the launch of the OM System PEN raises the question of the E-M10 Mark IV’s future once again. Rumors are circulating that the E-M10 Mark IV will be discontinued soon, with one store owner claiming they received a message noting that there wouldn’t be a replacement.

OM System has not yet responded to those rumors, leaving the future of the E-M10 Mark IV uncertain.

The new PEN slides in above the price of the E-M10 Mark IV, but adds the weather-sealing that the older camera does not offer. Building cameras for the outdoors has been a particular focus for OM System, and the PEN's weather-sealing in a body that’s $999 / £849 / AU$1,499 reflects that.

While the two cameras are both retro, the design of the PEN follows a much different inspiration, using a rangefinder-inspired viewfinder placement. The newer PEN uses a more advanced autofocus system compared to the E-M10 Mark IV’s contrast detection system, but the cheaper camera does have slightly faster bursts at 6.3 fps with continuous autofocus compared to the PEN’s 5 fps.

I believe that one of the reasons that the E-M10 Mark IV has remained popular is as an alternative to a retro compact camera – particularly as the $900 / £870 price with a lens is far below popular compacts like the Fujifilm X100VI and Ricoh GR IV.

The E-M10 Mark IV is slightly lighter than the new PEN, but the PEN’s rangefinder-inspired design makes the newer camera a bit shorter and less deep, though slightly wider than the cheaper camera.

The new PEN’s rangefinder-inspired design does make it a better compact camera alternative, particularly with weather-sealing for really taking the small camera more places.

The biggest temptation for the E-M10 Mark IV is the affordable price point. Paired with a kit lens, the older camera is about $200 less in the US – though there’s less than a £100 difference at list price in the UK.

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Buying a twin-lens kit is often the best way to get started in photography - or with a new camera system. Rather than simply getting the kit zoom, you also get a second lens that will vastly expand your photo taking opportunities. This fabulous deal on the Nikon Z30 is a great illustration... as it comes with the 16-50mm standard zoom, as well as the 50-250mm telephoto - which combined gives you a monster 15.6x zoom range. And now at £785.97 from Currys, this is at the lowest price we have ever seen it

The Nikon Z30 is Nikon's cheapest mirrorless camera yet and is perfect for someone looking to upgrade from their phone or who wants to get into vlogging. It had a lot of features that are definitely geared towards bloggers such as the flip out, vari-angle screen, compact build and lightweight design, 4K uncropped videos at 30p or Full HD at 120p. 

It has the same 20.9MP APS-C CMOS sensor and EXPEED 6 image processor as found in the Z fc and Z50 but it's lacking an electronic viewfinder and in-body stabilization but if you're getting it mostly for vlogging lack of an EVF won't matter as you'd hardly ever use it.

The familiar 209-point hybrid AF system is fast and the human and animal eye AF is very effective which makes shooting portraits really easy and it comes with its own AF-F mode for video use.

If you can't live without IBIS or a viewfinder, perhaps the Z fc or Z50 is better for you but if you're after an almost pocket-sized camera that can shoot 4K, take sharp photos and has a flip screen for selfies or vlogging this is perfect and at this price, pretty unbeatable!

Read more:
Check out our pick of the best lenses for the Nikon Z30

Smartphones tend to include more than one camera – but what if dedicated cameras hid more than one sensor inside? Camera maker Canon has patented a camera that has two sensors, but for entirely different reasons than dual-camera smartphones.

A recent Canon patent, published on September 17, describes a camera that has two sensors and lenses. But the invention also has two purposes for that dual design. The first is to fight AI slop and prove that the photograph was created in-camera. The second? To adjust the focus of the image after the photo is taken.

The patent and drawings for the unusual imaging device show a design that uses two different sensors. The patent mentions that these sensors could be CCD or CMOS sensors and that both sensors are exposed at the same time.

Recording two images at the same time creates a parallax reference image that allows the camera to create a certificate of authenticity. The dual sensor design creates a reference image that can help determine if a photograph is edited.

Most current authenticity certificates label a photograph as modified even for minor adjustments to exposure and color. The secondary image could help address a common flaw in authenticity certificates by creating a record of not just whether or not a photograph changed, but by how much. That could help viewers determine if a photo was just color edited, or drastically AI-altered.

For the dual-sensor camera’s second trick, the invention can use that same dual-sensor design in order to adjust the photograph’s focus after the photo is taken. Autofocus misses are notoriously impossible to correct with photo editing, making the ability to adjust focus after rather than before the subject of many camera inventions over the years.

The patent hints that the adjustable focus works because the two sensors capture images at slightly different focus ranges – which can be set by the user in the camera. Combining those two photos allows for a small range of focus adjustment.

Putting the two unusual features together, Canon says that the image authenticity certificate would still be intact if only focus adjustments were made.

The new patent isn’t the first time Canon has experimented with adjusting the camera’s focus after the fact. Canon’s Dual Pixel RAW has two photodiodes on each pixel at slightly different positions, creating a small parallax. This allows Canon’s specialized software to make micro adjustments for a photo that just barely missed focus on supported Dual Pixel cameras.

The patent drawings don’t offer many hints as to what form such a camera would take. But the patent does mention the device having both a “field lens” and a “secondary coupling lens.” That and the mention of a zoom control on the camera suggests a fixed-lens camera rather than a mirrorless.

While the patent doesn’t detail what shape or form such a dual-sensor camera would take, I think Canon should mix the idea with the retro camera trend and build a digital twin lens reflex using those two lenses to fight AI slop. The hype behind the analog concept camera that Canon displayed earlier this year was big enough that I think such a camera would be legendary.

The existence of a patent doesn’t guarantee that such an invention will ever become an actual camera. Last year alone, Canon filed 2,623 patents in the US and over 10,000 patents globally, so there are a lot of ideas that never actually make it into a product. But the unusual dual-lens design to fight AI slop and play with focus is one that I’d love to actually be able to hold in my hands someday.

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While Canon's patent is cool, these are the best Canon cameras that you can actually buy. Or browse the best C2PA cameras with Content Credentials.

If you’ve been waiting for a genuinely pocket-sized camera that can produce professional-looking video, this is a standout bargain for anyone who wants to turn family holiday footage into something far more polished, or for creators who want to vlog their everyday life with a genuinely professional finish.

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has dropped to just £262 at Wex, down from its usual £489 price tag. That gives you a substantial £227 saving and, more importantly, takes one of the best compact video cameras on the market down to its lowest-ever price.

DJI designed the Osmo Pocket 3 for creators who want excellent video quality without carrying a conventional camera, lens, and stabilizer setup. Despite its tiny size, it features a large 1-inch sensor alongside a built-in three-axis mechanical gimbal, helping it produce smooth, stabilised footage whether you’re walking through a city, filming while travelling, or simply capturing everyday life.

It is that combination of image quality and convenience that separates the Pocket 3 from many traditional action cameras. It can record detailed 4K footage at high frame rates, while DJI’s intelligent subject tracking makes it particularly useful for vloggers and solo creators who need the camera to keep them framed automatically. Its rotating 2-inch touchscreen also makes switching between horizontal and vertical shooting incredibly straightforward, which is particularly useful if you regularly create content for different social platforms.

In use, the Osmo Pocket 3 feels far more like a miniature professional video camera than a novelty gadget. The stabilisation is superb, autofocus is fast and dependable, and the entire camera is small enough to disappear into a jacket pocket when you’re finished shooting. For travel filmmakers, vloggers or anyone who wants to document their day without carrying a full camera rig, that combination is very difficult to beat.

At its normal price, the Pocket 3 already offers an impressive amount of technology for the money, but at £262 it becomes considerably more tempting. DJI’s more recent creator cameras do not tend to receive reductions this substantial very often, particularly while they remain current and popular, so this is the sort of deal that could disappear quickly once stock begins to move.

If you want a lightweight vlogging camera that produces beautifully stabilised 4K footage with almost no setup, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is already one of the easiest cameras to recommend. At £262, however, it becomes one of the most compelling creator-camera deals I’ve seen in this sale.

Photographing wildlife is unpredictable, but photographing wildlife underwater is a whole other level of unpredictability. First, you need to be a strong diver; second, you need solid camera skills; and third, you need a stroke of luck – but when it pays off, it can be magical.

That’s according to Brooke Pyke, an Australian photographer and expedition leader who specializes in underwater photography, and who recently won the “Animal” category at The Mono Awards 2026.

Hosted by Australian Photography and Capture magazines, the annual photography competition celebrates the world's best black-and-white (monochromatic) imagery, this year attracting over 3,000 entries from Australia, New Zealand, and other nations worldwide.

Speaking to the competition organizer about her winning scene, Pyke said: “With marine life, you never know what you might see, and that’s part of the magic.” The magic happened in Baja California, the peninsula state on Mexico’s northwestern coast.

Brooke Pyke's gear and settings: Canon EOS R5 Mark II | Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM | Nauticam underwater housing | 1/320sec | f/9 | ISO 400

Although the region is a hotspot for divers seeking a glimpse of incredible species such as whale sharks, sea lions, and mobula rays, Pyke said that she kept her “expectations low,” knowing that wildlife photography always “requires patience.”

However, after “plunging” into the Pacific waters with her Canon EOS R5 Mark II in a Nauticam underwater housing, luck was on the diver and photographer’s side. “I looked down to see around a hundred [mobula] rays moving slowly across the sand, silhouetted against a glowing white backdrop,” she said.

Using a Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye lens, Pyke was able to capture the entire group of rays along with the surroundings to create the shot, finishing it off dramatically with a black-and-white edit.

“Shooting over white sand was an amazing opportunity, with their shapes contrasting beautifully against the ripples,” she explained.

As this year’s Mono Award “Animal” category winner, Pyke snagged a healthy AU$2,500 (approximately $1,800 / £1,300) along with an 8TB Synology NAS storage. Not bad considering she had no idea what she was going to see that day.

To view all of the 2026 commended frames, as well as past winners, head to The Mono Awards website.

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