The Sigma BF and a trio of lenses fitted nicely in the sort of bag I'd have thrown over my shoulder anyway. Photo: Al Power

During the three weeks I've been shooting with the Sigma BF, a surprising number of people asked me what I thought of it. I'm not necessarily going to suggest you should go out and buy one, but I can honestly say I really enjoyed it. Partly because it prompted me to think more about the photos I was taking than I have done in a long time.

In principle I was on vacation, but I thought it might be an opportunity to rekindle my love for photography, distinct from my job that requires that I take photos all the time.

Winters in Seattle are particularly hard: the skies are reliably gray and I've lived here long enough that I'm rarely surprised by a photo opportunity I've not noticed before. For the past few years, all my best sample galleries have been shot while traveling.

So I set myself a challenge: in keeping with Sigma's claims that the Sigma BF is intended as a device to help you capture everyday life, I decided to try to take at least one photograph every day, to document my trip.

There are very few contexts in which you can use this combination of words, but the Sigma BF proved it to be an almost perfect tool for the job.

One photo a day

I should start by saying that I failed the 'one photo a day' challenge I'd set myself. I arguably failed it in two ways: there were a couple of days where, either due to spending the day in transit, or because I was catching up with friends, I decided to leave the camera in my shoulder bag. But I failed in the opposite way, too: although the challenge was to take one photo a day, there were days on which I couldn't narrow things down to a single photo.

For instance, a day spent shooting with a friend from the the Oxford Flickr group (circa 2007) meant shooting too diverse a range of images to be able to limit myself to a single shot. It was one of those days where the act of having a camera with me prompted me to recognize a wealth of photo opportunities I'd have otherwise missed.

Photo day with Al

And I'm quite comfortable with these failures: the 'one photo a day' concept was meant to be a source of motivation: not a chore. There was no room in my luggage for a straightjacket.

On which subject, I think there was only one occasion on which I found myself feeling restricted by the choice of the Sigma: it was a grabbed shot of a vintage bus, which I was hoping to take for a friend who loves historical transport. It started to pull away in the same instant I'd decided to take a photo. The camera turned on quickly enough but, in the split second I had to adjust the shutter speed to cope with the bright sunshine and its sudden movement, I turned the dial the wrong way, made my overexposure worse and missed the moment.

The rest of the time, the BF felt like the right tool for the job. Its exposure-focused interface and pleasantly clutter-free screen constantly asked the questions: "what are you trying to photograph, and how do you want to capture it?"

It constantly asked "what are you trying to photography, and how do you want to capture it?"

I packed the BF, a 35mm F2, 24mm F3.5 and 90mm F2.8 into a small bag I could hang off my shoulder, pretty much all the time. There was still room to carry a warm scarf or a jumper, along with my sunglasses: the essentials for spring in the UK, so carrying a bag felt necessary, rather than burdensome.

For me, these lenses made an excellent trio. I quickly grew to love the outrageous vignetting of the 24mm, rarely bothering to engage corrections and instead often adding a similar effect to some of my 35mm shots, using the in-camera processing. The 90mm makes an excellent portrait option, letting me capture friends and strangers alike and, like the 24mm, is a suitable small, lightweight addition to the camera body.

There are a couple of ways in which Sigma could improve the BF, and I've sent some feedback, following my trip (why isn't it quicker/easier to toggle a setting between automatic and manual control, for instance). But overall, I found the considered approach to shooting that it demands was exactly what I needed to remind myself what sets photography as a hobby apart from smartphone snap shooting.

The best thing about the BF isn't its external design

The Sigma BF isn't trying to be a rival or a substitute to most of the cameras on the market, and if judged on their terms, it comes up short. But as a device for encouraging you to capture the world as you pass through it, and engage with the process of doing so, it's an absolute delight. Irrespective of its looks, the way it's so focused on exposure, composition and nothing else is inspiring.

Despite what you might assume, if you've not used it, the user interface isn't a series of compromises to fit with the camera's minimalist look, it's an original and seriously-considered attempt to answer the question: 'what do you really need to take photos?' It makes Leica's very exposure-focused UI look cluttered and conventional by comparison, though it's unarguably a little slower and occasionally fiddly, if time's against you.

Strangers would literally ask me what I was shooting with. Which would give me an excuse to ask to take their picture. They would also tend to ask what I thought of it, which kept that question front-of-mind. Sigma 90mm F2.8 DG DN |F5.6 | 1/500 sec |ISO 200 Photo: Richard Butler

What kept catching me off-guard is how good the autofocus is, both in performance and implementation. I was able to leave the camera in AF-C, knowing that eye detection would do its job if there was a person in the photo and that tapping on the screen would focus on something specific if I wanted, even if I continued to adjust my composition. As with the rest of the interface, it's not a complex system that can be adapted to cope with every possible eventuality: it's a system that's so simple but effective that you don't need to think about it, for the type of photography the BF is intended for.

So, what did you think of it?

Overall, I loved my time with the BF. A little like the Fujifilm X100 series, it's one of the few cameras it might make sense for me to buy, because it's not trying to do the same thing as most of the cameras I have to use for my job. It's the unusual, though-provoking (and, apparently, comment-worthy) device that lets me capture my life in the gaps between having to take photos for work.

Putting together a gallery while on vacation usually risks being something of a busman's holiday. And yet despite spending a couple of weeks constantly thinking about photography, I've arrived back in the office refreshed and ready to see what's arrived in my absence.

A one-photo-per-day* view of a vacation

*Approximately

Image: DHL

DHL Express, the world's second-largest delivery company, has temporarily suspended some of its international shipments to the United States, citing a surge in customs processing requirements tied to new US import rules. The change, which went into effect today, impacts business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments with a declared value over $800, as Fox Business reports. For example, consumers ordering camera gear from Sony or drones from DJI could face significant delays.

The suspension follows a policy revision by US Customs and Border Protection, which quietly lowered the threshold for formal customs entry from $2500 to $800 on April 5th. Under the new rules, any shipment entering the US valued above $800 is subject to a more complex customs process, including additional paperwork, duties and inspections. For logistics providers like DHL, this change triggered an immediate spike in formal entries, creating bottlenecks across international networks.

In a statement to customers, DHL said it saw "multi-day transit delays" for packages over the $800 threshold and confirmed that it would no longer collect or ship those parcels if destined for private individuals in the US. The company stressed in its last announcement that "this is a temporary measure, and we will share updates as the situation evolves." DHL is reportedly scaling up operations to handle the uptick in customs volume, but it hasn't offered a precise date for when service will normalize.

Nikon's Z6III is now subject to processing requirements. Image: Nikon

The suspension is explicitly limited to international B2C shipments, packages sent from businesses abroad to individual customers in the US, with a declared value over $800. Lower-value packages, including all shipments under this amount, are not affected and will continue as usual.

Business-to-business (B2B) shipments, packages sent between international companies and US-based businesses, are also exempt from the suspension. However, due to increased workload at customs, they may face processing delays. This can potentially impact new product shipments to retailers, including B&H and big-box stores such as Best Buy.

The policy shift has sent shockwaves through international shipping and e-commerce channels. The effects of US Customs change are being felt beyond DHL. Earlier this month, Hongkong Post suspended its sea mail service in response to what it deems unfair trade tactics by the US. DHL will continue processing shipments from Hong Kong but has warned that customers should expect slower processing times and prepare for more changes, in light of more regulatory adjustments expected on May 2nd.

DJI's Air 3, which starts at $1,099 and ships from China, is now subject to additional processing. Image: DJI

US officials have not publicly commented on the motive behind the customs threshold adjustment. The move, however, is deemed as a broader effort to tighten control over under-declared shipments and counterfeit products, all of which amount to lost tax revenue. It could also increase pressure to localize inventory.

While DHL works to resolve internal backlogs and scale its infrastructure, affected businesses and consumers will be impacted. We've become increasingly reliant on fast global delivery; even a temporary disruption like this has wide-reaching consequences. If you're ordering any new gear from your favorite electronics brand's official website, you should be prepared to track updates and plan for continuous delays.

Image: Vivo

Smartphone maker Vivo has released its latest device, the X200 Ultra. The Vivo X100 Ultra was widely seen as one of the best camera phones from last year, though it was only available in China. Unfortunately, its new device will likely have the same limitation, though it is still worth looking at, as Vivo is marketing it as "a camera that happens to be a phone." Vivo has been teasing details for some time, but today it has officially hit shelves in China.

The X200 features the typical three rear cameras: an ultrawide, a main camera, and a telephoto. Interestingly, the main camera offers a 35mm equiv. focal length, whereas most smartphones use a 24mm equiv. focal length. The 35mm angle of view is more versatile (and natural-looking) than 24mm, which is why it is such a standard focal length for photographers. Though a subtle change, it is nice to see a company rethinking that main camera.

The phone also features a 3.7x periscope telephoto camera that offers the highest resolution of the three, thanks to the Samsung HP9 200MP sensor. Samsung released the sensor last summer and claimed it was the first 200MP sensor for telephoto cameras.

The Zeiss-branded add-on lens offers a 200mm equiv. focal length. Image: Vivo

Where things get unique, though, is with the optional Photographer Kit. Lately, we've seen many handgrip add-ons for smartphones to make them more camera-like, either from the phone manufacturer directly or from accessory makers. Vivo has gone the latter route. The Photographer Kit includes the 16GB/1TB phone, a camera grip, a shoulder strap, a case and a 2.35x telephoto converter lens. While we've seen a few detachable camera lenses for smartphones lately from the likes of RealMe and Xiaomi, those were concepts and are not currently available for purchase.

Like all of the integrated lenses on the X200 Ultra, the add-on lens was co-engineered with Zeiss. The cute telephoto lens attaches via a custom adapter, sitting over the 200MP telephoto camera. The lens features 13 lens elements with an F2.3 aperture. It offers a 200mm equiv. focal length with 8.7x optical zoom and up to 70x hybrid zoom (a combination of optical and digital zoom), resulting in up to a 1600mm equiv. Vivo claims that images from the optional lens are "highly usable" at 35x.

Image: Vivo

The grip looks similar to Xiaomi's Photography Kit. It features a vintage look and convenient camera controls, including a shutter button, a customizable control dial, zoom controls and a video recording button. It also offers a 2,300mAh battery to extend the phone's battery life, something that's especially useful when taking lots of photos or videos with your phone.

Image: Vivo

The X200 Ultra also features two custom imaging chips: one for pre-processing tasks and one for post-processing. It's capable of 4K 60p 10-bit Log video from all three rear cameras, as well as 4K 120p video on all three rear cameras. Plus, even if you don't opt for the Photographer Kit, there's a dedicated shutter button on the phone itself that allows you to slide to zoom or adjust exposure, like Apple's Camera Control feature.

Outside of camera specs, the phone runs on the Origin OS 5 Android skin, which is exclusive to China. It features a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1260 x 2800 and peak brightness of 4500 nits. The phone's internals include the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and a 6000mAh battery, all of which are wrapped in an IP69 rating.

The X200 Ultra is available in China as of today in silver, red or black. According to Android Authority, the 12GB/256GB model is priced at 6499 yuan (roughly $890) while the top-end model (16GB/1TB) is 7999 yuan ($1096). The Photographer Kit, which comes with the top-end model, will cost 9699 yuan ($1329), though you can also buy it without the phone for a promotional price of 1699 yuan ($233) or full-priced at 2598 yuan ($356).

The Sigma BF proved a surprisingly capable camera to travel with. Bristol Temple Meads station. Sigma 24mm F3.5 DG DN | F8.0 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100 Photo: Richard Butler

During the three weeks I've been shooting with the Sigma BF, a surprising number of people asked me what I thought of it. I'm not necessarily going to suggest you should go out and buy one, but I can honestly say I really enjoyed it. Partly because it prompted me to think more about the photos I was taking than I have done in a long time.

In principle I was on vacation, but I thought it might be an opportunity to rekindle my love for photography, distinct from my job that requires that I take photos all the time.

Winters in Seattle are particularly hard: the skies are reliably gray and I've lived here long enough that I'm rarely surprised by a photo opportunity I've not noticed before. For the past few years, all my best sample galleries have been shot while traveling.

So I set myself a challenge: in keeping with Sigma's claims that the Sigma BF is intended as a device to help you capture everyday life, I decided to try to take at least one photograph every day, to document my trip.

There are very few contexts in which you can use this combination of words, but the Sigma BF proved it to be an almost perfect tool for the job.

One photo a day

I should start by saying that I failed the 'one photo a day' challenge I'd set myself. I arguably failed it in two ways: there were a couple of days where, either due to spending the day in transit, or because I was catching up with friends, I decided to leave the camera in my shoulder bag. But I failed in the opposite way, too: although the challenge was to take one photo a day, there were days on which I couldn't narrow things down to a single photo.

For instance, a day spent shooting with a friend from the the Oxford Flickr group (circa 2007) meant shooting too diverse a range of images to be able to limit myself to a single shot. It was one of those days where the act of having a camera with me prompted me to recognize a wealth of photo opportunities I'd have otherwise missed.

Photo day with Al

And I'm quite comfortable with these failures: the 'one photo a day' concept was meant to be a source of motivation: not a chore. There was no room in my luggage for a straightjacket.

On which subject, I think there was only one occasion on which I found myself feeling restricted by the choice of the Sigma: it was a grabbed shot of a vintage bus, which I was hoping to take for a friend who loves historical transport. It started to pull away in the same instant I'd decided to take a photo. The camera turned on quickly enough but, in the split second I had to adjust the shutter speed to cope with the bright sunshine and its sudden movement, I turned the dial the wrong way, made my overexposure worse and missed the moment.

The rest of the time, the BF felt like the right tool for the job. Its exposure-focused interface and pleasantly clutter-free screen constantly asked the questions: "what are you trying to photograph, and how do you want to capture it?"

It constantly asked "what are you trying to photography, and how do you want to capture it?"

I packed the BF, a 35mm F2, 24mm F3.5 and 90mm F2.8 into a small bag I could hang off my shoulder, pretty much all the time. There was still room to carry a warm scarf or a jumper, along with my sunglasses: the essentials for spring in the UK, so carrying a bag felt necessary, rather than burdensome.

For me, these lenses made an excellent trio. I quickly grew to love the outrageous vignetting of the 24mm, rarely bothering to engage corrections and instead often adding a similar effect to some of my 35mm shots, using the in-camera processing. The 90mm makes an excellent portrait option, letting me capture friends and strangers alike and, like the 24mm, is a suitable small, lightweight addition to the camera body.

There are a couple of ways in which Sigma could improve the BF, and I've sent some feedback, following my trip (why isn't it quicker/easier to toggle a setting between automatic and manual control, for instance). But overall, I found the considered approach to shooting that it demands was exactly what I needed to remind myself what sets photography as a hobby apart from smartphone snap shooting.

The best thing about the BF isn't its external design

The Sigma BF isn't trying to be a rival or a substitute to most of the cameras on the market, and if judged on their terms, it comes up short. But as a device for encouraging you to capture the world as you pass through it, and engage with the process of doing so, it's an absolute delight. Irrespective of its looks, the way it's so focused on exposure, composition and nothing else is inspiring.

Despite what you might assume, if you've not used it, the user interface isn't a series of compromises to fit with the camera's minimalist look, it's an original and seriously-considered attempt to answer the question: 'what do you really need to take photos?' It makes Leica's very exposure-focused UI look cluttered and conventional by comparison, though it's unarguably a little slower and occasionally fiddly, if time's against you.

Strangers would literally ask me what I was shooting with. Which would give me an excuse to ask to take their picture. They would also tend to ask what I thought of it, which kept that question front-of-mind. Sigma 90mm F2.8 DG DN |F5.6 | 1/500 sec |ISO 200 Photo: Richard Butler

What kept catching me off-guard is how good the autofocus is, both in performance and implementation. I was able to leave the camera in AF-C, knowing that eye detection would do its job if there was a person in the photo and that tapping on the screen would focus on something specific if I wanted, even if I continued to adjust my composition. As with the rest of the interface, it's not a complex system that can be adapted to cope with every possible eventuality: it's a system that's so simple but effective that you don't need to think about it, for the type of photography the BF is intended for.

So, what did you think of it?

Overall, I loved my time with the BF. A little like the Fujifilm X100 series, it's one of the few cameras it might make sense for me to buy, because it's not trying to do the same thing as most of the cameras I have to use for my job. It's the unusual, though-provoking (and, apparently, comment-worthy) device that lets me capture my life in the gaps between having to take photos for work.

Putting together a gallery while on vacation usually risks being something of a busman's holiday. And yet despite spending a couple of weeks constantly thinking about photography, I've arrived back in the office refreshed and ready to see what's arrived in my absence.

A one-photo-per-day* view of a vacation

*Approximately

The 7Artisans AF 24mm f/1.8 lens (E/L/Z) is set to be officially released in the next few days. Here are the latest pictures of the lens (check the official website for updates):

Ten new 7Artisans autofocus lenses (Z/E/L/X) displayed at the IBC show in Amsterdam #IBC2024

The post The 7Artisans AF 24mm f/1.8 lens (E/L/Z) will be released soon appeared first on Photo Rumors.

What started as an attempt to shift the creative landscape is now a thriving ecosystem of photographers, filmmakers and storytellers. We spoke with a few people who have participated in Sony's women-centered initiative, Alpha Female+, about how it's become a source of connection, mentorship and validation for them and thousands of other artists.

Founded in 2018, the Alpha Female+ community was Sony's response to a long-standing issue: the underrepresentation of women and marginalized voices in photography and filmmaking. What began as a Creator-in-Residence grant for five artists has grown into an international community with over 16,000 active members in its Facebook group alone.

"We wanted to do our part in making our world a more equitable place," said Michaela Ion, the program's creator, who has spent nearly two decades at Sony in various entrepreneurial-type roles. "The only way we will succeed in ensuring all voices are represented is if we support each other in that endeavor."

At the heart of the community is the weekly micro-grant program, which offers small cash prizes to creators who submit work around rotating themes. It's more than a contest, though. It's a springboard for confidence, collaboration and connection.

"My voice matters"

The recognition went beyond financial reward for Allegra Hutton, a recent micro-grant recipient who was also nominated for Sony's Creator of the Year award. "Winning a micro-grant from Alpha Female is such an incredible honor. More than that, it feels like a deep validation that my work has meaning," she explains. "As artists, we pour so much of ourselves into what we create, hoping it resonates with someone. This recognition reminds me that my voice matters."

"Put me underwater, and the 14mm F1.8 GM is my new fave (it's also pretty stellar for astro)." This was one of Allegra's two micro-grant winners. Copyright: © Allegra Hutton, all rights reserved

A conservation photographer, Hutton uses her talents to spotlight environmental issues and inspire climate action. Her images capture devastation as well as hope. While the emotional weight of her subject matter can be heavy, the community helps lighten the load.

"There are days when I think about the wildlife that has died, the ice melting, the wildfires, the plastic. These thoughts get loud," she states. "But I remind myself that this climate anxiety is what drives me. It shows that I care."

A place to grow together

In photographer Lisa Wolfe's opinion, the Alpha Female+ community offers inspiration and a blueprint for creative momentum. "Sometimes I need an external prompt to get going again. These weekly themes give me just enough structure to stay active," she explains. "The community isn't about competition. It's about encouragement."

Lisa's image of Arches National Park with the Milky Way won a micro-grant several years ago. Copyright: © Lisa Wolfe, all rights reserved

Wolfe, whose work blends documentary and fine art, finds deep value in seeing how other photographers interpret the same theme. "You'll see ten wildly different responses to the same prompt. That pushes you to think in new ways or try a technique you've been avoiding. It becomes less about perfect work and more about consistent creative practice."

"People genuinely want to help each other grow, and that's rare online."

She also praised the group's openness and generosity. "There's a culture of feedback, but it's never harsh or performative. People genuinely want to help each other grow, and that's rare online."

It's more than the gear

Many creators initially chose Sony for its technology; however, they stay for the people. "I'll stay a Sony user forever because of the community," Hutton says. "There's something so special about finding a group of like-minded creatives who inspire, support and genuinely root for each other."

Hutton's favorite lens for shooting topside wildlife is Sony's 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS. Copyright: © Allegra Hutton, all rights reserved

Wolfe echoed her sentiment. "Creating in isolation is exhausting. This community reminds me that I'm not doing this alone. And that reminder can be the difference between creative burnout and finding your next idea."

A culture of showing up

The Alpha Female+ group is designed to encourage participation at every stage of an artist's journey. The community organizes everything from meetups and mentorship programs to year-long creative challenges and the Alpha Female+ Creator of the Year Award.

"We're constantly blown away by the work that's shared in the group," Ion said. "The talent is so vast, and the intentionality of the stories is humbling and impressive." But talent alone doesn't win grants or build connections. Showing up does. "The most successful creators we see are the ones who participate regularly. Even if their early entries aren't perfect, they grow. They get better. And they become more confident in their voice."

Her three core principles for creators hoping to grow within the community are to keep showing up, push past self-doubt and actively engage with others. "The best, most successful communities focus on giving. That shows in how we uplift each other and how we give ourselves the opportunity to create."

Wrapping it up

Sony's Alpha Female+ Creator of the Year Award is accepting votes until Tuesday, April 29th. The Alpha Female+ community is free to join on Facebook.

The previously reported Schneider Kreuznach × LK Samyang 14-24mm f/2.8 lens for Sony E-mount will be officially announced next week on April 22:

• Compact design
• Filter size: 77mm
• Minimum focusing distance: 18cm
• Expected price: around $1,000
• Sample photos
• Technological Innovation: The world’s first 14-24mm (Sony E) compatible super-wide zoom lens allows front filters
• Ultra-Close-Up Shooting: Minimum focusing distance of just 0.18m
• Compact & Lightweight Design: Dimensions: 88.8 x 84.0mm | Weight: 445g
• Jointly Developed with LK Samyang: A perfect blend of German optical expertise and advanced manufacturing technology

Additional information on the new Schneider Kreuznach x LK Samyang 14-24mm f/2.8 lens

Additional information on the new Schneider Kreuznach x LK Samyang 14-24mm f/2.8 lens (+ first sample photos)

Surprise: Schneider Kreuznach x LK Samyang 14-24mm f/2.8 lens for Sony E-mount (2025 CP+)

The post The Schneider Kreuznach × LK Samyang 14-24mm f/2.8 lens will be officially announced next week appeared first on Photo Rumors.

 
Insta360 has released a teaser for a new camera, which will be officially announced next week on April 22. The slogan of hew new model is "All Day. All Night. All Angles. Our Next Camera":

The post Insta360 is teasing a new camera announcement for April 22 appeared first on Photo Rumors.

Sigma announced product shortages for the new BF camera and I series lenses:

Apology regarding the "Sigma BF" supply situation

The post Sigma BF camera and Sigma I series lenses shortages announced appeared first on Photo Rumors.

Canon automated production process for interchangeable lenses

In their latest annual report, Canon announced that it has rolled out automated production lines for cameras and interchangeable lenses to further enhance productivity:

Productivity Improvements Through Automation and In-House Production

Canon aims to achieve further production efficiency by leveraging technologies cultivated in different businesses regardless of divisions and by collaboration among design, production engineering, and manufacturing sites, to refine its automation and in-house production technologies. In addition to key devices and components, we are also actively pursuing in-house production of production equipment and molding dies. Following toner cartridges, we have rolled out automated production lines for cameras and interchangeable lenses to further enhance productivity.

Source: Canon annual report

The post Canon has rolled out automated production lines for cameras and interchangeable lenses appeared first on Photo Rumors.

In a recent interview with Dpreview, Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki reiterated his company's commitment to Foveon and confirmed that they are now almost at the final stage of technology development. Here is the recap of the interview:

• Sigma’s Commitment to Foveon: Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki confirms ongoing development of a full-frame Foveon sensor, despite slow progress, emphasizing his dedication to the project.
• Development Challenges: The project was moved from the US to Japan, requiring a restart from scratch, which has extended the timeline significantly.
• Market Stability Concerns: Yamaki notes the camera market appears stable but warns that positive sales figures may mask long-term issues.
• Foveon Sensor Benefits: Yamaki highlights the unique image quality of Foveon sensors, particularly in color gradation due to crosstalk between RGB layers, which he believes offers a distinct advantage over Bayer sensors.
• Limitations Acknowledged: Foveon sensors face challenges with noise and low-light performance compared to Bayer sensors, making them less user-friendly and not suitable for all photographers.
• Niche Appeal: Yamaki acknowledges that even a successful Foveon sensor may not lead to high sales volumes but believes it will still hold significant value for a niche audience.
• Sigma BF Philosophy: The interview touches on the Sigma BF camera, inspired by the philosophy of "beautiful foolishness," reflecting a design focus on joy and aesthetics in photography.
• Industry Context: The article mentions other camera industry developments, such as the Nothing Phone 3a’s camera features and a new 50MP OmniVision sensor, but these are not directly tied to Sigma’s efforts.

The post Sigma still committed to Foveon, they are now almost at the final stage of technology development appeared first on Photo Rumors.

Here are the latest posts from the "Rumors" and "Addict" sister sites:

Nikon Z9 firmware update 5.20 and NX Tether 2.3.0 released

Nikon Z50II firmware update version 1.01 released

Nikon Z5II camera hands-on at Nikon Plaza in Tokyo

Nikon plans to add Bird Detect AF to the Z6III camera by the end of the year

Meet Aperty: The New AI-Powered Portrait Editor Nikon Portrait Photographers Will Love

Leica M Edition 70 now shipping

Sony A1, A1II, and a9III Firmware Updates Released

Voigtländer NOKTON 70mm f/1.2, NOKTON 50mm f/1.2, and COLOR-SKOPAR 18mm f/2.8 Patents Found

Fujifilm GFX100RF: First Shipment Avoided Tarrifs

Fujinon XF 16mm f/2.8 WR Silver Discontinued Overseas

Fujinon XC50-230mm F4.5-6.7 OIS II Silver Discontinued Overseas

Canon 24mm f/0.7 and Canon 12mm f/1.0 Patents Found

The post What else is new? appeared first on Photo Rumors.

Images: Godox, Fujifilm, Aura and Sony

It's been a busy week here at the DPReview offices, but we've still been able to comb through the accessory releases to find some new and interesting products. We'll be taking a look at an upgraded digital picture frame, some new flashes and more. But first, as always, the deals!

Sales of the week

Photo: OM System

OM System's OM-5 is a small, lightweight camera that comes with a bunch of computational photography features and an IP53 weather resistance rating. It's currently on sale for $300 off, which means you can pick it and a lens up for under $1000.

Photo: Panasonic

Like the OM-5, Panasonic's G9 II uses a Four Thirds sensor, though it packs it into a much larger body. It can shoot at much faster burst rates and has an extremely capable suite of video features, and it's currently $200 off.

Bring on the light

This week, both Sony and Godox each unveiled updated versions of their flash units. Sony quietly released replacements for its HVL-F46RM and HVL-F28RM units, adding an A to the name of both, while Godox announced the third iteration of its TT520.

On the left is the HVL-F46RMA with the HVL-F28RMA on the right. Image: Sony

The HVL-F28RMA is a compact and relatively affordable unit. Sony says it redesigned the flash head and internal layout, resulting in a smaller flash that suits compact mirrorless cameras. It offers wireless radio communication and a dust- and moisture-resistant design.

The HVL-F46RMA is a wireless radio flash that supports the a9 III's ultra-fast sync speeds, syncing up to 1/80,000 sec. It also offers intelligent communication with compatible cameras, allowing you to control various parameters within the camera itself and it works with the camera's face detection autofocus.

Image: Godox

Godox's updated flash, the TT520 III, features an LCD screen, which the previous model lacks. It offers eight levels of power control in 1/3 stop increments and Godox promises up to 400 full-power flashes with a 1.8 sec recycle. The flash also supports 433MHz wireless triggering for flexible off-camera use. Godox didn't provide specifics on when it would be available or how much it'll cost, and retailers – including the Godox website – currently don't have it listed.

Show off your work

Image: Aura

Digital picture frame company Aura recently announced its latest model, the Aspen. It offers a 12-inch anti-glare HD display with a paper-textured mat around it. Even with the built-in stand, it's just 1.1 inches thick, so it won't take up much space on an end table or bookshelf. A built-in speaker allows you to play videos, and the app provides unlimited storage and simple sharing tools.

A pricing update

Image: Fujifilm

On April 8, Fujifilm announced the Fujifilm Mini 41, but at the time, it didn't reveal US pricing for its latest instant camera. Fujifilm recently informed us that the camera will cost $130, though B&H has it listed at $100. B&H may be behind on updating the pricing, but it isn't clear at this time.

The most adorable cameras

Image: Bandai Namco

While not a broad release that you can purchase online, a fun find this week was broader access to Nikon gashapon. Nikon announced a collaboration with Bandai Namco last year, bringing a set of miniature Nikon cameras to gashapon capsule vending machines in Japan. Now, they've made their way to the US. If your local store has the Nikon machine*, you can put some money into it, and it'll spit out either a Nikon F, Z Fc, SP or Z9, complete with a matching lens that can actually be removed from the camera and placed onto another one.

* - We here at the DPReview office took a field trip to our local Uwajimaya to try and find one and were partially successful – the machine was there, but the capsules were sadly out of stock.

A surprising use for the Sony a9 III

Finally, for this week's video, we're sharing a unique use of the Sony a9 III. Arc Eye is using multiple a9 IIIs along with ILX-LR1 industrial box cameras to create 3D photogrammetry & 4D volumetric content for both creative and industrial use. The video only shows the setup, not the final results, but it is a wild contraption and fascinating to see the broad application of the camera.

Read last week's roundup

Photo: DPReview

This week brought a wave of firmware updates from Sony and Nikon, targeting full-frame and APS-C models. Sony released new software for the a7C, a7 III and ZV-E10, delivering stability improvements and minor tweaks. Nikon released updates for its flagship mirrorless Z9 and the newer Z50II, aiming to refine performance and fix a few lingering bugs. Here's a quick rundown of what's new.

Sony

a7C updates for Version 2.01 (Mac) and (Windows)

a7 III updates for Version 4.02 (Mac) and (Windows)

ZV-E10 updates for Version 2.02 (Mac) and (Windows)

• Allows the camera to display a notification when new software is available
  WPA and WEP functionalities are no longer supported.
• You can no longer select WPA or WEP when connecting to Wi-Fi. Please use the more secure WPA2 moving forward.
• Improves the operational stability of the camera.
• Note: This update is only available for Windows and macOS. A memory card version is not provided.

Please note: the firmware updates are identical across these three camera models.

Nikon

Z9 updates for Version 5.20 (Mac) and (Windows)

• Added support for “NX Field,” a remote shooting system for corporate users. Note: “NX Field” app for smart devices may not be available in some countries and regions.
• Renamed d14 [Display on during burst] in [CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU].
• Fixed the following issues:
  • Pressing the playback button after repeatedly shooting bursts would in rare cases corrupt the display of all images.
  • In rare circumstances, optimal exposure could not be achieved during burst shooting after changing the exposure in mode M.
  • In synchronized release, pressing the shutter-release button of the master camera halfway initiated autofocus on the remote camera with the following setting selected. ▸ [CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU] > a6 [AF activation] > [AF-ON only]

Z50II updates for Version 1.01 (Mac) and (Windows)

• Pre-Release Capture is now available using a SmallRig SR-RG2.
• Added “русский” (Russian) to [Language] in [SETUP MENU] for Z50II cameras sold in the Middle East region.
• Renamed d13 [Display on during burst] in [CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU].
• Fixed the following issues:
  • In rare cases, the camera would stop responding when it was reconnected to SnapBridge after it was connected to Nikon Imaging Cloud while connecting to SnapBridge.
  • In synchronized release, pressing the shutter-release button of the master camera halfway initiated autofocus on the remote camera with the following setting selected:
    ▸ [CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU] > a6 [AF activation] > [AF-ON only]

That's it for this week. Make sure to check in every Friday, from here on out, for a round-up of firmware updates on all major camera models. Have a great weekend!

The photography industry has weathered economic uncertainty, technological disruption and rising operational costs. However, according to Zenfolio's (a photo management platform) newly released 2025 State of the Photography Industry report, conducted in partnership with other creative businesses including Format, ShootProof and Professional Photographers of America (PPA), it's also finding strength through adaptability, community and more thoughtful business strategies.

Now in its 6th consecutive year, the report draws on insights from more than 4,500 professional photographers in 70 countries. North Americans accounted for 79% of the participants, while photographers from Korea and Bolivia chimed in for the first time. The findings reveal an industry in transition but not in retreat.

One of the standout trends is the return to personalized service. Photographers who conduct viewing appointments after a shoot see as much as 20% more revenue than those who rely on online delivery alone. "Clients value the personal touch," the report notes, adding that face-to-face sessions create opportunities to upsell prints and foster long-term relationships.

A sign of the times? Full-time, self-employed work is on the rise compared to part-time. Copyright: © Zenfolio

As it turns out, adaptability pays off. Photographers who expanded their service offerings by pivoting to additional genres such as corporate headshots, drone photography, newborn portraits or sporting events were often rewarded with lucrative revenue streams. The report highlights that being open to last-minute gigs and unfamiliar styles that breach one's comfort zone is now a competitive advantage instead of a compromise.

Nevertheless, the financial pressure is real. Between 65 and 70% of photographers reported increased business costs in 2024, including equipment and insurance. Zenfolio encourages professionals to revisit their pricing strategies and delivery models. Many new photographers still rely on selling digital files, but seasoned pros continue to profit from print sales. Print credits and tiered packages are recommended methods for boosting margins.

Technological change, particularly AI, is also reshaping the industry. Rather than replacing photographers, AI tools are helping them streamline their workflows. From culling and editing to delivering final images, that efficiency frees up more time to focus on the creative vision and client service that can't be automated.

AI tools help with workflow so photographers can focus on other aspects of the business, especially creative vision. Copyright: © Zenfolio

Drone photography was introduced to the survey for the first time this year. The findings include that it is not only gaining traction but outpacing smartphone use among professional photographers. While the adoption of mirrorless cameras saw a slight dip, traditional cameras remain dominant.

Finally, the report underscores a less tangible but perhaps more critical theme: the value of community. From online forums to local peer groups, photographers who engage with one another are more likely to grow in business, confidence and creativity. State of the Photography Industry 2025 is free to view and includes helpful advice and actionable tips.

Nikon's been on a roll this week. Following firmware updates for the Z9 and Z50II, the company released version 2.3.0 of NX Tether, its free tethered shooting software. NX Tether allows photographers and videographers to connect their Nikon camera directly to a computer for real-time control over focus, exposure, white balance and more, all while using a larger screen for improved precision.

Users can download and enhance photos on their computers, as NX Tether is compatible with Nikon's NX Studio and third-party tools, including Adobe Lightroom and Capture One. This latest update enhances compatibility and introduces new features that streamline studio and on-location workflows. Let's take a look at some of the updates:

• Expanded Camera Support: NX Tether 2.3.0 makes tethered shooting available for Nikon Z5II users.
• Live View Accessibility: Live view functionality is now available when connected to a Nikon Zf.
• Framing Guide Display: The addition of a framing guide in the live view window helps with precise composition, which is especially beneficial for video shoots and detailed product photography.
• Power Zoom Position Memory: Users can save and load power zoom positions on compatible models like the Z9, Z8, and Zf, for consistent framing across sessions.
• Pixel Shift Photography: Enhanced support for pixel shift photography is available on the Z8 and Zf, enabling higher-resolution imagery.
• Slow-motion Video Recording: The Zf now supports slow-motion video recording.
• Birds Detection Feature: The Zf now supports the "Birds" detection feature, which improves autofocus performance when photographing avian subjects.

NX Tether's interface mirrors the controls found on Nikon cameras. The application is compatible with macOS versions Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14, and Ventura 13, as well as Microsoft's Windows 10 and 11 software. Full details on camera compatibility can be found on Nikon's website.

Nikon's NX Tether 2.3.0 offers updates that enhance the tethered shooting experience, especially for users of the Z5II and Zf models. It's a valuable and free tool for photographers and videographers looking for efficient, real-time control over their cameras.

For a visual overview of NX Tether's capabilities, you may find this demonstration from Nikon's YouTube page, recorded last year, helpful:

World Press Photo has announced its 2025 Photo of the Year, along with two finalists, highlighting some of the most impactful photojournalism of the past year. 3,778 photographers submitted 59,320 photographs, and DPReview recently covered the category winners. This year's top honor, revealed last night, was bestowed upon Samar Abu Elouf, a Palestinian photojournalist based in Doha, for The New York Times.

Her winning image is a portrait of Mahmoud Ajjour, a young boy wounded while fleeing an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in March 2024. The boy had turned his back to urge his family to move faster when an explosion tore through the street, severing one of his arms and damaging the other. It's a stark depiction of the toll ongoing violence has taken on the denizens of the region.

Elouf was evacuated from Gaza in late 2023. She shares an apartment complex with Ajjor, the double amputee subject of her image. In recent months, she has continued to document the lives of a small number of severely-wounded Gazans who, like Mahmoud, were able to leave for medical treatment.

Mahmoud Ajjor has a modest goal: to receive prosthetic limbs and live like other children. By the end of 2024, the United Nations estimated that Gaza had the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world. Copyright: © Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times

Two other finalists were selected as runners-up: John Moore for Night Crossing, depicting Chinese migrants warming themselves at the US-Mexico border at night. Musuk Nolte was also recognized for Droughts in the Amazon, capturing a young man bringing food to his mother in the drought-ridden village of Manacapuru.

Moore's image of Chinese migrants warming themselves after a rainstorm, at the US-Mexico border, captures a moment of vulnerability that contrasts with how migration is depicted in mainstream talking points. Copyright: © John Moore, United States, Getty Images

"I remain endlessly grateful for the photographers who, despite the personal risks and emotional costs, record these stories to give all of us the opportunity to understand, empathise, and be inspired to action," said Joumana El Zein Khoury, World Press Photo's Executive Director.

A young man carries food to his mother in Manacapuru, a village in the Amazon that was once accessible by boat. Now, the river has dried up due to drought, and he walks several kilometers across the cracked riverbed. A harsh reality: the world's largest rainforest increasingly resembles a desert. Copyright: © Musuk Nolte, Peru/Mexico, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation

The awarded stories will be shown to millions as part of the World Press Photo annual traveling exhibition in over 60 locations worldwide. These locations include the premiere in Amsterdam and then move on to other significant metropolises, including London, Rome, Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest. More information about the images and photographers can be found on the World Press Photo site.

Canon EOS R1 | RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | 200mm | F4 | 1/1000 sec | ISO 3200 Photo: Mitchell Clark

Canon's EOS R1 is the company's first '1 series' flagship camera to be mirrorless and is specifically aimed at sports and action photographers. Given its narrow focus, we wanted to test it out at a professional sports game – preferably one supported by its Action Priority autofocus mode, which Canon says will recognize when players are performing a specific action and automatically focus on them.

Thankfully, we were able to get a media pass to photograph a Spokane Velocity FC game, which was the perfect opportunity to put the EOS R1 to the test. A caveat before we start: I am by no means a professional sports photographer, nor am I a football expert. However, part of the pitch for Action Priority autofocus is that it's able to react to what's happening in the game automatically, which made this an especially interesting test of its abilities, even though most people looking to buy an R1 are likely fully capable of shooting a game without it.

So how'd it do? Quite well, I found. It made shooting feel natural; I would move the camera along with the action, and most of the time, it just handled subject selection, making sure the player in control of the ball was the one in focus. However, it clearly wasn't a magical replacement for talent, either. There were a few times it decided to track a player who wasn't involved in the action, though it was relatively easy to correct it by manually putting the AF tracking point over the player.

RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | 200mm | F2.8 | 1/1000 sec | ISO 1600 Photo: Mitchell Clark

Despite its occasional missteps, upon reviewing my shots, I found that Action Priority mode got me far better results than the combination of my football-tracking skills and standard subject recognition did. The EOS R1 was very tenacious at tracking people and excelled at keeping them in focus – which is great if you have the skill and knowledge necessary to know who to track and when to start tracking someone else.

I actually got the chance to talk to someone with those skills. One of the professional photographers at the game asked what I was shooting with, then said they also use an EOS R1; previously, they'd used an EOS R3. When I asked what they thought of the Action Priority mode, they said they didn't think it made much of a difference. Given that they'd essentially trained themselves to do what it does, it's not surprising that they didn't find it as useful as I – someone without that training – did. However, they did find the EOS R1's standard subject detection to be stickier than the EOS R3's, especially when players were passing in front of and behind each other.

They were very fond of the camera's Eye Control autofocus, where the camera automatically places the focus point on whatever you're looking at. Despite having calibrated it a few times, I couldn't get it to work reliably enough for me to be an asset rather than a liability. I tried it for a little bit at the game but ended up turning it off. However, it's easy to see how it could improve the shooting experience if it does work for you – rather than relying on the camera to figure out what player is important, you can just follow the action with your eye.

Getting back to Action Priority mode, I did bump up against a few limitations with the system. It's only available when using the electronic shutter and can't be used with the EOS R1's anti-flicker feature. While the camera's readout is jaw-droppingly quick – I didn't notice any rolling shutter artifacts on soccer balls in mid-flight – you will still see banding on electronic screens and under some LED lights.

You can eliminate banding by switching to the mechanical shutter, but doing so means giving up some of the EOS R1's features and capabilities. Electronic shutter | RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | 200mm | F2.8 | 1/1000 sec | Edited to taste in ACR Photo: Mitchell Clark

The former was definitely an issue at the Spokane One stadium, and I found myself having to choose between giving myself a better chance of capturing the game with Action Priority and not having some quite distracting artifacts in the background. With that said the mechanical shutter on the EOS R1 can only shoot at 12fps instead of 40, which helped make the decision a bit easier.

I also found myself wishing that the pre-burst capture feature was configurable. The amount it buffers is based on your shooting speed: Canon's manual says that in the 40 shots per second mode, it'll buffer around half a second, but there's no setting to control for how long or how many shots you'd like it to buffer.

Because my shooting style involves starting focus tracking with a half-press of the shutter button well before actually taking the photo, I wound up filling almost a third of my storage in the first half-hour of the game since every shot I took saved the 20 shots before it. Rather than trying to get myself used to back-button focusing, which doesn't start pre-capture*, in the middle of the game, I just turned it off, but I feel like I could've gotten a few more good shots if I could've used the pre-burst capture, but set to only save five or ten photos from before the shutter press.

* And, in fact, cannot be set to start pre-capture, something that irked the pro I talked to.

It took me a while to get a header shot, which I strongly suspect would've been easier with pre-capture. RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z + RF 1.4x Teleconvertor 150mm | F4 | 1/100 | ISO 320 Photo: Mitchell Clark

Also, Canon, while I have your attention, why can't I set one of my custom buttons to turn pre-burst capture on and off? To get around this, I followed Brian Worley's trick of setting up a custom mode that's exactly the same as my manual shooting mode, except with pre-capture off, but even that's a bad solution. For one, there's only one button you can assign to switch between modes, but also, if I made any changes while I was shooting pre-capture, those wouldn't be carried over when I switched modes to turn it off.

While I've picked a lot of nits here, there were, unsurprisingly, a lot of things the EOS R1 did right. Its buffer felt endless – during the game, the camera only ever stopped shooting when I took my finger off the shutter, and never because it had to stop and write the photos to the card. At home, I let it run at 40fps for around 20 seconds and still didn't reach the bottom of the buffer.

The battery had a similar amount of stamina. Over the course of the 90-ish minute game I shot mostly using the viewfinder and took around 9000 photos. (If you're not confident that you can capture the decisive moment, you might as well capture every moment.) At the end of the day, I still had three out of four bars of battery and would've felt quite comfortable shooting for another 90 minutes. I couldn't have, of course, but the camera could.

That's probably the moral of the story. It's no shock that using the EOS R1 didn't immediately make me a pro sports photographer. Action Priority mode did, however, let me capture moments that only pro sports photographers could've not so long ago, and I suspect that Eye Control could've done the same if I could get it to work reliably for me.

It's easy to imagine that sort of thing being really exciting as it makes its way into more accessible models – there's always been something of a Catch-22 where entry-level cameras aimed at beginners come with the autofocus systems that offer the least assistance. Something like Action Priority mode or Eye Control could help parents capture their children's sporting achievements without requiring them to become pro photographers or buy high-end cameras that cost thousands of dollars.

RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | 200mm | F4 | 1/1000 | ISO 1250 Photo: Mitchell Clark

That future may be a ways off, though, and it doesn't really help tell the story of the EOS R1, a camera almost exclusively for pros. That's not to say that they won't use those features, just that they'll have different considerations when doing so; is Action Priority worth narrowing your shooting options and giving up some manual control so you can fully focus on composition and understanding the state of play, and can you rely on Eye Control when everything's on the line?

Realistically, I'm not the person to answer those questions. However, it's interesting that Canon added so many features designed to make a camera that'll likely only ever be used by professionals easier to use. It's like getting into an F1 car and discovering that, alongside all the manual controls, it actually has a quite capable self-driving system. The surprising part isn't that the EOS R1 was up to the task of shooting the game – it's essentially designed from the ground up to do that – but I wasn't expecting it to also help me out so much along the way.

Sony World Photography Awards Overall Winners

Sony's World Photography Awards celebrated the 18th edition of its Overall Winners competition with a gala ceremony in London. Ten professional category winners received recognition for their work across multiple genres, including architecture, wildlife, portraiture, and landscape. Each winner participated in Insights, a day of industry talks, and received Sony digital imaging equipment as a prize.

British photographer Zed Nelson was named Photographer of the Year for The Anthropocene Illusion, a six-years-in-the-making documentary project examining how humans shape and simulate nature in an increasingly artificial world. He will have the opportunity to present an additional body of work at next year's Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition.

Olivier Unia was awarded Open Photographer of the Year for his image of a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance. Micaela Vidivia Medina was awarded Student Photographer of the Year for her series about incarcerated women in Chile's prisons. Daniel Dian-Ji Wu won Youth Photographer of the Year for a skateboarding silhouette shot at sunset in Venice Beach, California.

Acclaimed documentary photographer Susan Meiselas was honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award. Sixty of her images will be featured with more than 300 total prints, including the competition's second and third-place finalists from the World Photography Awards, at Somerset House in London from April 17th to May 5th. You can see all of the winning images on the contest website, worldphoto.org.

Photographer of the Year

Photographer: Zed Nelson

Series title: The Anthropocene Illusion

Description: In a tiny fraction of Earth’s history, humans have altered the world beyond anything it has experienced in tens of millions of years. Scientists are calling it a new epoch: The Anthropocene – the age of human. Future geologists will find evidence in the rock strata of an unprecedented human impact on our planet, from huge concentrations of plastics to the fallout from the burning of fossil fuels, and vast deposits of concrete used to build our cities.

We are forcing animals and plants to extinction by removing their habitats, and divorcing ourselves from the land we once roamed. Yet we cannot face the true scale of our loss. Somewhere within us the desire for contact with nature remains. ‘So, while we devastate the world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature – a reassuring spectacle, an illusion.’

Over six years, and across four continents, Zed Nelson has explored how we immerse ourselves in increasingly choreographed and simulated environments to mask our destructive impact on the natural world.

Camera & equipment: Hasselblad X1D, D810, Mamiya RZ67, D850

Copyright: © Zed Nelson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Open Photographer of the Year: Motion Category

Photographer: Olivier Unia

Series title: Tbourida La Chute

Description: Many of the photographs taken during a traditional Moroccan ‘tbourida’ show the riders firing their rifles. With this image, the photographer wanted to share another side of the event, and show how dangerous it can be when a rider is thrown from their mount.

Camera: Sony a7 IV

Copyright: © Olivier Unia, France, Open Photographer of the Year, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Architecture & Design

Photographer: Ulana Switucha

Series title: The Tokyo Toilet Project

Description: The Tokyo Toilet Project is an urban redevelopment project in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan that involves the design and construction of modern public restrooms that encourages their use. The distinctive buildings are as much works of art as they are a public convenience. These images are part of a larger body of work documenting the architectural aesthetics of these structures in their urban environment.

Camera: Nikon Z7

Copyright: © Ulana Switucha, Canada, Winner, Professional competition, Architecture & Design, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Creative

Photographer: Rhiannon Adam

Series title: Rhi-Entry

Description: Throughout history, 117 billion humans have gazed at the same moon, yet only 24 people – all American men – have seen its surface up close. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the artist discovered an application for the ultimate art residency: dearMoon. In 2018, Japanese billionaire and art collector Yusaku Maezawa announced a global search for eight artists to join him on a week-long lunar mission aboard SpaceX’s Starship – the first civilian mission to deep space.

The mission's flight path would echo that of Apollo 8’s 1968 journey, which famously led astronaut Bill Anders to suggest NASA ‘should have sent poets’ to capture the sense of wonder he experienced. In 2021, Rhiannon Adam was chosen as the only female crew member from one million applicants, with the chance to achieve the seemingly impossible. For three years she immersed herself in the space industry, until, in June 2024, Maezawa abruptly canceled the mission, leaving the crew to pick up the pieces of their disrupted lives.

Camera & equipment: Polaroid SLR 680, RZ-67 pro II, Canon 5D MKIV, Wista Field, Apple Mac screenshot, iPhone 15 Pro Max, Canon EOS R

Copyright: © Rhiannon Adam, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Documentary Projects

Photographer: Toby Binder

Series title: Divided Youth of Belfast

Description: ‘If I had been born at the top of my street, behind the corrugated-iron border, I would have been British. Incredible to think. My whole idea of myself, the attachments made to a culture, heritage, religion, nationalism and politics are all an accident of birth. I was one street away from being born my “enemy.”’ Paul McVeigh, Belfast-born novelist.

Binder notes ‘there is hardly any other country in Europe where a past conflict is still as present in daily life as it is in Northern Ireland.’ It is not only the physical barriers – the walls and fences – but also the psychological divisions in society. For many years, Toby Binder has been documenting what it means for young people, all of whom were born after the peace agreement was signed, to grow up under this intergenerational tension in both Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods.

Camera & equipment: Leica Q2, Mamiya 645 PRO TL

Copyright: © Toby Binder, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Documentary Projects, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Environment

Photographer: Nicolás Garrido Huguet

Series title: Alquimia Textil

Description: Alquimia Textil is a collaborative project undertaken by Nicolás Garrido Huguet and researcher and fashion designer María Lucía Muñoz, which showcases the natural dyeing techniques practiced by the artisans of Pumaqwasin in Chinchero, Cusco, Peru. The project aims to bring visibility to, and help preserve, these ancestral dyeing practices, which demand many hours of meticulous work that is often underestimated within the textile sector.

Industrial methods are close to displacing these traditional dyeing processes completely, while climate change threatens the plants that are crucial to these practices. These photographs feature three dye types: qolle (Buddleja coriacea), a shrub with yellow-producing flowers; ch’illka (Baccharis sp.), a shrub whose leaves and stems yield ochre and green hues; and cochineal (Dactylopius coccus), an Andean insect producing reds, carmines and purples in a broad color spectrum.

Camera & equipment: EM, Epson scanner v550, Nikon Z7 II, Mamiya RB67

Copyright: © Nicolás Garrido Huguet, Peru, Winner, Professional competition, Environment, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Landscape

Photographer: Seido Kino

Series title: The Strata of Time

Description: This project invites viewers to consider what it means for a country to grow, and the advantages and disadvantages linked to that growth, by overlaying archival photographs from the 1940s-60s within current scenes of the same location. Early in Japan’s period of rapid economic growth from 1945 to 1973, the trade-off for affluence was pollution in many parts of the country. As an island, its land and resource constraints also led to an uneven population distribution.

Camera: Nikon D850

Copyright: © Seido Kino, Japan, Winner, Professional competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Perspectives

Photographer: Laura Pannack

Series title: The Journey Home From School

Description: Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity that we can all relate to. This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death.

Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores how young people have to walk to and from school avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire. Through poetry, analogue photography, drawings, collages and cyanotypes, an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides is created that offers a rare insight into this confusing and challenging world.

Camera & equipment: EZ Controller, 500cm

Copyright: © Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Portraiture

Photographer: Gui Christ

Series title: M'kumba

Description: M’kumba is an ongoing project that illustrates the resilience of Afro-Brazilian communities in the face of local religious intolerance. Its name derives from an ancient Kongo word for spiritual leaders, before it was distorted by local society to demean African religions. For more than 300 years, nearly 5 million African people were brought to Brazil.

They lost their freedom, and their spiritualities were persecuted by colonial ideologies. Until 1970, Afro-Brazilian religions were criminalised, and due to longstanding prejudice they still face violence – more than 2,000 attacks were reported in 2024 alone. Although 56 per cent of Brazilians are of Afro-descent, fewer than 2 per cent identify as Afro-religious due to fear of persecution.

As an Afro-religious priest in training, Gui Christ wanted to photograph a proud, young generation representing African deities and mythological tales. Through intimate imagery, this project challenges prejudice while celebrating these spiritual traditions as vital to Brazil’s cultural identity.

Camera: Canon EOS R5

Copyright: © Gui Christ, Brazil, Winner, Professional competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Sport

Photographer: Chantal Pinzi

Series title: Shred the Patriarchy

Description: M’kumba is an ongoing project that illustrates the resilience of Afro-Brazilian communities in the face of local religious intolerance. Its name derives from an ancient Kongo word for spiritual leaders, before it was distorted by local society to demean African religions.

For more than 300 years, nearly 5 million African people were brought to Brazil. They lost their freedom, and their spiritualities were persecuted by colonial ideologies. Until 1970, Afro-Brazilian religions were criminalised, and due to longstanding prejudice they still face violence – more than 2,000 attacks were reported in 2024 alone. Although 56 per cent of Brazilians are of Afro-descent, fewer than 2 per cent identify as Afro-religious due to fear of persecution.

As an Afro-religious priest in training, Gui Christ wanted to photograph a proud, young generation representing African deities and mythological tales. Through intimate imagery, this project challenges prejudice while celebrating these spiritual traditions as vital to Brazil’s cultural identity.

Camera: Canon EOS R5

Copyright: © Chantal Pinzi, Italy, Winner, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Professional Category Winner: Still Life

Photographer: Peter Franck

Series title: Still Waiting

Description: Still Waiting presents collages that capture moments of pause, of waiting. They depict the liminal space between events, a threshold where time seems to stretch, and meanings remain unfixed. The juxtaposition of objects within the space leaves room for interpretation, inviting surreal flights of thought. Everything is suspended, held in a fragile equilibrium where intervention feels imminent. Just fractions of a second away from some decisive action, the images linger in a fleeting moment of stillness, a breath before the world moves again.

Camera: N/A (unknown)

Copyright: © Peter Franck, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Student Photographer of the Year

Photographer: Micaela Valdivia Medina

Series title: The Last Day We Saw the Mountains and the Sea

Description: This project explores the complexity of female prison spaces and the people who inhabit them, from the inmates to their families. The series consists of photographs of the architecture of the prisons, the neighbourhoods they are in, and the dynamics at the visitor and family member entrances. This project was carried out at the women's penitentiary centres of San Miguel, San Joaquín and Valparaíso, between the months of March and July 2024.

Camera & equipment: Canon EOS R, iPhone 12

Copyright: © Micaela Valdivia Medina, Peru, Student Photographer of the Year, Student Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Youth Photographer of the Year

Photographer: Daniel Dian-Ji Wu

Image title: Eclipse of Motion

Description: Daniel Dian-Ji Wu took this photo during summer break in 2024, at Venice Beach Skatepark in LA during golden hour. The photographer captured this image of a skater mid-air, silhouetted against the sunset, expressing the raw energy of that moment. He says this image ‘made me feel a sense of passion and freedom.’

Camera & equipment: Sony a7 IV

Copyright: © Daniel Dian-Ji Wu, Taiwan, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Image: Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design, an Australian company known for its professional cinema cameras and DaVinci Resolve editing software, had ambitious plans to expand into American manufacturing with a new factory in Dallas, Texas. However, thanks to the newly introduced US tariffs, those plans have hit a snag.

The company had hoped US-based production would strengthen ties with American semiconductor firms and streamline its supply chain. However, BlackMagic spokesperson Patrick Hussey told The Verge that the broadly applied tariffs have made the move financially unviable.

While parts like semiconductors and the PCBs used in Blackmagic's cameras are sourced from US companies, many are still manufactured overseas and are subject to tariffs. "If we proceed with the US factory, we'd incur tariffs on those parts, increasing costs and negating the savings we anticipated," Hussey said.

This exact dilemma reflects a broader issue facing companies with global supply chains. Though the tariffs were intended to encourage domestic manufacturing, many businesses report they'd be better off moving operations to countries with lower tax burdens. A survey conducted by CNBC found that 61% of businesses favored relocating to low-tariff countries over the US. 81% said they'd automate US production rather than hire workers.

"Production of some product lines has been relocated to reduce the impact on our customers"

Blackmagic has already passed on some of the additional costs to consumers, with the prices of certain products rising in the US. For example, the new Pyxis 12K camera, initially listed for $5,000, jumped to $6,600 before settling at $5,500 after Blackmagic shifted production to mitigate tariff impacts. Prices elsewhere in the world remain unchanged.

"We operate factories in several countries, so production of some product lines has been relocated to reduce the impact on our customers," Hussey explained, noting that the company is holding off on a US factory decision for now. If more components begin production domestically, the plan may be revived.

While the current US administration recently added smartphones, computers and other electronics to a temporary list of tariff exemptions, cameras and related equipment were omitted. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned that the exemptions are not permanent and that new tariffs targeting the semiconductor industry, for example, could be introduced in a month or two. Policy indecision like this adds even more uncertainty for companies like Blackmagic.