Buying a new camera is an exciting feeling, but so is seeing the great photos you take with it. For last week’s community question, we asked readers to share a favorite photo or story from their new gear. From majestic animals to intense bokeh scenes, and from antique cameras to modern mobile phones, the responses covered a wide range of interesting categories.

As always, there was also a mix of useful tips you’ll want to read about.

Here are some of the photos and stories they shared. Click their names to see more within the forum conversation.

“Two experiences. The first was the first dance concert I shot with the Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 PRO. I was more than happy to do this with ‘smaller’ (relatively speaking) gear than full-frame gear. Second was the first time I did portrait shots for posters, of dancers, in full costume, with two flash units, umbrella reflectors, etc. Those first-time experiences are always sweet, no matter how many times I do it afterward.” – Satyaa

“Last Christmas, I managed a photo which I had waited literally years to take. It’s usually impossible to take a photo of the center of the Octagon at Ely Cathedral from below because there’s normally a modern oak altar in the way. I had gone to the cathedral to try out my new Hasselblad X2D II with a 20-35mm lens. Lo and behold, a team of workmen was preparing the central area for some school carol concerts. The altar had been removed. One nod of approval later and I was in!” – ClaireJRedHat

PhillipKukelhan

“Since moving to Cleveland 5 years ago, I’ve spent a lot of time riding my bicycle along the old Ohio & Erie Canal, where I see a lot of wildlife, mostly deer, snakes, bird life, and turtles.” – PhillipKukelhan

“Two years ago, I decided to upgrade a Canon 40D 12mp with the used X-T4. After having the camera a couple of months, I had a vacation to Japan scheduled. My intention was to buy an array of lenses while I was there. I put one of them to use the very night I purchased it. Because of the low-light conditions and fast-moving moments, I realized from those photos what a great purchase my X-T4 and Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 were. Personally, there isn’t a better feeling than successfully capturing these moments.” – ronphoto

“As a second-generation photographer, I grew up using Canon, and most of my gear was handed down from my father. Around 2014/2015, I was tired of using cast-offs and older generation equipment, so I set out to purchase my own gear and explore other systems. I had already picked up an A6000 (or A6300) as a secondary camera to my 1D Mark II, but when Sony released the A7RII, I decided to rent it for a big annual job.” – reflux83

Minolta TC-1

“I decided to get the XF 56mm F1.2 WR because the image quality is so good that it compensates for the fact that it’s just really rather big on my X-E5. Well, when I started using it at the next concert, this is the kind of thing that really convinced me it was money well spent. It was even a bit emotional – taking me back 20+ years to when I finally bit the bullet, bought that Zuiko 90mm F2 and got my first photos back. Just one example says enough.” – Minolta TC-1

“Having introduced Eye Control AF (ECAF) with the second camera in the RF series, Canon made it an upgrade I couldn’t pass up. I always believed ECAF had the potential to significantly improve my photography, and I wasn’t wrong. The feature is particularly valuable with lenses such as the Canon RF 28–70mm F2 L USM, whose large and heavy glass elements require more time to focus. By allowing you to direct the AF system immediately to the intended subject, Eye Control AF reduces unnecessary focus hunting and helps the lens lock focus more efficiently, without wasted tries.” – PhotoKhan

“It wasn’t one image so much as hundreds that assured me my stabilized AF telephoto macro lens was a great investment for the online store.” – Jefenator

Invisible Man Potography

“I realized I made a great decision in upgrading from a Canon R6 Mark II to a Canon R5 Mark II when I reviewed my files from the June 26, 2026, 20th Anniversary of fashion designer Diego Cerón’s ‘Couture a Table’ in Mérida, México. Standing outside the room, I photographed Pablo Mercader Duch – performing as ElHada Frozen and embodying Marie Antoinette – through the crowd. In that moment, I made the artistic decision to allow the people to form a natural frame around Pablo.” – Invisible Man Photography

So many other stories we couldn’t fit in this article are shared in the forums. Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a favorite photo from their first new camera purchase.

Feel free to participate in the series at any time. New questions are posted here on the homepage and in the forums every other week We can’t wait to read your stories and see your photography!

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Viltrox has expanded its mid-tier lineup with the AF 26mm F2.8 Evo, a new pancake prime. As the smallest Evo offering yet, it continues the series’ focus on durable build quality and external controls, positioning itself as an everyday carry option for street and travel photographers.

The AF 26mm F2.8 Evo is made for full-frame E and Z mount cameras. As a pancake lens, it’s highly compact and lightweight, measuring just 24mm (0.9″) thick and weighing only 130 g (4.6 oz). Despite its diminutive size, it still offers useful controls. That includes a clicking aperture ring, though there is no toggle to de-click it. There’s also a separate focus ring for manual focus.

Viltrox

The lens uses an optical design of eight elements in six groups, including two aspherical elements and one high-refractive index (HR) element. Viltrox promises good sharpness even with the aperture wide open, and says that in-camera corrections minimize distortion. It uses a seven-blade aperture diaphragm.

The new lens uses an STM autofocus motor. It can focus as close as 0.2m (7.8″), enabling close-up shots in addition to broad views. A machined metal barrel offers greater durability, and it is dust- and splash-resistant around the lens mount. The lens is compatible with 43mm filters, as long as you use the included lens hood, and it uses a magnetic front lens cap. A USB-C port enables firmware updates.

The Viltrox AF 26mm F2.8 Evo is available today for E and Z mounts for $299.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Fujifilm has released updated firmware for its GFX Eterna 55 medium format cinema camera, and set out a roadmap of additional updates that will follow over the next year.

Firmware v1.1 promises improved stability and usability but future updates include support for desqueezed previews of additional anamorphic lens ratios, improved SDI and HMDI latency, with LANC control and variable electronic ND arriving later.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Tamron is introducing a fast, ultra-wide zoom lens for full-frame cameras: the 12-20mm F2.8. It’s being released for Nikon Z-mount and Sony E-mount, and is also ushering in a new look for the company’s lenses.

The 12-20mm F2.8 uses an optical formula with 17 elements in 12 groups, with one expanded glass molded aspherical element, three glass molded aspherical lenses, one extra low dispersion element, and three low dispersion elements. The company says it’s designed to be sharp to the corners, and to minimize and correct for aberrations like color fringing and sagittal coma flare. The latter is especially important for astrophotographers, who may be interested in this lens thanks to its wide focal range.

At 12mm, it can focus on subjects as close as 0.18m (7″), and at 20mm, its minimum focusing distance is 0.28m (11″). It has a 12-blade aperture. Because of its bulbous front element, it can’t accept front filters, but it has a rear filter holder in addition to its integrated lens hood.

Focusing is handled by a linear motor and is internal. While zooming doesn’t make the lens any longer, the front element does physically move back into the body. The lens has both an MF/AF switch and a manual focus lock switch; the latter is again something that will be appreciated by astrophotographers.

Beyond those switches, the lens is covered in controls. There’s a customizable function button in both portrait and landscape orientations, a zoom lock switch that can be used to keep the lens at either 12mm or 20mm, a lock for the aperture ring (or control ring on Nikon), a switch to click or declick that ring and a custom setting switch, which you can use Tamron’s Link software to configure to switch between focus position, change your rings’ rotation direction, limit focus, etc. There’s also a USB-C port you can use to update the lens’s firmware, or to connect it to your phone via a cable or wireless adapter to use Tamron Link.

In its briefing, Tamron took a lot of pride in the lens’s size and weight, saying it was comparable to slower lenses, or ones with less range, and substantially lighter than other options. The E-mount version of the lens weighs 570g (20.1oz), with the one for Nikon weighing 15g more. The Sony version is 119mm (4.7″) long, with the Z-mount version adding 2mm.

This isn’t just a new lens for Tamron, though. The company is also introducing its new branding alongside it. Those familiar with the company’s naming conventions may have noticed what’s not there, first: there’s no “Di III” or “VXD” at the end of the name, denoting it as a mirrorless lens that uses a linear motor. Like Sigma , the company has decided that it doesn’t need to distinguish its DSLR lenses from its mirrorless ones directly in the name, and likewise, most of its lenses going forward are likely to use linear motors.

The updated industrial design language that Tamron is launching with the lens is called “Toned Profile Next,” which the company says is made to match how modern cameras are designed, while feeling better in the hand and more recognizably Tamron. Compared to its older lenses, the 12-20mm F2.8 has chunkier rings for zooming, aperture control and focusing, updated textures for its touchpoints, and new placement and print color for its branding. It also narrowed the champagne-colored “brand ring” that borders the lens mount.

I personally quite like the new look, especially since it comes with a clicking aperture ring on E-mount, something Tamron hasn’t been including on its recent lenses. I also appreciate that it’s now quite easy to grip the control rings and to distinguish which one your finger is on just by feel. The switches and buttons are all satisfying to use, and the lens feels solidly built, even if I don’t prefer the finish’s smooth texture.

The Tamron 12-20mm F2.8 will cost $1699 for the E-mount version and $1799 for the Z-mount version; the company says the difference comes down to volume, behind-the-scenes differences in manufacturing, and the competition on the different mounts. The Sony version will be available starting July 30th, while Nikon owners will have to wait until August 27.

Sample Gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page ). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.

Thanks to Nikon for the loan of a Z8 to shoot this gallery. All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with the manufacturer’s distortion correction applied but no correction of vignetting. The profile corrects a minor amount of distortion – barrel at the wide end and pincushion at the long end – but we wouldn’t consider it an essential part of the lens design.

Tamron 12-20mm F2.8 specifications:

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Jimmy Chin is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, National Geographic photographer, author and elite mountain athlete. Known for telling epic adventure stories from remote corners of the world, Chin is also a Canon Explorer of Light. He recently sat down for a Q&A session on Canon’s YouTube channel, sharing his insight on his gear considerations and general approach to photography.

One thing I found particularly interesting was that he’s reduced the amount of gear he brings on shoots. Instead of hauling a huge kit, he’ll only take a couple of lenses, or sometimes just a single lens. “I’ve found that when you are working within certain constraints, it actually pushes you creatively,” he says. “It makes you find creative solutions to the different problems and challenges that you face on a shoot.” Of course, for the type of photography and videography he does, having less gear is also helpful logistically and physically, but I appreciate his mindset of using less to grow creatively.

Adaptability is also a key trait according to Chin, both in terms of gear and overall mindset. “Adaptability is a huge part of being a great photographer and being able to roll with the punches on shoots,” he says. “Sometimes you get really focused on the single shot that you really want, and you’re missing all kinds of other shots. So you have to keep your eyes open and your mind open.”

Chin also recommends looking at a lot of photography and, specifically, paying attention to many genres, even beyond what you’re personally interested in. “Look at all the greats. Understand kind of the approach that all these different artists have come to their craft,” he says. “I think that understanding and the thought processes of creating images is a really good place to make photography fun for you, because all of a sudden you are looking at the world in these different ways and then you kind of find your own language and your own ideas for how you think about photograph, and that’s what makes your photography special.”

The video has plenty of other great advice, too. It’s well worth a watch, especially for newer photographers trying to figure out how to move forward.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing $25,000 fines against eight companies after they allegedly failed to respond to questions about DJI‑related products sold in the United States. The agency is examining whether these firms played a role in bringing cameras, drones and other wireless devices based on DJI technology into the country under different brand names.

The companies named in the action are Cogito Tech, Fixaxo Technology, Lyno Dynamics, Skyhigh Tech, Spatial Hover, SZ Knowact, WaveGo Tech and Xtra Technology. According to the FCC, the proposed penalties stem from the companies’ refusal to answer formal letters of inquiry, rather than from a final determination that specific products violated U.S. equipment rules. Each firm has until July 20 to respond before the Commission decides whether to proceed with the fines or take further enforcement steps.

This latest action builds on a series of moves that have steadily tightened U.S. scrutiny of DJI. In late 2025, the FCC added DJI to its “Covered List,” a designation that prevents new DJI radio‑based products from receiving equipment authorization, effectively blocking future models from entering the U.S. market. Existing, previously approved drones can, however, continue to be sold and flown. As DPReview reported at the time, that shift marked a turning point in the long‑running debate over a possible “DJI ban” and pushed creators toward stockpiling current models or looking at alternative brands.

Xtra

Xtra’s inclusion in the new enforcement action is particularly notable for photographers and filmmakers. The brand has been selling cameras and gimbal systems in the U.S. that closely resemble DJI’s Osmo Pocket and Osmo Action lines, effectively providing a path for DJI‑style hardware to reach U.S. buyers despite the Covered List restricting new DJI‑branded products.

What this could mean for DJI’s U.S. prospects

In the short term, the FCC’s move does not mean that existing DJI or Xtra products are suddenly banned or pulled from shelves. Equipment that already holds valid FCC authorizations remains legal to own and operate. However, if enforcement pressure causes these lesser‑known brands to scale back or exit the U.S. market, the supply of DJI‑adjacent “clone” or rebadged devices could become more limited.

Longer term, the enforcement push could complicate DJI’s efforts to return to the U.S. under its own name rather than help it. By formally targeting companies suspected of funneling DJI‑linked technology into the country, the FCC is reinforcing the idea that this hardware poses enough concern to warrant ongoing scrutiny. That may strengthen the case for strict controls and keep political and regulatory pressure on DJI high, even as the company continues to challenge its inclusion on the Covered List and push for a path to get new products approved again.

We’ll have to wait and see what the outcome will be, but the direction from regulators is clear: companies tied to DJI‑linked technology are expected to fully cooperate with FCC investigations, and a lack of cooperation could result in additional enforcement action beyond the currently proposed fines.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

The Godox iT32 is a pocketable, $80 flash. And it essentially sweeps away all the hurdles that stood in the way of me using flash.

I suspect I’m not alone in having found the cost of flash systems off-putting, when I first started photography. I’d scrabbled together enough money for a camera body with a nice kit zoom and immediately turned my attention to additional lenses. Flash was always the next thing on my list. And, two decades later, it still is.

You learn early on that flashes are most effective, creatively when they’re positioned away from the camera, but this invokes all the costs of remote triggers and off-board flashes, or being limited by the length of cables, because I’d bought an entry-level DSLR that couldn’t act as a flash commander, and I didn’t feel confident enough to start with manual, rather than TTL-controlled flash.

Mitchell Clark

The iT32 solves that off-camera problem because it connects to your camera via a small, hotshoe-mounted radio-frequency controller. The cost of this controller? between $20 and $34, depending on which brand of camera you use.

The X5 controller slots into your camera’s hotshoe and the iT32 attaches magnetically to the controller. Or you can disconnect the flash and fire it remotely. The flash itself communicates using Godox’s own communication protocol and can pair with any X5 controller, providing TTL compatibility whatever brand camera you own. It also means that you can buy a single iT32 and make it work even if you have cameras from more than one brand.

Richard Butler

*Godox says Canon cameras with multi-interface hotshoes should use an adapter to mount the X5 C. It makes a “X5 Cm” version for these newer cameras but has limited its sales to China.

The X5 can only control flashes operating in a single group, so you can’t use it as the basis of a complex multi-group setup, but the iT32 itself can operate in different groups, so will still be usable, if you decide to expand your setup, later.

So far, I’ve just been using the X5 and iT32 combination and have found it to be a really low-risk place to start experimenting with flash. It’s a genuinely small unit, that makes it easy to keep with me. It has a guide number of 18m, so it’s not especially powerful, but it’s enough of a step up from any camera’s built-in flash that, especially combined with the ability to use off-camera, is enough to make it worth carrying around.

In-use

Mitchel Clark

For such a small unit, the iT32 has a surprising number of control points. There’s a power/flash test button, a Set button and a Menu button, along with a dial on the side, used for quick control. But the iT32’s small rear screen is also touch-sensitive, so it’s really quick to operate, rather than requiring odd combinations of button pressing and dial turns.

To turn the unit on you hold the power/test button for two seconds then scroll the control dial upwards to confirm that it’s not just pressed against something in your bag.

You can access the menu by pressing the Menu button or swiping down on the screen. In the menu you’ll find options for controlling the modelling lamp on the front of the flash, a control for switching between TTL, Manual and multi-flash (strobe) modes, as well as deciding whether the flash is in on-camera mode, sender or receiver.

Mitchel Clark

The iT32 automatically switches to receiver mode when you detach it from the on-camera X5, so you don’t need to give most of this much thought.

In use you can set exposure compensation by turning the dial on the side of the flash, by swiping left or right on the touchscreen or, when the iT32 is working remotely away from the base, by pressing the small + and – buttons on the back of the X5 controller.

If you have a pair of iT32s you can your their controls to set them to different manual flash values (or flash exposure comp values if in TTL mode). You can still use the X5 to increase and decrease these values remotely, but any increase or decrease will be applied to both flashes, so you can’t remotely adjust them independently, as you would in a proper system of grouped flashes.

Mitchel Clark

When working handheld, I found the touchscreen to be very sensitive and the control dial very easy to jog, so tended to make use of the ‘Lock’ function in the menu, to stop myself accidentally changing the flash settings. Once lock is engaged, you need to hold ‘Set’ for two seconds to re-activate the controls.

The iT32 has its own, built-in battery, so you don’t need to hunt around for a fresh set of AAs all the time. It recharges over its USB-C socket, which is also used for updating firmware for both the flash and the X5. The X5 unit has its own battery, which charges up when connected to the iT32. You can check the battery level on the menu of the flash, when it’s connected, or long-press the – button, where it will communicate its charge level with between zero and four flashes of its tiny red LED.

Richard Butler

Generally, getting started with the iT32 is simplicity itself. The two units pair with one another when physically connected, switching the flash to the correct camera brand’s protocol, and then auto switches between on- and off-camera operation. It’s only two swipes on the touchscreen to manually engage receiver mode, if you power the flash on again later and don’t want to have to physically re-connect them each time.

As you use the setup more, it’s worth scanning through the manual, as there are some differences between camera brands about how to access modes such as high-speed sync and rear curtain flash sync, but there’s nothing that a complete novice should find off-putting at all.

Overall, though, I found the X5 / iT32 pairing to be a remarkably cost-effective way to access the world of flash photography. And, significantly, the realm of off-board flash. This simple, sub-$100 set overcame pretty much all of my previous concerns about cost, about compatibility and around batteries, leaving me with no excuse.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Capture One has built its reputation as the professional standard for commercial and beauty photographers thanks to its precise color management and tethering tools. But the company is also in the midst of an expansion, adding tools for new types of photographers, from photojournalists to those working with film.

We sat down with CEO Rafael Orta to talk about what that growth looks like, how the company approaches AI, and how it differentiates itself from other editing platforms.

Who it’s for

Capture One

While some editing platforms aim to serve everyone, Capture One is intentionally more narrow in its scope. Orta is clear about who the company builds for: photographers who have made photography their career choice, whether as a primary income source or a serious secondary one.

The professional lens shapes everything from feature priorities to how the company talks about its product. Capture One is often considered the commercial standard for beauty and product photography, but Orta says it has deliberately expanded into professional portrait, wedding and family photography in recent years as well. It’s also seen lots of growth in its enterprise segment, with the Associated Press coming on as its first photojournalism client last year.

The key is that all of these are genres where client relationships and deadlines can define the work. “We have a really good understanding of how photographers work with clients, work under deadlines and how clients are the ultimate judge of your work,” Orta says. “It’s a tool that has been built with professional standards in mind.”

AI on its terms

There’s no getting around the fact that AI is everywhere these days, and it’s reshaping many aspects of the photography software market. But Orta is careful about how Capture One positions itself within that shift, and it comes down to trust in the company’s identity. “We are not confused about who we are,” he says. “We are a photography company first, not a software company that happens to serve photographers.”

That identity, according to Orta, is what allows the company to incorporate AI responsibly. He tells me that Capture One owns more cameras than it has employees and that many of the photos on its website and in its marketing are taken by Capture One team members, who are photographers. “We are incredibly protective of usage rights; even in internal presentations, you need to credit the photographer,” he explains. The company also runs a monthly internal photography competition with winning images adorning the walls of their offices.

Orta explains all of this to make it clear that AI tools in Capture One are built by people who take photography seriously; they aren’t added simply to keep pace with competitors. “It’s why we’ve been able to bring AI into Capture One without the backlash others have faced,” he says. “We built it as a participant in the industry, not an operator standing outside it looking in,” he says.

A pulse on the community

Earlier this year, Capture One released a negative film conversion feature. While this could seem like an odd move for an editing platform dedicated to commercial work, Orta sees it as the perfect example of how in-tune with the industry the company is.

“It’s the perfect example of our connectivity in the industry,” Orta says. “We saw early on that there was a resurgence of film photography, and it quickly began to enter the commercial space.” He explains that they want to offer a better way for commercial photographers to integrate all their work into a single platform. Doing so enables photographers to maintain a more consistent workflow and create a more coherent look across both film and digital.

Orta is also clear about how intentional the company is with new features and the work involved in creating those. “We are soaking in the industry, and we listen and respond to the requests,” he says. “But because we’re precious about quality, some of these things may take a bit of time. We spent the best part of two years on negative conversion to make sure the results would be good.”

As an example of how dedicated the team is to its new features, Orta tells me that a few weeks ago, the company held its annual gathering and handed out disposable film cameras to everyone there. Now, the employees are using the negative conversion tool to scan in their own negatives. It’s another example of the team getting real-world experience with the features they develop.

Pricing adjustments

Capture One

Capture One has never been the cheapest option for photographers, and recent pricing increases have made that especially true. The editing platform has raised its prices twice in recent years, and another 6% increase took effect this month. The new price is more than double the cost of Adobe’s Lightroom, a gap that is certainly hard to ignore.

Orta doesn’t shy away from the pricing question, though. “What we have committed to is yearly pricing increases, and we will do them in a modest way,” he says. As for the why, Orta simply cites inflation and foreign exchange as factors in the decision.

Naturally, he points to what subscribers get in return. Orta says that Capture One has been pushing more than one update per month to at least one of its platforms, bringing a constant stream of improvements. He explains that these include server-side updates to things like its collaboration tools (Live, Live for Studio) and admin platform, not just desktop and mobile app updates. Some of these updates are visible to a user, while others aren’t. He adds that the company has simplified its product lineup in recent years to make pricing tiers clearer. Overall, Orta frames the increases less as a burden and more as a reflection of ongoing investment in the product.

A clear vision for the future

For Orta, all of Capture One’s recent changes, including the newly added Hasselblad support, point in the same direction: a company that’s clear on who it is and who it’s building for. “We try to serve specific genres and build products and services that are perfectly adapted to the needs of each one,” he says. For a company with its roots in commercial studios, that’s a wider net than it used to be, but it doesn’t mean that the focus is any less intentional.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

The Sony RX10 V arrived just before a trip I had planned to San Francisco, giving me some more interesting / less familiar shooting opportunities, the chance to play with an extremely long lens, and a lesson in how hard it is to re-create Todd Walker’s famous 1964 photo of California Street.

I made sure to grab some low-light photos as well as some trams, sunshine and marine-layer gloom.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Insta360 is teaming up with 3D printer company Bambu Lab to encourage custom accessories for the new Luna Ultra gimbal camera. To that end, the pair has launched a co-branded Luna Ultra Design Challenge and made official design files available for creatives.

The challenge is hosted through Bambu Lab’s MakerWorld platform, a community where creators can share and 3D‑print custom designs. To make things easier for those interested in creating accessories, Insta360 has published official 3MF and STL design files for the Luna Ultra. Insta360 is the first camera brand with an official presence on MakerWorld, and it’s certainly not typical to see a company sanctioning third-party 3D-printed, precision-fit accessories for its cameras. That hasn’t stopped people from making their own accessories, but having an easier means to do so will likely be appreciated by many users.

The contest has two entry tracks: Track A is about designing and uploading actual 3D-printable parts for Luna Ultra, while Track B is about showcasing or pitching those ideas through content across major social platforms.

Track A is geared toward 3D designers and engineers and is meant for fully realized models. It consists of two categories: The Practical Add-ons category includes things like stability mounts, filming rigs and advanced creator tools, while the Creative Mods category focuses on aesthetic covers, playful themes and stylistic upgrades. Those submitting to Track A should use #PrintForLuna within MakerWorld.

Track B can include finished 3D-printed products, but it’s also open to hand-drawn design concepts and creative accessory ideas, so even those without a 3D printer can still take part. Those interested in submitting projects in Track B should tag their posts with #PrintForLuna, #BambuLab and #Insta360LunaUltra on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook or Reddit (r/Insta360).

Insta360

The challenge has prizes up for grabs. Insta360 says there are a total of 40 joint awards, with selected winners receiving the Insta360 Luna Ultra camera and either the Bambu Lab X2D Combo or A2L Combo 3D printers. There will also be other hardware prizes, along with gift cards and coupons. Additionally, the company says the best ideas may be selected for further development and possibly turned into an official product. Creators of those designs will have access to “exclusive collaboration opportunities and additional rewards, with full details confirmed with the winners directly.”

The Luna Ultra Design Challenge runs from now through August 9, with winners announced on August 20. You can download the 3MF and STL design files from MakerWorld, and learn more about submission requirements on the challenge page.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

A new video from Kodak and movie studio A24 follows actress Olivia Wilde as she tours Kodak’s Film Lab in New York City. The tour is technically a promotional stop for “The Invite,” a recently released dark comedy Wilde both directed and stars in, though it doesn’t come across that way. Instead, the four-minute video offers a short glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes when movies are shot on film.

In the video, Wilde walks through various parts of the lab with technicians who briefly explain what they do, from loading the film in the darkroom to running it through the development steps and splicing it all together. What struck me is how very low-budget the space looks. Aside from the required specialized equipment (I especially love the fancy machine used to dry the negatives), it looks like any gritty big-city studio/lab space. Piles of miscellaneous items are piled everywhere, there are old radiators with paint rubbed off, and the people working there don’t seem fussed by any of the attention. It’s far from a glamorous space.

The video is a short watch, so it absolutely doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty details of the process. But it’s a nice overview of how the lab turns exposed negatives into usable images, and it’s always neat to see behind-the-scenes looks like this.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add DPReview as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.