Nikon has announced the winners of its Small World Photomicrography Competition for 2026, where contestants are tasked with sharing images taken through a microscope. The winner is a stunning image that shows what happens inside a printer as it puts ink to paper, with the result looking like something out of a blockbuster sci-fi movie.

This is the 52nd year that the competition has been held, and there were over 1803 entries from participants in 69 countries. We’re showing the top 20 images here, but you can see honorable mentions and images of distinction over on the Small World website.

First place – Microscopic view of an inkjet printer depositing ink onto paper, Ole Bielfeldt

Ole Bielfeldt / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Ole Bielfeldt, macrofying, Cologne, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany

Technique: Slow-Motion, Image Stacking

Magnification: 20x (Objective Lens Magnification)

Caption: Captured using a self-constructed imaging rig, using a microscope objective, Bielfeldt’s image sheds light on the previously unseen intricacies of a common process: printing words onto paper.

Bielfeldt is the creator behind macrofying, his photography and videography brand, where he combines photography, microscopy, and self-built equipment to showcase everyday objects in an unfamiliar manner. The winning image was guided by his search to answer a simple question: How does a printer place ink onto paper so precisely? At normal scale, the process happens too quickly and too routinely to notice. But under Bielfeldt’s lens, tiny droplets travel through the air before landing on glossy paper, exposing the machinery, motion, and small imperfections hidden within a device many people use every day.

“I think it was super interesting because I didn’t know how it really worked,” Bielfeldt said of the printer’s internal process. “It’s like it was magic, and I didn’t understand it, but now I do.”

Capturing that moment required Bielfeldt to rethink both the printer and the imaging setup. His first attempts failed because the printhead moved too quickly to keep a small area in focus, and the droplets were too fast for his camera’s shutter speed. Rather than turning to expensive equipment, he reverse-engineered the printer so the paper instead moved beneath a stationary printhead. Working in a dark room, he then used a flash to freeze the droplets in midair, allowing the brief burst of light to serve as the effective shutter.

“After trying and failing many times to capture the droplets in motion, I thought I would need some expensive equipment,” Bielfeldt said. “But it turned out I already had everything I needed.”

Second place – Jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollen, John-Oliver Dum

John-Oliver Dum / Nikon Small World

Photographer: John-Oliver Dum, Medienbunker Produktion, Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Third place – Neurons in an expanded mouse brain, Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery

Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery, Allen Institute, Department of Neural Dynamics, Seattle, Washington, USA

Technique: Expansion Microscopy, Fluorescence, Light Sheet

Magnification: 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Fourth place – Tip of a ballpoint pen, Justin Theodore Benttinen

Justin Theodore Benttinen / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Justin Theodore Benttinen, Benttinen Photography, Berkeley, California, USA

Technique: Image Stacking, Reflected Light

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Fifth place – Inner structure of a closed daisy, Mike Crutchley

Mike Crutchley / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Mike Crutchley, Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom

Technique: Darkfield, Image Stacking

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

6th place – Hemitrichia slime mold spore structures (fruiting bodies), Eric Epstein

Eric Epstein / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Eric Epstein, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

7th place – Human neurons reprogrammed from skin cells growing in a microfluidic chamber, Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol

Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine, Augusta, Georgia, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

8th place – Pencil lead during exposure to a high-voltage electrical discharge, Dr. Marcel Clemens

Dr. Marcel Clemens / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Marcel Clemens, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

9th place – Dedifferentiated liver endothelial cell, Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez

Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

10th place – A parasitoid wasp (𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑟𝑎 sp.) emerging from a butterfly chrysalis (𝑂𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠 sp.), Michael Parra Puentes

Michael Parra Puentes / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Michael Parra Puentes, Macrotipos, Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 3.7X (Objective Lens Magnification)

11th place – 20 day old sea urchin larva with blue fluorescent nuclei, Svenja Carolin Kling

Svenja Carolin Kling / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Svenja Carolin Kling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, La Jolla, California, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

12th place – A tardigrade molting and laying an egg in the old skin, Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas

Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas, CRBM-CNRS, Montpellier, Herault, France

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

13th place – Recrystallized estrogen, Sebastian Sparenga

Sebastian Sparenga / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Sebastian Sparenga, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Technique: Polarized Light

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

14th place – Pilobolus fungi on sheep dung, Mike Crutchley

Mike Crutchley / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Mike Crutchley, Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

15th place – Mouse trachea showing tiny hair-like cells that move mucus and nearby nerves (blue) associated with the muscles (yellow), Dr. Julien Resseguier

Dr. Julien Resseguier / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Julien Resseguier, University of Oslo, Department of Biosciences, Oslo, Viken, Norway

Technique: Confocal, Deconvolution, Fluorescence

Magnification: 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)

16th place – Embryonic Xenopus skin cells, showing cilia (green), centrioles (red), and cell membranes (white), Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin

Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Toulouse, France, France

Technique: Confocal, Fluorescence

Magnification: 63X (Objective Lens Magnification)

17th place – Lab-grown human intestinal tissue showing glowing, brick-like epithelial cell connections that form the intestine’s protective barrier, Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA

Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

18th place – 14-day-old mouse hippocampal neurons showing nuclei (green) and synaptic proteins (red), Bilal Akhtar

Bilal Akhtar / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Bilal Akhtar, Institute of Molecular Biology, Department of RNA Biology, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

19th place – Cross-section of a mouse eye showing retinal blood vessels and the optic nerve, Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman

Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman, University of Helsinki, Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, Helsinki, Finland, Helsinki, Uudenmaan lääni, Finland

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

20th place – Large sea snail (abalone) shell, Justin Theodore Benttinen

Justin Theodore Benttinen / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Justin Theodore Benttinen, Benttinen Photography, Berkeley, California, USA

Technique: Image Stacking, Reflected Light

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

The iPhone Duo, Apple’s first folding phone, is set to come out in just a few days, but the reviews are out now. In aggregate, they paint a picture of a complicated phone that feels highly refined in some ways, and first-gen janky in others, especially when it comes to third-party apps.

While it may be a bit too late to get a pre-order in (at least, if you want the phone in a timely manner; at time of writing delivery dates are already pushed to next year), the reviews we’ve listed below tell the story of the Duo both for those curious about it as a tech object, and for anyone actually considering buying it.

The photographer’s perspective

Tyler Stalman does a great job of reviewing phones from the perspective of a working photographer and content creator, so his take on the Duo is one of the ones we were most anticipating.

Overall, his takeaway about the phone is that it’s better at productivity and media consumption than creation, though he does a good job of comparing it to the iPhone 18 Pro across a variety of scenarios, and at breaking down the roles of each of the phone’s four cameras. One of the most interesting takeaways from this review, at least for me, is that the Duo doesn’t make as good a teleprompter/camera combo as I thought it might, thanks to where the cameras are in relation to the front screen.

Hear from the tech enthusiasts

Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, has long been one of YouTube’s premier tech reviewers, and for good reason. His review of the Duo is both a visual treat and an in-depth look at Apple’s philosophy behind its foldable, how well it executes those ideas, and whether they’re good ideas in the first place.

Tech review veteran iJustine has also taken a look at the Duo, which does a good job of illustrating what it’s actually like to live with the phone.

What about a foldable fanatic?

There are few as dedicated to the foldable cause as Michael Fisher aka Mr. Mobile. His experience with testing basically every phone in this form factor means he’s well-equipped to discuss how it stacks up to the competition, and he does so in his trademark poetic style.

For what it’s worth, he calls the iPhone Duo’s cameras the best you can get in a foldable in the US. That’s despite the Z Fold 8 Ultra having unambiguously superior hardware, though, given his comparison between the Z Fold 8 and the Duo, he hasn’t had a great experience with Samsung’s processing.

The in-depth look

While The Verge has produced one of its trademark cinematic reviews for YouTube, anyone actually considering buying a Duo should read its written review, which goes in depth in a way that is really difficult in a video. We know our audience appreciates a thorough examination of a new device, and Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson deliver.

Full disclosure: I was predisposed to like this one: Allison is a DPReview alum, and I also worked with her during my two-year stint at The Verge, an outlet I still deeply respect for its commitment to examining the big picture beyond the specifics of any particular gadget.

The wrap-up

The impression I got from the countless reviews I’ve watched about the Duo is that it’s both exactly what we expected and a bit of a surprising release from Apple. The company is known for releasing products polished to a mirror finish, and while it seems the hardware and Apple app experience has received that treatment, there are still a lot of rough edges.

A lot of that comes down to software. Apple was very late in getting developers the tools they need to make their apps work for the Duo, so anyone buying one needs to be ready for what feels like a very beta user experience. There will probably be a lot of people who end up disappointed that their $2000-and-up displays their favorite apps as a small, floating rectangle in a sea of black on the inner display.

I suspect many major apps will be updated relatively quickly (though there will be stragglers), and the bugs with the OS will be ironed out. Once that’s happened, users will be left with the phone that the iPhone Duo appeared to be when it was announced: a first-generation foldable that, yes, has a lot of polish, but that’s still a fair bit heavier than the competition, and which asks you to give up quite a bit to be among the first iPhone users to adopt a new form factor.

That includes compromises to the cameras: the reviews mostly settled on them being fine, for a foldable, and many reviewers missed a telephoto option, though the experience of being able to easily use the phone’s main camera for selfies was near-universally lauded.

We’re hoping to get our hands on an iPhone Duo so we can bring you our own thoughts, but until then you can read some of our existing coverage below.

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Last year, Insta360 announced that it was entering the drone market with its Antigravity brand and A1 drone, which comes equipped with a 360 camera. Now, the company is launching a new “Follow Me” bundle, which pairs the drone with a few new accessories aimed to make it even easier to film yourself. It also provides a substantially less expensive way to buy the drone, though there’s a big catch to anyone looking for a drone to use casually.

Like many other drones, including models from DJI, the A1 is able to track a recognized subject, following them without needing to be manually controlled. With the Follow Me bundle, Antigravity is introducing a watch you can wear to make tracking more reliable, even if the drone loses sight of you behind an obstacle, such as a row of trees.

Antigravity

The watch has a 1.7″ display, which you can use to watch a live view from the drone’s camera and to control things like recording, video mode and which subject the drone is tracking (though it’ll be best equipped to follow the person wearing the watch). According to the spec sheet, the drone has a maximum tracking speed of 10 meters per second (22.4mph).

The bundle also includes a new ring accessory, which the company says enables a “Drag-to-Fly” mode where you can “grab” the drone by pointing at it and pressing a button on the ring. You can then move your arm to control its position. Swing your arm over your head, and it’ll go from following you from behind to filming you from the front, or move your arm left to right to have the drone execute a pan. You can also do a twisting motion to have the drone fly away from you, showing more of the surroundings.

This is somewhat similar to how the drone works already worked in its “FreeMotion” mode when paired with the motion-sensitive remote that came in the standard bundle, but the ring will theoretically be a bit harder to notice in the actual footage. The A1 offers 8K 360 capture at up to 30p, recorded from two cameras with Type 1/1.28 (76mm²) sensors and F2.2 lenses.

Antigravity

Both the ring and the watch are IP67 rated, so you should be able to wear them even during sweaty or water-based activities.

The bundle also includes a new set of propeller guards that Insta360 says will fully enclose the blades for added safety, along with four extra propellers, a crossbody bag, a USB-C cable for charging the drone (though no charging brick) and the brand’s high-capacity battery. That latter inclusion is a critical one, for reasons we’ll cover in just a moment.

What the bundle doesn’t have are the “Vision Goggles” that came with the standard A1 bundle. Nor does it come with the motion controller. These let you fly the A1 from a first-person view, and look around your scene while doing so, thanks to the drone’s 360-degree camera. Of course, the standard bundle will still be available alongside the Follow Me one.

Antigravity

Not including the headset apparently means Antigravity can sell the drone for substantially less than it has previously. The “Standard bundle,” which until now has been the entry point for the A1, costs $1599 but the Follow Me bundle, which is available starting today, comes in at just $799. If you already own an A1 and want the watch and ring, the company is also making those available for $340 at retail, though it says it’s offering a 20% discount for “existing A1 users” (which, to me, seems to encompass everyone who would be interested in buying them).

The Antigravity press release says that the new bundle makes the drone a good option “for family outings and sporting activities, giving people an easy way to capture memories while staying in the moment.” While the price makes it seem like a reasonable pick for those scenarios, especially in the US where DJI’s models are harder to come by, the use of the high-capacity battery rather than Antigravity’s standard one means that the drone included in this bundle has a takeoff weight of 351g. Consequently, you’ll have to take some extra steps to fly it legally in the US and EU, which isn’t the case for the Standard bundle version of the A1, as it comes in right at the 249g limit with its non-extended battery.

The spec sheet for the Follow Me version of the A1 has some other differences compared to the one in the standard bundle, too, with substantially shorter flight time and max flight distance than even the version with the smaller battery, lower top speed, and less wind resistance. However, Antigravity says this is this is only the case with the full-coverage propeller guards installed; without them, it will perform the same.

All of this makes it hard to know what to make of this bundle. Had it included the standard battery, it’d be a much more straightforward story: a cheaper version of the drone that’s a bit better equipped to follow someone for vlogging style content and more casual shooting. But, at least to me, the people in that audience are the least likely to want to have to get a license to fly a drone, especially when the higher-end version doesn’t require that (at least, until you get into the even more expensive bundles that come with the high-capacity battery).

Still, the A1 is an interesting drone, and this offers a less expensive way to buy it for those who are interested and willing to go through some hurdles to fly it, be they registering the drone or buying one of the standard batteries to try and get it under that 249g weight limit.

Antigravity

Antigravity A1

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If you’ve spent any time taking pictures of people, you’ll probably know the pain of photographing someone with an almost-perfect expression… only to realize that their eyes are closed. Adobe is looking to solve that problem, with a new feature for Lightroom for mobile that it calls “Open Eyes.” And, of course, it uses generative AI.

The way it works is relatively simple: if you open a photo that has someone with their eyes closed in it, there’ll be an option called “Open Eyes” in the Quick Actions menu. Tap it, and the app will use generative AI to composite in a new set of eyes for them that are, well, open. The company says that if you have other pictures of the person in your Lightroom library, it’ll use data from those to match their eye shape, color and size for an “even more accurate” result. The feature works on shots of individuals, as well as groups, and the company says it only targets “the area that needs adjustment,” without messing with the rest of the person’s face, letting you “save an otherwise great photo without losing what made the moment special.”

A before / after example created using the “Open Eyes” feature, provided by Adobe.

Of course, it’s not like this kind of thing was impossible to do before. Even well before the age of generative AI, Adobe Photoshop Elements had a similar feature, which worked by pulling an image of the person’s eyes from another picture you took. If you didn’t have one, or if the lighting didn’t match, or if the result looked odd because they were making a facial expression that would usually force someone’s eyes closed, you were out of luck.

You could also do this relatively easily in modern versions of Photoshop using the Generative Fill tool, though obviously that requires having a subscription to Photoshop and being willing to go through the few extra steps required. Adobe gives people using the free version of Lightroom mobile two uses of the Open Eyes feature before asking them to subscribe to an AI or Creative Cloud plan. Interestingly, when I tested the feature out, the UI implied it was using a third-party image generation model – Google’s Nano Banana – rather than Adobe’s own FireFly one.

I suspect many of our regular readers won’t be in love with the idea of this feature, as it’s the latest in a not-so-slow march of tech that makes us ask “so what really counts as a photo?” And indeed, it’s hard to imagine myself ever using this kind of feature; I’m not particularly interested in sharing moments that didn’t happen, and I think there’s something special about a laugh or a smile so intense you couldn’t possibly keep your eyes open during it. However, I suspect there will be many out there who will find this kind of feature useful, because they just need one more shot to round out a social post, or couldn’t get all the kids smiling with their eyes open at once. Phone makers have been playing around with similar features for a while, most of which typically rely more on combining multiple pictures than wholesale generation, but that step is starting to feel inevitable.

Adobe’s “Open Eyes” feature is now available in the Lightroom mobile app. Like the rest of the Quick Actions system, it doesn’t currently appear to be available on the desktop version of Lightroom.

The Micro Four Thirds standards group recently posted a warning on its site saying that it can’t guarantee that products made by companies not in the group will work as expected. The message, a link to which is prominently displayed in the site’s top navigation bar, doesn’t name any specific brands or products, but comes at an interesting time for the Micro Four Thirds system.

The official statement says that “the Four Thirds Office does NOT guarantee that products manufactured or sold by non-member companies comply with the Micro Four Thirds System standard or are compatible with individual devices.” It also tells users to check specific compatibility information with the manufacturer or seller of whatever gear you’re trying to buy.

Micro Four Thirds

When we first saw the warning at DPReview, we thought it might be related to the recent GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS. That camera has a Micro Four Thirds mount, but without any electrical contacts, so most of the lenses for the system from OM System and Panasonic won’t work, since they require those contacts to control aperture and focus.

That’s something potential buyers of the camera should be aware of, and it’s probably the most prominent instance of a product that uses the mount but that’s incompatible with many other products in the system. However, it also seems unlikely that the warning is referring to the ILS: while GoPro wasn’t a member of the group when that camera launched, it has since joined, and the warning explicitly calls out products from non-member companies.

So why was it issued? Honestly, there’s no clear answer. We’re not aware of any major scandals in the Micro Four Thirds world recently, though there have been rumors swirling around Insta360 using the mount for the cameras it’s currently working on. As of the time of writing, it isn’t listed among the supporting companies on the Micro Four Thirds website.

There’s also, as was pointed out several times in a Reddit thread, the case of SG-image, a budget lens company which is also not part of the Micro Four Thirds group. It has released one lens for the system that, according to several reports, doesn’t work at all with older cameras, and has some limitations on several newer models too. However, that lens has been out for a few months, so it would be a bit odd for the group to issue a warning about it only now.

Of course, it’s also possible that it’s just a general message, issued as a standard bit of housekeeping as an increasing number of companies release gear with Micro Four Thirds-shaped mounts without official support. As always, it’s worth reading a variety of reviews before spending your money on a product, especially if you’re going a bit off the beaten path.

I have something to admit: I’ve never really printed my photos. Sure, I have some drugstore 4 x 6″ prints of pictures taken with both digital and film cameras, as well as a few photo books and pieces of wall art, but I’ve never done anything that would be considered a large print, nor have I ever actually been involved in the process.

When I told my coworker Abby this, she was horrified. Making prints is an important part of her process, especially for work that ends up in a gallery. So, long ago (March 5th of this year, according to my Slack records), we decided that the next time we were in the same town, we should make a video where she teaches me how to print.

That opportunity didn’t come quickly – we live on basically opposite sides of the US, after all – but the stars eventually aligned, and we were able to make the video, which you can watch below.

Ever since our first conversation, I knew what image I wanted to print: a film photo I had taken of a baseball player signing autographs. It’s one of my favorite shots, and having the negative meant we could make the video using the photochemical darkroom process. I’ve developed almost all my own film, but that was done almost exclusively in my bathroom using a daylight tank. I figured the fully immersive experience would be far more interesting, and I was right, even if it did present some filming challenges*.

While we didn’t go through the full end-to-end process – I’d already scanned the roll, so I knew exactly what picture to print, obviating the need to make a contact sheet – I feel like the few prints we did gave a lot of appreciation for printing as an art form. I’ve seen my images blown up on a pretty big TV, and spent time laboring over some of them in Photoshop, but the physical printing process forced me to spend time with them in a way that I rarely do. I suspect I’d have a very different relationship to photography if I were in an era where printing was an integral part of the process, rather than a novelty.

Mitchell Clark

Despite having looked at the image on my monitor many times, I still noticed new things about it after printing it. It also helped me see past some of the flaws. Perhaps this is a bad habit, but when I’m looking at photos on a computer, I often zoom in to 1:1. Doing that with my film photos is a recipe for disappointment; I can see that not everything is sharp, and that I may have used a shutter speed that was a touch slower than optimal.

All of that melts away when looking at the print, though, and I can focus on the photo itself. At the size we used, those “issues” aren’t as obvious, and it can just be a picture that I can experience and enjoy. Looking at it from the other side, though, I can also see how printing could be a very educational process, since spending so much time with the image forces you to consider what you’d do differently if you were shooting it again.

Abby was also kind enough to do a digital print with me too, though the process doesn’t make for as good TV. (We have posted the lightly edited video of it, though, if you’re interested.) I personally enjoyed the darkroom experience a lot more, but almost all of my photography is digital these days, and I think I could still learn a lot by printing digitally.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I will. I don’t really have room for a large photo printer, and I think I’d struggle to spend the money on the ink for one even if I had a place to put it. And even if I were taking film photos worth printing, I don’t think there’s anywhere I could do it in my local area.

Still, I’m glad I had the opportunity to do a print, and feel like I learned a lot from the experience. I’m interested to hear from our community, though. As Abby says in the video, we did a survey in our newsletter about printing habits and there were several responses from people who said they never printed. If that was you, why haven’t you printed, or why don’t you anymore? Lack of interest? Access? Let me know in the comments below.

* – Yes, I probably should’ve manually focused the camera… but then how would I have tested its autofocus in an extreme situation?

Last month, Yashica announced it was working on the Y16, a tiny pocket camera that mimics the design of the Y16 released in 1959 by the original Yashica company. While details on the camera were slim, the company has now fully revealed it, giving us its specifications, price and release date.

The Y16 has a 12MP ~18mm² sensor paired with a 27mm F12 equiv. lens. Like many of the other cameras the company makes, this means its image quality will be far lower than that of a typical smartphone, though for some, that’s part of the charm. Alongside the announcement, Yashica has shared some sample images from the camera, which you can see in the gallery below.

What phones don’t have is a proper xenon flash built-in, which will help in low-light situations. The company says it should work at up to 2m (6’6″) away from your subject. The camera also features an optical viewfinder, and a 1.45″ display.

Yashica

Physically, it’s minuscule, weighing only 93g (3.3oz). It measures 91 x 45 x 29mm (3.6 x 1.8 x 1.1″), so it should fit in most pockets and pretty much any purse or bag.

The Y16 has a microSD card slot for storage, and actually comes with an 8GB card. While that’s not huge, it should hold quite a few of the relatively small JPEGs the camera produces. Plus, given the price, it’s hard to complain about included storage: the Y16 will retail for $119. The company says it’s currently still in production, but it’s available for pre-order now and is expected to ship in late November.

The Yashica of the 1950s isn’t the same as the one today, as in the 1980s it was sold to Kyocera, which has since licensed the name to other companies. The current crop of Yashica cameras appears to be sold by the Hong Kong-based 100 Enterprises.

Manufacturer samples

Godox has announced the A2, a flash that’s designed to attach to the back of your phone. While almost every smartphone has a flash built-in, they’re almost always LEDs, which aren’t particularly powerful, and don’t really produce the look most people associate with flash photography. The A2, meanwhile, has a xenon flash tube, like you’d find on a traditional compact or flash gun.

It magnetically connects to the back of your phone, providing the classic front-on flash look that is nostalgically associated with photos from compact cameras. However, since it’s wireless, you’re also free to detach it from your phone and use it as a bounce or fill light. The company says its bluetooth connection should work at up to 15m (49′) away.

Godox

Unlike most cameras, phones don’t really expect you to be using them with an external flash, which means you can’t use the A2 with your phone’s built-in camera app. Instead, Godox is providing its own app, which lets you either shoot in auto mode, which decides how bright the flash should be and your exposure settings for you, or in a fully manual mode that gives you control over all those settings.

Godox

Godox says that, at launch, the app will work with the iPhone 15 or newer running at least iOS 18. The company promises that versions for Android and Huawei’s HarmonyOS are in the works.

The flash is small enough to fit in most pockets once detached from your phone, so it’s not surprising that it’s not the most powerful light out there, with a guide number of 15. The company says that, for best results, you should have the flash within 2m (6’6″) of your subject. But while it’s not particularly powerful in the world of standalone flashes, it’s still much brighter than the flash included on your phone.

The A2 also has a 3W bi-color modeling light built-in, which you can use to make focusing and composing easier in dark environments, or as a video light with adjustable color temperature. The company says you should be able to leave it running at full power for up to an hour off of the 500mAh internal battery, which is also good for up to 400 full-power flashes.

Alongside it, Godox is releasing several optional accessories that you can use to shape the light and change its look, and that give you more options for positioning it. The magnetic ring that lets you attach the flash to your phone also means you can theoretically mount it to any magnetic surface.

The A2 seems like a very interesting product for anyone who’s serious about phone photography, and we’ve enjoyed Godox’s flashes in the past. It will, however, be interesting to see how well its camera app works, and whether it comes with a hit to image quality. So much of mobile photography comes down to multi-shot exposures and computation, and it’s unclear whether Godox’s app will have any of that (and, if it does, how well it’ll play with flash).

Godox

Thankfully, Godox isn’t demanding too high a price for the A2: it retails for $85, and comes with a diffuser dome and carrying case. It’s also available in four colors which, perhaps unsurprisingly, match this year’s crop of pro iPhones: silver, black, light blue and dark red.

The Association of Photographers, or AOP, has announced the winners of its 2026 Emerging Talent Award, highlighting up-and-coming photographers who have been working in the field for fewer than three years.

This year’s Gold winner is Austin Bradley, who photographed a highline across Sólheimajökull Glacier in Iceland, intent on illustrating how much the glacier has been shrinking due to climate change. The Silver award goes to Ritchie Elder, who documented the last day of class at a newly-established Ukrainian Saturday School in Scotland.

You can see some of that work, and read more of the story behind it, below. If you want to see the work from other finalists, you can find a gallery on AOP’s website.

Gold award: 57 Metres : Iceland’s Shrinking Glacier by Austin Bradley

Austin Bradley / AOP

According to AOP’s press release, Bradley’s goal was to visually show how far a specific glacier was retreating every year. “He rigged a 57-metre highline across Sólheimajökull Glacier in Iceland, with the length of the line representing approximately how far the glacier retreats each year due to a warming climate. Over several carbon offset days Bradley worked with highliners, a small film crew and a glaciologist, to document the process, which will later be released as a documentary.”

Austin Bradley / AOP

The shots were taken on a DJI Mini 5 Pro, though there are others in the series that appear to have been taken on a standard camera.

Silver award: Saturday School by Ritchie Elder

Ritchie Elder / AOP

According to the press release, the series by Ritchie Elder documents a school that “provides Ukrainian children displaced by the war with the opportunity to learn Ukrainian language, culture, and history alongside their mainstream education and plays an important role in helping young people maintain a connection to their heritage while building new lives in Scotland.”

Ritchie Elder / AOP

Most of the shots are portraits, taken with a Canon EOS R6 and Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM lens, with Ritchie working “closely with the children, their parents, and school staff to create this series.”

It’s been a busy week for APS-C enthusiasts. First, Sigma released a lens that many of us – Richard Butler especially – have requested for years: a sensibly-sized and priced 70-200-ish equiv. lens for APS-C. Alongside that, it released its first APS-C zoom lens for Nikon’s Z-mount, and, later in the week, Tamron released a new fast, standard zoom for pretty much every APS-C system.

A few of us on the DPReview team got together to discuss the news, and what it means for for APS-C as a format. We also reacted to some of our community’s commentary about the new lenses, and your reactions to Richard’s op-eds about full-frame not being the full story, and lenses being the key to making a format shine.

Fujifilm has announced a new Instax camera, the Square 2. As its name suggests, it takes the company’s square instant film, and it offers some new ways to change how your photos look.

The headline feature of the Square 2 is what Fujifilm is calling “Mood Filters.” With the flick of a switch, you can change “the overall color, tone, or mood” of your photo, putting it into “Warm” mode for a “subtle golden tone” or “Cool” mode for “crisp, blue-toned color.” Of course, you can also shoot without a filter, to get the familiar standard Instax colors.

The Square 2 has also been redesigned. Somewhat ironically, it now features a more rounded design than the boxy SQ1, which was essentially all right angles. However, it comes in the same mix of colors, just with updated: white, red and blue.

Fujifilm

It retains several features from its predecessor, including a selfie mirror mounted to the lens, landscape, close up and standard shooting modes, and automatic exposure and flash settings. The 32mm F6.2 equiv. lens and flash also appear to be unchanged; the camera can focus as close as 0.3m (11.8″), and will take around 7.5 seconds to recharge between flash photos.

The Square 2’s electrical system, however, has been redone. Rather than requiring two somewhat specialized CR2 lithium batteries, it now runs off of four standard AA cells. Fujifilm says you should still be able to get through around 30 packs of film before having to replace them, but, when you do, it should be a bit easier and a lot cheaper.

Alongside the Square 2, Fujifilm has announced a new variant of its square Instax film. While the company will typically tweak the borders around the image, the new variant, called “Soft Haze” changes how the photo itself will look. Fujifilm says it features “color tone with reduced saturation and contrast” and “glowing highlights and warm, diffused shadows.”

The Square 2 will retail for $120 when it launches in late October, and will include a hand strap and batteries. The Soft Haze film, which will work with any camera that shoots the Instax Square format, will be launching around the same time for $18.99 a pack.

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For years, Pelican has dominated the arena of hard-sided roller cases meant to keep camera gear safe while traveling across land, air and sea. And while several competitors have started to crop up, none have really had the same brand recognition.

That may change today, though. Yeti, a company made famous by coolers that has branched out to other outdoorsy gear, has introduced its LoadOut GoBox cases, the smallest option of which is aimed squarely at photographers and videographers.

Yeti

Like most of these kinds of cases, the GoBox is focused on durability. Yeti says it’s designed to withstand “serious impact” and that it’s IP65 and IP67 rated to withstand even total immersion. It also has points that let you lock it closed, and tie-down slots for securely mounting it. Interestingly, Yeti has opted for a segmented, telescoping handle for use when rolling it around.

Unlike Pelican, Yeti isn’t offering a foam insert that you can customize to fit your exact gear. While the case comes empty by default, you can equip it with the company’s “Kor” protective insert, which basically vacuum seal into the shape of your gear. This makes them substantially more reconfigurable than foam, though they cost a pretty penny: Pelican demands about $40 for a roller-bag-sized foam insert (when you purchase it with the case), while the Kor will run you $250.

Yeti

Of course, you can also fill the case with more traditional packing and camera cubes. Yeti sells its own, but they don’t really seem to have the padding you’d want for valuable camera gear.

Like Pelican, Yeti is selling other accessories, too, including multiple organizers for the top lid, which let you keep small bits and bobs oriented.

The GoBox 28 is slightly heavier than the Pelican Protector 1510, which has a similar size and volume: Yeti’s is 6.1kg (13.5lb), versus 5.4kg (12lb). Both companies promise the cases will fit as a carry-on for most airlines, though obviously both will eat into any weight budgets that might exist.

Yeti

Photographers aren’t the only market Yeti’s targeting with the GoBoxes, but with this latest product (and its recent, smaller boxes) the company is clearly starting to take an interest in protecting people’s cameras. It’ll be interesting to see if these start showing up on sets, rather than their Pelican or Nanuk counterparts, though getting people to trust you with their most valuable gear can sometimes be an uphill battle.

The LoadOut GoBox 28 costs $350 by itself, and comes in tan, black and orange. The company also makes much larger 68 and 88 options, but they’re larger than most photographers and videographers would use.

Yeti

Yeti LoadOut GoBox 28

• Shop Now at Yeti

It’s once again time for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, where the Natural History Museum, London, presents some of the best images of the natural world across 19 categories. The competition has been going for 62 years, and, in 2026, garnered 65,000 submissions.

The winning photos depict animals in their natural – and sometimes unnatural – habitats, as well as plants, fungi and more. As usual, the museum is holding an exhibition of 100 images from the competition, starting this week and running into July 2027. If you want to see some (still very good) images that didn’t quite make the cut, you can check out our article covering 15 other entries that were highly commended.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 / Behaviour: Mammals – The Aftermath, Federico Veronesi

Federico Veronesi

Caption: Federico was tracking elephants when he came across an unusual pattern of drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. The source became clear when he caught up with a family group. A female emerged with the calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk.

Behaviours centring on death have been observed in both Asian and African elephants, including vocalisations, guarding the dead, inspecting and handling bones, and carrying the deceased. Some researchers suggest these behaviours could indicate an elephant’s journey to understanding death, while others interpret these actions as possible displays of grief.

Location: Huab River Valley, Damaraland, Namibia

Technical details: Nikon Z8 | Nikon Nikkor Z 400mm F2.8 TC VR S | F2.8 | 1/1000 | ISO 72

Animals in their Environment – The Meeting Place, James Lewin

James Lewin

Caption: While there was no shortage of subjects and action around this waterhole, James had to deal with the harsh, unforgiving light. He chose to soften the light using a camera converted to infrared, creating this dream-like scene.

Waterholes can act as vital lifelines during severe droughts. Larger animals, such as elephants, have priority over others for access to waterholes. Herbivores spend more time at these drinking spots when elephants are present, possibly because their size deters predators, although competition for access to water may also prolong herbivores’ stay.

Location: ol Donyo Lodge, Chyulu Hills National Park, Makueni County, Kenya

Technical details: Nikon Z 7II (infrared converted) | Nikon Nikkor Z 28–75mm F2.8 lens | 45mm | F7.1 | 1/800 | ISO 800

Animal Portraits – A Watchful Eye, Aaron Sanders

Aaron Sanders

Caption: Aaron had been diving off Porthkerris Beach when he noticed the footprints of octopus suckers through a thin blade of kelp, and a single eye slowly emerging. ‘We remained perfectly still, watching one another with a seemingly shared curiosity,’ says Aaron.

In recent years in the waters off southwest England, there has been a dramatic increase in sightings of common octopuses, a species more frequently found in warmer Mediterranean waters. The influx or ‘bloom’ of these cephalopods has been linked to above-average springtime sea temperatures.

Location: Porthkerris Beach, Cornwall, England, UK

Technical details: Nikon Z8 | Nikon Nikkor Z 24–50mm F4–6.3 | 27mm | F7.1 | 1/40 sec | ISO 125 | Nauticam WWL-C wet lens | Inon Z-240 and Z-330 underwater strobes

Behaviour: Birds – Scenes from the Swamp, Isak Pretorius

Isak Pretorius

Caption: Exploring the swamp in a narrow canoe with a guide, Isak felt exceptionally lucky to see not one but two elusive shoebills. The birds pulled out vegetation, dropped it and then repeated the process several times. It’s likely this is a breeding pair gathering nesting material.

Though often called the shoebill stork, these large birds are more closely related to pelicans, herons and ibises. Fewer than 5,300 mature shoebills survive across their entire range and their numbers are decreasing.

Location: Mabamba Swamp, Wakiso District, Uganda

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 | 500mm F4 | F4 | 1/2500 sec | ISO 1250

Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles – Protective Pose, Anton Sorokin

Anton Sorokin

Caption: Anton hadn’t seen this pose before, despite documenting newt behaviour each winter. The pond was too dirty to swim, so Anton waded along the edge, carefully dipping his camera and lighting beneath the surface to record this remarkable view of parental care.

California newts interlock their back feet to protect the clutch, which are vulnerable to predation by other newts. They will stay like this until the gelatinous mass around the eggs has swollen too large to be eaten and has solidified onto the stem.

Location: Contra Costa County, California, USA

Technical details: Nikon D850 | Nikon AF-S 8–15mm fisheye F3.5-4.5E ED | F18 | 1/100 sec | ISO 400 | Nauticam housing | Seacam 60D strobes

Behaviour: Invertebrates – Shifting Sand, Sitaram Raul

Sitaram Raul

Caption: Exploring the dunes at night near the village of Sam, Sitaram saw many scorpions searching for prey. But as sunrise approached, they started burrowing to avoid the intense heat. Sitaram timed the exposure so that the excavated sand was suspended in mid-air.

Just one known species of Buthacus scorpion is from India. It uses its pincers to dig into large piles of sand. Stiff, elongated bristles or ‘sand combs’ are used like snowshoes to stop it from sinking into the dunes.

Location: Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

Technical details: Nikon D750 | AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm F2.8G IF-ED | F14 | 1/250 sec | ISO 125 | Godox flash

Oceans: The Bigger Picture – Night-Time Catch, Alex Lindbloom

Alex Lindbloom

Caption: Alex started searching for sharks around dawn when the nets were still in the water. Initially lacking natural light for his drone’s camera, he found these sharks illuminated by the bagan’s bright lights.

Local fishing communities are using the predictable occurrence of whale sharks at bagans to attract tourists. Although contact with bagans can cause some minor injuries to whale sharks, this isn’t a major cause of mortality. The species’ significant decline in the Indo-Pacific region over the past 75 years is primarily driven by ship strikes, entanglements with fishing gear and illegal fishing.

Location: Off Cenderawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia

Technical details: : DJI Air 3 | 24mm F1.7 lens | F1.7 | 1/60 sec | ISO 3200

Plants and Fungi – Shedding Light, Agorastos Papatsanis

Agorastos Papatsanis

Caption: On the lower slopes of Greece’s Mount Olympus, Agorastos experimented with ultraviolet (UV) illumination until it revealed the strongest fluorescent response from these mushrooms known as ‘beautiful bonnets’.

While humans cannot see UV light, we can get an inkling of its effect, thanks to the phenomenon of fluorescence. Mycologists are harnessing this phenomenon to distinguish closely related species of fungi by the colours and patterns they reveal under UV.

Location: Litochoro, Pieria, Greece

Technical details: Nikon D810 | Laowa 15mm F4 | F20 | 8.0 sec | ISO 400 | UV light | focus stack of 6 images

Natural Artistry – Escape Artistry, Michał Michalski

Michał Michalski

Caption: Michał was in a field of unharvested sunflowers that had attracted mixed flocks of birds, especially goldfinches and bramblings. As they took to the sky, startled by a sparrowhawk, Michał blurred the movement against a backdrop of leafless birches.

There is evidence that flocks containing multiple species forage more efficiently, partly because each brings different skills to the group. With more eyes on the lookout for predators, individuals can also afford to devote more time to feeding.

Location: Miłochowice, Lower Silesian Township, Poland

Technical details: Nikon D500 | Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5.6E PF ED VR | F8 | 1/30 sec | ISO 250

Under Water – Making Morays, Tony Wu

Tony Wu

Caption: Tony has been working with biologists to address a knowledge gap in the social behaviour of this eel species. Guided only by a dim red-light source to minimise disturbance, and using a customised fisheye camera lens, he has studied this male since 2024 as it visits females that dwell in crevices on the reef.

This is likely the first time Abbott’s moray eel courtship and spawning have been documented, and the observations from Tony’s work with biologists are feeding into published scientific studies.

Location: Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan

Technical details: Sony a1 | Customised Nikon fisheye 13mm F2.8 | F11 | 1/320 | ISO 500 | 2x Backscatter Hybrid HF-1 strobes

Urban Wildlife – Urban Jungle, Seth Forestson

Seth Forestson

Caption: The challenge wasn’t finding these lizards, but catching them in action, as they spend most of the day basking in the sun. When Seth spotted this one, he lowered himself down onto the mud to frame this city dragon against the Bangkok skyline.

Common water monitors have successfully adapted to living within cities across South and Southeast Asia. They will take whatever food source is available, such as the plentiful supplies of catfish and koi in the lakes of Bangkok’s Lumphini Park.

Location: Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand

Technical details: Google Pixel 7 Pro | Main camera | F1.9 | 1/291 | ISO 47

Wetlands: The Bigger Picture – The Great Divide, Alex Visbal

Alex Visbal

Caption: This photograph is part of Alex’s long-term project documenting the industrial footprint on bodies of water.

The distinctive pink colour on the left is caused by bright pink microbes that thrive in extremely saline water, which happens when an area is cut off from a supply of fresh water. The ecology of the lake is in sharp decline due to industrial use, upstream diversions and climate change. Since this image was taken, the State of Utah has brought the area under conservation management.

Location: Stansbury Bay, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 Mark II | Canon EF 70–200mm F2.8 IS II USM | 70mm | F3.2 | 1/640 sec | ISO 1250

Photojournalism – Warning Sign, Francisco Negroni

Francisco Negroni

Caption: Tied to the fence and presented as a hunting trophy, this display was one Francisco had ‘never witnessed or photographed before’. In 2025, Santa Cruz banned the hunting of pumas, but illegal persecution continues.

Livestock predation is one of the major causes of human–puma conflict, and it’s suggested that enclosing sheep at night and using guard dogs can significantly reduce the loss of livestock without resorting to hunting. In southern Chile, some owners have even abandoned sheep farming in favour of puma tourism.

Location: Route 40, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 | Canon RF 70–200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | 70mm | F3.2 | 1/640 | ISO 100

10 Years and Under – Flight of the Bumblebee, Amelie Davis

Amelie Davis

Caption: Amelie had been taking photographs of bees for several months. On this August afternoon the garden was ‘teeming with bees’. Without her camera, Amelie borrowed her dad’s smartphone and was able to record the delicate detail of a single wingbeat.

Bees perceive plants and flowers in many ways. Distinguishing one colour for nectar and another for pollen helps them make rapid decisions when foraging. Their vision is tuned to blue, green and ultraviolet wavelengths, so they can see markings that are invisible to us.

Location: Surrey, England, UK

Technical details: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max | Ultrawide lens | F2.2 | 1/895 sec | ISO 40

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 / 11-14 Years – Labour of Love, Oscar Whitfield

Oscar Whitfield

Caption: Using a fast shutter speed and high light sensitivity, Oscar lay flat on the ground to photograph the beetle at eye level, with the sunshine and heat creating dry dust all around him.

There are more than 5,000 species of dung beetle found around the world, and they play a vital role in their environments. Breaking up dung and burying it prevents the conditions required for methane production, reducing the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions. Burying dung also helps it decompose faster, reducing the number of pests affecting livestock and wildlife.

Location: Zambezi National Park, Hwange District, Zimbabwe

Technical details: Canon EOS R6 Mark II | Sigma 150–600mm F5–6.3 DG OS HSM | 500mm | F6.3 | 1/1250 sec | ISO 3200

15-17 Years – Birdsong Painted in Light, Konrad Gräeter

Konrad Gräeter

Caption: Konrad had to crouch down low on the steep slope of the vineyard and point his camera through a gap in the foliage to frame the blackbird within its landscape.

Blackbirds can be heard singing at different times of day, but their songs have the most complex compositions at dawn. During the spring breeding season, the males sing from elevated vantage points to proclaim their territory and to attract a mate. Females respond with a softer sound, known as a subsong, during courtship.

Location: Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Technical details: Fujifilm X-H2S | Fujifilm XF 150–600mm F5.6–8 R LM OIS WR | 600mm | F8 | 1/800 sec | ISO 400

Photojournalist Story Award – Wily Coyotes of San Francisco, Loren Elliott

Loren Elliott

Caption: A coyote pads along a trail in Bernal Heights Park, overlooking the city and bay of San Francisco. This individual is part of a resident pack that Loren observed hunting rodents in the park, which is also popular with people and dogs.

Around 100 of these urban-adapted wild canines live alongside more than 800,000 human inhabitants, and attitudes towards them are mixed. While coyotes sometimes prey on domestic animals, they also bring benefits such as controlling disease-carrying rodents.

In this portfolio, Loren invites us to reconsider our perceptions of these wild animals and their place in urban environments, living alongside humans.

Location: San Francisco, USA

Technical details: Sony a9 II | 20mm F1.8 | F5.6 | 1/800 sec | ISO 250 | 2x Pocket Wizard Plus IIIe radio triggers

Rising Star Award – Hidden Depths, Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas

Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas

Caption: When Alexis spotted this robber fly, it had already impaled the flesh fly with its needlelike mouthparts. The bubbles forming in the victim’s eyes indicate that the robber fly has injected digestive enzymes that liquefy its internal tissues before they are sucked out.

A previous winner of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, Alexis got his first camera aged ten. His focus shifted to macro photography during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when he was unable to venture farther than the urban habitats close to home in Berlin, Germany.

By experimenting with focus stacking techniques, which involve combining multiple images with different planes of focus to increase the depth of field, Alexis wants to bring Winner Rising Star Award attention to species that often go unnoticed.

Location: Germany and Northern Ireland, UK

Technical details: Fujifilm X-H2 | Laowa 65mm f2.8 macro | F5.6 | 1/200 | ISO 200 | Godox V860III flash + Cygnustech diffuser | focus stack of 24 images

Portfolio Award – Secret Worlds, Kutub Uddin

Kutub Uddin

Caption: Fine threads, known as capillitium, emerge on the round, yellow-green bodies, which will eventually help disperse reproductive spores. Kutub says they appear like ‘tiny clusters or unusual textures on the wood, often appearing as minute pins, spheres or dust-like groupings’.

Kutub became interested in slime moulds in 2024, and as a macro photographer now devotes much of his time to revealing this tiny hidden world. He loves exploring his local woodlands in southeast England, where fallen logs and damp forest floors provide opportunities for discovering these fascinating organisms.

Slime moulds occur throughout the world, mostly growing on dead wood or leaf litter while feeding on other micro-organisms. The structures depicted in this portfolio are just one to two millimetres high (less than 1/12 of an inch).

Location: West Sussex, England, UK

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 | Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x Macro Photo | F3.2 | 1/4 sec | ISO 400 | diffused flash | Cognisys StackShot macro rail | Benro Bat tripod | focus stack of 124 images

GoPro has announced a free firmware update for its Mission 1 series of cameras aimed at making them nicer to use for photography, as well as adding greater support for anamorphic lenses and upgrading its external monitoring software.

One of the big new features in the release is the addition of a burst mode, which will let you hold down the shutter button to capture more than 100 12MP stills (or over 20 Raws in the camera’s 50MP mode). The company says the camera will have an on-screen indicator for when the buffer is getting full. The company doesn’t say what burst rates the camera will shoot at, or whether you’ll be able to change them, but we’ll be sure to update this article as soon as we can test it for ourselves.

The company also says it has changed the sound that plays when you take a picture, updating it to a “modernized shutter sound delivers clear, distinguishable audio confirmation for each photo as it’s captured.”

Mitchell Clark

More importantly, it’s also attempted to reduce the amount of lag between you tapping the shutter button and the camera taking a photo. While I haven’t found it to be particularly bad while testing the Mission 1 Pro ILS, it does take a considerable amount of time to process and save the photo after taking it, so it’ll be interesting to see if the update lets you quickly take one photo after another, even if you’re not in Continuous mode.

The update isn’t just for photographers, though. The company is adding beta support for anamorphic lenses to the Mission 1 Pro ILS, its model with a Micro Four Thirds mount. GoPro says this update will make its digital image stabilization work with anamorphic lenses, and will add metadata to your files that tell your editing software what squeeze ratio it was recorded in, with support for 1.33x, 1.5x, 1.6x, 1.8x and 2.0x. The update doesn’t include a way to preview desqueezed footage on the camera, but the company says that feature will be “coming soon.”

Finally, alongside the firmware upgrades, GoPro is updating its Mission Monitor app, which is designed to let you control the camera from an iPhone or iPad, and to see the preview on a larger screen with some pro-level assist tools and overlays. The app can now work wirelessly, rather than requiring a USB-C tether, and supports controlling the new photo modes.

It also gains support for four new assist tools: histogram and waveform exposure monitors, a false color overlay, which displays your image in a variety of colors according to their brightness level, and an RGB parade display to let you see scopes for all three of your color channels side-by-side.

It’s nice to see GoPro making improvements to the Mission 1 line, even if I’m still not entirely sold on the concept of using an action camera in lieu of a compact. (More to come on this later, but I’ve found the photo cage accessories from GoPro and others to be quite unsatisfying, especially when paired with touchscreen controls.) Still, it’s hard to complain about a product getting better at taking pictures; for someone carrying it around to take video, it’ll make the experience of grabbing the occasional still nicer.

The updated firmware for the Mission 1, Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 Pro ILS is now available through GoPro’s website or the Quik app.

As a camera reviewer, my job often requires me to travel to check out new products, not only to test them, but to also cover them so I can share them with you all. That process requires a bit of supporting gear, and I thought it would be fun to do a run-through of everything I brought with me on a recent trip where I planned on producing three videos, among other tasks.

One of those videos was for this article, where I basically unpack my bag in a (reasonably) quiet section of an airport to show everything that’s in it, and to explain why I use it. Below, I’ll include a list of all the things I cover in the video, and sprinkle in any additional fun facts or info that didn’t make it in.

One last programming note: apologies for the slightly ropy photos: I’ve been between airports for most of this week, and haven’t been able to find a nice backdrop where I wouldn’t have felt exceedingly self conscious taking pictures with a camera. Filming in an empty section of an airport was already enough!

Cameras and lenses

Mitchell Clark

This trip was primarily focused on shooting a few videos, so my main camera was the Canon EOS R6 V. I’ve already shot several videos with it, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get a few more under my belt as I finish up the review. That was paired with its kit lens, the RF 20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ, which, while being a surprisingly competent stills lens, really shines for the fast-paced filming I was doing this week. (The results of which you’ll see in due time!)

I typically use my PolarPro 2-5 variable ND filter, which magnetically attaches to a screw-on adapter, making it very easy to swap it between lenses. However, weather, indoor filming locations and late shoots meant it mostly stayed in the bag.

Mitchell Clark

I also brought the Panasonic S1II with a 100mm F2.8 macro lens for detail shots and product photos. It’s a setup I really like and, when I’m not testing a video camera, that kit plus Panasonics 24-60mm F2.8 is my go-to filming setup. If you keep up with our YouTube channel, you’ve seen quite a few videos shot with it.

Finally, another camera I’m reviewing in the background: the GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS, which I’ve paired with a Laowa 6mm T2.1 and Meike 12mm F2.8 lens. Why those, in a world filled with great Micro Four Thirds lens options? Because the GoPro doesn’t work with any of them that require electrical contacts for aperture and focus control which, it turns out, is most of them.

I stored all of that in two Peak Design camera cubes. And, because I know someone will ask, no, this article isn’t sponsored in any way by PD, despite featuring a lot of it’s gear; I bought everything in this kit with my own money, not necessarily because it’s the absolute best, but because it mostly works well together and meets my needs.

The supporting cast

I won’t cover absolutely every accessory that I pack with me – those are pretty well covered in the video – but I’ll call out some of my favorites, and go into a bit more of the nerdy details that our audience may appreciate.

Mitchell Clark

For this trip, specifically, I brought a Godox iT32 flash and an Aperture MC RGBWW light for taking detail shots. I also brought my Peak Design Travel Tripod that I’ve had pretty much since it launched, which is handy to have when filming yourself (even if I found myself missing the fluid head I got to test with the company’s Pro line, which I just can’t quite justify the price of).

There are a few things that live in my pack (a Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L) full time, because I always need to be able to access them no matter what I’m working on:

• A gray card
• A selection of memory cards (I also keep a spare SD in my wallet, which has saved me countless times)
• Two extra tripod plates
• Filter ring adapters for common and uncommon sizes
• Peak Design wrist strap and extra anchors (pro tip: the anchors come in different colors now, so feel free to get the pinkish-orange ones if you like to have fun, or the all-black ones if you’re frustrated with the decidedly not-stealth red ring that’s traditionally graced them)
• Dual port USB-C charger (35W) and Nitecore NB10000 battery bank
• Crankbrothers M10 multitool for installing and removing said plates (could we please standardize on hex key or flathead?)
• Sensi bulb blower and cleaning cloth
• 2m (6.6′) 20Gbps USB4 cable; great for tethering, offloading, charging, anything really, and long enough to do it (without the crazy ThunderBolt tax)
• Pens and business cards
• A snack or two
• Hand sanitizer

Sharp-eyed viewers may have noticed that I had no fewer than three different kinds of tripod plates in attached to cameras throughout the video: Peak Design’s own-brand one, the Leofoto NP-65 QD quick release plate and the SmallRig quick release plate on the EOS R6 V.

One thing I’ve been careful about is only buying Arca-style plates that will fit onto my Peak Design tripod without needing an adapter, so I almost never have to switch out tripod plates mid-shoot. If I do, that’s where the multitool comes in; despite my best efforts, I haven’t quite achieved a completely toolless tripod plate setup, though the Peak Design Field Plate has helped a bit with that, even if I’m still annoyed at how expensive it is and that it doesn’t come standard. I carry a spare in my bag, though.

Further reading

If you enjoy these kinds of gear breakdowns, I highly recommend checking out our What’s In Your Bag series, where we take a look at great photos taken by members of our community and talk to them about the gear used to produce them.

Photo and video competitions have had to deal with fakes and forgeries since their invention, a task that’s become increasingly difficult in the age of generative AI. Many competitions have had to deal with revelations that entries – sometimes even winning ones – were faked or enhanced by AI. Now, it’s happened with one sponsored by Nikon.

The company has disqualified the video that won first place in its Small World in Motion competition, stating it “did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI.” That rule is relatively simple: “AI generated videos are not permitted and Sponsor holds the right to request the original video for verification.”

The video in question supposedly showed “abnormal beating of airway cilia in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a rare genetic disorder affecting respiratory function,” and the original press release announcing it as the winner had several paragraphs describing the importance of the imagery and how it was captured.

Nikon’s statement says the decision came “after thoroughly re-evaluating the video and supporting materials and consulting with members of our judging panel.” It also clarifies that the decision “is based solely on the submitted video’s eligibility under the rules outlined for this competition” and “should not be interpreted as a judgment of the entrant’s professional reputation, scientific contributions, or intent.”

What the statement doesn’t say is what role generative AI played in the video’s creation; whether it was fully synthetic, or if it was used to edit something that was once a real image. You can still see it in news coverage of the competition and it looks otherworldly, but, to me, that’s the case for authentic microscopy videos, too. The BBC says the winner “acknowledged using AI,” and reports that other scientists raised the alarm about the video, with one expert in PCD saying that the cells in the video “look nothing like those from PCD patients.”

The company says the incident shows it needs to re-evaluate its rules and procedures moving forward, though as AI tools and people’s familiarity with them and willingness to use them advance, it seems likely that this will continue to happen, despite a growing market of tools designed to identify AI-generated or edited content. The reality is that many of the existing tools are, essentially, guessing, or rely on watermarks embedded by tools made by companies acting in good faith. Someone looking to enter a doctored or generated video into a competition would be able to bypass those relatively easily.

In light of the incident, Nikon has changed the rankings of the Small World In Motion competition, which awards a prize of $3000 for first place. That spot has been awarded to the former second place winner, Nguyen Nam Nhat, who submitted a video of “a tiny roundworm and a single-celled Dileptus” moving around. Second place now belongs to Benedikt Pleyer’s video of jellyfish larvae, and third place goes to Dr. Andrew Moore for their video of “synchronized cell division in neighboring cells.” You can view all the winners on the Nikon Small World website.

Google has made its free tool for identifying SynthID watermarks available to the general public, potentially making it easier to tell whether what you’re looking at was created by or edited with generative AI. While the tool is only looking for a watermark, rather than analyzing the image to see if it’s AI-generated, an increasing number of companies are starting to add SynthIDs to the images, video and audio generated by their AI tools.

The tool, called SynthID Detector, is relatively simple. You can upload an image, video file or audio clip to it, and it will scan for a SynthID. Google says that AI tools from itself, Nvidia, OpenAI and Kakao use the standard, so the tool should be able to tell whether AI was used to create the thing you’ve uploaded. Apple has also promised to start using SynthIDs to watermark its AI-powered photo manipulation tools later this year.

Mitchell Clark

Rather than try to add easily-removed metadata, SynthIDs are invisible watermarks added to AI-generated media, which should theoretically survive modification like cropping, adjusting colors or being compressed by a platform that isn’t even attempting to preserve the watermark. Also importantly, the watermark shouldn’t be detectable in the final output.

There is one somewhat annoying gotcha with the tool: it requires you to sign in with a Google, Apple or OpenAI account to actually check anything. This extra friction may be enough to dissuade someone from casually checking an image, and doesn’t really feel like it should be necessary.

It’s also worth noting that it is very limited. While many major players are represented in the list of companies on board with SynthID, there are plenty that aren’t. As the tool’s homepage warns, it doesn’t detect whether the image was made by AI, it can only tell you whether it was made with a specific subset of models. It’s also binary, only telling you if an image has a watermark or not. Unlike more robust (and, in some ways, more limited) tools like Apple’s Reference Image system or Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) Content Credentials, there’s no way to see the original image, or tell whether the AI simply tweaked a real photo or created an image wholesale.

Mitchell Clark

Still, it’s an important piece of the puzzle as SynthID is gaining popularity. After all, a watermark isn’t particularly useful if it’s invisible and you have no way of checking it. You’ve been able to ask Google Gemini if an image has a SynthID watermark in it for a while now, and Google’s Chrome browser and Search engine will flag images with them in some cases, but the detector is a much lighter-weight solution, and provides an option for those who may be checking an image because they’re morally opposed to using AI, and who likely wouldn’t view being able to ask an AI chatbot about it as an acceptable option.

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Yashica has announced a new compact camera called the Crew, which it says is “inspired by the collective energy of friend groups, production crew, and travel companions” and designed “to turn distance into connection.”

Unlike the undeniably retro Y16 the company announced last month, the Crew features a more classic compact form factor, looking much like many of the other cameras being sold under the Yashica brand name. However, while cameras like the City 100 feature a fully articulating screen, the Crew features a 3.0″ LCD (in a slightly unusual 16:9 aspect ratio) that flips up, making it ever so slightly quicker to grab a selfie of you and your friends.

That’s the idea, anyways. In practice, that may be a bit of a struggle, thanks to the camera’s retracting lens, which the company boasts features a “6x optical zoom.” According to the images on the company’s website, it has a focal range of 4.3-24.8mm, which works out to around 32-183mm equiv., given the camera’s sensor. While 32mm equiv. is still relatively wide, you may struggle to capture more than a person or two at that setting with sensible framing unless you have particularly long arms.

Yashica

That sensor seems to be the one found in many of Yashica’s other cameras: a 13MP model in the minuscule Type 1/3.06 (16.45mm²) format. For reference, that’s almost three times smaller than the Type 1/1.56 (48mm²) that the iPhone 17 uses for its main camera, and is still substantially smaller than what you’d find in the 2000’s-era compacts it’s aping. That, combined with the lens’ very slow apertures (F3.1-6.4, or F22.8-47.2 equiv.) mean the camera will struggle in all but the best light, though it does have a flash to help out a bit; it’s unclear whether it’s a xenon tube or an LED.

Some people may be able to overlook that because they’re going for a lo-fi aesthetic, or because this camera takes its compact moniker seriously. Yashica says it’s 26mm (1″) thick when powered off, and weighs just 126g (4.4oz), which means it may genuinely fit in a relatively small purse or bag, or even a pants pocket.

It can shoot 2.7K (2688×1512, a bit higher-res than FullHD) video at up to 60p, and can even upscale that to 4K, though we wouldn’t expect stellar results. Likewise, it has the option of producing up to 36MP images though, again, the sensor is only 13MP.

The Crew has a removable battery and USB-C charging. The company says it’s designed to be an “approachable introduction to photography for the next generation of image-makers” that offers “more creative flexibility than a smartphone while maintaining point-and shoot simplicity.”

While I’m not entirely sure the inclusion of seven color filters delivers on the promise of creative flexibility – the camera doesn’t seem to offer much manual control – it definitely delivers on the approachability. It costs just $168, or 1,320 Hong Kong dollars for a standalone model, though you can pay $10 more to get a version with a 32GB microSD card. It will be available in black or silver, starting later this month, around October 26.

Like many other compacts on the market, the Crew is being sold under a brand name that people may remember (or be familiar with from shopping for vintage cameras), but it’s not really the same company anymore. The Crew and Yashica’s other cameras are branded and distributed by the Hong Kong-based 100 Enterprises, though it’s not entirely clear who actually produces them.

Yashica

Yashica Crew

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Sigma has announced that it’s bringing its 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS (24-450mm equiv.) APS-C lens to Z-mount. While it may not be the most exciting addition to the lineup – Nikon APS-C shooters have already had access to a very similar option from Tamron – it’s representative of what may be an important shift: it’s the first zoom lens the company has been allowed to release for the mount.

The 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 has been around for a bit over a year for Sony E, Canon RF, Fujifilm X and even L-mount cameras, and this new version uses the same optical formula. It comprises 20 elements in 14 groups, with one FLD element, four SLD elements, one piece of high refractive index glass and four aspherical lenses.

It can focus on objects as close as 17cm (6.7″) at 24mm equiv., and 105cm (41.4″) at 450mm equiv. At 70mm, it can achieve 0.5x (1:2) magnification.

It uses linear motors for focusing, and Sigma says the optical stabilization is good for up to 6EV of correction at the wide end and 4.5EV at the long end. For Z-mount users, that’s definitely a nice-to-have, given that Nikon hasn’t made any APS-C cameras with in-body stabilization.

As you’d hope given that it’s made for a smaller sensor, the lens is relatively compact and lightweight, at around 125mm (4.9″) long and 630g (22oz). It can accept 67mm filters.

All of these specs make the lens an extremely close competitor to the Tamron 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD, which, beyond not being able to go quite as wide as the Sigma, offers essentially the same set of features in a body that’s within a few millimeters and grams. (The Tamron happens to be the first third-party autofocus zoom lens released for Nikon’s APS-C system.)

While there will certainly be those excited to have another all-in-one zoom option, perhaps more exciting is what this announcement may potentially mean. Sigma has offered Z-mount versions of a few of its APS-C prime lenses for a while now, though, notably, not the one that directly competes with one of Nikon’s offerings. However, none of its quite good zoom lenses were available for the mount. While the 16-300mm arriving for Nikon systems doesn’t come close to guaranteeing that we’ll get more exciting options like the 17-40mm F1.8 DC Art, the just-announced 50-120mm F2.8 DC Contemporary or the 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN, it does seem like a bit more of a possibility today than it did yesterday.

Like the other versions of the lens, the 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS for Z-mount will cost $769.

Tamron has announced that it will be bringing its full-frame 20-40mm F2.8 Di III VXD lens to Z-mount. The lens originally launched in 2022 for E-mount, but now it’ll be available for Nikon shooters.

Optically, the lens is unchanged, featuring a 12-element, 11-group construction with four low dispersion elements, two molded glass aspherics and one hybrid aspheric. It has a minimum focusing distance of 0.17m (6.7″), and allows for a maximum reproduction of 1:3.8 (around 0.26x) at its wide end. It has 9 aperture blades.

Tamron

One of the appeals of a zoom lens with a relatively limited focal range is its size and weight. The Z-mount version of the 20-40mm is 89mm (3.5″) long, and is 380g (13.4oz). There are very few lenses that you could consider direct competitors to this; other Z-mount ultrawide zooms will either start wider, and not go as tight, or start a bit tighter, and go further. Perhaps the closest analog is Sigma’s 20-60mm F2.8-4, which is around the same weight, but isn’t available for Z-mount and can only achieve F2.8 at its very widest setting.

Odd focal lengths have always been a staple of Tamron’s lineup though, and the company has lenses that you could use alongside it to go wider (the 12-20mm F2.8) or further (35-100mm F2.8 or 35-150mm F2-2.8) without leaving any gaps in coverage.

As the VXD in its name indicates, the lens uses linear motors for autofocus, which should make for smooth and fast focusing. That could be especially useful for video, as the lens’s focal range seems like a natural fit for vlogging. It’s threaded for 67mm filters, as are many other Tamron lenses, and the company says it’s sealed for dust and moisture resistance.

The Z-mount 20-40mm F2.8 Di III VXD costs a bit of a premium over the $699 E-mount version, retailing for $729. That is, however, still less than you’d pay to buy the version made for Sony cameras and an adapter, and may offer a more consistent experience. The lens will be available starting October 22nd.

Tamron 20-40mm F2.8 Di III VXD specifications