The best thing about camera rumors is that sometimes they're really clear, while sometimes they're almost like a "choose your own adventure".

Take the latest rumblings from Panasonic, for example. What we know for sure is that the company has registered a new camera in China, as spotted by L-Rumors. The question is, is it a successor to the Lumix S9 or is it a Micro Four Thirds camera – perhaps one that uses the same body as the S9?

This is the conundrum in which we find ourselves, as there is conflicting information – some thanks to subtle teases from Panasonic itself, some thanks to a bizarre image posted by one of Europe's main camera retailers.

Let's go back to the release of the S9, back in 2024. While the camera now seems universally adored, it was a very different story at launch – with perhaps the biggest criticism being that the camera lacked an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Ever since then, there have been rumblings that the S9II would possess an EVF.

In October, as part of the 25 years of Lumix celebrations, some Panasonic representatives threw a little bit of gas on that fire in a YouTube video.

"I suspect that, much like with the [Lumix] GM line, a version with a viewfinder might eventually be released," offered one of the panelists.

"I hadn't even considered that – this video has turned into a session for making such predictions!" replied the Lumix spokesperson.

"It’s certainly possible – perhaps they could even add an articulating mechanism… Actually, I think it’s quite feasible. Well, we do receive that kind of feedback, so as for what kind of cameras we’ll develop next, who knows?"

However, at the beginning of November, there was a bizarre incident where Kamera Express – the biggest camera specialist in the Netherlands – posted an image of a Lumix S9 body with a Micro Four Thirds mount and sensor, which was spotted by 43 Rumors.

While it has now been removed from the product listing, which was for a titanium black Lumix S9, it threw gas on a different kind of fire – the one that said Lumix was finally going to return to making GM-style, super-compact Micro Four Thirds camera bodies. Which I would 100% be behind.

But the consensus seems to be that this was an AI-generated image, potentially done by the retailer to quickly add an image of the S9 without a lens – but with AI mistakenly replacing the lens with an MFT mount instead of an L-Mount.

Weird as it might seem, this would make more sense than this being an errant product listing for a new Micro Four Thirds camera; the two mounts differ greatly in size, and the lens release button is on the wrong side to be an MFT body. And there are the wrong number of pins (ten, instead of eleven), which further points to AI getting things wrong.

Still, whatever it is or isn't, we know that there's a new Panasonic camera on the way. While an S9 II is undoubtedly on the drawing board – and while it might have an EVF – I think we're too close to the original's launch for it to be a replacement. Especially when the original is so monumentally popular right now.

Of course, if you're in the UK, you can head along to the Lumix Collective event in Manchester on November 17 and ask the company yourself!

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Sirui has added two new lenses to its Aurora series of full-frame optics for Sony E and L mount cameras. The new 15mm f/1.6 and 24mm f/1.4 optics line up alongside the existing 35mm and 85mm Aurora lenses.

Aurora 15mm f/1.6

With its wide 109.3-degree angle of view, the 15mm f/1.6 has been designed with landscape photography, astrophotography and interiors in mind. Sirui says optical distortion is around 1.4%, helping ensure natural reproduction of geometric subjects, while a 0.3m minimum focus distance adds extra compositional versatility. The weather-sealed, all-metal lens barrel measures a relatively compact 106.4mm long, 82mm in diameter and weighs 550g. It features full electronic contacts for lens-body communication, along with a physical aperture control ring with iris lock and switchable de-click, plus a customizable function button that can be used as an AF lock.

Inside is a 17-element optical stack arranged in 12 groups, including 3 aspherical elements to help reduce distortion, along with 3 extra-low dispersion elements to control fringing, and a trio of high refractive index elements to further reduce aberrations while also maintaining a compact optical design. An 11-blade aperture diaphragm is said to produce rounder, more natural-looking bokeh. The lens incorporates stepping motor AF for fast, accurate and quiet autofocus, and works with the subject detection and tracking modes of compatible cameras.

The Sirui Aurora 15mm f/1.6 is available for pre-order, priced at $599/£529.

Aurora 24mm f/1.4

The Aurora 24mm f/1.4 shares similar handling characteristics to its 15mm sibling; it also weighs around 550g, and is almost the same length. Its slightly longer focal length makes it more suitable for street or still life photography, with the fast f/1.4 aperture meaning the lens should be particularly handy in low light. Its 14-element optical design includes 3 aspherical, 4 ED and 3 HRI elements. Like the 15mm f/1.6, the 24mm Aurora gets stepping motor autofocus with subject tracking and eye-detection capabilities. Sirui also says the lens has been designed with video recording in mind, as it combines low focus breathing, a de-clickable aperture, and quiet, accurate autofocus.

Expect to pay $499/£439 for the E mount or L mount versions of the Aurora 24mm f/1.4, with Z mount and X mount versions reportedly coming soon.

"The new product rankings for October 2026 saw some truly shocking developments," reports Map Camera, one of Japan's biggest retailers, introducing its latest Top 10 camera chart.

At number one is a camera that was only announced in mid-September, with retail availability and shipping beginning towards the end of October. The retailer describes the arrival as "Canon's Comeback Blow! A Rising Star Unleashes a Major Autumn Whirlwind".

The new top-selling camera is the Canon EOS R8 Mark II. It has even overtaken Sony's record-breaking A7 V, which had topped Map Camera's ranking nine times since last December. Both are full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The Top 10 Cameras at Map Camera, Oct 2026

1. Canon EOS R8 Mark II
2. Sony A7 V
3. Sony A7C II
4. Ricoh GR IV
5. Canon PowerShot SX740 HS / Lite
6. Sony A6700
7. Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
8. Fujifilm X-M5
9. Fujifilm X-T30 III
10. Canon EOS R6 Mark II

The new No.1 camera – the Canon EOS R8 Mark II

Map Camera explains, "What's particularly noteworthy is that the kit with the compact, lightweight and slim prime lens RF 45mm f/1.2 STM sold at a pace almost as high as the body alone.

"The camera's portability, despite being a full-frame camera, and its price point seem to have perfectly matched the demand for street photography during the autumn travel season."

The Canon EOS R8 Mark II is an entry-level full-frame camera priced at $1,899 / £1,729 – but there's little about it that feels basic.

Although it's more expensive than the original EOS R8 (available for $1,649 / £1,629.99), Canon has retained many of the features photographers loved while addressing some of the original model's biggest shortcomings.

Its specifications include a 24.2MP full-frame CMOS sensor, in-body image stabilization, improved ergonomics with a joystick and tilt screen, and 40fps bursts with Dual Pixel II AF. It also offers uncropped 4K video recording at up to 60p, oversampled from 6K footage.

"For Canon, which had been struggling for a long time, this was truly a game-changer!" adds the retailer.

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Sirui is a Chinese photographic manufacturer that’s been steadily ramping up its product lines and reputation since its original inception back in 2001. The current catalog includes the likes of anamorphic, cine, and regular camera lenses, photographic lighting, and more besides. Back at the beginning, however, Sirui started out making tripods and other photographic supports, and the mini tripod that I’m reviewing here harks back to the company’s roots.

The main claim to fame of the Sirui TC50 + BH-19 is that it’s way more versatile than typical mini/tabletop tripods. Indeed, the kit comprises two separate elements that meet in the middle or, to be pedantic, up at the top. These include the TC50 ‘versatile clamp’ and the BH-19 mini ball head. Unscrew the latter, and you can attach a camera or other compatible accessory directly to the 1/4-inch threaded stud left behind at the top of the clamp. Either way, the Sirui combo aims to be one of the best mini/tabletop tripods on the market.

Sirui TC50 + BH-19 Versatile Clamp Tripod: Specifications

Sirui TC50 + BH-19 Versatile Clamp Tripod: Price

The Sirui TC50 + BH-19 kit containing the versatile clamp and ball head costs $79 / £72 / AU$128. To put that into perspective, let’s play a quick round of ‘basic, better, best’. The capable Manfrotto PIXI tabletop tripod is cheaper to buy at $30 / £29 / AU$40, but it’s very basic and more of a one-trick pony. Moving on up, the versatile SmallRig SR-RG2 mini-tripod also works as a selfie stick, camera grip, and even as a Bluetooth remote control with compatible cameras, and comes in at $70 / £68 / AU$113.

Then there’s the upmarket and rather luxurious Leofoto Ranger LS-223C, a carbon fiber mini tripod with extending, multi-angle legs and a ball head, costing $116 / £119 / AU$195. All in all, I’d say that the Sirui is potentially very good value for money, if the operability and performance are up to scratch.

Sirui TC50 + BH-19 Versatile Clamp Tripod: Design & Handling

It’s maybe not quite small enough to squeeze into a spare pocket, but the Sirui TC50 + BH-19 is certainly sufficiently compact and lightweight to carry around almost anywhere and everywhere. It measures just 55x30x225mm / 2.2x1.2x8.9in when folded and weighs in at a mere 270g / 9.5oz. I’d say that’s remarkably light for a support with a 3kg / 6.6lb payload rating. A major space-saving bonus is that it replaces a whole range of different supports in one convenient device. Sirui lists a variety of operational modes, including tabletop tripod, clamp, overhead stand, and handheld grip, all in one multi-purpose gadget.

Along with its various operating modes, Sirui also claims that the kit is ideal for B-roll, vlogging, tabletop, creative projects, livestreaming, meetings, travel, and camping. Again, the word ‘versatile’ comes to mind, and I’m in complete agreement. Kicking off the many and varied movements of which the clamp is capable, there’s a handy support leg adjustment button on the side. This enables the larger leg positioned at the rear to swing back and lock in any one of three positions in total.

Another way of looking at it, or turning your attention to the other side of the hinge, is that if you swing back the larger rear leg, it has the same effect as swinging out the two smaller front legs while keeping them closed together in unison. The image below shows the clamp in this configuration.

The two front legs have a slimmer profile than the chunkier rear leg but both of them feature a pair of 1/4-inch threaded sockets flanked by smaller holes. You can use the sockets for fixing accessories to the clamp, with or without magic arms, like a microphone, LED lamp, or monitor screen. The smaller non-threaded holes can come in useful either for anti-twist mounting in conjunction with the threaded holes, or on their own for attaching a lanyard, wrist strap, or other safety tether.

Splaying the front legs enables you to configure the clamp as a regular mini/tabletop tripod. They hinge out with a smooth and fairly effortless movement, although there’s sufficient friction to stop them from dropping out of their folded position on their own. As an extra safeguard to keep them locked away when folded, there are mini disk magnets that hold the rear leg and two front legs together.

Getting back to the support leg adjustment button that I mentioned earlier, this enables the selection of three alternative locking angles, two of which can effectively be used with the splayed front legs. This enables a choice of two different operating heights when in mini/tabletop tripod mode.

To keep the ball head upright despite the change in the orientation of the legs, or to put the head at any other angle you desire, there’s a pushbutton that unlocks the hinge on which the head is mounted. This enables just over a full 180 degrees of rotation, complete with 20 locking click-steps along the way.

Going from head to foot, all of the feet have anti-slip rubber pads that give a firm, grippy footing on hard surfaces. That’s especially useful if you’re using the clamp as a tabletop tripod on an actual table. The rubber feet also help a little in absorbing any unwanted vibrations.

If you look closely at the image above, you’ll spot a hook in its retracted state, just under my thumb. This hinges out, as shown in the picture below, offering yet another alternative operating mode. As such, you can hang the clamp by its extended hook on a fence, cable, or anything else that the hook is large enough to fit over.

Sticking with the larger rear leg, just above the rubber foot and pull-out hook, there’s a pair or swing-out clamp jaws. These again have rubberized surfaces, this time with an additional notch, for using the ‘versatile clamp’ in clamp mode and racking up another operating option.

To loosen or tighten the clamp, you simply pull out the hook and use it as a twist-action handle to shift the bottom jaw up and down on a threaded shaft. The notch in the jaws that I mentioned above makes them more suitable for clamping onto cylindrical objects like pipes, but they work equally well on flat surfaces, for example, clamping onto a desk or table. The jaws can be adjusted to any width from fully closed to a maximum of 45mm / 1.8 inches for clamping to cylindrical objects, or 50mm / 2 inches for flat surfaces.

Up on top (or down below if you’re using the clamp inverted) is the ball head. As I’ve mentioned, the head is a separate component within the complete kit, and you can unscrew it if you don’t want to use it. The head mounts on a standard 1/4-inch thread, so when it’s removed, you can simply mount a camera or other compatible accessory. For example, you could mount a flashgun in a threaded cold shoe to the clamp directly, rather than adding the head into the mix. Naturally, however, the ball head gives greater versatility and makes it easier to position your camera or other accessory just how you want it.

The ball head has an Arca-Swiss style platform and a pushbutton that unlocks the quick-release plate and enables you to slide it out. That said, the lock/release mechanism for the platform doesn’t ensure compatibility with all Arca-Swiss QR plates, and I found that most of mine from other manufacturers didn’t fit, as the platform’s sliding release pin got in the way.

As well as its locking pin, the ball head’s platform features two safety screws shown in the image below. These ensure that the quick-release plate can only slide out from the platform in one direction.

To my mind, one slight frustration is that there’s no D-ring on the QR plate’s camera-mounting screw. This means that you can’t simply use your fingers and thumb to attach or detach a camera from the QR plate, and instead need to use a hex or flat-bladed tool, or a coin for the purpose. To make matters worse, no tool is supplied as part of the kit, so you’ll have to find your own or keep a spare coin in your pocket. I’m a little surprised that Sirui didn’t include a tool in the design, secured away and maybe held in place by magnetic attraction.

The clamp is eminently portable, and to protect it on the journey, it’s supplied complete with a drawstring pouch. The pouch isn’t padded, but it feels pretty sturdy despite being very lightweight.

Sirui TC50 + BH-19 Versatile Clamp Tripod: Performance

With the legs folded in, the Sirui is not only nice and compact for carrying, but also works well as a handheld support for your camera. The shaping of the legs makes it secure and comfortable to hold in your hand, despite the lack of any padding. The only real downside is that the metal construction can feel cold to the touch in chilly conditions, unless you’re wearing gloves.

It’s quick and easy to set up the clamp in its mini/tabletop tripod configuration. The sliding support leg adjustment button enables two options for operating height in this mode, while the upper pushbutton compensates by allowing you to keep the base of the head upright.

Switching from tripod to clamp mode is again quick and easy to do. Using the hook as a twist-action handle ensures that you can lock the rubberized jaws firmly around both cylindrical and flat surfaces. While using the Sirui in clamp mode, you can also splay the front legs to give an extra level of support.

If your camera is fitted within a cage, you can use the clamp as a handheld grip in ‘underslung’ mode. For the more mainstream ‘inverted’ mode, you can extend the hook and simply hang the clamp on anything suitable. This gives you more scope for full-height shooting, as in the example shown below, where I’ve hung the clamp from a tree branch.

Sirui TC50 + BH-19 Versatile Clamp Tripod: Verdict

There’s a lot to like about the Sirui TC50 + BH-19 Versatile Clamp Tripod, but I’ll start with a couple of things that I don’t like. I don’t like clutter, and I don’t like having to lug around a whole bunch of kit that I might only need occasionally or not at all. The Sirui scores very highly in my books, due to its sheer versatility and compactness. It’s sufficiently small and lightweight to take anywhere, but has wide-ranging operating modes. In short, it’s compact, lightweight, and cuts clutter to a minimum.

Those operating modes include a mini/tabletop tripod mode, a clamp mode, an inverted mode hung by its hook, a handheld mode and even an underslung mode if you’re using a cage. Better still, each and every mode within the Sirui’s remit is quick and easy to access, and similarly simple to use. All in all, it’s a multi-purpose gadget that can genuinely replace a whole bunch of separate products. For me, that makes the Sirui a great buy that’s well worth the price.

Alternatives

When you think of GoPro cameras, you likely think of the modern, digital, go-anywhere models. But the original GoPro grew from an idea by Nick Woodman, a California surfer and entrepreneur.

After an earlier Internet venture failed, Woodman went travelling and surfing in Australia and Indonesia. He wanted photographs of himself surfing, but there was a fundamental problem: unless another photographer was in the water, it was extremely difficult for a surfer to photograph himself.

Woodman experimented with attaching waterproof disposable cameras to his wrist. One early arrangement reportedly involved a piece of surfboard leash and rubber bands. The important insight was that the real invention wasn't necessarily the camera – it was a wearable camera system that could put the viewpoint where the action was.

The camera itself was manufactured in China rather than designed entirely from scratch by GoPro. Woodman worked with a Chinese manufacturer to adapt an existing compact film camera to his mounting concept.

It was introduced in late 2004 or early 2005 – depending on who you ask – as the GoPro Hero, a small waterproof 35mm film camera supplied with Woodman's wrist-mounting system.

It was extremely simple: film, fixed-focus lens, mechanical controls and a waterproof housing. But conceptually it established nearly everything that would define the GoPro. The name was clever as well. Surfers wanted to “go pro”, because professional surfers were among the few people who regularly had photographers recording them.

But GoPro truly hit the big time in 2006 with the first Digital Hero – evn though by modern standards it was extraordinarily primitive.

It produced roughly 640x480 still photographs, while video was only 320x240 pixels at about 10fps, with clips limited to approximately 10 seconds. It had only about 32MB of internal memory. But the important change was digital video.

GoPro gradually improved the digital cameras, with the Hero 3 (3MP stills and improved video) in 2007, the Hero 5 (5MP stills) in 2008 and the Wide Hero in 2009, which offered a genuinely wide, 170° field of view.

The Wide was immensely popular, as it generated an exaggerated perspective that quickly became visually identified with GoPro footage.

But the real revolution was the GoPro HD Hero, of 2009. Simply put, the HD Hero was a tiny digital camera that shot FullHD videos in 16:9 and a 127° field of view.

It had a waterproof housing, removable memory card and an extensive mounting ecosystem. This made GoPro footage practical not merely as a novelty, but for serious video production. And that changed everything.

It was followed in 2011 by the HD Hero 2, with much better image quality. But the secret wasn’t in the cameras; rather, it was in the system.

A GoPro could be mounted to a helmet, bicycle, motorcycle, surfboard, automobile, chest harness, pole or almost anything else. The standardized two-prong mounting system became nearly as important as the camera itself, with third-party manufacturers producing thousands of compatible accessories.

At its peak, GoPro was almost synonymous with the action camera. Indeed, to this day people still refer to action cams as "GoPros" the way they refer to vacuums as "Hoovers".

The company went public in 2014 and was at one point valued at roughly $4 billion (around £2.4 billion / AU$4.6 billion). But action cameras turned out to be a relatively narrow market with long replacement cycles.

A Hero from several generations ago can still make very good 4K video, so owners don't necessarily have a compelling reason to replace the one they have.

At the same time, camera phones became dramatically better. For ordinary travel, family, social media, and casual video, a phone is usually good enough – and is already in the owner's pocket. GoPro’s sales suffered.

Then a second problem arose: GoPro no longer had the action camera field largely to itself. DJI and Insta360 became formidable competitors, offering image stabilization, 360° imaging, compact cameras and rapid product development.

As of June 30 2026, GoPro had roughly $27.2 million / £20.3 million / AU$39.6 million in cash but as much as $90 million / £67.3 million / AU$131 million in debt. The company itself admitted that it had “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.

The company needed a savior, and fast! On September 01 2026, GoPro and privately held Starman Optical announced a merger agreement that is on track to close by the end of the year.

Starman isn't another camera manufacturer. It makes optical transceivers, including US-manufactured equipment aimed at AI data centers and other communications applications.

The proposed merger isn't simply intended to rescue GoPro's camera business; Starman wants access to GoPro's expertise and its enormous portfolio of almost 2,500 patents.

If the Starman merger fails to go through for whatever reason, GoPro an independent camera company could well disappear. If it does go through, will GoPro survive as part of a larger, non-camera making firm? The jury is still out…

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

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I encountered my first Sirui tripod about 20 years ago, and was pretty impressed at the time. The Chinese company was originally established in 2001, building a solid reputation for tripods and heads over the ensuing five years and becoming a player on the world stage. It branched out into making cine and anamorphic lenses in 2015, also diversifying into lighting equipment in 2022.

Underpinning all of this, Sirui claims to be dedicated to providing filmmakers with the ultimate shooting experience, offering high-performance products at affordable prices. Those products are backed up by a worldwide customer service network, and the company typically offers a 6-year warranty on camera support, a 3-year warranty on lenses, and a 1-year warranty on lighting equipment.

The BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head that I’m reviewing here aims to be one of the best ball heads as well as one of the best video heads, enabling hybrid shooters to pack and use just one tripod head rather than two, while also enabling a relatively quick, easy, and painless transition between shooting stills and video.

Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head: Specifications

Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head: Price

The Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head is priced at $219 / £199 / AU$355. For comparison, the conventional but high-performance Manfrotto XPRO Ball Head with Top Lock (Arca-Swiss) for stills costs around $269 / £193 / AU$400. The more compact, lighter-duty but dual-purpose Benro FS20PRO Video & Foto Head costs just $85 / £100 / AU$215, and the dedicated 3 Legged Thing AirHed Cine CC video head costs $249 / £229 / AU$799. All in all, the Sirui looks competitively priced for the kind of hybrid, heavy-duty head that it is.

Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head: Design & Handling

The main claim to fame of the Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head, as its name suggests, is that it’s a 2-in-1 hybrid head that’s geared towards both stills and video. That’s potentially great news for hybrid shooters who are perpetually swapping between both disciplines, as they can do so without also needing to keep swapping between two different tripod heads.

Even so, I’d say that the Sirui is first and foremost a ball head. It’s actually based on an oversized ball and socket with a large 60mm diameter, which helps to ensure smooth movement when you need it, and firm lock-off when you don’t, with minimum sag. The ball is marked front and back with a tilt scale, as shown below, which I feel is reminiscent of the inclinometer you might find in an off-road car or light aircraft.

The maximum tilt of the head in any direction is a fairly modest 40 degrees. There’s no notch in the socket, so the amount of forward/backward tilt is relatively limited, compared with most ball heads designed for stills, which typically enable vertical shooting upwards or downwards. It also means that you can’t swivel your camera over on one side to enable portrait orientation shooting, unless you’re using an L-bracket or a cage. As a ‘photo’ ball head and, to an extent, for videography as well, I feel that those are two major omissions on the ‘can-do’ list.

On the upside, the most clever bit of trickery in the hybrid design is the ‘mode selector ring’ just above the base of the head. This is marked in three alternative positions, enabling you to rotate it to engage the appropriate mechanical linkages for the task at hand. The ‘360’ indicates the Photo Mode, which gives you a full and free range of movement, within the tilt limits of the ball head. The interim ‘Transition’ setting is a neutral position that holds the ball more firmly but still fairly lightly, helping to ensure smooth and steady transitions. Finally, the ‘Video Mode’ engages mechanical hard stops for tilt and locks out any lateral roll, so you’re intentionally limited to just tilt and pan movements.

There’s a large locking lever for the ball, and to make sure it’s ideally placed, you can pull it out (it’s spring-loaded) and re-engage it on its 6-sided shaft. Working in tandem with the mode selector ring, the lever works as normal in stills mode, releasing and locking the ball within its socket. In transition and video modes, it also enables you to adjust the amount of drag for the fluid movement of the head, making it easier or firmer to apply positional changes.

Naturally, any ball-and-socket arrangement is of little use if you want to keep the angle of tilt locked off while still being able to pan. Solving the problem in time-honored fashion, the Sirui has a separate panning base that can be locked or released independently of the ball-and-socket. It relies on a secondary, smaller lever to the main ball-locking lever (shown below) but has the same 6-sided shaft for customizing its rotational placement.

Typical of the panning base arrangement that’s often featured in ball heads, this one has a full 360 degrees of movement and comes complete with a calibrated scale. Numerical markings are shown at every 15 degrees, while interim lines are placed at three-degree intervals. Some video and hybrid ball heads have a secondary panning mechanism at the top, but that’s lacking in the Sirui. I’ll come back to that in a moment.

I’d expect a panning handle to be supplied with any self-respecting video head, and sure enough, the Sirui comes with a 23cm / 9-inch handle. It’s supplied separately so you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to (especially for stills) and fixes in the usual method, secured on splines to avoid any unwanted slippage. It’s also typical to have a bend along its length, so that you can adjust the lateral as well as vertical angle to which the handle is set when attaching it to the head.

Most video heads feature a splined mounting point on both sides, so you can opt to use the panning handle with either your left or right hand. In this case, there’s only a mounting point on the right, so left-handed use is off the menu. That’s a bit of a minus point for me, as I sometimes prefer to pan with my left hand, leaving my right hand free to operate the camera.

The head has a suitably long Arca-Swiss-compatible mounting plate up on top, which helps to fine-tune the balance of an attached camera and lens combination. A further aid to maintaining a natural feel when tilting the head is a 5kg counterbalance spring. This is often omitted in video heads, and while the counterbalance of the Sirui isn’t adjustable, it’s a neat feature that’s nice to have.

To aid with leveling, the mounting plate has a bubble level at the front of the left-hand side. It’s useful up to a point but only serves the purpose of leveling the camera platform rather than the base of the head. The upshot is that if the tripod legs and therefore the base of the head aren’t leveled, and you compensate by leveling the camera platform via the ball and socket, your horizon will start to tilt as soon as you start panning. This is why some video-friendly heads have a secondary panning mechanism at the top to keep the horizon level, which also works well for shooting a sequence of stills for stitching into a panoramic image.

To solve the problem of leveling, some video heads have a built-in leveling base, but this one doesn’t have one. To avoid the time-consuming and tricky chore of leveling the tripod legs by adjusting their various sections, you could add a separate leveling base. Sirui offers its own AM-60LE Levelling Head for the purpose, while alternatives include the 3 Legged Thing LevelHed and Vanguard LVL Universal Tripod Levelling System.

Getting back to what’s actually part of the head, it features a safety-conscious quick-release plate locking lever. You need to depress a safety catch before you release it, and even then it only moves through 90 degrees to start with. This enables you to move the QR plate forwards or backwards, without any danger of it dropping out altogether. To completely remove the QR plate, you need to fully rotate the locking lever through 180 degrees.

The safety system of the QR plate not being able to slide out forwards or backwards comes courtesy of two small hex screws, shown in the picture below. However, this makes the platform incompatible with some Arca-Swiss QR plates and lenses that have an Arca-Swiss profile foot on their tripod collars. If needed, you can remove the two safety screws using the supplied hex key.

Another operational security feature is that the QR plate features pop-up red lugs at one end. You can engage these and fit them flush against the front or rear of your camera body, or the mounting plate of a large lens. They’ll then reduce the risk of the camera unwantedly twisting on the QR plate, especially when you’re panning in an anti-clockwise direction. It’s a neat solution to a common problem, especially when shooting video or when trying to track fast-moving objects, even if you’re shooting stills.

The QR plate has a D-ring on its mounting screw, so you can attach a camera by twisting the screw with your finger and thumb. For properly securing your camera, it’s much better to use a hex key or coin. As such, the head is supplied with a dual-size hex key for this purpose, as well as for removing the safety screws from the platform, if necessary. The tool tucks into the rear of the platform and is secured by two small disk magnets, visible in the image below.

The head is supplied complete with a drawstring pouch that feels of good quality. However, it’s a lot longer than it needs to be, because it’s designed to hold the panning handle as well as the head itself. The stowage size could have been reduced if the handle had a telescopic design, but that’s not the case.

Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head: Performance

The Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head covers the basics in fine style. The ball and socket offer effortless movement when shooting stills, coupled with firm positional locking and minimal sag after tightening the locking lever and letting go of your camera. Switch to video, and you’re rewarded with a pleasant, fluid motion for pan and tilt, and the bonus of the 5kg counterweight system. The red pop-up anti-twist lugs on the QR plate are another little performance asset when panning for either stills or video.

Ultimately, however, I feel that the performance of the Sirui head is somewhat compromised. The lack of a notch in the ball socket results in a maximum tilt angle of just 40 degrees. This makes vertical upward or downward shooting impossible, and you might feel that the outright range is somewhat restrictive even for general shooting.

Further limiting factors are that the head doesn’t include a leveling base, so you need to add one separately (at an additional expense) to enable easy setup. Without a leveling base or a secondary upper panning mechanism, it can be a real chore to level the legs on uneven terrain so that your horizon stays true when you start panning. And getting back to the lack of a notch in the socket, the ball head design also means that you can’t swivel your camera for portrait (upright) orientation shooting unless you add another separate component in the shape of a cage or L-bracket.

Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head: Verdict

The Sirui BH-60 2-in-1 Photo & Video Head is like a game of two halves, and not in an altogether good way. I’m all for saving weight, stowage size, and expense when it comes to the kit that I need to carry around and use. The prospect of a 2-in-1 head that works equally well for shooting both stills and video therefore looks a very attractive proposition. As well as savings in size, weight and expense, there’s also the added convenience of not having to keep swapping the head on my tripod, or having to use two completely separate tripod kits.

Fulfilling its promise in part, I feel that the Sirui enables quick and easy setup for stills, with simple positional adjustments and firm locking with minimal sag. Similarly, the fluid pan and tilt modes work well for shooting video, complete with a 5kg counterweight system that adds refinement.

The inclusion of three different stills, video, and transitional modes does, however, come with compromises. The +/-40 degrees tilt and swivel range makes it impossible to shoot upwards or downwards at anything more than modest angles, and takes portrait orientation shooting off the agenda, unless you add a cage or L-bracket. There’s also no built-in leveling base for panning, nor a secondary upper panning mechanism. Ultimately, I think the Sirui is a good head that performs well (within its limitations), but it’s not entirely great.

Alternatives

Sirui is a Chinese company that’s been going since 2001, building a solid reputation for tripods and support gear, anamorphic and cine lenses, and photographic lighting along the way. More recently, Sirui has added camera lenses to its catalog. Somewhat typical of relatively high-end Chinese brands, Sirui’s products are generally cleverly designed, nicely made, and deliver good performance at very reasonable prices.

The gimbal head that I’m reviewing here isn’t to be confused with stabilizers for run-and-gun video shooting. It’s the more conventional type of ‘gimbal head’, designed to support big telephoto lenses and attached cameras on a tripod, delivering weightless operation with a free-flowing range of movements for tilting and panning. As such, it aims to be one of the best gimbal heads on the market.

Sirui PH-10 Gimbal Head: Specifications

Sirui PH-10 Gimbal Head: Price

You can pick up a gimbal head very cheaply at any number of online retailers. But as they say, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. I bought a sub-£100 gimbal head in the UK a while ago and it was rubbish. It lacked any smoothness in its pan and tilt movements, and went straight back where it came from.

This Sirui gimbal head is more expensive, at around $249 / £229 / AU$404 although at the time of writing this review, it was discounted to just £179 / AU$215 at many retailers in the UK and Australia. Either way, that makes it potentially excellent value for money, compared with the likes of the carbon fiber Benro GH5C Gimbal Head at $435 / £485 / AU$900 and the aluminum Leofoto PG-1 Gimbal Head at $458 / £420 / AU$789, both of which are also made by Chinese companies. Naturally though, it all boils down to quality and performance.

Sirui PH-10 Gimbal Head: Design & Handling

First impressions aren’t always correct, but sometimes they are. Taking the Sirui gimbal head out of its padded soft case, it looked and felt much better than I’d expected, based on the relatively low-budget price tag. The main 8-layer carbon fiber L-shaped bracket certainly looks the business and feels luxurious. The lens bracket and other supporting parts are made from aluminum and feel of similarly good quality. So far, so good!

The panning base that screws to a tripod via a standard 3/8-inch thread (or 1/4-inch adapter) looks similarly impressive. It features the usual full 360-degree rotation and has position markers at three points, placed at 90-degree intervals. These line up with a calibrated scale that’s numbered at 15-degree intervals, along with white lines at intermediate 5-degree increments.

While the tripod mount is at the front end of the lower, horizontal section of the L-shaped bracket, the lock/release knob for panning is at the rear of the same section, which is a typical layout for gimbal heads. The grippy knob is clearly marked with lock and unlock lettering, along with a kind of volume scale symbol that signifies increasing friction towards the ‘lock’ position.

The swinging arm that enables you to tilt the lens and its attached camera is attached to a pivot at the top of the upright section of the main L-shaped bracket. Again, it’s clearly labelled in 15-degree intervals, along with white lines at 5-degree sub-increments. This time, instead of a full 360-degree scale, it’s mirrored in both directions from 0 up to 75 degrees, then descending back to 0 degrees again. Although technically it can rotate through a full 360 degrees, you can only really expect to get around 150 degrees of vertical tilt upwards and 60 degrees downwards, in practice.

The Sirui is relatively compact and squat, compared with most gimbal heads that I’ve used in the past. I’m all for compactness and a lightweight build, but there’s a problem here. To enable the best balance, so that you can tilt the assembled lens and camera to any angle, let go of it and it should stay put, you really need to align the longitudinal center line of the lens with the tilting pivot point at the top of the L-bracket. With my telephoto lenses on their tripod mounting collars, I found that this was simply impossible, because the upright of the L-section simply wasn’t tall enough.

The lens bracket has the usual facility of a mounting platform that slides up and down a calibrated scale and locks in place with its own locking lever. Unlike the other locking knobs, this one has a flat profile rather than being circular, and it’s spring-loaded so that you can pull it out, rotate it on its six-sided shaft, and position it for the most convenient orientation. However, as I mentioned above, I found that due to a lack of height, the central plane of my lenses ended up being positioned above the top pivot point, even with the mounting bracket in its lowest possible position.

As is often the case with gimbal heads, you can separate the mounting plate from the lens bracket. To do this, there’s a pushbutton at the top of the bracket that retracts a brass safety pin. With the pin retracted, you can slide the mounting plate right up to the top and out of its guide channel, as shown in the image below.

The mounting platform has a standard Arca-Swiss style clamp and a chunky lock/release knob. There are cutouts at each end of the platform, which accommodate safety screws fitted to the bottom of the quick-release plate. This ensures that if you loosen the clamp or it works loose accidentally, the QR plate and its attached lens can’t slide out of the clamp.

As well as the two small security screws in the bottom of the QR plate, there are two standard 1/4-inch screws on the top plus a 1/4in to 3/8in adapter. Both screws and the adapter are removable, enabling you to attach the QR plate to a lens, camera, or cage using one or both screws of the same or different sizes, depending on the fit of what you’re attaching.

To help keep the gimbal head safe and sound in transit, it’s supplied with its own padded soft case, complete with carrying handles and a removable shoulder strap, as shown below.

Open the carrying bag, and you’ll find white foam padding, which is pre-cut to exactly fit the components of the head. Most of the assembly fits in one piece, with a separate cutout for the QR plate.

Sirui PH-10 Gimbal Head: Performance

Performance is very good up to a point. The bearings for both the tilt and panning pivots work with smooth efficiency. This makes it easy to track even erratically moving objects in the likes of action, sport, wildlife, and bird photography, with fluid, free-flowing movements for any combination of pan and tilt.

As with any good gimbal head, the Sirui makes even a really heavy telephoto lens and attached camera feel virtually weightless. And despite the head weighing only 0.98kg / 2.2lb itself, it has a strong 15kg / 33lb payload rating. Sure, that’s not as beefy as some gimbal heads that go up to around 25-30kg / 55-66lb, but it should prove more than sufficient for most of us.

A nice touch is that the QR plate has a detachable lip at one end that secures with two small screws. You can butt this up against the front or rear of a lens’s tripod mounting foot, as shown above, and it avoids any unwanted twisting of the foot on the mounting plate while you’re panning, especially in an anti-clockwise direction. Moving to the image below, you’ll see that the central horizontal axis of my telephoto lens is higher than the tilt pivot point near the top of the gimbal head, even with the lens bracket at its lowest setting. As previously discussed, this is certainly less than ideal.

I found that if my camera and lens were leveled and perfectly balanced on the gimbal head, they’d naturally stay level when I released the tilt lock. However, due to the shortness of the main L-bracket and the center of gravity being above the tilting pivot point, the camera tends to fall backwards to its maximum upward tilt position. At least, that’s the outcome if you let go of it while it’s already pointing upwards, without first tightening the locking knob. That’s not the way that gimbal heads are really supposed to work, in a perfect world. Interestingly, in Sirui’s online instructional video about how to use the head, they suggest mounting the lens even higher, so that the bottom of the camera body doesn’t impact the head when fully tilted backwards, but this results in much more of an imbalance.

Sirui PH-10 Gimbal Head: Verdict

I haven’t developed a love/hate relationship with the Sirui PH-10 Gimbal Head; it’s more of a love/not-so-fond partnership. I love the relatively compact and lightweight yet premium build, based on an 8-layer carbon fiber body and aluminum hardware. I also love that the tilt and panning bearings enable a smooth-flowing, fluid feel that makes it effortless to track even erratically moving objects with a big, heavy, and otherwise cumbersome telephoto lens.

The only real spoiler to my mind is that the comparatively short upright section of the main L-shaped bracket doesn’t allow sufficient space for centering the lens on the tilting pivot point. The net result is that the lens becomes unbalanced when it’s not in a perfectly horizontal orientation, and tends to drop down to the extremity of the tilt range when you let go of the camera, unless you first lock off the tilt knob each and every time.

If you don’t mind working around this glitch in the design, the Sirui looks and feels a high-quality gimbal head that’s great value at the price.

Alternatives

Talk of a rumored Nikon Z70 is really beginning to heat up. Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about an illustration of a mysterious camera unearthed by Nikon Rumors, thought to be the Z70.

Now the rumor outlet is at it again, releasing a rumored spec list for the Z70. And if I wasn’t excited about this camera rumor before, I certainly am now.

If true, the headline spec would undoubtedly be the 41MP sensor. To date, Nikon has never produced an APS-C sensor of that resolution.

In fact, it has very much bucked the trend of high-resolution APS-C cameras – with only a 20.9MP sensor featured on the Nikon Z50, Nikon Z50 II, Nikon Z fc and Nikon Z30.

A 41MP sensor would be a huge deal – and I’m sure it would be very well received by the community.

But while previous rumors have hinted at a stacked sensor, Nikon Rumors is now suggesting that this isn’t the case. This doesn’t surprise me. Stacked sensors are expensive.

If Nikon has gone to the trouble of developing an all-new high-resolution APS-C sensor, I’d expect to see it in other APS-C releases – like a Nikon Z50 III, for example.

With that in mind, I think the increased cost of a stacked sensor would simply be too premium for other APS-C releases. In other words, a conventional 41MP APS-C sensor seems more useful in the long run.

Now, I usually take rumors about resolution with a pinch of salt – remember when the Nikon Z6 III was going to have a 33MP sensor? – but talk of an all-new digital teleconverter makes a high-resolution Z70 make a lot of sense.

It seems sensible to assume that a digital teleconverter would crop into the image, thus making a high-resolution sensor imperative.

The video specs are also extremely exciting, with the rumor outlet citing 8K 60p, internal Red tech, ProRes RAW and a shifted video-record button.

Obviously we don’t have any details regarding bitrates or crops, but the Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z9 are currently the only Nikon cameras capable of recording 8K video. Plus, the integration of Red tech would put it in a very exclusive club with the Nikon ZR.

Another boon would be the same gorgeous 5,760k-dot viewfinder that’s on the Nikon Z6 III, along with a 120fps refresh rate. And finally, as to be expected, the camera is reported to run via the Expeed 7 image processor.

I wouldn’t expect to see any camera with an Expeed 8 until the release of the next flagship, presumably the rumored Nikon Z9 II.

Nikon Rumors also mentioned the price being “around or under” the Z6 III’s current street price of around $2,000. That’s expensive for an APS-C camera, but this doesn’t sound like just any APS-C camera.

I also thought I’d add a few additional specs that I’d expect to see – pure conjecture, of course! That would be a dual CFexpress and SD card slot, as well as an extensively weather-sealed body, both featured on the Nikon D500.

I’ve been saying I want a mirrorless version of the D500 for years, but if these specs are to be believed then the Nikon Z70 would be a mirrorless D500 and then some.

Going by the available information, it sounds a little bit like a baby amalgamation of the Z9, Z6 III and Nikon ZR. That certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.

As for when we might hear more, the rumor outlet has suggested a rather optimistic time frame of the next two weeks. It’s getting a little late in the day for a Nikon camera release in 2026, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I’ve been burned by rumors before, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one…

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Ever since Olympus released its first mirrorless camera, back in 2009, people were asking whether the company would make a full-frame camera.

Seventeen years on, now known as OM System, the brand has reaffirmed its commitment to Micro Four Thirds cameras – even though the subject of going full frame has been raised a number of times over the years.

"The idea has come up from time to time, only to fade away again," explained Eiji Shirota, head of OM System's Business Unit, in a video posted on the company's Japanese YouTube channel.

"I have a clear vision of the value I want to deliver through the Micro Four Thirds system – a value that can only be realized because it is Micro Four Thirds. I have certainly considered what it might look like to move to full-frame, but I never reached the conclusion that we should shift gears and pursue that."

Shirota explained that, while a disparity in ultimate image quality will always exist, it largely becomes redundant when you reach a certain level.

"While it’s true that the gap with full-frame systems won’t disappear – they will never be identical – once you reach a level of image quality that satisfies the users, that gap effectively ceases to matter… We are often asked which one is 'better'. But it’s not a matter of 'good' or 'bad.' Instead, we focus on which system is better suited to the specific situation the user is in.

"For instance, if portability is the priority, Micro Four Thirds is the way to go; if the goal is to capture the absolute 'best shot,' then full-frame might be the better option. The number of people using Micro Four Thirds is growing, and I believe it is crucial to provide users with these kinds of choices."

OM doesn't believe that the limits of the format have yet been reached, with even better image quality able to be achieved by the smaller system.

"To be honest, back when I first started working with the Micro Four Thirds system, I did briefly consider expanding into full-frame or APS-C as a potential future direction," added Setsuya Kataoka, OM's executive director and COO.

"But when I consulted a senior colleague at the time, he asked me, 'Before you start wondering what might happen if you used other formats, have you truly pushed the Micro Four Thirds system to its absolute limit? If you’ve fully explored and exhausted every possibility, then perhaps that’s a conversation to have – but suggesting other formats before you’ve even finished what you started? That’s not the right approach.'

He explained how, over the last 15 years, he has been focused on how to surpass those expectations within the Micro Four Thirds framework.

"We’ve also been committed to addressing the bottlenecks of the Micro Four Thirds system. For example, we developed the High Res Shot mode for users who are otherwise perfectly happy with the system but find the output resolution insufficient. It seems that the 'deal-breakers' – the factors that might have previously ruled out the system – have largely disappeared."

More relevant than the crude image quality offered by a camera, OM believes that its cameras are able to offer unique properties that are more important to some users – such as durability in extreme conditions and weather.

"Our equipment’s dustproof, splashproof, and low-temperature resistant capabilities are key," says Shirota.

"For instance, a shot that looks like an ordinary landscape might actually have been taken at -40°. Or consider a photograph of a snake – captured after a three-day trek through the Amazon wilderness, using only our camera system. The story behind the image – the fact that our system enables photographers to reach such remote locations and capture these shots – is, I believe, a crucial part of the value we provide."

He shared the story of Japanese photographer Tetsuro Shimizu, working in Mongolia.

"He traveled for days on horseback, camping out along the way, which meant carrying both his daily necessities and his camera gear on the horses. In such a scenario, if the camera system isn’t compact, you simply can’t bring it along.

"When he told me about shooting in conditions like sandstorms or temperatures of -40°, I felt a sense of relief – and almost wanted to praise the camera itself for making it back in one piece! It’s truly impressive that our system can fulfill a photographer’s desire to go to such extreme places and create their work."

The full interview is well worth a watch – and serves as a valuable reminder that there's more to 'how good' a camera is than the number of megapixels on its sensor.

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The increasing reliance on screens has given way to a rise in screen-free cameras – and one new camera brand from South Korea has an unusual take on the trend. The Humans of Authenticity (HOA) A1 is a minimalist 16MP compact camera where the camera’s entire clear body is the viewfinder.

While the retro trend for transparent tech is back, the HOA A1 is intentionally using a clear design so that the camera body itself becomes the viewfinder. That creates a camera that puts less between the photographer and the subject, with the electronics hidden inside a thick frame and circular lens unit.

The unusual design is catching some attention on the internet on the heels of “viewfinder cameras” like the Godox C100. And the transparent, minimalistic design is unusual – but not the only weird part of the HOA A1.

HOA comes from the South Korean company Lutra Inc, a company that builds enterprise AI tools. But beyond the A1 being the parent company’s first consumer product, the HOA A1 is essentially an anti-AI camera that comes from a company with strong roots in AI.

The HOA A1, beyond the screen-less design, also uses built-in authentication. Using blockchain technology, the camera connects to the internet to publicly record an authentication certificate in a process called ShootProof. While similar to existing authentication certificates like C2PA, ShootProof allows the photographer to remain anonymous while still writing a certificate of authenticity.

While an AI company creating an anti-AI camera feels ironic, the decision is very much by design. In an interview, Lutra CEO Seon Jong-yeop said that the inspiration for the camera came while building AI.

“We started our business with deep learning even before AI gained the attention it does today,” the CEO said (machine translated). “However, early last year, while building and supplying AI in the heart of Silicon Valley, I could see the future. I realized that AI content would truly engulf the world."

"I began to worry whether the joy of observing and sharing each other's lives could be sustained, and furthermore, whether anything trustworthy would remain," the CEO continued. "Paradoxically, I started developing authenticity verification technology with the thought that perhaps technology could prevent the negative side effects of technology itself, and HOA was created to put that technology directly into people's hands.”

Beyond the unusual design and authentication built in, the HOA A1 uses a Sony-made 16MP 1/2.53-inch sensor paired with a 26mm equivalent lens and a built-in battery rated for up to 90 minutes of continuous shooting. HOA says creators can see their photos by “tapping your smartphone to the back of the camera.”

In addition to the blockchain-based authentication certificate, the camera has a signature mode that allows photographers to leave their hand-drawn signature in the corner of each photo.

The company hasn’t yet shared sample images coming from the new camera.

The company says that the HOA A1 is expected to launch on December 21. The camera is expected to cost about $289 (about £216 / AU$420 / CA$408.

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This year, the Ricoh-owned Pentax brand discontinued its longstanding K series to focus on a future DSLR launch. But even without the DSLR, Ricoh’s camera sales are booming. In an earnings report from November 06, Ricoh said that the GR series of compact cameras is so popular that sales and earnings jumped dramatically.

Cameras are only a small slice of Ricoh’s business – so small, in fact, that cameras are delegated under “other” on the financial reports, along with 360 cameras, environment and healthcare products.

But this "other" segment has increased sales by 20 percent in the first half of the year compared to last year’s numbers. While cameras are lumped in with several other categories, the report specifically calls out cameras as driving the increase in sales.

Those numbers continue an upward trend, as Ricoh’s 2025 full-year report also called out the GR series for a strong increase in sales.

Earlier this year, Pentax discontinued the last DSLR in the K series, a move that the company says will allow it to develop “a new series of digital SLR cameras based on an entirely new concept.”

Amid discontinuing the Pentax K-series DSLR, Ricoh is still posting strong sales for its cameras – though that’s not exactly surprising amid the decline in DSLR sales and the rise in popularity of compact cameras.

The Ricoh GR IV series looks like a basic pocketable point-and-shoot, but hides an oversized APS-C sensor and bright lens. The series also has a dedicated Monochrome version, and Ricoh is working to launch a longer-lens GR IVx version as well.

Outside of the strong camera sales, Ricoh fans may want to note another statement from the company’s latest financial report: The impact of higher fuel costs and the higher cost of memory components.

Discussing the business as a whole – and not necessarily cameras specifically – the company told investors that pricing adjustments may help the company navigate those increased costs.

“At the same time,” the report reads, “we will mitigate cost increases stemming from rising prices of semiconductor memory, petroleum-related materials, and other inputs through pricing measures and reviews of our cost structure.”

That echoes concerns from other major camera makers over the rising cost and limited availability of memory components. Other brands, including Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm, have also mentioned the possibility of price adjustments amid the rising costs.

On a more positive note, Ricoh did say that it had “secured sufficient supplies in semiconductor devices.”

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Five of the top ten best-selling cameras in Japan come from a single manufacturer. However, Canon has managed to interrupt its dominance at the top with the EOS R50.

Sony rules Yodobashi's latest camera chart for the first half of October, accounting for half of all entries. And at the top spot is a compact full-frame camera released in 2023: the Sony A7C II with zoom lens kit claims the number one slot – it still has what it takes to outsell newer releases.

The A7 V follows at three and, interestingly, both cameras appear again further down the ranking: the A7 V sits in seventh in a zoom lens kit configuration, while the A7C II takes eighth with its body-only version.

Yodobashi's Top 10 cameras, 1st Half October 2026

1. Sony A7C II Zoom Lens Kit | Silver | Black
2. Canon EOS R50 Double Zoom Kit | Black | White
3. Sony A7 V
4. Fujifilm X-M5 + XC15-45mm Lens Kit | Silver | Black
5. Fujifilm X-T30 III + XC13-33mm Lens Kit | Silver | Black | Charcoal Silver
6. Canon EOS R5 Mark II
7. Sony A7 V Zoom Lens Kit
8. Sony A7C II Body | Silver | Black
9. Sony ZV-E10 II Double Zoom Lens Kit | Black | White
10. Canon EOS R10 + RF-S18-150 IS STM Lens Kit

Sony's Top 10 dominance

Seeing Sony dominate Yodobashi's top ten camera chart is nothing new.

The manufacturer has done it before, leaving competing brands behind. The Sony A7C II ($2,098 / £1,799) and A7 V ($2,898 / £2,399) have, in particular, become regular fixtures in the rankings since they entered the market.

Launched in December 2025, the Sony A7 V is the brand's newest full-frame camera. In the month following its release, it quickly climbed the sales rankings and maintained a strong position.

The Sony A7 II, meanwhile, has been a top ten regular for nearly three years. Its excellent balance of performance and value has made it an incredibly popular choice, not just in Japan.

The only other Sony camera model featured in the ranking is the ZV-E10 II ($1,198 / £824), which launched in July 2024. A popular choice among vloggers, the camera comes close to delivering the ideal vlogging experience, combining video features with a relatively accessible price tag.

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You know all those vibe coders who have been hacking cameras to add new features and crack firmware? Well, Hasselblad literally isn't playing that game: its legal team has shut down the recent jailbreaking project that reverse-engineered its medium format cameras.

Headlines were made by the efforts of the Hasselblad Refinement & Augmentation Project (HRAP) after its achievements were shared on Reddit.

Some of them were innocent fun, such as getting Doom to run on a Hasselblad X2D (continuing the tradition of running the legendary videogame on everything from calculator to Canon DSLRs) and even installing ChatGPT on a Hasselblad X2D II.

However, the hackers started getting a little bolder when they started adding actual camera features that weren't previously available – such as making it possible to record video on an X2D II and even unlocking new autofocus features.

This was apparently too bold for Hasselblad, whose lawyers got in touch with one of the people behind the HRAP efforts and demanded that they shut it down.

"I didn't plan to post this, but Hasselblad sent a legal letter to silence HRAP. Resources will no longer be available starting today," they posted on Reddit, before not only deleting the project's github but also zapping their Reddit account.

For what it's worth, Redditor rrRadium – who posted many of the jailbreaking videos – still seems to be active.

While it's certainly been fun seeing vibe coders add things like film simulations to DSLRs, it was starting to feel inevitable that manufacturers would push back – especially after AI was used to clone Adobe's entire Creative Suite, not to mention Claude cracking the entire videogame industry open.

Coders have been soft-hacking Canon cameras for years in the form of Magic Lantern (which is side-loaded via a memory card), but directly reverse-engineering a company's proprietary software code is incredibly legally perilous.

And of course, loading unofficial software or firmware to your camera is almost guaranteed to invalidate the warranty – definitely something you don't want to do with an $8,000 Hasselblad.

It's probably only a matter of time before other brands take similar steps against their respective hackers, so we probably haven't heard the last about vibe coders being put on blast.

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Nikon has introduced one camera so far in 2026, the Nikon Z5IIC, and the company’s interchangeable lens camera sales are the lowest sales numbers reported since the end of 2022.

The data comes from the company’s second-quarter financials, which saw overall growth in both revenue and profit but declining sales in the camera division.

Amid the number crunching, Nikon also shared a chart detailing camera sales since April 2022. The second quarter of the current fiscal year saw 150,000 sales for camera bodies, bringing the first half of the year to 360,000.

That’s the lowest that camera body sales have been since the quarter spanning the first three months of 2023.

So far this year Nikon has only launched the Z5IIC, which takes the tech of the Nikon Z5II and puts it into a smaller, viewfinder-free body. With pre-orders opening on September 24, the Z5CII only had around a week of pre-orders to be tallied in the financial results for the second quarter.

In recent years, Nikon has launched around two mirrorless cameras a year. Last year, it released the Nikon ZR in addition to the Z5II. The year before it launched the Nikon Z6III and Z50II, while 2023 brought the Z8 and Zf.

But Nikon has also revised its forecast for the next quarter, which encompasses the holiday shopping season. The company expects to sell around 400,000 fewer cameras in the third quarter than previously estimated.

Nikon says that the camera market has declined significantly in China – which echoes other reports from camera makers, including Canon and Sony, who also reported a decline in mirrorless sales.

The latest numbers from the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) also show that the biggest decline in camera shipments is in those bound for China.

Along with a drop in sales, Nikon says that higher prices for memory components are also a factor in the forecast. Next quarter, the manufacturer expects a decline in the previously anticipated revenue but expects profit to remain the same – partially due to refunds from US tariffs.

While Nikon’s camera division is seeing reduced sales, the company as a whole posted both revenue and operating profit higher than initially estimated.

Revenue is up in every one of Nikon’s business segments except for the imaging products, including nearly 30% revenue growth for the precision equipment segment.

According to the latest numbers from CIPA, Japan’s biggest camera makers have seen a 5% drop in camera shipments for 2026 so far.

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We have a new podcast out today… part of our 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, Managing Editor Adam Juniper and US Editor Hillary Grigonis chat about the big announcements from Sigma and from Fujifilm – and Adam shares his experience of owning the new Apple Duo foldphone.

Above: Watch the DCW News Podcast on YouTube now

First up, the Sigma FP2. Sigma has squeezed a 24.5MP full-frame sensor and serious stills and video capabilities into an incredibly small body, but does its modular approach make it a genuinely practical camera or something altogether more niche?

We also take a look at the Instax Mini Evo 2, which brings a larger touchscreen, improved image quality and new creative features to Fujifilm’s popular hybrid instant camera. Is it enough of an upgrade over the original?

Finally, after spending a week with the iPhone Duo, we talk about Apple’s first foldable phone, what the folding design actually adds, and most importantly for us, how its cameras stack up.

We’d love to hear your thoughts…

• Would you buy the Sigma FP2?

• Is the Mini Evo 2 the Instax upgrade you’ve been waiting for?

• And would you swap your regular iPhone for a foldable?

Let us know in the comments below…

There is something rather wonderful about being able to see exactly which birds are visiting your garden, particularly those that stop by when you're not around to enjoy them. Smart bird feeders have made this easier than ever, combining traditional bird feeding with miniature cameras that automatically record our feathered friends as they come and go.

However, while the technology has certainly improved over the years, many of these feeders still suffer from one rather obvious limitation: their cameras are designed to focus on one particular spot.

That's where the Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro comes in. By introducing phase-detection autofocus alongside a 4K HDR camera and AI-powered bird identification, Kiwibit has created something that feels like a genuine step forward for this increasingly popular category.

Having spent time enjoying everything it has to offer, I think there's plenty here to get excited about, whether you're a dedicated birdwatcher, a photography enthusiast, or simply someone who loves watching the wildlife in their garden.

Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro: Specifications

Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro: Build and handling

The first thing that impressed me about the Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro was just how well thought out its design is. While there are plenty of smart bird feeders on the market, some can feel as though a camera has simply been attached to a conventional bird feeder. That certainly isn't the case here. Everything feels purpose-built, from the sturdy weather-resistant construction to the neatly integrated camera, dual seed compartments, and clever solar-powered roof, which makes the whole experience remarkably straightforward.

One of my favorite features has to be the dual solar panels built into the roof. Rather than having a separate solar panel attached by a cable, Kiwibit has incorporated everything into the feeder itself, which not only looks considerably neater but also makes installation much easier. Having panels on both sides of the roof gives you a better chance of capturing sunlight throughout the day, helping to keep the camera powered without constantly worrying about its battery. Of course, positioning still matters, particularly during the darker winter months, but it's a wonderfully practical design that makes the feeder feel almost self-sufficient.

However, should you find yourself in a situation where the battery does run out, perhaps after several particularly gloomy days, Kiwibit has thought of that too. The removable rechargeable battery can simply be taken out and charged using USB-C, meaning you don't have to dismantle the entire feeder or bring the whole thing indoors. It's a small detail, but one that makes a considerable difference when you're dealing with a product designed to live outside throughout the year.

The feeding system itself is equally impressive. The two seed compartments allow you to offer different types of bird food, helping to attract a wider variety of feathered visitors, while the straightforward design makes refilling and cleaning refreshingly simple. There are no unnecessarily complicated mechanisms or awkward arrangements to deal with, and that's exactly what I want from something I'm going to be maintaining regularly in the garden.

Then there is the companion smartphone app, which I found extremely user-friendly. Setting up the feeder and accessing its various features feels simple and intuitive, with everything from live viewing and recorded footage to bird identification and your personal collection of visiting species available in one place. It's an important part of the overall experience, and for me, Kiwibit has done an excellent job of making some rather advanced technology accessible to just about anyone.

Birdfy Feeder Metal: Performance

Of course, the real reason to consider the Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro over many of its competitors is its phase-detection autofocus, and I think this is where the feeder really comes into its own. Most smart bird feeder cameras are designed with a fixed focus distance, usually around the perch where birds land to feed. This works perfectly well when your feathered friends are sitting exactly where the manufacturer expects them to be, but it can become rather limiting when they decide to perch somewhere else.

The Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro changes that experience by allowing its camera to adjust focus depending on where the bird is positioned. For example, if you've attached the feeder to a tree, you can capture beautiful close-up footage of a bird enjoying its lunch, but you can also take advantage of that autofocus system when another bird lands on a nearby branch within the camera's field of view. Rather than everything beyond the feeding perch becoming a blur, the camera has the ability to bring subjects at different distances into focus. It's a genuinely useful feature, and one that makes the whole experience feel much closer to using a conventional camera.

What makes this particularly enjoyable is how well the autofocus works alongside Kiwibit's AI-powered bird identification system. As birds arrive, the app can send notifications and create a record of their visits, allowing you to discover exactly which species have been spending time in your garden. I particularly enjoyed the ability to build up a personal catalog of visiting birds, almost like a digital birdwatching checklist, with each newly identified species becoming another one to tick off.

Better still, this isn't simply a list of names and dates. You can revisit the individual species in your collection and enjoy the recorded footage of their visits, which is a fantastic way to appreciate birds that you might otherwise have missed entirely. Whether it's a robin stopping by for breakfast or a more unusual visitor making a brief appearance, having those moments automatically captured and organized is something I found incredibly rewarding. It's worth remembering that AI identification is a premium feature, so you'll need either a Kiwibit Plus subscription or the version of the feeder that includes lifetime AI access to make full use of it.

Image quality is another area where the Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro really delivers. Its 4K HDR camera produces wonderfully detailed footage, allowing you to appreciate the colors, textures, and intricate feather patterns of the birds visiting your garden. Considering the relatively compact camera housed inside the feeder, I was extremely impressed with the results. There's something rather special about being able to sit comfortably indoors and watch beautifully detailed footage of birds going about their daily business just a few feet away.

The autofocus certainly helps here, keeping subjects sharp as they move around the feeder, while the 130-degree field of view provides a generous perspective of the surrounding activity. One thing worth mentioning is that 4K video is limited to 15fps, so footage isn't quite as smooth as you might expect from a conventional 4K camera shooting at 30fps or 60fps. There are also 1080p recording options for those who prefer smoother motion. Nevertheless, the level of detail available from the 4K footage is excellent, and for capturing those wonderful little moments of garden wildlife, I think the Kiwibit performs brilliantly.

Perhaps what I enjoyed most about using it, however, is that you don't really have to do very much at all. Once it's installed, connected to your Wi-Fi, and filled with seed, the feeder quietly gets on with recording visits, identifying birds, and building up your collection.

You can check in whenever you like, watch a live view, or simply enjoy discovering which feathered friends have visited while you've been busy doing something else. It's an incredibly enjoyable experience, and one that makes you appreciate just how much wildlife passes through your garden every day.

Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro: Sample Images

Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro: Video sample

Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro: Verdict

The Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro is, without question, one of the most exciting smart bird feeder cameras I've come across. Its phase-detection autofocus is a genuinely impressive addition that helps distinguish it from the many fixed-focus alternatives currently available, while the excellent 4K HDR image quality makes watching and recording garden birds a real pleasure. Add in the superb build quality, thoughtfully designed dual solar-panel roof, straightforward seed distribution system, and an app that makes discovering and cataloging different bird species wonderfully enjoyable, and Kiwibit has created a product that gets an awful lot right.

There are a couple of things worth considering, particularly the 15fps limitation when shooting in 4K and the additional cost of accessing the full AI experience, depending on which version you purchase. However, neither takes away from just how much fun this feeder is to use.

For me, the Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro represents exactly what a modern smart bird feeder should be: easy to use, cleverly designed, and capable of capturing beautiful footage of the wildlife that we often take for granted. I think it would make the perfect gift for any keen birdwatcher, photography enthusiast, or simply someone who loves discovering the incredible variety of birds visiting their garden. It's a wonderful way to bring nature a little closer to home, and one that I suspect will have you checking your phone to see who's visiting far more often than you might expect.

I’ve been largely impressed with Sirui products over the years, and it’s been quite a few years at that. The company launched in 2001, becoming a well-known brand for tripods within five years. In 2015, Sirui branched out into anamorphic and cine lenses, as well as diversifying into the lighting market in 2022. On the lens front, Sirui is still most widely known (and highly regarded) for its cine lenses but the one I’m reviewing here is a full-frame autofocus lens for stills cameras, although of course that encompasses video shooting nowadays.

From the relatively recent Aurora range, this 35mm is currently one of two lenses on offer, the other being an 85mm prime that matches the 35mm for its fast f/1.4 aperture and has mostly the same handling characteristics. Both lenses aim high in terms of features, handling, build quality, performance and value for money, the 35mm intending to be among the best street lenses on the market.

The two lenses are available in a wide range of mount options, comprising Sony E (FE), Nikon Z (FX), L-mount and Fujifilm X. Although full-frame compatible, the 35mm lens has an ‘effective’ focal length of just over 50mm on APS-C format cameras, serving as a ‘nifty fifty’, which is naturally the only option with the Fuji X-mount edition.

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Specifications

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Price

The Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4 has a list price of $549 / £549 / AU$889, which makes it particularly affordable for a lens of this type. By comparison, the own-brand Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 G Master weighs in at a whopping $1,498 / £1,429 / AU$1,999, although Nikon makes a relatively budget-friendly (and more basic) Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4 for $677 / £649 / AU$1,099. Independent Chinese competition includes the even faster Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 Lab at $999 / £869 / AU$1,649 and there’s the Japanese Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG II Art for $1,059 / £849 / AU$2,049. Whichever way you look at it, the Sirui Aurora 35mm looks great value at the price.

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Design & Handling

The Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4 is a sight to behold, even before you get it out of its packaging. It’s beautifully presented in a full-color printed box, complete with fabric lift-up tab and ID card. Inside that, the lens sits resplendent in its own posh soft case, reminiscent of the ones that up-market Sigma lenses come in, but in blue, silver and black instead of just plain black.

The lens itself follows suit, with a black anodized aluminum barrel, a full set of switches and function buttons, bright blue Sirui badge and an Aurora logo in a script font that makes the lens look like it’s been signed by hand. But as they say, looks can be deceiving, so I’m hoping not to be disappointed.

When you lift the lens from its padded case, the first impression is that it’s a high-quality item. Everything looks and feels up-market, from the weather-sealed metal base to the fluorine coated front element. It’s pretty lightweight for a 35mm f/1.4 prime as well, measuring 3x4 inches and weighing in at 490g, or a smidge over one pound.

Like most lenses for mirrorless cameras nowadays, the Aurora has an autofocus system that’s based on a linear stepping motor. Typical of the breed, it’s quick and virtually silent in operation, and is electronically coupled to a manual focus ring. As is also generally the case, there’s no focus distance scale apart from the one you might have as an option in your camera body’s electronic viewfinder or rear screen.

Swapping between autofocus and manual focus modes is a simple case of operating the AF/MF switch on the side of the lens barrel. That saves any time and effort faffing around in camera menus to make the change. Just above the switch is a customizable function button that I tend to use for AF-hold, although a range of other options is generally available depending on the camera body.

Like all the other switches and controls, the aperture ring is clearly marked, this time on one-third f/stop increments, all the way from the widest aperture of f/1.4 to the narrowest of f/16. That’s all well and good if you’re shooting in Aperture-priority or Manual shooting modes, but there’s also an A (Auto) position for camera-driven adjustments and for shooting in Program and Shutter-priority modes.

I don’t consider myself to be clumsy but I do find that it’s all too easy to nudge an aperture control ring from its Auto position to a narrow aperture setting by accident. The Aurora guards against this with the provision of an Iris Lock switch. I’m very much in favor of that.

Catering to both stills and video, the aperture ring also features a click/de-click switch, thus allowing for precise, one-third incremental steps or smooth and silent aperture transitions respectively. It’s another nice touch that is sure to find favor with hybrid shooters and content creators who alternate between stills and video.

One final word on aperture is that the lens has a particularly well-rounded diaphragm, based on no less than 13 curved blades. This helps to maintain the quality of bokeh when stopping down from the widest aperture of f/1.4. There’s plenty of quality glass in the optical path as well, with three aspherical elements, two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, one Special ED element and two HRI (High Refractive Index) elements in the chain.

Like the lens itself, the hood feels a quality item, with an efficient petal-shaped profile, a grippy rubber handling ring, a ridged interior surface and a lock/release button. As usual, it also has a bayonet-fit design and can be reversed on the lens for compact stowage.

Maintaining the quality theme, even the lens caps look and feel nicely designed and well made. The front cap has a pinch-style release mechanism that makes it easy to fit or remove even when the hood is fitted to the lens in its business orientation.

Finishing up at the back end, there’s a metal mounting plate that features gold-plated electronic contacts and a rubber weather-seal ring. There’s actually a comprehensive set of weather-seals fitted through the whole lens. Another bonus is that the mounting plate includes a USB-C socket, which you can use for applying firmware updates.

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Performance

After such high expectations based on the apparent quality, presentation and finish of the lens, performance turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag in my tests. Starting out with a positive, the f/1.4 aperture definitely delivers a tight depth of field along with attractively smooth bokeh, especially when shooting close-ups.

Producing soft defocused areas within images is certainly not a problem, but I found sharpness more of a challenge. I didn’t get the autofocus hit rate that I’m used to when using my Sony A7 III camera body and stepping motor-based lenses. Even manual focusing proved to be a bit hit and miss. When correctly focused, the lens still lacked sharpness towards the edges and corners of the frame, and that’s after stopping down to medium apertures of around f/5.6 and f/8. To demonstrate, the pair of images below show a full-frame image on the left, and an enlarged section from near one of the corners on the right.

Back on the plus side, there was little evidence of any axial or lateral chromatic aberrations during my testing, the latter being minimal even right out at the edges of the frame. Ghosting and flare were also kept to small amounts.

There’s no real problem in terms of distortion either and unlike many modern lenses designed for mirrorless cameras, the Sirui doesn’t rely heavily on automatic in-camera corrections.

One of the tests that I often run for ‘fast’ lenses is to shoot a phrenology head in my back garden, starting with the widest available aperture and stopping down to a medium aperture in single f/stop increments. The results give good indications of sharpness and the quality of bokeh for defocused areas. Moreover, fast lenses often suffer from axial/longitudinal chromatic aberration at the widest apertures, also known as bokeh fringing. This displays as color fringing around high-contrast transitions, just in front of and behind the plane of focus. The black lines and writing on the white porcelain of the phrenology head are a good test for this as well.

The following gallery contains shots taken at full f/stop steps from f/1.4 to f/8. The lens does well in most respects but if you zoom in to the images for an enlarged view, you’ll notice a serious lack of wide-aperture sharpness. I initially suspected autofocus inaccuracies but repeated the entire sequence, focusing manually with maximum magnification in preview, and got much the same results. Wide-aperture vignetting (darkened corners) is also very severe.

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Sample Images

Images in the sample gallery below were taken on a bright, sunny morning at the ‘floating harbor’ of Bristol Docks in the south west of England. I used a selection of wide aperture settings for a tight depth of field when shooting close-ups, and narrower apertures where I wanted edge-to-edge sharpness for more expansive subjects.

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Lab Results

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

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

Sharpness:

Sharpness in the center of frame is excellent, but it soon drops off as you move towards the corners. Even in the mid-frame image quality is very soft, and it's downright dire as you reach the corners.

Fringing:

There's visible fringing in the corners of frame when you stop down past f/2.8, but it's not severe.

Distortion: 0.75

The lens produces a touch of pincushion distortion, but not enough to be distracting.

Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4: Verdict

I think that the Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4 looks and feels a highly impressive lens. It’s beautifully presented and robustly built with an anodized aluminum barrel and comprehensive weather-seals. It also features a wealth of handling exotica, including an AF/MF focus mode switch, customizable function button and an aperture control ring with an iris lock and click/de-click switch.

All in all, the Sirui looks unfeasibly great value for money, but I found a sting in the tail when it came to actual performance. Autofocus accuracy proved a little inconsistent in my tests, and sharpness across the image frame was a moveable feast, even when the lens was correctly focused. All in all, I think the Sirui looks a great lens, but it’s not really as good as it looks.

Alternatives

Some Leica cameras are rare, but others are so extraordinary that they represent an almost forgotten chapter in the company's history. That is certainly the case with a remarkable Leica Box prototype from the 1950s, which is heading to auction with an estimated value of between €400,000 and €500,000 (up to $560,000 / £417,000)

The camera will be one of the star attractions at the 49th Leitz Photographica Auction, taking place on November 28 in Wetzlar, Germany, alongside a Leica R6 once owned and used by legendary documentary photographer Sebastião Salgado and several exceptionally rare lenses.

What makes the Leica Box particularly fascinating is that it represents a very different direction for the German camera manufacturer. Developed during the mid-1950s, the camera was designed as an incredibly compact half-frame model, measuring just 100 x 64 x 48mm and capturing 18 x 24mm images on 35mm film.

Only two examples were ever produced, with one remaining at the Leica Museum in Wetzlar as a non-working design study. The example heading to auction, bearing serial number 000.01, is believed to be the only fully operational version in existence. Featuring a fixed 35mm Summaron lens, the camera offers a fascinating glimpse into what might have been had Leica decided to bring the concept into full production.

However, perhaps the most historically significant camera at the auction is a Leica R6 that belonged to the late Sebastião Salgado, one of the most influential documentary photographers of his generation. Salgado used this very camera while photographing the burning oil fields of Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1991, producing some of the most powerful images of his career.

The camera is being offered alongside two photographs from the series and a signed, limited-edition copy of his celebrated photobook Workers, with an estimated value of €28,000 to €32,000 (around $35,000 / £25,000). For collectors, this is far more than simply an opportunity to own a vintage Leica; it is a chance to acquire a camera that actually helped document an important moment in modern history.

Lens collectors will also have plenty to get excited about, including the very first numbered example of the recently released Leica Summicron-M 66mm f/2, a modern recreation of the legendary Elcan 66mm f/2 developed by Walter Mandler for the U.S. Navy during the late 1960s.

The original lens was produced in extremely limited numbers, with approximately 200 examples manufactured, while the modern version is restricted to just 660 units. The example heading to auction carries the particularly desirable serial number 001 and is expected to achieve between €16,000 and €20,000. Alexander Sedlak, managing director of Leitz Photographica Auction, said: "As always, we expect particularly strong interest in historically significant rarities and special editions."

In total, more than 400 lots will go under the hammer at the auction, featuring everything from historic Leica cameras and lenses to photographic equipment from other manufacturers, with estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of euros.

The event will also celebrate 60 years of Leica's legendary Noctilux lens with a dedicated exhibition at Leica World. The auction begins at noon Central European Time on November 28, with advance and live bidding available through the Leitz Photographica Auction website.

While the extraordinary prices will put some of these cameras well beyond the reach of most photographers, events like this offer a wonderful reminder that some of photography's most fascinating stories are not just found in the images themselves, but in the cameras that helped create them.

Check out the best Leica cameras you can buy new today

DSLRs are not dead – and if you're craving that classic shooting experience, the Pentax K-1 Mark II is now just £1,399 at Wex Photo Video.

This is the lowest-ever price the popular full-frame camera has hit, and you save £400 off the regular price tag.

If you feel the magic in a mirror slap and optical viewfinder, the Pentax K-1 Mark II is made with you in mind.

It delivers a true full-frame DSLR shooting experience with a rugged, weather-sealed body, classic design charm, and some clever innovations – like a scissor-action articulating rear screen and extended exposure modes for creative long-exposure photography.

Originally launched as the first full-frame Pentax DSLR in February 2016, the K-1 was already a standout. Two years later, Ricoh Imaging introduced the K-1 Mark II, upgrading it with a new accelerator unit for better high ISO performance, a Dynamic Pixel Shift Resolution mode, and refined autofocus algorithms.

The K-1 Mark II stands strong against more well-known full-frame revivals, thanks to its 36.5MP full-frame sensor, advanced Shake Reduction II in-body stabilization, and its robust build quality. It's a DSLR that truly respects the hands-on, and for this model, you will find a big range of Pentax lenses.

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Here is our guide to the best Pentax cameras, and if you want to read more about Pentax, here are our News and reviews on the latest from Pentax.

From the Sony A7 V to the A7R VI, a number of Sony’s latest camera launches have brought both a longer list of features and a higher price point. But Sony’s shift towards more high-end cameras isn’t by accident – and it’s helping the camera maker withstand the AI-driven memory shortage.

In Sony’s second quarter, sales for cameras dropped. But at the same time, the company’s technology segment posted a 3.2 percent increase in operating income, despite a 7.9 percent drop in sales.

The data highlights Sony’s strategy for camera launches: shifting towards more expensive but more capable, high-end cameras.

“Although conditions remained challenging in the Imaging business this quarter, primarily due to a slowdown in the Chinese market, we minimized the impact of increased memory costs and lower unit sales on earnings by expanding market share, led by new products, and by accelerating the shift toward high-value-added products,” Lin Tao, the Chief Financial Officer for Sony Group Corporation, said during the earnings presentation.

There’s a lot to unpack in that single sentence. First, Sony’s camera sales are down, and like every other camera maker, the increased cost of memory is a considerable challenge. But those challenges have only had a minor impact because Sony’s focus is on expanding with new products and shifting towards higher-end launches.

One camera in particular illustrates Sony’s strategy to cater to a wide range of budgets: The Sony A7 III. Sony’s A7 series is now on the A7 V, yet the 2018 A7 III has remained available as a budget option. Rather than launching a line that’s dedicated just to an entry-level budget, Sony likes to let its pro cameras trickle down to lower price points as the cameras age.

But many of Sony’s latest launches have come at a higher price point. The Sony A7R VI – arguably Sony’s biggest launch in 2026 – sits at a higher price point than the A7R V did at launch, a difference of around $600 / £500 / AU$1,500 / CA$700. Both the A7 V and the RX10 V bridge camera also launched at higher list prices than the predecessors.

Sony’s strategy to prioritize high-end cameras and shift older models as budget propositions seems to be working. Cameras like the Sony A7 V have led many best-seller lists. And Sony says the strategy is helping offset the struggle against higher memory costs and the lower number of sales, which CIPA reports suggest are affecting all Japanese camera makers.

Another key part of Sony’s strategy is expanding market share. One key example of that is Sony’s expanding cinema line, where models like the FX5 were so popular at launch that orders were delayed.

The strategy, however, could raise questions for Sony’s APS-C models, which tend to see more time between updates than Sony’s full-frame options. Sony’s most advanced still photo camera with an APS-C sensor was announced in 2023, the A6700, while the A6400 dates back to 2019. The Sony ZV-E10 II is from 2024, and the ZV-E10 from 2021. But it’s not uncommon for Sony’s APS-C cameras to go 3-4 years between updates.

Meanwhile, in Sony’s sensor-making division, growth fell by 20 percent in the second quarter, largely due to increasing costs and decreasing availability of memory. Sony says the budget and mid-range phone sensor market declined significantly, while the impact on the high-end market was minimal.

Also during the meeting, Sony said that its sensor manufacturing facilities have already fully recovered from the earthquake that hit Kumamoto in Japan. The delay while the plant was shut down and the repairs cost the company about 16 billion yen – which is about $101 million / £75 million / AU$145 million / CA$141 million.

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Take a look at the best Sony cameras or the best cameras for pros.

The growth of the retro camera look has sparked a resurgence in disposable cameras – but one start-up is taking the lens from a recycled disposable camera and building a compact mirrorless lens with it. Bold Lens Co. is a Thailand-based company building mirrorless lenses from the lenses of old disposable cameras.

Bold Lens isn’t the first company to make a cheap mirrorless lens meant to mimic the look of a disposable film camera. But the Bold Lens BL-32, is unusual in that the budget lens still uses an adjustable aperture rather than a fixed opening. The company says it's the first disposable camera lens remake to use an adjustable aperture.

First, Bold Lens takes used Fujifilm QuickSnap disposable film cameras and pulls the optic from them. Then, it 3D-prints the lens housing, complete with six curved 3D-printed aperture blades. The final lens is assembled by hand.

The result is a 32mm lens with an f/5.6-f/22 adjustable aperture built for APS-C cameras. Focusing is all manual, with an adjustable focus ring. The lens is built from four major components, without any electronics: a 3D-printed body, the recycled lens element, the aperture blades, and the camera mount.

Sample images shared by Bold Lens illustrate a soft look that feels reminiscent of the imperfect disposable film camera. The narrow f/5.6 aperture encourages a higher ISO, which can create the grain that also feels like a more old-school look.

Like many budget lenses, there are no electronic contacts on the lens, so the aperture needs to be adjusted directly from the lens, and some cameras will need to enable the “shoot without lens” setting.

The hand-assembled lens is being sold in small batches, but it's available for several different mounts, including Fujifilm X, Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon EF-M, Canon RF, and Micro Four Thirds.

Because the lenses are made in small batches – around 15 a month – orders are checked for stock and international shipping availability. The lens sells for $49 – about £36 / AU$70 / CA$69.

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Take a look at the best disposable cameras for that real film look, or dive into the best pancake lenses.

Panasonic is celebrating 25 years of the Lumix brand – and to mark the occasion, it's hosting a series of events around the world where you're invited to see what makes the brand special.

These community events, called Lumix Collective, are taking place throughout November and December. They will bring together photographers, filmmakers, creators and Lumix users for a series of talks, workshops and shooting experiences, hands-ons with the latest gear, as well as the opportunity to pick up exclusive swag.

Here's where and when you can find your nearest Lumix Collective gathering:

• November 17 – Manchester, UK
• November 20 – Sydney, Australia
• November 21 – Berlin, Germany –
• November 24 – São Paulo, Brazil
• November 25 – Milan, Italy
• December 04 – Paris, France
• December TBC – New York, US

Lumix shooters are invited, along with their cameras, to get inspired, get creative and get connected with fellow members of the community.

Lumix Collective Manchester

The Manchester event on November 17 will be taking place at Victoria Warehouse from 15:00 to 20:00.

One of the highlights will be a panel discussion featuring esteemed Lumix luminaries including Emily Lowrey (Micro Four Nerds), Gordon Laing (Camera Labs), Sam Bassett (OpticalWander) and Ed Prosser. I'll be leading the panel, so please come along and say hello!

There will also be interactive workshop sessions from popular Lumix creators, such as Hybrid Storytelling with Josh Cameron, LUT workflow with Ross McConaghy (RossandhisJPEGs) and cinematic content creation with Tommy Rowe of Rowe Films.

You can also take part in photography and video shooting experiences featuring live subjects and professional lighting, across the Cinema Experience Zone, Creator Content Zone, Creator Workflow Zone and Motion Zone.

The latest Lumix cameras and lenses will also be on hand to put through their paces.

Tickets are available now, priced £10 each, and you can use the code LUMIX25 get 25% off. Click here to book your place now.

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Check out the best Panasonic Lumix cameras along with the best L-Mount lenses for its full-frame S system and the best Micro Four Thirds lenses for the G series.

As a photographer who shoots with multiple camera bodies depending on the scenario, I’m forever moving a camera strap from one body to the other – and that’s not always the easiest task. But the new Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap uses a clever anchor design to attach and detach from the camera in seconds.

The most unusual feature of the new strap series is right in the name: The anchors are magnetic. While that may be the most unusual part of the design, that’s not the feature that won me over. The real magic is in the number of different ways this strap can be worn.

As someone who uses the Wandrd PRVKE as my go-to camera bag, I was pretty excited about the launch of the Wandrd Magnetic camera strap – and I wasn’t disappointed.

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap: Price

The Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap retails for about $69 / £59 / AU$95.64 / CA$95.36 for the standard 30mm size.

The narrower 15mm strap retails for a little less – about $49 / £42 / AU$67.92 / CA$67.72.

The wrist strap comes in at $39 / £34 / AU$54.06 / CA$53.90.

Each strap has enough links to attach to two cameras, but if you need more or the original ones wear out, replacement links are $13 / £11.17 / AU$18.02 / CA$17.97 for a four-pack.

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap: Specs

30mm camera strap

• Weight: 3.5oz
• Length: Min 31" (79cm) - Max 52" (133cm)
• Strap Width: 30mm (3cm)
• Weight Capacity: 200lbs (90kg)

15mm camera strap

• Weight: 2.2oz
• Length: Min 29" (74cm) - Max 51.125" (130cm)
• Strap Width: 15mm (1.5cm)
• Weight Capacity: 200lbs (90kg)

Wrist strap

• Weight: 0.8oz
• Length: Min 9" (23cm) - Max 13.78" (35cm)
• Strap Width: 15mm (1.5cm)
• Weight Capacity: 200lbs (90kg)

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap: Design

There are hundreds of different strap options for photographers, but Wandrd is joining the ranks of straps built for easy attachment. The Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap is designed for photographers who regularly swap cameras, swap straps, or often want to remove the strap for tripod shooting.

At the heart of the new strap system is a magnetic Torus Anchor. The magnets don’t hold the weight of the camera, but rather guide the circular anchor point into position so that there’s no fiddling to get them in the right spot before the strap clamps down. The clamp uses two interlocking pieces that go through the open center of the magnet, and the design feels very secure.

That system means that, once you get the anchors installed on your camera, it’s easy to change strap styles from neck to wrist, swap which camera is attached to the strap, or remove the strap in order to shoot on a tripod. The neck straps each come with four anchors and the wrist strap with two, so out of the box, it comes with enough to use two cameras on the same strap system without buying additional anchors.

Wandrd includes split rings to help connect the loops to cameras that have strap lugs that are too small.

In addition to attaching to the camera’s lugs, the anchors can also attach to the camera’s tripod mount using a screw-in mount. The lug itself is attached to a metallic piece that’s separate from the screw-in mount. This is important because twisting the camera around on the strap won’t accidentally unscrew the tripod plate and cause a disastrous strap failure.

That baseplate should be tightened with a screwdriver or a coin and checked periodically, but even with rigorous tugging, I couldn’t get the baseplate to loosen once I had tightened it with a coin. Unfortunately, it’s not Arca-Swiss compatible, so it will need to be removed to use the camera on a tripod.

In addition to supporting both lug-mounted straps and tripod plate-mounted anchors, the strap can also connect to itself. That means the strap will also work with compact cameras that only have one strap lug. And, if I remove the strap to shoot from a tripod, I can wear the strap on my body for storage by looping it to itself.

The clamps at the end of the strap, the strap lugs, and the length adjustment are all made from plastic. This is by design to prevent metal from scratching the camera. The plastic feels less luxurious than metal, but I like the softer edges on the plastic to help avoid scratches.

The strap itself is made from comfortable nylon webbing. The standard neck strap is 30mm wide, while the smaller neck strap has half that width and is made for compact camera systems.

The length of the standard neck strap can be adjusted from both sides of the strap with a simple tug on the adjustment. The dual-sided length adjustment is nice because you can still adjust the length when wearing the strap cross-body. The narrower 15mm neck strap only has one length adjustment rather than two.

In addition to the two different sizes of neck straps, Wandrd also offers a wrist strap version. This uses the same anchor system in a single-anchor wrist strap.

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap: Performance

I tested all three Wandrd Magnetic Strap designs with both neck straps and the wrist strap. I used the strap system with a variety of cameras – a mirrorless with a compact lens, a portrait prime, and a heavy telephoto lens, as well as an old film camera.

Wearing the strap is comfortable. The nylon material is soft, flexible, and doesn’t chafe my skin. I prefer the standard, wider strap for its better weight distribution for most cameras, while the narrower strap works fine for compact cameras and a lightweight mirrorless with a pancake lens. I do wish the standard strap was a little bit wider for even more weight distribution.

I love being able to switch from a neck strap to a cross-body sling – this is really a must-have feature for me, as it allows me to adjust the weight of the gear from pulling on my neck to my shoulders.

But as someone who regularly switches between different cameras depending on what type of shoot I’m doing, I loved the ability to swap straps in seconds using the magnetic link system. There’s no tedious lineup needed. It’s fast enough to separate the strap from the camera before packing it into a bag.

I’ve now spent around two weeks with the straps – that’s not enough for long-term durability tests, but so far I haven’t spotted anything that suggests premature wear. Wandrd’s warranty against manufacturer defects doesn’t have a time limit – normal wear-and-tear isn’t covered, but manufacturing defects are covered under a lifetime warranty.

The anchor system does use color-coded threads inside, so when the black loop starts to show yellow, it’s nearing time to replace the links.

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap Vs. Peak Design Slide

As I attached, unattached, and reattached the Wandrd Magnetic system to my cameras, I couldn’t help but be reminded of another popular strap system that also uses anchors to easily take the strap on and off: The Peak Design Slide.

The Peak Design Slide and Slide Lite is about 15mm wider than the Wandrd strap. It also uses a few metal pieces, and that choice, plus the wider, thicker material, gives the Peak Design Slide a slightly higher-end feel. But, one of our complaints with the Slide Lite is that the metal can scratch, so Wandrd's use of plastic may be a smarter choice.

On the other hand, Wandrd’s magnetic strap anchors feel a bit faster to swap – not dramatically so, but a bit faster. Wandrd also gives the strap a place to anchor to itself so it can support cameras with a single mounting point – and this is also another option to make the strap a more cross-body style. Peak Design’s Form straps do this, but the Slide doesn’t.

The Wandrd Magnetic strap also comes in a little cheaper – in the US, the full-size strap is about $10 less.

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap: Verdict

The Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap system makes strap swaps – or camera swaps – quick and easy, all while keeping a comfortable, versatile design. I love the ability to wear the strap as a neck strap or cross-body, and the soft nylon material is comfortable.

I only had a few small complaints about Wandrd’s magnetic strap system. The tripod mounting plate doesn’t double as an Arca-Swiss quick release and has to be removed for tripod use. I do wish the standard strap was a little wider.

But overall, I love the magnetic camera strap system. It’s a good buy if you regularly want to remove the strap or use a single strap for multiple cameras. But it’s also a comfortable nylon option with multiple ways to wear, even for single-camera users.

Wandrd Magnetic Camera Strap: Alternatives

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When screen-free camera maker Camp Snap launched its first retro camcorder, it grabbed the attention of celebrities and creators for its old-school looks. Now, Camp Snap is shrinking the CS-8 in half. The Camp Snap 8 Mini packs the same viral retro video quality into a design that’s less than half the size of the original.

The Camp Snap 8 Mini – or the CS-8 Mini for short – packs the same 2.7K resolution from a 1/2.7-inch sensor. Like the original, there’s no traditional screen – just an electronic viewfinder to preview the shots – and there are no apps or Wi-Fi connection either. Camp Snap is also keeping the same five film-inspired presets, as well as the 8x digital zoom.

But what’s changing is the size. The CS-8 is inspired by old Super 8 camcorders, including their bulky design and trigger-style recording. But the Mini shrinks that down to a camera that weighs .58 lbs / 262g. The Mini measures 6 inches (152mm) on the longest side, sitting around two inches (50mm) thick and 5.6 inches (141mm) wide.

The original grabbed the attention of nostalgic adults for its old-school-looking footage that feels like a home movie, including finding its way into the hands of celebrities from Taylor Swift to the US Men's Hockey Team. But there’s a new audience that the CS-8 Mini is directed for: Kids.

Camp Snap says the smaller size is made for the smaller hands of kids, as well as being more travel-friendly. Camp Snap got its start as a company building screen-free cameras to send with kids to summer camps, but the screen-free design immediately felt nostalgic to adults, sparking the launch of more grown-up cameras like the Camp Snap CS-Pro and the CS-8.

The CS-8 Mini keeps the trigger-style shooting of the original and the retro dials, including one to adjust the aspect ratio. The meters for battery life and memory card space remaining also remain but were reimagined to fit on the smaller design.

The Mini also trades the retro black-and-white for four bright color options in blue, green, orange, and pink.

I’ve gifted my kids Camp Snap cameras for still photos, and one of the things my 7-year-old misses compared to a traditional kid camera is the ability to take videos. But one of my biggest complaints about the original CS-8 is that it's a bit too bulky for packing on a trip – so I have to wonder if the Mini might also find a home in some adult hands.

Camp Snap just teased two upcoming cameras – and the Mini is only one of them, so it looks like another launch is also on the horizon.

The Camp Snap CS-8 Mini lists for $149.99 – about $50 less than the original. That converts to about £114 / AU$214 / CA$209. The first sales are opening at Camp Snap's online store and Target.

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I used to be the deputy editor of N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, so I hope I can claim to know a Nikon camera when I see one.

When Nikon Rumors published a camera diagram of a reportedly registered N2416 wireless remote controller, I immediately concurred with the eagle-eyed outlet’s assertion that the Z-Series camera in the diagram simply doesn’t exist.

The giveaway is the placement of what looks to me like a video-record button. On all mainline Z-Series cameras (Nikon Zf, Nikon Zfc and Nikon ZR aside) this button is placed atop the grip, but on the mysterious illustration it’s positioned further back, next to a top-mounted OLED screen.

Even if this isn’t a video-record button, no Z-Series camera shares this button configuration. It’s either a mistake or an entirely new camera.

A Z9 II, Z7 III and Z70 are the most persistent camera rumors I've been hearing (though none have been in any way confirmed).

But while the consensus seems to be that a Nikon Z70 could launch this year, talk of a Z9 II is that it's been pushed back to 2027. The Z7 III, on the other hand, is such a long-running rumor that it’s difficult to tell what’s substantiated and what’s pure conjecture.

Going back to the diagram. The illustration isn’t consistent with Nikon’s current professional-grade bodies. For example, it has a top-mounted command wheel whereas the Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z9 have recessed command wheels, and the viewfinder eyepiece is rectangular instead of circular.

So, based on all the available information, it's unlikely to be a Z9 II, making a Z70 the most viable option, given what we know. Or at least, think we know.

And while Nikon hasn’t formally acknowledged the existence of a Z70, evidence is beginning to mount up. Back in August, an Apple ProRes RAW compatibility list featured the wording 'Nikon Z70' and was promptly removed.

More recently, a Nikon Singapore slip-up referenced the camera (again) in a caption. And now we have this mysterious illustration.

I try very hard not to get too excited over camera rumors, since I’ve been disappointed oh so many times (*ahem* Nikon full-frame fixed-lens compact camera anyone?). But I’ve said for years now that a mirrorless version of the Nikon D500 would be a great move from the Big N and I still stand by that.

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Want more whispers from the grapevine? Check out the latest camera rumors. If you're a Nikon fan, here are the best Nikon Z lenses. And for updates from across the industry, here's the latest camera news.

The Lego Creator 3-in-1 Retro Camera has dropped to just £14.99 on Amazon, down from £17.99 and saving you £3 on one of the most charming photography-themed sets around.

It might not capture any actual photographs, but this little LEGO camera would look perfectly at home on the desk or shelf of almost any photographer. Its retro styling, moving lens, colorful carrying strap, and brick-built rolls of film give it plenty of character.

The set contains 261 pieces and provides three different builds in one box. You can begin with the retro stills camera before rebuilding it into a vintage camcorder or an old-fashioned television complete with an aerial.

That makes it more than a simple display model. Younger builders can enjoy taking it apart and creating something completely different, while adult photography enthusiasts may simply want to keep the original camera assembled as a nostalgic piece of desk decoration.

At under £15, it is also an affordable gift for photographers, camera collectors, LEGO fans, or children beginning to show an interest in photography. It is certainly cheaper than buying them a real camera, and there is considerably less chance of this one suffering from an expensive drop.

This might not be the biggest saving in the early Black Friday camera deals, but it is easily one of the most enjoyable camera-related bargains I have spotted. For less than £15, the LEGO Creator Retro Camera offers three builds, plenty of nostalgic appeal, and a fun way to add some photographic personality to your desk.

Something interesting is happening in photography. Data shows consumers are increasingly buying premium camera phones. Yet, at almost the opposite end of the market, inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras are also enjoying an unexpected resurgence.

On one side, we have flagship smartphones now costing well upwards of $1,000, while on the other, we have cameras like the Kodak Pixpro FZ55, a $140 compact camera that has become one of the year’s best-selling cameras despite offering photographic capabilities that, to put it politely, are considerably more modest even than those of the most basic camera phone.

Both slip in pocket and are perfect for capturing everyday situations, but why are consumers willing to spend more on the best camera phones, yet also embracing dedicated cameras that are photographically far less impressive?

Premium smartphones are taking over the market

The growth of premium smartphones has been an ongoing trend over the past few years. According to Counterpoint Research, more premium smartphones accounted for a record 29% of global smartphone sales by volume in the first half of 2026, up from 25% during the same period in 2025 and just 20% in 2022.

Apple and Samsung still dominate this market, accounting for a combined 84% of premium smartphone sales, but Chinese manufacturers are making significant progress. Oppo recorded the fastest growth in the premium segment during the first half of 2026, with sales increasing by 69%, while Vivo saw growth of 20%.

Those figures are particularly interesting in light of a recent briefing I received from Oppo, in which the company outlined its plans to concentrate more on premium smartphones than low-margin devices. The company is now targeting a doubling of Find X series sales in Europe in 2027 (and the incredible Oppo Find X10 Pro Max definitely has the potential to make that a reality).

And what does Oppo see as one of the most important ways to convince consumers to spend more? Cameras.

The company identifies imaging as one of its three main areas of premium differentiation, alongside AI and well-being. Oppo's strategy places considerable emphasis on photography, with its flagship Find X devices featuring its close partnership with legendary camera manufacturer Hasselblad.

Of course, better cameras are not the only reason premium smartphones are growing. Rising memory costs, which have pushed phone prices higher, and trade-in programs and financing options have also made expensive devices easier to afford.

Nevertheless, it's clear that photography is one of, if not the most important way of differentiating the most expensive phones, and that consumers are increasingly choosing the premium devices on which those camera technologies are found.

This makes what's happening in the dedicated camera market all the more intriguing.

Cheap point-and-shoot cameras are enjoying their own boom

While the smartphone market is moving increasingly toward premium products, recent camera sales figures tell a different story. In Japan, Kodak has been outselling some of the biggest names in the camera industry with dirt-cheap compact cameras with specs that would be laughable in a modern flagship phone.

According to Japanese retail analyst BCN+R, Kodak became the country's best-selling digital camera brand by unit sales in April 2024, taking a remarkable 22.5% share of the entire market.

And this wasn't simply a one-off. Kodak-branded cameras returned to the top of Japan's overall digital camera sales rankings in May 2026 and in June 2026, finishing approximately one percentage point ahead of behemoth Canon in sales volume.

There are some important caveats. These figures represent sales through participating Japanese retailers, and selling a large number of inexpensive compacts is also considerably different from selling high-end mirrorless cameras costing thousands of dollars with bigger margins. Sony has certainly shifted a lot of its A7 V this year, so we don't need to panic about the mirrorless market.

Nevertheless, it's quite extraordinary that not only can a brand predominantly selling cheap and cheerful point-and-shoot cameras compete with, and sometimes outsell, manufacturers such as Canon, Sony, and Fujifilm across the entire digital camera market – but also that the market en masse seems to have embraced cameras that offer objectively worse image quality.

Why do we want better smartphone cameras but worse dedicated cameras?

For years, camera manufacturers have worked to eliminate noise, improve dynamic range, correct exposures, and produce sharper, cleaner photographs. Smartphones have arguably taken this pursuit of technical perfection further than anyone else, using computational photography and AI to produce the best possible image with minimal user effort.

However, the aesthetic associated with inexpensive digital compact cameras is almost the opposite. Hard flash, higher contrast, less impressive dynamic range, and the noisy, blocky appearance of early digital photography have become desirable characteristics in their own right. It's an aesthetic that has become popular across Instagram and TikTok.

It's easy to suggest (and many have) that the rise of cheap compacts is simply a backlash to the perfection of smartphone photography, and that there is somehow an "authenticity" to lo-fi photos. Or that a compact camera is just more fun to shoot with than the device where you also get your email. But then it is an interesting contradiction that both are doing so well.

Sales figures alone don't tell us whether the same people are buying both premium smartphones and cheap compacts. But we seem increasingly willing to pay for technology that takes the guesswork out of getting a great photo, while also embracing cameras that put some of that unpredictability back in. Perhaps the definition of a good camera isn't quite as straightforward as we might believe.

Photographer, videographer and all-around curious chap Max Adams (@max_madeit) has released several Instagram Reels of a jaw-dropping macro setup involving multiple extension tubes, teleconverters and a 400mm super-telephoto lens.

The setup is so long that it requires two tripods just to hold the whole thing aloft!

In the video (above), he breaks down the components: a Sony A1 Mark II, the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM, a 2x teleconverter, a 1.4x teleconverter, and no less than 7 extension tubes, before photographing a tiny flower.

The problem is that the 400mm minimum focusing distance means that the subject has to be set back about 10 feet in order to focus.

Max rectifies this situation in another video (above) by swapping out the 400mm optic for a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. This time, the subject (a grain of rice) is positioned just six inches from the front element.

The result is an extreme close-up of the grain’s surface; so large is the grain of rice, it’s obviously beyond 1:1 macro.

What I did find rather hilarious was some of the comments. In the very first video showing the setup, one commenter wrote: “Perfect for street photography,” and another said: “Nice for handheld stacks”. Yeah, right!

Still, as amazing (and ridiculous) as using seven extension tubes may be, the record remains held by YouTuber Nicolas Grant who stacked an even more ludicrous twenty of them together.

If anyone is feeling bold, and feels like surfing the Black Friday camera deals for cheap tubes, there's bound to be a Guinness World Record in this somewhere…

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The Nikon Z7 is trending, which is a curious instance given that the first-generation Z-Series camera was released way back in 2018 and has long since been discontinued.

In fact, the Nikon Z7 launched alongside the Nikon Z6 as Nikon’s very first full-frame mirrorless camera. As such, it was billed as a high-end body – but it was quickly superseded by the Nikon Z7 II in 2020, which fixed a couple of notable problems.

Firstly, the Nikon Z7’s AF system wasn’t its strong point. Nikon did make it a lot better thanks to some clever firmware updates, but the Z7 II’s dual Expeed 6 image processors afforded it a proper upgrade.

Secondly, the Nikon Z7 only had a single memory card slot (XQD / CFexpress), much to the chagrin of wedding and events photographers who wanted a second slot for in-camera backup.

And finally, the Nikon Z7 didn’t launch with a battery grip, and never had a vertical grip, another bone of contention for working professionals. So, why on Earth would you bother with the Nikon Z7 in 2026?

Image quality and price

Where the Nikon Z7 really excelled, it still excels today, and that’s image quality. The camera’s 45.7MP full-frame BSI CMOS sensor is a thing of sheer beauty.

Like the Nikon D850 before it, this is a camera that produces gorgeous imagery. You also get a low baseline ISO64, enabling you to retain as much dynamic range as possible.

If you’re looking for a high-resolution camera that you can crop into, or simply the very best image quality you can get your hands on, the Nikon Z7 will serve you well. Especially for the price.

Here’s the reason I’m sure most people are looking for the Nikon Z7 in 2026: it’s a darn good deal on the used market.

Right now, prices at MPB start at $854 / £699. Let’s put that into perspective. That’s in the ballpark of entry-level cameras like the Canon EOS R50, Fujifilm X-T30 III and OM System PEN.

If you’re a landscape, astro, still life or architectural photographer who doesn’t require whip-fast autofocus and lightning burst speeds, there’s an argument that cameras such as the Nikon Z8 or Canon EOS R5 Mark II are overkill.

The Nikon Z7 will give you the megapixel grunt you need, the pliability in post-production, and the opportunity to crop tight, while affording you plenty of leftover capital to spend on lenses.

On that subject, any Nikon Z-Series camera is a good buy when it comes to affordability due to the presence of the Nikon FTZ Adapter. This enables you to adapt hundreds of cheap DSLR lenses onto your Nikon mirrorless camera, with AF working seamlessly on later models such as AF-S lenses.

Plus, the Nikon Z7’s in-body image stabilization will also give lenses without optical image stabilization a bit of a boost.

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Take a look at Nikon's latest camera: Nikon Z5IIC review: an awkward viewfinderless camera design that’s heavy in the hand, heavy on specs, and light on your wallet. Maybe you're interested in what could be on the horizon: Reported Nikon Z70 leak suggests rumored mirrorless camera could have 2x digital teleconverter. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

It’s easy to forget that Nikon is so much more than just a camera company. In fact, Nikon’s imaging division is only one, albeit sizable, portion of the optical giant’s money-making pie, as evidenced by some recent tweaks to its financial forecast.

On October 30, the company released a Notice Regarding the Revision of the Consolidated Financial Forecast for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2027. With expected numbers published from the first half of the year, Nikon has amended its expectations for the whole year, and things are looking an awful lot better than the huge losses that were published for the previous financial year.

While revenue was down by JP¥1.5 billion ($9.4 billion / £7 billion) in the first half of the financial year, Nikon enjoyed larger-than-expected gains in operating profit, which it has attributed to an unexpected boost in service revenue in its Precision Equipment Business, due to a favorable semiconductor market, as well as US tariff refunds and reduced selling, general and admin expenses.

Increased operating profits are also expected to have a knock-on effect. In Nikon’s full financial year, projected profit before tax has been revised upward by 48.3% (to JP¥21.5 billion), while profit attributable to owners of parent has jumped by 60% (to JP¥16 billion).

Here’s the interesting bit for photographers and videographers. While Nikon has amended its expected results for the entire financial year largely for the better in terms of operating profit, profit before tax and profit attributable to owners of parent, revenue is still expected to be down by JP¥10 billion. And the culprit is expected to be Nikon’s Imaging Products Business (camera and lens sales).

Why are imaging sales down?

So what’s happening to the imaging industry? Well, Nikon Rumors rightly points out that there is simply less demand for consumer imaging tech, with the Chinese market proving particularly sluggish. In addition, Nikon had already forecasted an imaging sales slowdown. At the beginning of the year, Nikon also noted that while camera sales were strong, it was selling more of its cheaper cameras, resulting in less profit.

And let’s not forget, the camera market is challenging anyway. An article by my colleague Hillary Grigonis quoted Map Camera as stating that reduced supply and launch delays have factored in reduced sales. Almost half of the major camera launches of 2026 have faced backorders. With factors such as component shortages, Trump tariffs, the memory crisis, and a rising cost of living, it’s not hard to see why camera and lens sales present challenges.

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Want more camera sales data? 75 percent of the way through 2026, mirrorless cameras hit a slump as compact camera sales soar to a four-year high. Reported Nikon Z70 leak suggests rumored mirrorless camera could have 2x digital teleconverter. “It’s amazing that this camera survived a volcanic eruption” – forthcoming documentary tells the valiant, yet tragic, story of a photographer’s last act.

The best Black Friday camera deals might still be a few weeks away, but Canon isn't waiting until November 27 to start offering some rather tempting discounts on its cameras and lenses. The manufacturer's winter sale is now underway in the UK, with savings of up to £500 on selected cameras and lenses, alongside cashback offers on other products. Whether you're looking to upgrade your existing camera, invest in a new telephoto lens or pick up something compact for travelling, there are already some fantastic deals worth considering.

Of course, with Black Friday just around the corner, there's always the possibility that we could see even bigger discounts towards the end of November. However, I wouldn't necessarily dismiss what's already on offer, particularly when some of Canon's most popular cameras are seeing substantial price reductions. I've picked out three deals that I think are particularly interesting, covering everything from a powerful full-frame mirrorless camera to a versatile compact camera and an affordable telephoto zoom.

The standout deal for me has to be the Canon EOS R6 Mark II, which is now just £1,699.99 at Canon, down from £2,199.99, saving you a massive £500. While the newer EOS R6 Mark III has taken its place in Canon's lineup, that doesn't suddenly make the Mark II any less capable.

With its 24.2MP full-frame sensor, impressive subject-tracking autofocus, up to 40fps continuous shooting and oversampled 4K 60p video, this is still a seriously impressive camera for photographers and filmmakers alike. In fact, for anyone who doesn't need the additional resolution and features of the newer model, I think the R6 Mark II represents an incredibly compelling way to get into Canon's full-frame EOS R system without spending quite so much money.

Another deal that caught my attention is the Canon PowerShot V1, which has dropped to £859.99 at Canon, down from £959.99, giving you a £100 saving. This is one of Canon's more interesting compact cameras, particularly if you're someone who enjoys shooting both photographs and video but doesn't necessarily want to carry around a mirrorless camera and several lenses. Its large 1.4-inch sensor, 22MP resolution, built-in 16-50mm equivalent zoom lens and impressive 4K video capabilities make it a particularly appealing option for content creators, vloggers and travellers. You also get Canon's excellent Dual Pixel autofocus system, optical image stabilisation and active cooling for extended video recording. It's a capable little camera, and with £100 knocked off its price, it's certainly worth considering.

Finally, if you're already invested in Canon's EOS R system and want something with a little more reach, the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM is now £719.99 at Canon, reduced from £799.99, saving you £80. I've always thought that lenses like this make a great deal of sense, particularly for enthusiast photographers who enjoy wildlife, sports and aviation photography but don't want the expense or weight of professional telephoto glass. At just 635g, this lens is remarkably portable for something offering a 400mm maximum focal length, while its 5.5-stop optical image stabilisation and Nano USM autofocus make it a versatile companion for capturing distant subjects. Admittedly, the relatively modest maximum aperture isn't going to suit every situation, particularly in poor light, but for daytime wildlife photography and general telephoto work, there's plenty to like here.

What I particularly like about these three deals is that they appeal to quite different photographers. The EOS R6 Mark II is an excellent option for anyone looking to make the move into full-frame photography, the PowerShot V1 offers a convenient all-in-one solution for creators on the move, and the RF 100-400mm is a relatively affordable way to explore wildlife and sports photography without investing in expensive professional lenses. Better still, the R6 Mark II and RF 100-400mm would make a very capable combination for anyone looking to build a new wildlife photography setup.

Canon's winter sale is currently scheduled to run until January 27, 2027, with the discounts available directly through the Canon UK Store while stocks last. That means there's no immediate need to rush into a purchase, although availability can always change. With Black Friday approaching, I'll certainly be keeping an eye on prices, but if you've been considering any of these three products, the current discounts make them well worth a closer look.

A remarkably rare Leica prototype lens has sold for an astonishing $20,001 at a Goodwill charity auction in the United States, having started with a bidding price of just $35. The Leica / Hughes Leitz 17mm f/2 fisheye lens, which was discovered at Goodwill of the Great Plains, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is believed to be one of only a handful of examples ever produced, making it an incredibly unusual find.

While we're used to seeing rare Leica cameras and lenses fetching extraordinary prices at specialist auctions, finding something of this significance at Goodwill is certainly not something you see every day.

However, this is no ordinary Leica lens, and it certainly isn't something you'll be attaching to your Leica M anytime soon. Manufactured in Canada by Hughes Leitz Optical Technologies, the enormous 17mm f/2 fisheye was reportedly developed specifically for Electrosonic, a company specializing in audiovisual technology and installations. The Hughes Leitz name dates back to 1990, when Hughes Aircraft acquired Ernst Leitz Canada, before the business was subsequently sold to Raytheon in 1997. This places the production of the lens somewhere within those seven years, making it a fascinating piece of Leica's lesser-known optical history.

What makes this lens particularly interesting, aside from its rarity, is its sheer size and unusual optical design. Weighing approximately 26 pounds (12kg), the 17mm fisheye offers an enormous 163-degree field of view, while its f/2 optical design features fixed focus and no adjustable aperture diaphragm. Unlike the photographic lenses we're familiar with today, this particular optic was designed for specialist industrial or projection applications, where capturing or projecting an exceptionally wide field of view was essential. It is an extraordinary example of just how far Leica's optical expertise extended beyond the world of conventional photography.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time we've seen one of these enormous lenses appear for sale. Back in 2021, Leica Store Lisse in the Netherlands offered what was believed to be a one-of-a-kind example for approximately $47,200, while another listing had previously appeared on eBay in 2018 for around $24,500. The Goodwill example appears almost identical to the one previously documented, although its C530-0004 identification differs from the earlier C530-0007 example. This suggests that at least two examples were manufactured, although exactly how many were produced, or how many survive today, remains unknown.

For me, what makes this story so fascinating is that such an extraordinary piece of Leica history has managed to find its way into a charity auction rather than the hands of a specialist camera dealer or collector. Despite its $20,001 selling price, the lens was offered in "as is" condition, meaning its actual optical performance and working condition remain uncertain. Nevertheless, considering the rarity of the lens and the considerably higher asking prices associated with previous examples, the winning bidder may have secured something rather special. It just goes to show that even in today's world of online auctions and specialist collectors, there are still some remarkable photographic treasures waiting to be discovered in the most unexpected places.

A disabled filmmaker and photographer who patented the world’s first wheelchair camera system has been included in this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, and his inclusion could help bring his innovative mobile video rig to the big screen.

Chris Lynch, a multi-award-winning TV producer and filmmaker, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone disease, and has been a wheelchair user for over 40 years.

In 2020, he began to develop CAERUS, the world’s first wheelchair-integrated professional camera system, eventually patenting the design in 2025.

Now, the filmmaker and entrepreneur hopes that his inclusion in this year’s Breakthrough cohort – an initiative supporting creative talent and career development in film, games, and television – will spread the word about CAERUS to major movie studios and streaming services connected with BAFTA, including Netflix, who are supporting the UK cohort.

"I just really want to get in front of them (movie producers) with the camera system and show them what's possible,” said Lynch.

CAERUS is made up of a self-balancing Genny wheelchair, offering 360-degree rotation and speeds of up to 12.5 mph (20 km/h), fitted with a cinema-grade camera setup. It's compatible with professional filmmaking cameras from brands such as RED and Sony via a specialized side mount and gimbal/Steadicam system.

“[With CAERUS,] you can do these beautiful orbiting shots, you can track people running, you can track cars at slow speed,” said Lynch.

Although an established commercial and TV producer running the production company, Diverse Made Media, Lynch explained that his disability has always made developing relationships in feature filmmaking difficult.

However, his vision for CAERUS is for it to be seen as much more than what he called a “niche disability product,” and the entrepreneur has already demonstrated the system to Warner Bros., Panavision, and Sky Studios.

"The solutions that I'm presenting impact everyone. They have a creative benefit for the sector, but they benefit everyone."

In fact, Lynch has already been using CAERUS on TV productions. Last year, the system was used in the making of the 2025 BBC documentary In The Driving Seat, which Lynch presented and which gained him Breakthrough recognition from BAFTA.

Above: Lynch also helped film episodes of this year's Antiques Roadshow using CAERUS

Despite its commercial launch in September last year, CAERUS remains pre-revenue and is seeking investment to scale the technology. Lynch hopes that his inclusion in BAFTA’s Breakthrough cohort will “translate into actual sales” and widen access to filmmaking for disabled camera operators.

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Here's our expert pick of the best cameras for video as well as our take on the best cameras for filmmaking.

You just can’t put a good rumor down. Whispers of a Nikon Z70 have really been heating up. The recently released Nikon Z5IIC was surely the same viewfinderless full-frame Nikon camera rumor that had been doing the rounds, and with a potential Nikon Z9II supposedly pushed back to 2027, all eyes are on the hypothetical Z70.

But this latest tidbit from Nikon Rumors hasn’t been drummed up from an unnamed source; it’s supposedly come from Nikon itself. More precisely, Nikon Singapore. The rumor outlet has released a screenshot said to be promoting the new Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S. This included a photograph of the lens attached to a Z-Series camera.

Such is the awkward angle of the photograph, it could be any old Nikon camera, but beneath is a caption that reads: “Pair with the Z70’s Digital Teleconverter and reach stretches to an equivalent of 1,260mm at f/4.”

Doing the math: 1,260mm

If the 'leak' is accurate, it gives us some very interesting information regarding a Nikon Z70. Firstly, a “Digital Teleconverter” sounds very intriguing. Let’s do the math by assuming that the Nikon Z70 is indeed an APS-C camera with a 1.5x crop factor.

Fixing it to the Z 120-300mm would provide an equivalent focal range of 180-450mm. Multiply that by the lens’s built-in 1.4x teleconverter, and you’re left with a zoom range of 252-630mm. Multiply 630mm by two, and you’re left with 1,260mm, the same figure quoted in the email.

Accommodating a digital teleconverter

This suggests that the Digital Teleconverter is 2x (or a ‘doubler’). Since it’s digital, the compromise will be pixels, so this certainly supports rumors of a 45-MP stacked sensor. The upside of a digital zoom is that the aperture won’t be affected, as evidenced by mention of f/4 in the promo screenshot. The only variable affecting the aperture is the Z 120-300mm’s built-in teleconverter, pushing f/2.8 to f/4.

A mirrorless Nikon D500?

Personally, I’ve wanted a spiritual successor to the Nikon D500 for years. This was a pro-grade APS-C DSLR, with flagship Nikon D5 DNA (they actually launched together). Pairing this camera with a top-tier professional lens like the 120-300mm definitely suggests – if it is indeed the Nikon Z70 – that the camera is targeted towards serious wildlife and sports photographers, differentiating it from the more casual Nikon Z50II.

And yet, reliving the launch of the Nikon D500 does make me question rumors of a November release. The second generation of Nikon’s Z-Series is surely in its twilight years. My preference would be that a pro-grade APS-C mirrorless would borrow next-generation tech from the purported Nikon Z9II. The problem is that a Nikon Z9II (or the like) isn’t out yet…

This is pure conjecture, of course, but I suppose there would be nothing stopping Nikon from releasing a Nikon Z70 with next-gen features. However, in an ideal world, you’d think the flagship would come first.

Nikon has only released three lenses and the Nikon Z5IIC all year. If it wants to get something else out the door, there’s still time. However, most of its end-of-year camera announcements tend to be in September and October, so we’ll have to see if that rumored November release date is realistic or not.

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Are you a Nikon fan? Check out the best Nikon camera and the best Nikon Z lenses. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

When Lomography launched the Lomo MC-A last year, the film compact immediately grabbed the attention of many analog photographers for its unusual mix of manual and auto exposure tools without the risk of picking up an older, dated film shooter. Now, Lomography’s more premium film compact camera is getting a refresh with two new special editions – a gold-plated camera with a brown wrap and a black camera with a textured leather wrap.

The two new versions are both limited-time special editions. One of those special editions uses real gold plating along with a brown wrap. The second design uses a glossy black color and a pebble-texture black leather wrap. Along with the new designs, Lomography is also launching new leather accessories, including a leather half-case, strap, gel filter holder, and lens filter case.

Lomography has also tweaked a few small things on the MC-A. The company says the cameras are easier to load and remember previous settings after powering back on. The auto program mode now favors an f/3.5 aperture, and the LCD display doesn’t go to sleep as quickly.

While the rising analog trend has sparked a few modern but fully analog compact cameras, most of those new models are fully automatic. The Lomo MC-A has auto exposure and auto focus, but also full manual modes and zone focusing.

That, along with the higher-end metal build compared to Lomography’s budget cameras, has caught the attention of many photographers – including Digital Camera World’s Gareth Bevan, who called the camera “surprisingly premium, and gave it four out of five stars.

The new special editions will be available only in limited quantities, with pre-orders open today, November 03, and shipping expected in December. The price for the special editions sit a little higher than the original. The gold-plated version will retail for $649 / £549 / AU$949 / CA$799. The pebbled leather “Camera Noir” version lists for $599 / £499 / AU$849 / CA$699.

As part of the MC-A camera’s first birthday, Lomography is also running a few limited-time offers: orders that pair the camera with a leather camera case and strap will also get a free glass filter set and free leather accessories. Or, photographers can build a bundle that pairs with a camera and 40 percent off the full leather accessory set.

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For more analog inspiration, take a look at the best film cameras or the best 35mm film.

The Panasonic Lumix L10. The OM System PEN. The Sigma FP2. The Sony FX5. Those newly launched cameras have a key problem in common: pre-orders were so high that the cameras became backordered, often in a matter of just days. Now, a major camera retailer in Japan is warning of a decreased supply in the camera industry.

The insight comes from Map Camera, a major camera retailer in Japan, who recently shared its latest sales figures. The camera retailer said (machine-translated from Japanese) that while demand has remained strong, sales have dropped “due to factors such as a decrease in supply from manufacturers and a delay in the launch of new products compared to initial projects.”

Between the high number of newly announced cameras that quickly became backordered, the rising costs of memory, and camera makers warning of increased difficulty with supply, 2026 has continued to hint at signs of decreased supply.

Creators in 2026 are facing higher memory costs amid the growth of AI and rapid expansion of data centers – but the rising cost of memory could be affecting the cost and availability of parts for cameras as well. Several manufacturers have warned investors of these rising costs, including Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Fujifilm.

Just last month, Canon told investors that it would raise camera prices in 2027 if higher material costs continued. At the same time, Canon said that its previous plans to increase compact camera production again before the end of the year wouldn’t reach its original goal due to supply shortages.

Viral compact cameras have had long backorders well before 2026, with the rise of the compact camera trend making popular models like the Fujifilm X100VI and Canon G7 X Mark III nearly impossible to find in stock. But many of the newly announced cameras in 2026 have quickly become backordered – and not just compact cameras like the Lumix L10 but mirrorless cameras and cinema cameras as well.

Camera launches in 2026 also seem to number fewer new models than in previous years, fueling speculation that the rising cost and increasing scarcity of memory are squeezing not just photographers but camera makers too.

An unusual number of mirrorless and advanced compact cameras launched in 2026 have faced backorders and initial supply shortages in at least one region.

Among the largest camera makers, brands have introduced eight major mirrorless announcements in 2026 so far – the Sigma FP2, Nikon Z5IIC, Canon EOS R8 Mark II, OM System PEN, Leica SL3-P, Sony FX5, Canon EOS R6 V and Sony A7R VI – and two large-sensor compact cameras with the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome and Panasonic Lumix L10. (To define “major launches,” I excluded anything with a sensor smaller than Micro Four Thirds, like the GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS, and excluded purpose-built cameras like the OM System OM-3 Astro.)

Of those recent launches, the Sigma FP2, OM System PEN, Panasonic Lumix L10, Sony FX5, and Ricoh GR IV Monochrome have faced initial backorders in at least one region shortly after launch. That’s five out of 11, or 45 percent, of the major cameras launched in 2026 facing initial backorders in at least one region.

Some of those backorders were regional and resolved quickly. The OM System PEN, for example, was so backordered in Japan that the launch date was pushed back to November, but the camera is readily available at US retailers currently. Cameras like the Sony FX5 faced initial backorders due to popularity, but the FX5 was then further delayed to correct a production problem.

While quarterly financial reports and numbers like those from Map Camera hint that supply is a concern for the largest camera makers, what’s unclear is how severe that shortage is.

The latest numbers from the Camera and Imaging Association, for example, show that camera sales have declined slightly in 2026 to 95.7 percent of last year’s numbers, but production has seen a smaller drop at 96.9 percent. That suggests that production hasn’t declined as much as actual camera sales.

Regardless, the number of cameras facing initial backorders and the brands' warnings of supply shortages suggest that supply in the camera industry could be a trend to watch moving into 2027.

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Browse the best compact cameras or the top mirrorless cameras for more gear inspiration.

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 £200 off its original £1,999 price tag.

The Nikon Z5 is now just £709 on Amazon – you save £540 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.

After years of waiting, the legendary PEN is finally back – and OM System's latest retro-inspired mirrorless camera is now on sale in the US and available to order in the UK.

First announced in September, the new OM System PEN marks an exciting new chapter for one of photography's most recognizable camera families, pairing classic design with modern technology in a compact body built for everyday photography.

Prices start at $999.99 in the US and £849 in the UK for the body alone, while the M.14-42mm lens kit costs $1,099.99 and £949, respectively. Available in black or silver, it's certainly an interesting addition to the growing market for stylish, compact cameras.

The PEN name has been around since 1959, when Olympus introduced its original half-frame film camera, and that heritage remains a big part of the appeal today.

Rather than chasing increasingly larger sensors and more complicated camera bodies, OM System has focused on what made the PEN so popular in the first place: portability, simplicity and the enjoyment of photography.

The new camera features a 20.4MP Four Thirds sensor, a 2.36-million-dot electronic viewfinder and a beautifully understated rangefinder-inspired design.

Weighing just 393g with its battery and memory card, it's small enough to carry almost anywhere, while its IPX1-rated splash resistance, when paired with a suitably sealed lens (including the new M.Zuiko 14-42mm III kit lens) makes it considerably more practical for everyday adventures.

Of course, there's much more to the PEN than its good looks. Underneath that retro exterior is a capable modern mirrorless camera, complete with a 121-point phase-detection autofocus system, AI-powered subject recognition for people and pets, 5-axis image stabilization offering up to 5.5 stops of compensation, plus continuous shooting at up to 30fps.

There's also 4K video recording, but perhaps one of its biggest attractions is OM System's approach to creative photography.

Dedicated color and monochrome profiles enable photographers to create distinctive, film-inspired images straight out of the camera, while computational features such as Live ND, High Res Shot, focus stacking and multiple exposure provide plenty of creative opportunities without needing to spend hours editing afterwards.

For me, this is exactly the sort of camera that deserves more attention. There's no denying that larger sensors have their advantages, but I've long felt that Micro Four Thirds remains more than capable for the vast majority of everyday photography.

Pair the PEN with a small prime lens and you have a genuinely portable camera that's ideal for street photography, travel, family moments or simply documenting the world around you.

In a market where cameras are becoming increasingly expensive and sometimes unnecessarily complicated, there's something rather refreshing about a camera that puts the enjoyment of taking photographs first.

It also offers something that many premium fixed-lens compact cameras cannot: access to an extensive range of interchangeable Micro Four Thirds lenses.

If you've been waiting to get your hands on the new PEN, the good news is that you can now buy it in the US through OM System's official US store or retailers such as B&H Photo, with the silver body listed in stock at B&H for $999.99.

American buyers can also choose the 14-42mm kit for $1,099.99 or a two-lens kit for $1,299.99, while a complementary Clever Supply leather wrist strap is being offered with qualifying purchases while supplies last.

In the UK, the camera is available to order through Wex Photo Video, Amazon and Park Cameras, although several retailers are still awaiting stock.

At $999.99 or £849, the PEN isn't necessarily a budget camera, but for photographers looking for something stylish, compact and enjoyable to shoot with, it could be one of the more interesting new cameras to consider this year.

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Looking for the perfect lens to pair with your PEN? Take a look at the best Olympus and OM System lenses.

The compact camera market has never been more diverse. A look at Japan's Top 10 compact cameras right now reveals just how wide the choice is, from budget-friendly models costing less than a hundred to premium point-and-shoots priced in the thousands.

In Yodobashi's ranking, the No.1 goes to the cheapest model on the list, available for only $89.99 / £94. The retro-style Kodak Pixpro C1 has reclaimed the top spot after nine and a half months, beating Canon's cult-favorite PowerShot SX740 HS / Lite, which comes in at No.2.

The most expensive model sits at No.6 – the Leica Q3 43, priced at $7,950 / £5,890.

Yodobashi's Top 10 compact cameras, 1st Half October

1. Kodak Pixpro C1 | Brown | Black
2. Canon PowerShot SX740 HS / Lite | Silver | Black
3. Sony ZV-1 II | Black | White
4. Sony RX1R III
5. Canon PowerShot V1
6. Leica Q3 43
7. OM System Tough TG-7 | Red | Black
8. Panasonic Lumix TZ99 / ZS99 | Black | White
9. Sony ZV-1 II Shooting Grip Kit | Black | White
10. Leica Q3

Compact cameras from $89.99/£94 to $7,950/£5,890

Yodobashi's chart includes them all: from affordable point-and-shoots to pocket-sized vlogging cameras to premium models costing several thousand dollars. Also in the Top 10 is an indestructible camera: the OM System Tough TG-7.

The No.1 Kodak Pixpro C1 is a great option for everyday photography. Its tilting LCD screen makes it easy to take selfies or capture family moments with the photographer in the frame. It's also simple to operate, with a 1/3-inch BSI CMOS sensor and straightforward controls.

The Kodak has even overtaken the Canon PowerShot SX740 HS / Lite, a long-standing compact camera favorite. It's also famously difficult to find in stock, with second-hand prices sometimes higher than its original retail price of $549.99 / £549.99.

Leica has two cameras in the Top 10, and both sit firmly at the premium end of the market.

The Leica Q3 43 comes in sixth, followed by the Q3 in tenth place. Both feature a 60MP full-frame BSI CMOS sensor, but differ in their lenses.

The Leica Q3 43 is the most expensive compact camera in Yodobashi's Top 10, followed by the Q3, which is available for $7,350 / £5,650.

Compacts have come a long way in recent years. And seeing budget-friendly models sitting alongside luxury cameras in the same Top 10 is impressive. It shows how broad and competitive today's compact camera market has become.

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Browse the best compact cameras, the best point-and-shoot cameras, and the best cameras under $100.

Ever downloaded the phone app for your camera and been disappointed with how janky it is? You're not alone. In fact, this Redditor was so fed up of apps made by camera companies that he decided to make a wireless controller of his own – and the result is so good that people want to buy one from him.

"I hated having to connect my iPhone to my Lumix S9," wrote user el1asjr in the Lumix Reddit group.

"The app kept disconnecting, and I didn’t like having to give up my regular Wi-Fi connection just to use the camera. I wanted to keep my iPhone connected to the internet while recording myself, so I decided to build my own wireless controller!

"Now I can monitor myself and control focus, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, LUTs, video formats, aspect ratios, and more, all without relying on my phone. Really happy with how it turned out!"

For the physical controller, he used the Waveshare ESP32-S3 – a $40 pebble-style programmable device with an AMOLED touchscreen, which looks a bit like a smart watch without any straps.

"I’ve always liked Waveshare’s hardware, and this little device turned out to be perfect for what I had in mind," said el1asjr, but picking an input device was actually the most straightforward aspect of the project.

"Honestly, the hardware is the easy part. You could use another smartphone and build your own app, an ESP32, a Raspberry Pi, or pretty much any programmable device.

"The real challenge is how to make everything work properly. Simply asking ChatGPT or Claude to write the code isn’t enough. I’ve been working on this software for three weeks, and it’s still not finished.

"The biggest challenge was developing the software and getting everything to work seamlessly with the Lumix S9. It’s a custom-programmed device with an interface and features I designed specifically for this project."

While the device currently supports the Panasonic Lumix S9 and Sony ZV-E10, unsurprisingly the thread started filling up with requests for other camera models – as well as for specific features and controls, such as anamorphic desqueeze and open gate video settings.

Whether he'll be able to accommodate everyone's requests, he does plan to share his project with other camera users as soon as he's put in a bit more work.

"I’d genuinely love to share it with the community, and I plan to do so once it’s more polished and stable. It’s not quite as easy as it looks. There’s still work to be done!"

You might also like…

Take a look at the best lenses for the Panasonic Lumix S9 as well as the best lenses for the Sony ZV-E10.

Camp Snap’s retro Super 8-inspired camcorder reached viral status after celebrities like Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez were spotted with one, but a new teaser hints that the viral retro camera might be about to get a little sibling – the key word being little.

In a post on Instagram, embedded below, Camp Snap shared a behind-the-scenes photo of a pile of products used for a seasonal photo shoot – and that camera pileup includes at least two models that haven’t yet been announced.

Photographers immediately started commenting on the one teaser that was still in its box, revealing the camera’s name: The Camp Snap CS-8 Micro. That camera looks like a miniaturized version of the Camp Snap CS-8 retro video camera, and a bag full of what looks like the CS-8 Micro shows a miniaturized camera that still houses the same retro design.

But while the boxed CS-8 Micro makes that tease a bit obvious, what about the second model that Camp Snap mentions? In the caption, the brand wrote, “I spy something mini and micro.” The boxes make the Micro model clear, but what’s the Mini?

I actually see two additional products in this photo beyond the Micro. Just behind the existing CS-8 in pink is what looks like a version in white and orange that looks smaller than the original but larger than the Micro – and it doesn’t appear on the images on the multi-pack box of the Micro, either. The existing model also doesn't have an orange and white version.

That hints that perhaps Camp Snap is launching a compact version of the CS-8 called the Mini and an even smaller Micro. As much as I love the original CS-8, it’s so big that it’s annoying to pack for travel, so a smaller version – or two – is very welcome.

But I also see another camera in the photo that’s unlike anything in the current Camp Snap lineup. Towards the bottom third of the image, there’s what looks like a lime green action camera. Camp Snap doesn’t currently offer an action camera, but it doesn’t look like anything else on the market either.

Did Camp Snap just tease two upcoming cameras – or three? The behind-the-scenes photo stems from a Christmas-themed photo shoot, so hopefully Camp Snap fans won’t have to wait too long.

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I've shot with several Camp Snap cameras, but the Camp Snap CS-Pro and CS-8 are two of my favorites. Or, read about the best screen-free cameras.

About 75 percent of the way through 2026, shipments from Japan’s biggest camera makers have seen a nearly five percent dip compared to the same time last year. Growth for compact cameras has been offset by a decline for interchangeable lens bodies, putting the first nine months of 2026 at 95.7 percent of 2025’s numbers.

The insight comes from the Camera and Imaging Products Association, or CIPA, which tracks monthly production and shipment numbers from Japan’s biggest camera makers. 2025 was the best year for cameras since 2019, but 2026 has marked a slight slowdown in the industry.

According to the CIPA September 2026 data – the latest available – across all categories, camera shipments are about 95.7 percent of last year’s numbers for the first nine months of the year.

Compact cameras have continued to grow in 2026, posting a 15.4 percent growth over last year’s shipments for the year so far, hitting about 1.9 million compact cameras shipped from Japan.

Interchangeable lens camera shipments have dropped, however, hitting about 89.2 percent of last year’s numbers for the year’s totals so far. DSLRs are just 64.5 percent of last year’s numbers, while mirrorless saw a slight slowdown at 92.1 percent of the previous year’s numbers, or a 7.9 percent drop. So far, Japanese camera brands have shipped more than 4.1 million mirrorless bodies this year.

While 2026’s overall and interchangeable lens numbers are trailing behind last year's, September saw more shipments for mirrorless and DSLRs than August did, while compact cameras’ month-to-month numbers dipped slightly at 97 percent.

The September CIPA numbers show that 2026 is overall on a decline, but 2025 was the industry’s best year since the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the slight slowdown for 2026, the numbers still beat out 2024’s count for overall shipments.

The year’s production numbers sit at a slight decline for the first nine months of 2026 as well, but the 96.9 percent overall production number beats the 95.7 percent shipment number. That’s particularly notable as camera brands warn investors of supply shortages. Production on compact cameras is up by 21.3 percent so far in 2026, while mirrorless production saw an 8.3 percent decline.

Looking at where those camera shipments are headed, China has seen the steepest percentage decline at 78 percent for the first nine months of the year.

Shipments for lenses follow a similar trend, with the first nine months of the year showing lens shipments are 93.3 percent of last year’s numbers. While lens shipments are down, the cost of those lenses is up, with the shipment value showing a 3.1 percent growth over 2025.

CIPA data only includes participating companies from Japan. That includes some of the biggest camera brands, but excludes brands like Leica and Hasselblad, as well as action-camera makers like DJI, GoPro, and Insta360.

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Take a look at the best mirrorless cameras or the best compact cameras.

Leica has officially opened the doors to its new flagship store in the heart of London's exclusive Mayfair district, bringing a whole new experience to photographers and Leica enthusiasts in the British capital.

Located at 14 Dover Street, the new Leica Store London Mayfair is housed within an impressive four-story townhouse, offering everything from the company's legendary cameras and lenses to its growing collection of luxury watches, sports optics, and home cinema products. The opening also marks another milestone for the German manufacturer, bringing the total number of Leica-owned stores worldwide to 116.

Spanning an impressive 234 square meters, the new store replaces Leica's previous location on Duke Street, although its existing store within Harrods will continue to operate as usual. Spread across four levels, the Mayfair flagship has been designed to offer far more than a traditional camera store, with dedicated spaces for Leica's extensive product portfolio, including its pre-owned and vintage collections. There are also private areas where customers can explore products in a more relaxed setting, while the building's large windows offer the perfect opportunity to test telephoto lenses and sports optics overlooking the streets of Mayfair.

Photography remains at the heart of the experience, however, with a dedicated Leica Gallery occupying the lower-ground floor. This space will host a rotating collection of photographic exhibitions from renowned photographers, providing visitors with an opportunity to experience the artistic side of the brand. Elsewhere, visitors are welcomed by a carefully curated display featuring five photographs from Leica's Hall of Fame, while an impressive central atrium stretches across several floors, allowing natural light to flood the interior. The store also features a specially commissioned art installation, alongside architectural details inspired by Leica's headquarters at Leitz Park in Wetzlar, Germany.

But perhaps the most exciting part of this opening, particularly for Leica collectors, is a rather special limited-edition camera created to celebrate the occasion. Leica has collaborated with British artist and engraver Johnny Dowell, better known as King Nerd, to produce just 14 exclusive Leica M-A film cameras. Born and raised in West London, Dowell has built an international reputation for transforming traditional hand engraving into contemporary works of art, having collaborated with some of the world's biggest luxury and fashion brands. For this particular project, he has turned his attention to one of Leica's most iconic analog cameras, creating something that celebrates both the brand's photographic heritage and its new home in London.

Each of the 14 Leica M-A cameras features intricate engravings representing the four nations of the United Kingdom, including the English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil, and Northern Irish blue flax. The special edition is accompanied by a matching Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens, featuring a distinctive red scale and specially blacked-out front detailing to complement the camera's unique finish. With only 14 examples being produced, this is certainly one for serious Leica collectors, although exclusivity comes at a price.

The Leica M-A King Nerd Edition will go on sale from November 5, priced at £15,800 (approximately $20,000), making it a rather expensive but undeniably distinctive way to celebrate the opening of Leica's new London flagship.

After launching its first mirrorless camera and first one-inch sensor action camera, GoPro is stepping into another first. On Monday, November 02, GoPro teased its first “fully integrated tech-enabled helmet” in collaboration with Italian helmet brand AGV.

The teaser video showcases a full-face motorcycle helmet with a camera built in below the visor. The video also shows what appears to be footage from the helmet’s first time on the track.

GoPro says that the helmet is coming in 2027, solidifying the existence of a camera-clad motorcycle helmet after several hints since acquiring the Australian high-tech motorcycle brand Forcite Helmet Systems in early 2024.

Three years later, GoPro will finally bring its much-teased high-tech helmet to the market sometime in 2027. But outside of the date, full-face design, and the arguably obvious idea that it will have an action camera built in, the teaser doesn’t reveal many hints as to what other features the helmet will have.

Back in 2024, when GoPro first started hinting at helmets, GoPro’s flagship camera was still the Hero Black models. But now, GoPro has the Hero line and the larger-sensor Mission 1 series. Based on the sample footage that GoPro shared, I suspect the built-in camera will have more in common with the Hero13 Black than the new Mission 1 Pro.

The Mission 1 Pro’s larger sensor means the lens isn’t quite as wide, but most importantly for motorbike POV footage, the minimum focus distance is a longer 24 inches / 60 cm. The bike and hands in the sample footage look sharp, which hints towards a lens and sensor like the Hero13 Black with its 12-inch / 30 cm minimum focus distance.

I would be surprised if the upcoming helmet didn’t feature HyperSmooth, the stabilization that GoPro’s action cameras are known for.

The teaser says the helmet will give “riders all the tech + performance they need – built-in.” But GoPro doesn’t specifically mention what other tech will be built in. AGV currently doesn’t offer a full smart helmet, but models like the AGV Tourmodular offer a communication system built in.

Other smart helmets on the market that include built-in cameras often include other tech like a heads-up display, built-in speakers, Active Noise Cancellation, and crash detection technology. But GoPro fans will likely have to wait until 2027 to see what GoPro’s first tech helmet will entail beyond the integrated camera.

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Knowing which birds are visiting your backyard is one of the biggest attractions of owning one of the best bird feeder cameras, but having to pay an additional subscription just to identify them can take some of the enjoyment away.

Thankfully, Birdfy is doing something about that, announcing that its automatic bird species identification technology is now completely free for life, allowing new and existing customers to recognize more than 6,000 species without paying another penny in subscription fees.

This latest announcement means anyone with a compatible Birdfy smart birdwatching device can now enjoy unlimited automatic species identification, with no daily limits, manual identification requests, or trial periods. Whether it's a familiar cardinal stopping by for breakfast or an unusual visitor making an unexpected appearance, Birdfy's technology can name the bird almost instantly. Better still, the change applies to existing customers as well as those purchasing a new device, making it a welcome upgrade for anyone already invested in the Birdfy ecosystem.

Birdfy has become a familiar name in the increasingly popular world of smart birdwatching, offering everything from camera-equipped bird feeders to connected bird baths and birdhouses. These devices allow users to observe and record wildlife visiting their gardens, often capturing moments that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Automatic species identification takes that experience a step further, helping users learn more about the birds appearing in front of their cameras. "Every backyard has a cast of characters, and getting to know them is part of the joy of birding," said Allen Chen, founder and CEO of Birdfy. "We believe identifying those visitors should come with the Birdfy experience."

Perhaps the most interesting part of this announcement is just how straightforward Birdfy is making the change. Customers simply need to register through the Birdfy app and connect their device to activate lifetime species identification. The feature is included across the company's Free, Plus, and Pro membership tiers, with all three using the same identification model.

There are still optional paid subscriptions available, however, offering more advanced capabilities such as identifying a bird's sex, estimating its age category, and highlighting potential health indicators. Existing subscribers who already have access to these enhanced features will retain them.

For me, this feels like a sensible move from Birdfy, particularly as smart bird feeders and wildlife cameras continue to attract photographers and nature enthusiasts who want to discover more about the wildlife on their doorstep. The cameras themselves are already an excellent way to observe birds without disturbing them, but being able to identify thousands of species without worrying about another ongoing subscription makes the experience considerably more appealing.

With the holiday shopping season approaching, it could also make Birdfy's devices a more attractive gift for budding birdwatchers. After all, when you've already paid for a smart bird feeder, surely knowing who's coming to dinner should be part of the package?

The new episode of Bokeh Face: The Digital Camera World podcast is now live on our YouTube channel and available to stream from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all your favorite podcast services.

New episodes of Bokeh Face are released bi-weekly, every other Monday, so our next episode will be released on November 16.

DCW's How-To Editor, Mike Harris, joins me, James Artaius, DCW Editor-in-Chief, for our usual format where we discuss a burning issue in the world of imaging, dive into the kit bag to examine what we've been shooting with lately, and then troubleshoot a technical or creative camera issue.

You can watch the episode in full below:

Above: watch the latest episode of the Bokeh Face on YouTube

In this episode, we Gear Up with the OM System PEN, the long-awaited return of what was historically Olympus’ street-savvy everyday alternative to the SLR-style OM/OM-D line.

In Focus, we talk about the brand-new Nikon Z5IIC. A somewhat surprising addition to Nikon’s Z-Series lineup, given that it’s essentially a Nikon Z5 II without a viewfinder.

And in Trouble Shooting, we talk pre-capture. What is it? How does it work? And do you really need it?

We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the show, along with any questions or troubleshooting queries you might have, so please get in touch with us at bokehface@futurenet.com. We hope you enjoy the episode!

• Watch on YouTube
• Listen on Spotify
• Listen on Apple Podcasts

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Check out all our previous episodes of Bokeh Face, take a look at the best OM System cameras, and why does every camera need to be a specs monster? The new OM System PEN is a good stills camera at a good price!

The world's smallest full-frame mirrorless camera hasn't even reached store shelves yet, but Sigma has already acknowledged that demand for the FP2 – particularly for certain configurations – has exceeded expectations, with production currently struggling to keep up with orders.

Announced on October 23, the compact full-frame camera is scheduled to launch on November 11. Now, pre-orders appear to have filled the initial shipment at several major retailers in Japan, meaning some customers may have to wait beyond the official release date to receive their camera.

Sigma Japan itself has acknowledged the situation, publishing a supply notice on October 29, confirming that orders for the FP2 and its new EVF-21 electronic viewfinder have exceeded the company's expectations. Production is currently struggling to keep up with demand.

According to DC Life, pre-orders in Japan have almost filled the initial allocation across all three FP2 configurations: the body-only version, the EVF-21 bundle and the 50mm F2 lens kit. DC Life refers to five major retailers, including Sigma's official online store.

The world's smallest full-frame camera

Six years after introducing the original FP, Sigma has returned with a successor that retains the minimalist concept while bringing some technical upgrades.

The Sigma FP2 is a compact mirrorless camera, measuring just 112.8 x 69.9 x 41.8mm / 4.4 x 2.8 x 1.6 inches with a body-only weight of 376g / 0.83lb. With battery and memory card, it weighs approx. 460g / 1.01lb.

Inside, the FP2 packs a 24.5MP partially stacked CMOS full-frame sensor, paired with an improved AF (autofocus) system featuring phase-detection and contrast-detection technology.

For video creation, the FP2 offers 6K Open Gate recording, up to 14.1 stops of dynamic range when shooting 4K FF L-Log and supports 32-bit float audio recording with appropriate optional audio accessories.

It also comes with approx. 30% longer battery life, a tilting LCD screen, and 70GB of built-in storage, alongside an SD card slot.

US+UK availability: Sigma FP2

The Sigma FP2 can be pre-ordered in the US and UK in three different variations. US retailer B&H lists an estimated shipping date of November 11, while UK retailer Park Cameras says deliveries are due mid-November.

Because many photographers prefer composing their shots through a viewfinder, and the FP2 lacks a built-in EVF, Sigma offers an external viewfinder bundle. The FP2 is also available paired with the Sigma 50mm F2 DG | Contemporary lens.

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