89%

Overall score

Jump to conclusion

Key specifications

• 43mm F2 image stabilized lens
• 60MP BSI CMOS full-frame sensor
• Options to crop in to 60, 75, 90, 120 or 150mm equiv focal lengths
• 5.76M dot OLED EVF with 0.79x magnification
• 3" tilt touchscreen LCD with 1.8 million dots
• Native ISO range of 100-100,000 (ISO 50 manually selectable)
• Hybrid autofocus (PDAF + contrast AF with DFD)
• Continuous shooting up to 15fps (7fps with AF-C)
• 8K video capture in UHD or DCI ratios up to 30p (H.265)
• Apple ProRes 422HQ support for 1080p video capture up to 60p
• AI-assisted perspective control and dynamic range tools for JPEG mode
• IP52-rated dust and water resistant
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with connection to Leica Fotos app
• Wireless charging via optional hand grip add-on

The Leica Q3 43 will be available from today at a recommended price of $6895, nearly $900 (15%) more than the existing Q3 was at launch, though that price has risen by $300 in the meantime. An optional accessory grip, giving a more pronounced hand-hold and adding Arca-compatible flanges for tripod mounting, will cost $250.

Index:

• What's new
• How it compares
• Body & handling
• Image quality
• Autofocus
• Video
• Conclusion
• Sample gallery
• Specifications
• Press Release

What's new

In terms of what's new, the answer is a paradoxical middle ground between: 'very little' and 'everything.'

The only major feature change present in the Q3 43 is the focal length of its lens and, consequently, the equivalent focal lengths of its crop modes. It's a completely new design comprising 11 lenses in 8 groups, including 7 aspherics [per a design patented by Panasonic]. It wears Leica's 'APO' branding, indicating an apochromatic design that should optimize sharpness and minimize longitudinal chromatic aberration.

The focal length may sound unusual, to those more used to 28, 35 or 50mm options, but there's a logic to the use of 43mm. 43mm is the length of the diagonal of a full-frame sensor, which means a 43mm lens is neither slightly wide-angle, as a 35mm would be, nor slightly telephoto, as a 50mm is.

The result is a camera that's more flexible than a fixed 50mm would be, and more distinct from the existing 28mm Q3 than a 35mm would be. As someone who frequently uses the 35mm focal length, I found myself missing the slightly wide view I'd become familiar with, but quickly settled into the perfect normal view of the world the 43 gave me.

Anyone who's used Panasonic's 20mm F1.7 on Micro Four Thirds, Nikon's 40mm F2 on Z-mount, a 28mm lens on APS-C or Pentax's 43mm F1.9 Limited will instantly be at home. I'm not going to make claims that it matches the human field of view, because we don't see a single field of view all at the same time, with the same acuity across the scene (our eyes don't work like cameras), but it does intuitively feel like it captures 'the world in front of me.'

You don't really need to use the camera to know whether the Q3 or Q3 43 is right for you, as it's simple a question of whether you prefer to capture a wide view including a lot of the scene, or if you want to be able to be a bit more selective. It's really that simple.

'Macro' capabilities

Rotate the ring nearest the camera (on the right of this image) and a new distance scale slides forward from the barrel of the lens, showing the close focus range of the lens.

As with the previous Q cameras, the 43mm lens has been designed with a close-up option. This is engaged by turning the ring nearest the camera to the 'Macro' position. As you do so, a distance scale for closer focusing pushes forward, replacing the standard scale and indicating the closer focus range.

In its standard setting the distance scale indicates the range from 0.6m (23.6") to infinity. Switching to the Macro position shortens this minimum focus distance down to 0.27m (10.6"), now maxing out at 0.6m.

Triple resolution and crop modes

The Q3 makes the most of its high-resolution sensor, offering 60, 75, 90 120 and 150mm equivalent crops of its sensor of approximately 31, 21, 14, 8, and 5MP, respectively. Of course, cropping in not only reduces the available resolution but also uses an increasingly small region of the sensor, with the expected reduction in image quality and low light performance as a consequence. The pixel-level IQ will look the same, but when blown up or viewed at a common size, the smaller sensor images will look worse. By 150mm equiv, you're well into compact camera territory, so it's probably worth only using in good light.

If you don't find yourself needing 60MP files all the time, the Q3 43 can also output or 36 or 18MP files from its full sensor. These are downsampled from the original capture, so should be more detailed than actually using a 36 or 18MP camera. You can select the output size for JPEGs and Raw independently, so can opt for small JPEGs and full-sized Raws or, lower-res Raws with full-sized JPEGs, if you can come up with a rationale for doing so.

Leica Looks

In addition to the 'Film Style' color modes that come pre-installed on the camera, the Q3 43 lets you download up to six 'Leica Looks' via the Leica Fotos app. The distinction is that you can adjust settings such as contrast, saturation and sharpening for Film Styles, whereas Leica Looks are fixed, uneditable presets.

The latest version of the Fotos app adds a Leica Chrome option, bringing the choice of Leica Looks to seven. This can be installed on either of the Q3 cameras or the SL3. Unlike the SL3, though, you can't edit the quick settings page, so you can't put Leica Looks into that menu, if you use them rather than the Film Styles.

Perspective correction

It's a mode perhaps better suited to the original Q3's wide-angle lens, but the intelligent perspective correction mode does a good job of delivering an straightened image, out-of-camera. Click here to see an un-corrected version. Leica Q3 43 | F7.1 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 Photo: Richard Butler

The Q3 43 has Leica's perspective correction function. When switched on, this analyses the scene, looking for converging lines it thinks should be parallel, then calculates the necessary corrections based on this. The corrections are only applied to the JPEG image but the uncorrected Raw can be saved alongside. The JPEG is scaled back up to whatever resolution you're currently operating the camera at.

How it compares

There are no other prime-lens compacts offering a 43mm (or equiv) field of view. The most obvious peer is the Ricoh GR IIIx, which has a 40mm equivalent prime lens built in. Its 24MP APS-C sensor can't match the image quality and resolution of the Leica but also allows it to be much, much smaller and less expensive. The Ricoh's lens is a stop slower in absolute terms, before you consider the impact on depth-of-field and whole-image light capture of its smaller sensor.

Fujifilm's X100 VI has a wider, 35mm equiv lens – though we found it much easier to adapt to the 43mm field of view from 35mm equiv than we do switching back and forth between 35 and 28mm – and the cameras themselves are fairly different. The Fujifilm offers an interesting optical/electronic hybrid viewfinder and an APS-C sensor, whereas the Leica is full-frame and uses a conventional EVF.

Sony's long out-of-production RX1 series would also be a meaningful comparison, thanks to its similarly-sized sensor and 35mm F2 lens, but sadly it's a line that appears to have been abandoned.

As with most fixed-lens cameras, all four are built around in-lens 'leaf' shutters. These can't reach the 1/8000 sec exposures often offered by high-end focal-plane curtain shutters but can sync with flashes all the way across their mechanical shutter speed ranges.

Body & handling

The Q3 43's body is essentially identical to that of the Q3, which itself was a relatively gentle refresh of the design of the Q2. The principle difference being that the 43 version comes in a grey leatherette finish, and has the numbers 43 both on its lens and milled into its hotshoe.

It's a design that takes its styling cues from Leica's history, particularly with the rounded edges to the body, without directly mimicking the company's flagship M rangefinder series. But, while there's little risk of it being mistaken for an M, the overall design and use of typography is unmistakably Leica, even if you were to cover up the red dot logo on the front.

The controls are pretty minimal, with a dedicated shutter speed dial and aperture ring, both of which have 'A' positions, to pass their control over to the camera. Other than this, there's a command dial on the rear shoulder that contains a customizable button at its center. It's a system that helps focus all your attention on the fundamental settings of photography.

The command dial, in its default Auto setting, takes on a different role, depending on your exposure mode.

There are two more custom buttons along the top rear edge of the camera with the option to customize the central button of the four-way controller, which is primarily used for navigating the menus and positioning the AF point. Any of these buttons can be customized by holding them down. You can narrow-down the list of parameters available to be assigned to the buttons (on a per-button basis), so if you want to switch their function regularly, you can get straight to the options you want to select from.

There's a focus tab on the lower right of the lens that includes a small button. This button needs to be pressed to move the focus ring out of the 'Auto' position, to engage manual focus.

Interface

The Q3 43 has the most recent version of the interface Leica has been evolving for the past few years. As on the Q3 and SL3, pressing the menu button brings up a quick settings screen showing the exposure settings at the top and an array of other camera settings below. This display is touch-sensitive and swiping left brings up a similar quick settings menu but for video settings, taking you into video mode.

Pressing the Menu button again takes you to Page 1 of the menu proper, and pressing it again starts to toggle through the menu tabs. As with the D-Lux8 this raises the odd prospect of pressing left to jump one page to the left but having to press Menu to do the opposite (pressing right on the four-way controller adjusts the current setting or enters a sub-menu). It's a little quirk that doesn't take too long to adjust to, especially as there aren't many reasons to visit the main menu.

The Q3 43's interface resembles that of the original Q3 so doesn't yet include the updates made for the SL3, such as red color-coding for stills and yellow for video, or the ability to customize the quick settings menu. Instead you can save your prefered menu options in a 'Favorites' tab that appears as the first page of the main menus.

Viewfinder

The Q3 43 has the same 5.76M dot (1600 x 1200px) viewfinder as the existing Q3 model and the same 1.8M dot (560 x 640px) touchscreen that can be tilted up and down.

On the side of the camera is a small rubber door, behind which you'll find a Micro HDMI port and a USB-C socket. Video footage can be output over the HDMI port but precisely what resolution and codec is used depends on whether you're shooting L-Log, HLG or standard DR footage and whether you're simultaneously recording internally.

The USB port is a 3.1 Gen 2 interface, meaning it can transfer data at up to 10Gb/s. This can be used for tethering to the Leica Fotos app, if you use an iPhone.

Battery

The Q3 43 uses the same battery as the wide-angle Q3, the 16Wh BP-SCL6. The battery life is rated at 350 shots per charge, using the CIPA methodology, which we find can regularly mean getting twice this figure. 350 is a very decent rating for a camera you're likely to want to shoot with over the course of a few days.

The camera can be charged over its USB-C port, even while the camera is being operated. There's also the option at add wireless charging. If you add an optional handgrip, the camera gains the ability to charge using standard Qi wireless chargers.

Image quality

Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes to see the effect of different lighting conditions.

Because the Leica Q3 43 has so few direct peers and we've not always been able to get hold of production-spec Leicas for long enough to shoot our test scene, it's a little difficult to know what to compare it to. So we're primarily going to see how it looks alongside the Sony a7R V, with which it shares a sensor.

The detail levels are fractionally lower than with the Sony 85mm F1.4 GM lens, especially in the far corners, but very good for a fixed-lens camera. Noise levels, if anything, appear lower, despite Sony appearing to apply some sort of processing/noise reduction.

The Leica's JPEG engine isn't pulling out quite as much detail as the Sony, despite what appears to be quite heavy sharpening, that's causing a little bit of over-shoot at high-contrast edges. Leica's Standard color response is also quite unusual, with very magenta pinks and slightly dark yellows. The light pink patch is very neutral, which typically gives accurate, rather than attractive caucasian skin tones.

The default noise reduction aggressively supressed chroma noise but leaves unusually high levels of luminance noise. This approach both protects detail and gives the impression of detail, but means the images have a very high noise level. There's an argument that this luminance speckling is analogous to film grain, but it takes some getting used to.

White balance

We also found the Q3 43's Auto white balance could err on the neutral or even cool side. While, theoretically, you might expect auto white balance to try to cancel-out any tint the lighting might have, in practice most people prefer it to leave a little warmth to the scene. The above photo, shot using daylight entering from windows behind the camera, is the one that prompted me to stop using Auto white balance, as JPEGs were appearing very clinical.

ISO Invariance | Exposure Latitude

Lens performance

Our test scene isn't supposed to be a lens test, but it's shot from a reasonable distance, so for this focal length, it doesn't do a bad job. The lens is very, very sharp, all the way up to its widest F2.0 setting. There's a tiny drop-off in corner sharpness and some hint of vignetting, but these are only noticeable by comparison with stopped-down shots. Given we're looking at pixel level at a 60MP image, it's fair to say the lens is excellent.

These images were processed using Capture One, which enables us to use the manufacturer's distortion correction profile but disengage correction of lateral chromatic aberrations and vignetting. The Q3 43's lens is designed with geometric distortion corrected mathematically, so that other aberrations can be corrected optically without either increasing the size and complexity of the lens or adding to those aberrations through attempts to correct distortion.

Leica applies its 'Summicron' branding to the Q3 43's lens and both our test scene and real-world shooting suggest it's essentially free from chromatic aberration.

We don't see any sense in assessing the performance of a lens with some of its elements removed: we're only interested in the quality of the final image. And if the corners look this good after correction, we don't believe it's relevant whether that was achieved through glass or mathematics, especially if it allows the lens to be this comparatively small.

Autofocus

The Q3 43's lens has a small focus tab, much like Leica's M-mount lenses. There's a small release button on the upper lip, which needs to be pressed to release the focus ring from the AF position into the manual focus range.

The Q3 43 has a series of AF modes: a basic AF spot, an AF field that can be shifted and scaled, multi-field or a large zone. There are also Eye/Face/Body detection and Eye/Face/Body + Animal detection modes that select a subject in the scene. You can then press the four-way controller to select between recognized subjects.

Autofocus on the Q3 43 is very quiet and reasonably speedy. We didn't subject it to our standard autofocus test because we simply don't believe that it usefully represents the sorts of autofocus challenge a camera with a 43mm lens will be subjected to. There was at least one rushed shot where the camera claimed to be in focus but wasn't, but for the vast majority of our usage, it proved very quick for a fixed prime compact.

However, one issue we did encounter is that the Q3 43's detection modes don't let you specify an AF point to pre-select a subject. This is disappointing, and we found we had to turn face detection off when trying to shoot candid photos including multiple people: the camera would constantly jump from one subject to another, and find and lose people's faces faster than it was possible to select them.

It's been a while since we encountered a subject recognition system that doesn't work in conjunction with a selected AF point and we found it made autofocus operation slower and more fiddly, at least in some circumstances.

This was our only real gripe about the AF, though. Generally, it's swift and confident enough that you can rely on it without having to think too much.

Video

The Q3 43 has pretty ambitious video specifications, including up to 8K/30 capture and ProRes 422HQ footage at up to 1080/60. The camera can record video for up to 29 minutes. Leica says it'll be possible to connect external mics via the USB socket, with options becoming available in October.

To access video capture you press the menu button then swipe left on the screen, revealing the video settings menu. You can then choose from a range of resolutions and codecs.

There are also FullHD / 1080 options at up to 120p either played back at capture speed or as slow-mo. Shooting up to FullHD/60 can be done using the ProRes 422HQ codec.

The level of detail capture in 8K is very high. UHD footage is essentially the same as DCI footage but with the edges cropped off, both in 8K and 4K modes. 4K footage up to 30p is derived from the same sensor readout as the 8K modes, and shows levels of detail comparable with the Canon EOS R5 II's oversampled 'HQ' modes.

Framerates above 30p are sub-sampled (with the halved rolling shutter rate suggesting 50% line skipping). These modes are not just less detailed but exhibit prominent moiré.

Unfortunately, while detail capture is high, the rolling shutter rates are pretty significant. Most modes show over 30ms of rolling shutter, which will make them very prone to warped and distorted motion if things move quickly across the camera or if you pan.

Rolling shutter can also interact awkwardly with attempts at stabilization, as the movement to correct shake can both counter and exaggerate the distortion caused by the slow readout, leading to the so-called 'Jello' effect. We don't see video as a particularly critical feature on a camera with a fixed 43mm lens and no means of monitoring audio, but the results are a little disappointing given how promising the specs look on paper.

Conclusion

By Richard Butler

The Leica Q3 43 is a beautiful piece of engineering and design, and a welcome addition to the range if you don't see the world through the angle of view offered by the existing 28mm Q cameras.

Image quality is superb, with a lens that's very sharp and with high cross-frame consistency even at wide apertures. The camera's controls are also nicely focused on the fundamentals of photography, which is refreshing after the feature and icon overload that much of the industry has sleepwalked into.

The thread on the front of the lens has been cut so that the screw-in hood lines up exactly when fully tightened. It feels indicative of the attention to detail that's gone into the camera.

The camera had a couple of quirks that felt relevant to the way it might be used. While its autofocus was swift and responsive, the autofocus interface feels a generation or so behind the competition. Its face detection mode ignoring your chosen AF point can make it almost impossible to keep the camera focusing on your preferred subject, especially when shooting candids.

The Q3 43's Auto white balance mode can also be rather painfully literal: neutralizing any color cast in the scene and seemingly erring on the side of a rather cool rendition. This is no problem if you're shooting Raw but a little off-putting. Most modern cameras recognize that there are times you want to preserve some of the ambience in a scene, or at least keep the colors on the flattering side of neutral. The rather hands-off approach to luminance noise also takes some getting used to.

The Leica Q3 43 didn't magically make me a better photographer in the weeks I was shooting with it. But it did feel, as the best camera do, like something that would encourage me to keep practicing and support me as I went. Leica Q3 43 | F2.0 | 1/60 sec | ISO 160 Processed with Adobe Camera Raw Photo: Richard Butler

Overall, though, it's an impressive photographic tool that has the build quality and attention to detail to leave no doubt that this is a distinctly premium product. That's not going to convince everyone that it's worth the asking price, of course, but that's the nature of luxury goods: the exclusivity is part of the package. But, in a way that's not always been true of Leica's digital cameras, this does feel like a first-rate camera just as much as it's a desirable object.

Personally, I found myself uncomfortable knowing I had something costing so many thousands of dollars slung over my shoulder (admittedly made still more acute by doing it at a time when it was both valuable and secret). And its size, even with a relatively compact lens, meant I couldn't really pocket or conceal it.

Considerations of price and how you feel about the cultural meaning of such a product are deeply personal, and not something anyone is likely to be swayed on. But as a camera, it's very, very good. If you want a camera that's a Leica in every sense, but don't want to commit the rest of your life to a quest for ever more unobtainable M-mount lenses, it's just about everything you might hope for.

Scoring

Scoring is relative only to the other cameras in the same category. Click here to learn about what these numbers mean.

Compared to its peers

The Leica Q3 43 doesn't really have any direct peers. The closest parallel is Ricoh's GR IIIx, which is a much, much more compact camera but also one with a lens that's a stop slower in absolute terms, even before you factor-in the effect of it having a much smaller sensor. The only fixed-lens camera that will give you the same image quality and photo-centric shooting experience as the Q3 43 is the existing wide-angle Q3. And the significant difference between a wide-angle and a perfect normal angle-of-view should make it obvious which makes sense to you.

The Q3 43 offers image quality and shooting experience to live up to the brand story that Leica has built around itself. You can fit a good lens to any number of mass-market full-frame mirrorless cameras can get something like the image quality, but you won't get such an elegantly simple shooting experience (or such a small package). If the Leica brand and all it represents (including cost/exclusivity) doesn't resonate with you, then that's the more pragmatic route to take. But if it does, then nothing else will come close to working as a substitute.

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 (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.

Photo: Richard Butler

Canon has released a new firmware update for the EOS R5 II, and says it's currently working on removing a limitation that shows up when using the new camera with an older LP-E6NH battery.

Firmware version 1.0.1, which should soon be available on Canon's site, is mostly about bug fixes and improvements. According to Canon, the update will:

• Fix an issue in which movies captured in RAW format may not play back properly on applications due to the attached lens and camera not communicating properly.
• Improve the stability of the touch operation control when the Touch Control is set to Sensitive.
• Fix an issue in which the camera LCD display may become abnormal after the camera resumes operations from the viewfinder off state.
• Fix an issue in which the camera may stop working properly when the shutter button is operated while the BUSY message is being displayed on the screen.
• Fix an issue in which Err70 may be displayed when the display mode is switched between the LCD screen and viewfinder while the BUSY message is being displayed on the screen.
• Fix an issue in which the camera LCD display may become abnormal after using EOS Utility to capture and import movies.
• Fix an issue in which movies captured using EOS Utility may not be played back on the camera.
• Optimize the auto white balance for specific environments when the Custom Picture function is set to ON.

The company also told DPReview that it'll release a firmware update 'later this year' to let the EOS R5 II record 23.98/24p video, even with an older LP-E6NH battery installed. There will still be limitations when using the LP-E6NH battery instead of the LP-E6P that comes with the camera; according to Canon's manual, using the older battery will disable:

• Recording in 8K DCI/8K UHD/RAW/SRAW, Fine image quality, and 239.76/200.00/119.88/100.00/59.94/50.00 fps frame rates
• HDMI RAW output
• Still photo shooting during movie recording
• High Frame Rate movies
• Pre-continuous shooting
• Using Wi-Fi / Ethernet

While the 24p frame rates aren't officially included on the no-go list, Petapixel has reported that people weren't able to use them with the LP-E6NH battery installed and confirmed the omission with its own tests.

Canon says it hasn't finalized when the update enabling 24p will be available, but we'll be sure to update you as soon as it's available.

Image: Tamron

Tamron has announced the 90mm F2.8 Di III Macro VXD, a full frame lens for Sony E mount and Nikon Z mount, the latest in a long line of affordable 90mm Macros from the company.

As the name implies, the lens is focused on capturing 1:1 reproductions at relatively close distances, though it can also be used for portraiture and as a medium-distance telephoto. The company also pitches it as a good option for APS-C shooters, as it will have a 135mm equivalent focal length on those systems.

The lens comprises 15 elements – all of which are spherical – in 12 groups, including four special glass low-dispersion elements. Tamron also says it has a 'moisture-resistant construction' and a Fluorine coating on the front element, which should provide some resistance to oil and dust.

According to Tamron, the lens features the company's first 12-blade circular aperture to ensure "the bokeh remains perfectly circular when the aperture is wide open." Also new is its lens hood; the company says it includes a 'sliding window' that lets you easily adjust filters without having to remove the hood. The lens' filter thread is 67mm.

The 90mm F2.8 Di III Macro VXD is 127mm (5") long and weighs 630g (22.2oz) for the Sony model. The Nikon model weighs 10g (0.4oz) more. Both feature a focus set button as well as a focus limiter switch.

The lens fills a gap in the Z-mount system, as there weren't previously any 90mm autofocus-capable macro lenses for full-frame cameras. Nikon makes a 105mm model, and Venus Optics has a manual focus 90mm F2.8.

The 90mm F2.8 Di III Macro VXD will be available starting October 24th for $699.

Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III VXD specifications

Winners of the 2024 Bird Photographer of the Year awards

Image: Bird Photographer of the Year/Princeton University Press

Yesterday, we got to see the winners of the 2024 Ocean Photographer awards. Today, we're taking to the opposite domain; the winners of the 2024 Bird Photographer of the Year awards have been announced.

The competition, which has been running since 2016, drew over 23,000 submissions, according to its organizers. Photographer of the Year is partnered with Birds on the Brink, a charity that gives grants to bird conservation efforts.

The winning images will be on display at various venues throughout the United Kingdom over the next year.

You can view the silver and bronze finalists, as well as honorable mentions for each category, on the Bird Photographer of the Year website. The site also shows the winners of the Portfolio and Conservation Awards, which are given for a series of images rather than a single image.

Bird Photographer of the Year Winner - Patricia Homonylo, Canada

Image: Patricia Homonylo

The overall winner this year is Patricia Homonylo for her photo entitled When Worlds Collide. According to the organizers, the image depicts over 4,000 birds that died from running into windows in the city of Toronto.

Homonylo works with the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), a charity that aims to save birds who have run into windows after mistaking reflections for the sky. FLAP also works to raise awareness of the issue and ways to make homes safer for migratory birds.

The photo also won the Conservation (Single Image) category.

Young Bird Photographer of the Year - Andrés Luis Domínguez Blanco, Spain

Image: Andrés Luis Domínguez Blanco, age 14

Title: Perspective

Best Portrait - Alan Murphy, USA

Image: Alan Murphy

Title: Winter Pink

Birds in the Environment - Kat Zhou, USA

Image: Kat Zhou

Title: Immersion

Bird Behaviour - Nathaniel Peck, USA

Image: Nathaniel Peck

Title: Scavenger

Birds in Flight - Hermis Haridas, India

Image: Hermis Haridas

Title: Dawn's Whispers

Black and White - David Stowe, Australia

Image: David Stowe

Title: Hippo Impression

Urban Birds - Grzegorz Długosz, Poland

Image: Grzegorz Długosz

Title: Treacherous Journey

Comedy Bird Photo - Nadia Haq, USA

Image: Nadia Haq

Title: A Modern Dancer

15-17 years - Emil Wagner, Germany

Image: Emil Wagner

Title: Human and Nature

11 and under - Julian Mendla, Germany

Image: Julian Mendla

Title: Turbulent Fish Hunt

Video Award - Malkolm Boothroyd

Image: Malkolm Boothroyd

Our slideshow tool doesn't support videos, but you can watch this year's winner, titled Into a World of Ice, below.

Steve Gantlett is on a mission: to find whoever misplaced an SD card full of bird pictures in Norfolk county, England. According to his post on X, formerly Twitter, the card has around 3,700 bird pictures taken in Iceland.

Gantlett posted his original in-search-of on Monday but followed up on Tuesday, saying that the person hasn't been found yet. If it belongs to you, or you know someone who went to Iceland in May and then was in the UK, it may be worth reaching out to Gantlett; he's @cleybirds on X.

If you don't have an account on that site, feel free to leave a comment here and we'll see what we can do. We'll be sure to update this story if the rightful owner is found.

Winners of the 2024 Ocean Photographer of the Year awards

Image: Oceanographic and Rafael Fernandez Caballero

Earlier this month, Oceanographic Magazine announced the winners of its 2024 Ocean Photographer of the Year awards. The outlet says the awards are meant to "shine a light on the wonder and fragility of our blue planet, and to celebrate the photographers giving it a voice."

According to the outlet, over 15,000 images were submitted for consideration. The finalists and honorable mentions for each category are on the Oceanographic website. The images selected will be shown in a gallery at the Australian National Maritime Museum beginning on November 28th, 2024.

The Ocean winner: Rafael Fernandez Caballero

Image: Rafael Fernández Caballero

Winner of the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024 award, Rafael Fernández Caballero, told Oceanographic that he shot the image during the Mexican sardine run in late 2023. He said "For years, I’ve visited the Mexican sardine run, always hoping to witness a whale feeding on a baitball," adding that "it’s not just about the image itself, but about the shared experience and the thrill of being in the right place at the right time."

The winning image depicts a Bryde’s whale opening its mouth to eat a school of fish.

Location: Baja California Sur, Mexico

Wildlife winner: Manuel Castellanos Raboso

Image: Manuel Castellanos Raboso

Artist statement: A triumphant mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish proudly displays its catch amidst a feeding frenzy.

Location: Baja California Sur, Mexico

Fine Art winner: Henley Spiers

Image: Henley Spiers

Artist statement: Born during the great mobula aggregations of spring, juvenile Munk's devil rays remain in the Sea of Cortez long after their parents have left, using the shallow bays of Espiritu Santo Island as a nursery.

Location: Baja California Sur, Mexico

Adventure winner: Tobias Friedrich

Image: Tobias Friedrich

Artist statement: A scuba diver looks tiny swimming in front of a shipwreck.

Location: The Bahamas

Conservation (Impact) winner: Frederik Brogaard

Image: Frederik Brogaard

Artist statement: The second biggest whale, the fin whale, lies waiting for its turn to be butchered at a whaling plant in Iceland before getting sent to Japan.

Location: Iceland

Conservation (Hope) winner: Shane Gross

Image: Shane Gross

Artist statement: A green sea turtle is released by a researcher after being caught while trying to catch sharks.

Location: Seychelles

Human Connection: People & Planet Ocean winner: Zhang Xiang

Image: Zhang Xiang

Artist statement: A traditional Chinese fisher makes their way across the beach as the sunset’s golden haze is reflected in the sand and water.

Location: Fujian, China

Young Photographer of the Year winner: Jacob Guy

Image: Jacob Guy

Artist statement: The algae octopus is an elusive creature.

Location: North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Ocean Portfolio winner: Shane Gross

Image: Shane Gross

Artist statement: Baby plainfin midshipman fish, still attached to their yolk sacs.

Location: British Columbia, Canada

Female Fifty Fathoms Award winner: Ipah Uid Lynn

Image: Ipah Uid Lynn

Artist statement: A whale shark surrounded by a swirling school of fish.

Location: The Maldives

Apple Intelligence can do many things, but the company limits how you can use it to edit photos for now. Image: Apple

Apple has said that the pictures its devices take are meant to depict "something that really, actually happened," a view that starkly contrasts how many of its competitors are approaching photography in the age of generative AI. The quote comes courtesy of The Verge, which asked Apple's vice president of camera software engineering about what the company was trying to achieve with the pictures its phones take.

Here's his full response, which was published in The Verge's iPhone 16 Pro review:

Here’s our view of what a photograph is. The way we like to think of it is that it’s a personal celebration of something that really, actually happened.

Whether that’s a simple thing like a fancy cup of coffee that’s got some cool design on it, all the way through to my kid’s first steps, or my parents’ last breath, it’s something that really happened. It’s something that is a marker in my life, and it’s something that deserves to be celebrated.

And that is why when we think about evolving in the camera, we also rooted it very heavily in tradition. Photography is not a new thing. It’s been around for 198 years. People seem to like it. There’s a lot to learn from that. There’s a lot to rely on from that.

Think about stylization, the first example of stylization that we can find is Roger Fenton in 1854 – that’s 170 years ago. It’s a durable, long-term, lasting thing. We stand proudly on the shoulders of photographic history.

Let's compare that to what Google has said. Isaac Reynolds, a product manager for the Pixel Camera, told Wired that the company is "not just inserting [itself] into this narrow slot built for cameras" during a discussion about its phones' myriad AI-powered features. "You could have a true and perfect representation of a moment that felt completely fake and completely wrong. What some of these edits do is help you create the moment that is the way you remember it, that's authentic to your memory and to the greater context, but maybe isn't authentic to a particular millisecond."

"These edits... help you create the moment that is the way you remember"

Google's phones give you several tools to "help you create the moment that is the way you remember it." The Pixel 9 series is able to use AI to 'expand' a photo, generating imagery beyond the borders of what your phone's camera captured. It can look at a series of group photos and create a composite where everyone is smiling and has their eyes open. It can add the photographer to a group picture. And perhaps most strikingly, it can help you 'reimagine' a photo by adding in AI-generated imagery.

Samsung, Apple's main competitor, has a set of features similar to Google's. The company's Head of Customer Experience told TechRadar that it's trying to serve two different needs: the need to capture a moment as it happened and the need to create something new. Talking about the company's generative AI-powered editing, he said: "When people go on Instagram, they add a bunch of funky black and white stuff – they create a new reality. Their intention isn’t to recreate reality, it’s to make something new."

His explanation of how Samsung meets that first need wasn't free of AI mentions either: "One intention is wanting to capture the moment – wanting to take a picture that’s as accurate and complete as possible. To do that, we use a lot of AI filtering, modification and optimization to erase shadows, reflections and so on. But we are true to the user's intention, which was to capture that moment."

He also addressed the controversy of Samsung phones potentially adding detail to people's pictures of the moon, clarifying what the company considers to be true to the user's intention: "There is no such thing as a real picture. As soon as you have sensors to capture something, you reproduce [what you’re seeing], and it doesn’t mean anything. There is no real picture. [...] You can try to define a real picture by saying, ‘I took that picture’, but if you used AI to optimize the zoom, the autofocus, the scene – is it real? Or is it all filters? There is no real picture, full stop."

We encourage you to read both Wired and TechRadar's interviews in full, but by now, it should be obvious that Apple is thinking about photos very differently than Samsung and Google. Or, at the very least, it wants to give the impression that it is.

Arguably, the iPhone's photos aren't exactly "authentic to a particular millisecond" either; its imaging pipeline stitches together several shots to create images with detail, tones, dynamic range and noise levels that its relatively small sensor wouldn't be able to capture otherwise. That's even true when you're shooting in its supposed 'Raw' mode.

However, even this advanced level of processing isn't the same as letting you move people around in your photos or add a photorealistic herd of cows to them with the tap of a button. And while Apple's planned 'Image Playground' feature will let you use AI to generate images of your friends and family whole-cloth, it will only do so in a cartoonish or illustrated style, at least for now.

That's not to say that Apple has completely opted out of AI photo editing. The company is currently working on launching a feature called 'Clean Up,' which uses Apple Intelligence to remove a subject from a picture, be it a photobombing bird or someone in the background who distracts from whatever or whoever you were trying to take a picture of. The feature is remarkably similar to Google's Magic Eraser, which the company has included on its phones for years.

Before: An unedited photo taken with an iPhone 15 Pro. Photo: Mitchell Clark

To make matters even more uncomfortable, the AI-edited photos do have a metadata watermark, but YouTuber Evan Zhou has already demonstrated that it can be easily removed by editing the EXIF. It is worth noting that the feature is currently in beta, so that may not be the case by the time it's publicly released, though at time of writing that's theoretically only a month away.

After: people in the background were erased using a beta version of Apple's AI 'Clean Up' feature. Is this still a moment that really, actually happened?

The existence of Clean Up is already a little hard to square with the phrasing of 'something that really, actually happened.' Perhaps that's why the company specified that its photos are meant to be a 'personal celebration' of those moments (emphasis ours). But where this quote may really come back to bite Apple is if it adds more extensive generative AI features into its photo editing experience. If the company keeps this stance, it has to decide what amount of editing will make it so a picture no longer represents something that actually happened.

Speaking of tough decisions, Apple will also have to weigh that stance against its ability to compete with other phones. If, in a few years' time, every Android phone comes with a suite of AI tools that let people turn their 'photos' into whatever they want, Apple will have to add similar features if it doesn't want to seem woefully out of step with the times – just like it did with Clean Up...

... won't it? Looking at how much attention tech companies are paying to AI features, you'd think that consumers are beating down their doors, demanding the ability to ask a personal AI to whip up a custom emoji or reduce what used to be minutes or hours of Photoshop work into a task that takes seconds. It seems inevitable that people will start to use and value this tech now that it's built into almost every phone.

It's not clear yet if generative AI-powered editing is a clear win for the companies feverishly adding it to their products

And yet generative AI features – especially ones related to creative pursuits like writing, drawing and photography – are currently contentious in a way that technology usually isn't outside of early 1800s England. The comments sections of articles covering the tech are filled with boosters, but there are just as many, if not more, detractors who view companies' work on generative AI as genuinely harmful. Researchers at Washington State University recently published a report showing that adding the term 'artificial intelligence' to a product or service's description made people less likely to say they'd buy it.

In other words, it's not clear yet if generative AI-powered editing is a clear win for the companies feverishly adding it to their products. And while that list certainly includes Apple, which said its new iPhones were 'built from the ground up' for its AI features, the company has, for now, planted a flag on how it views the tech's role in photography. It remains to be seen whether that flag is planted in granite or sand.

Hot air balloons inflate during the blue hour at the 'Balloons over Bend' balloon festival in central Oregon. Canon EOS R3 + EF 24-70mm F2.8 L II | 24mm | ISO 25,600 | 1/100 | F2.8 Photo: Dale Baskin

It's time to prepare for another DPReview Editors' Choice photo challenge. This time, we're celebrating the 'blue hour,' a period shortly before sunrise or after sunset when the sun is below the horizon but still provides enough light to make the sky appear deep blue in photos.

For this challenge, shoot and submit one or more blue hour photos. They don't need to be taken someplace exotic, but creativity is encouraged. You can enter up to three photos in this challenge.

How it works

DPReview editors will review every photo you upload to an Editors' Challenge. We'll publish our favorites in a gallery and share your work on the DPReview homepage.

If you miss participating in this one, please look out for our next Editors' Challenge.

How to submit your photos

Submissions will open on September 29, and you have until Saturday, October 5 (GMT), to submit entries. User voting will begin after that and will help inform DPReview Editors' picks, but will not select them. They are one factor in our evaluation of submissions.

Enter your photos here

Challenge details

Processing rules:

• Post-processing is allowed, but this is a photo contest, not a post-processing contest. Please, no composite, altered or fabricated images.

Capture date rules:

• Images must be shot after the announcement date of the challenge.

Additional rules:

• Photos must be at least 2400 pixels long on one edge.
• Include a title for your photo.
• Include a caption that tells us the story behind the photo, including when and where it was taken.
• Share what gear was used and your camera settings. If you used an interchangeable lens camera, please tell us what lens was used.
• Tell us about any edits you made in post-processing beyond basic things like white balance, exposure adjustments, etc.
• Please ensure your account's contact information is current; we may contact you if your photo is selected as an Editor's Pick. User voting will inform DPReview Editor's Picks, but will not select them. They are one factor in our evaluation of submissions.
• Our standard copyright and privacy terms and conditions policy applies.

Nikon's 1 J1 (left) and V1 (right), were an attempt at selling interchangeable lens cameras to people that would never consider a DSLR, and were packed with technologies that would become widely adopted in later years. Photo: Richard Butler

If I were to ask you which was the first brand to bring on-sensor phase detection to a mirrorless camera, would you remember that it was Nikon? How about the first cameras to feature dual conversion gain sensors? Yup, again it was Nikon. In fact both these breakthroughs, which have become near essential technologies in modern mirrorless cameras first debuted in the same models: the Nikon 1 V1 and 1 J1.

In fact these cameras also marked the first appearance of the Type 1 (13.2 x 8.8mm) sensors, so were significant in a number of ways.

To me the Nikon 1 highlights that it wasn't clear, early on, who Mirrorless was going to be for, and what it was meant to achieve. Nikon was the sixth brand to enter the mirrorless market, at a time when Olympus and Panasonic were using Four Thirds sized sensors and Samsung and Sony were offering APS-C cameras. It wasn't obvious what role these cameras were going to play: primary cameras for photographers, secondary cameras to work alongside a DSLR system or primary cameras for people who weren't ever going to buy a DSLR.

With the small retractable kit lens (another innovation that's become commonplace), the Nikon 1s could let you take better images than contemporary compact cameras, but in an easier-to-bring-with-you package than a DSLR. Nikon 1 V1 with Nikkor 1 10-30mm F3.5-5.6 @ 12.7 mm | 1/500 sec | F5.6 | ISO 100 Photo: Lars Rehm

Nikon said it was targeting that third group, presumably in an attempt not to undermine its own DSLR sales. But even then, the V1 and J1 didn't give coherent messages about whether they were supposed to be point-and-shoots or cameras you were expected to take some control over. And the prices: $649 for the J1 and $849 for the V1 each bundled with a 10-30mm zoom were higher than the asking price of the Panasonic GF3, which launched for $599 with a lens.

There was much about them that was impressive: their fast-readout sensors gave a taste for where autofocus on Mirrorless cameras was going. Their continuous AF, in particular, was significantly ahead of the pack, as was their ability to shoot Raws at up to 60fps.

However, their interfaces were frustratingly simplistic, with limited customization if you wanted to take control, yet their auto exposure and ISO systems often selected shutter speeds that would almost guarantee subject motion blur, undermining their appeal to beginners.

Read our original Nikon 1 V1 / J1 review

That wasn't the only drawback. The rather unambitious F3.5-5.6 and F3.8-5.6 zooms rather blunted the image quality potential of sensors that were impressively fast but pretty noisy, even for their size (dual conversion gain was a necessity, rather than a nicety for their Aptina sensors).

It's fair to say Nikon was bullish about the performance of the 1 Series Presentation slide: Nikon UK

Nikon did eventually introduce two more photographer-focused lenses: an 18.5mm F1.8 (50mm F4.9 equiv) arrived a year later for around $200, with a ∼$900 32mm F1.2 (87m F3.3 equiv) hitting the shelves another eight months hence. But that's a lot of money just to get access to the camera's full photographic abilities.

The alternative was an FT-1 adapter that let you mount F-mount lenses on the 1 series cameras. But anyone who's questioned how many of Nikon's lenses make sense with the 1.5x crop of APS-C will not have found the situation any better with the 2.72x crop imposed by what Nikon called its 'CX' format.

Nikon stuck with the 1 series for another few years: the last Nikkor 1 lenses were launched in March 2014, with the Sony-sensored Nikon 1 J5 bringing down the curtain on the whole affair a year later. With the benefit of hindsight, a small-sensor Mirrorless system looks like a difficult sell, but you can't blame Nikon for trying to appeal to an audience that didn't want the bulk and inconvenience of a DSLR.

Nikon wasn't alone in creating a small-sensor mirrorless system it later abandonned. Photo: Andy Westlake

Nikon didn't give up on Type 1 as a format, developing a trio of photographers' compacts in 2016 that were promoted and then withdrawn at the eleventh hour. But who knows, maybe these false-starts meant Nikon was able to get up-and-running that bit quicker, when it finally decided the mirrorless was the future for its core audience.

Image: Apple

28 Years Later, a sequel to the 2002 zombie movie 28 Days Later, was reportedly shot using an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Wired did some investigating after seeing an on-set image shot by a paparazzo, and says that "the use of Apple smartphones as the principal camera system on 28 Years Later was subsequently confirmed to Wired by several people connected with the movie." This news comes shortly after Apple spent a considerable amount of time touting the iPhone's capabilities as a video camera during its iPhone 16 Pro announcement event.

Looking at the on-set image posted by Just Jared, you'd be forgiven for not immediately spotting the phone. Like with many 'Shot on iPhone' productions, it's buried beneath tons of gear, including what appears to be an external lens, monitor, matte box, and more.

The rig on the right of the image reportedly contains an iPhone. Image: Just Jared

The movie's director, Danny Boyle, and cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, are no strangers to using cutting-edge and sometimes unusual cameras to make their movies. In 2009, Dod Mantle's work on Slumdog Millionaire – also directed by Boyle – earned him the first Oscar for Best Cinematography awarded to a movie shot mainly using digital cameras instead of film. The pair also worked together on 127 Hours, a movie partially shot on Canon DSLRs.

Perhaps the most relevant precedent is 28 Days Later itself. Boyle and Dod Mantle shot much of it using the Canon XL1, a CCD camcorder that recorded to DV tapes. In the 2012 documentary Side By Side, Boyle talks about how using several of the relatively inexpensive cameras helped them shoot the iconic scene where Cillian Murphy walks through an empty and trashed London despite the production not having enough money to shut down the city.

Image quality-wise, the iPhone 15 Pro – which can shoot Log footage at 60fps in ProRes – is vastly superior to the XL1. Talking about shooting 28 Days Later in Side By Side, Boyle reminisced, saying, "if you were in a wide shot with a small figure in it, they were just two or three pixels. I mean there was nothing there, there was just the color."

Still, shooting 28 Years Later with iPhones is an interesting choice. The original movie had an estimated budget of around $8 million – that wasn't a lot of money to shoot a film with in 2002, so it's easy to see why they didn't want to spend a ton on camera gear. 28 Years, meanwhile, has a reported budget of around $75 million.

While that's relatively modest by today's standards, entry-level cinema cameras have gotten so inexpensive that the crew almost certainly could've afforded them if they'd wanted to use them. For reference, the 2023 sci-fi film The Creator had an estimated budget of around $80 million and was famously shot using a Sony FX3. Alex Garland, the writer of 28 Days Later and 28 Years Later, also recently shot a $50 million movie that made use of the DJI 4D-6K.

We likely won't know why this decision was made until the crew publicly acknowledges the iPhone's role in filming, but when they do, they'll likely talk about it extensively. The decision to shoot on smartphones has historically been a big focus in the PR cycle leading up to the release of films shot on them, such as 2015's Tangerine or 2018's Unsane.

According to Wired, the iPhone wasn't the only camera used to shoot 28 Years Later: unspecified action cameras were also used to film scenes involving farm animals. The outlet says Apple was informed the production would be using iPhones and that the company "provided technical assistance to the moviemakers."

28 Years Later is set to release in June 2025 and will reportedly be the first of three new movies in the franchise. Its sequel is currently being called 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, though there's currently no information on what it's being shot with.

Images: llano, OWC, ProMaster

Things have been a bit calmer around the DPReview offices this week, but we've still found a range of new accessories that have hit the market. Before we get to those, though, let's check out the deal of the week:

Old but Gold

If you were hoping that the arrival of the Canon EOS R5 Mark II would make it easier to get the original EOS R5, you're in luck. The camera, which received a Gold award when we reviewed it in 2020, is currently $500 off the list price. You won't be getting the latest and greatest features the Mark II has, such as a stacked sensor for faster shooting, 8K/60 video, or Eye Control AF, but you'll also be saving $1,400.

Another Gold winner from Canon, the EOS R6 Mark II, is also $500 off its MSRP. It's an all-around solid enthusiast-tier full frame camera, and a great deal at $2,000 body-only.

Super fast storage

The Envoy Ultra is for people who need to move a lot of data in a little time. Image: OWC

OWC has announced the Envoy Ultra, which it says is the 'first and fastest Thunderbolt 5' external SSD. According to the company, the drive, which comes in 2TB and 4TB versions, can operate at a blistering 6000MB per second.

Of course, finding a computer that can take advantage of that speed may be difficult – you could count the laptops equipped with Thunderbolt 5 on one hand – but if you plug it into a Thunderbolt 4 computer, you can be sure you're maxing out the port.

The one quirk is that the drive uses a built-in cable rather than a detachable one. On one hand, that means you won't have the frustrating experience of showing up with your SSD but realizing you left the cable to connect it at home. But on the other, it is a bit of a weak point on a drive advertised as 'waterproof, dustproof, and crushproof.' If the cable breaks, you won't be able to simply replace it.

The Envoy Ultra is available for pre-order on OWC's website, and the company says it'll ship in 'late October.' The 2TB model is $399.99, and the 4TB one is $599.99.

On-the-go power

Put your batteries in this battery. Image: llano

This week, FStoppers wrote about an accessory that's not exactly new but could be useful: a battery bank with two slots for Canon LP-E6NH batteries.

The company that makes the gadget, llano, says it can recharge two batteries in two hours. It also includes two USB-C ports that can either be used to charge the bank itself or to charge other devices, such as your phone.

At $109, it's certainly not the cheapest battery bank out there, and it is worth noting that many cameras these days can directly charge from a regular battery bank via USB-C. There are also third-party LP-E6NH batteries from brands like K&F Concept that have USB-C ports built into them, so you don't need a special charger to recharge them.

However, if you're not looking to buy more batteries and your camera can't charge via USB-C, this could be a good way to keep your camera going while away from a plug. The brand also makes power banks for Canon LP-E17 batteries, Fujifilm NP-W126S and NP-W235 batteries, and Sony NP-FZ100 batteries. One thing to note if you're shopping around on llano's Amazon site is that it also makes regular battery chargers that don't have power banks built-in and thus need to be plugged into the wall to charge your batteries.

Redesigned Satchels

Image: ProMaster

ProMaster has updated its lineup of Jasper camera bags, adding a new size of satchel and a rolltop pack. The company says it's redesigned the main compartment, adding sewn-on accessory pouches to the removable insert. The bags also include straps fitted with quick-release buckles to hold a tripod. The bags all have a water-resistant treatment and include a rain cover.

The lineup now includes a $99 'small' 4L satchel, a $119 'medium' 6.8L satchel, and a $139 'large' 10L satchel, which ProMaster says can carry a 16” Macbook Pro along with a camera, lens, and other accessories.

Image: ProMaster

The new rolltop pack costs $159 and has 7.5L of space in its main compartment, with up to 9 additional liters in the rolltop section. Like many camera-focused backpacks, your actual camera gear is stored and accessed on the side of the pack that's facing your back, which adds an extra layer of security.

A new version of ACDSee

Image: ACDSee

ACD Systems has announced a new version of its photo editing and organization software, ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2025. As with many products this year, the main selling point is AI – the software now includes an AI-powered upscaling and noise reduction tool, which can be GPU accelerated alongside the rest of Photo Studio's AI features.

The company also says it's improved its AI selection mask and sky replacement tools. Outside of AI, the company has also added tabs to Photo Studio's management mode, the ability to easily copy a file's path, and an activity manager.

A lifetime license for the software, which is set to be released later this month, currently costs $149.99 from the company's website.

Keep an eye out

This week, Petapixel covered a company that's making an electronic variable diffusion filter. While this type of tech has been around for ND filters for a while, this is reportedly the first time it's being used to give footage a dream-like glow rather than to darken it.

The tech is made by LC-Tec, and likely won't be commercially available until next year. When it does hit shelves, though, it could be a way to get a very cool effect when shooting videos.

Shooting for the New York Times

Finally, let's round out this roundup with an educational opportunity – because what is improving your camera setup if you're not also improving your photography skills? This week's piece of photography content comes from YouTuber Justin Mott, who recently released a video detailing how he approached a portrait assignment from the New York Times (via Fstoppers). The video mainly focuses on process, going into detail on planning the shoot, working with the subjects and organizing the photos for delivery afterwards.

Mott provides a link to the final story that has one of his images, as well as a gallery of the photos he took on the assignment. If you're interested in the gear side of photojournalism, Mott also made a video detailing what cameras and lenses he brought to the shoot.

For those who are more into cinematography, YouTuber Luc Forsyth recently made a video going over how he packed and prepped his gear before heading out to work as a director of photography on a relatively high-budget shoot. It also has a fair number of tips that could be useful for working photographers as well.

Click to see last week's accessory roundup

The X100 didn't hit the shelves until early 2011 but it generated interest from the moment it was announced. Photo: Andy Westlake

As part of our twenty-fifth anniversary, we're looking back at some of the most significant cameras launched during that period. Without question, the Fujifilm FinePix X100, announced fourteen years ago today, is one of those cameras.

It wasn't the first large-sensor fixed lens compact: that honor goes to Sigma's DP1, which squeezed one of its 20.7 x 13.8 mm Foveon chips into a small, minimalist body, but it was the first to really catch the collective photography imagination.

Back in 2010, the first Mirrorless cameras were arriving, so you could buy a Panasonic GF1 with the company's 20mm F1.7 lens or an Olympus PEN, also with the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 if you had any sense. But those were the only options if you wanted a small camera with good image quality. Both were, at that point, very obviously a technology and lens system that was still developing.

Beyond these you only really had two choices: you could buy a DSLR if you wanted a Four Thirds sensor or anything larger, or an enthusiast compact based around a Type 1/1.7 chip (7.4 x 5.6mm), which was, at best, one-fifth of the size. Maybe a Type 2/3 (8.8 x 6.6mm) if you were really lucky, but that's still a two-stop difference compared with the smallest-sensor DSLR, simply because the sensor is no better than 1/4 the size. But even the smallest DSLRs weren't particularly small, especially once you put a lens on them.

Read about the subsequent history of the Fujifilm X100 series

With its APS-C sensor and F2 lens, the X100 had an immediate image quality benefit over any existing compact camera, and its self-contained nature meant it made more sense as a second camera for DSLR owners who didn't want to have a foot in two lens mounts by becoming a Mirrorless early adopter.

Then there were its looks. These may not play a part in the end images (though the "is that a film camera?" response from bystanders wasn't a bad way to raise the idea of taking their photo), but they made the camera look and feel a bit special. And who ever said photography is a pursuit based on cold rationality?

This is probably what people mean when they refer to 'classic styling.' Photo: Andy Westlake

So the X100 had appeal on multiple levels: it was one of the smallest cameras to offer such high image quality, it would work alongside other systems without complicating your commitments, it looked good and took really good-looking photos.

It was also, at launch, recognizably a work in progress. Our original review had a page dedicated to bugs and odd behaviors, many of which got ironed-out over a series of firmware updates. It was slow, it was quirky and yet it caused an awful lot of photographers to fall in love with it.

I still have my original X100 and will sometimes still use it (which probably wouldn't have been the case were it not for the significant improvement in autofocus that came nearly three years after its original launch). After fourteen years it really shows its age, and my experience is somewhat spoiled by having spent a considerable amount of time shooting with its five successor models.

The X100 (Rear) has long ago been superseded but its most recent descendent, the X100 VI (Front) is still very much in demand. Photo: Richard Butler

We've seen many attempts by other manufacturers in this space: Leica's APS-C X series pre-dated the X100 but seems to have been superseded by the full-frame Q models, while the 28mm equiv Nikon Coolpix A and X70 and XF10 from Fujifilm seem to have fallen by the wayside. Only Ricoh's move of its much-loved GR premium compacts to APS-C seems to have had anything like the longevity of the X100 series. And, while there's plenty of skepticism from people who aren't 35mm equiv fans and those put off by its recent five minutes of fame on TikTok, the X100 started a series that's still very much in demand, fourteen years later.

The latest trick for the Osmo Action series is subject-centering. Image: DJI

DJI has announced a new action camera, the Osmo Action 5 Pro. The announcement comes hot on the heels of GoPro's recent unveiling of its new flagship camera, the Hero13 Black.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro can record 4:3 4K at 120fps, something the Action 4 could only achieve at 16:9. The company also says the camera has 'excellent low-light performance,' with the ability to shoot up to 4K 60fps in low light.

There's also a separate 'SuperNight' mode, which shoots up to 4K/30 footage at 16:9. The company says the mode uses 'AI noise reduction algorithms' to 'overcome the darkness in extremely low-light environments.'

The camera now has a subject tracking mode, which works similarly to modes we've seen in vlogging-focused cameras from DJI and Sony. The camera can detect a subject and keep them centered in the frame, adjusting the composition as they move. Because this mode involves cropping in, it's unsurprising it's only available at resolutions up to 2.7K.

DJI says the Osmo Action 5 Pro uses a 'next-gen' sensor.

The Action 5 Pro is built around a 40MP Type 1/1.3 (10 x 7.5mm) sensor with 2.4 μm pixels. While it's the same size as the sensor in the Osmo Action 4 – albeit with nearly four times the resolution – it's substantially larger than the Type 1/1.9 (6.3 x 5.5mm) sensor GoPro has been using for the past few years. DJI also claims its sensor can capture up to 13.5 stops of dynamic range.

In front of the sensor is an F2.8 lens with a 155-degree field of view. DJI says the lens can focus as close as 35cm (approx. 14"), slightly closer than the Osmo Action 4 could.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro is waterproof to 20m (65.5ft) without a case. Images: DJI

DJI also claims the Action 5 Pro will last substantially longer than its predecessor. Not only is its battery physically larger – 7.5Wh versus 6.8Wh – but its processor is also now built on a more efficient 4nm process. The company says it'll be good for 'up to 4 hours of continuous use' and that it can even 'reliably record video for up to 3.6 hours' in temperatures down to -20°C (-4°F). The Action 5 Pro also has quick charging, with the company saying you should be able to get up to two hours of recording time with only 15 minutes of charging.

The Action 5 Pro now includes 47GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded with a microSD card. You can offload footage from it via Wi-Fi 6 or USB; like its predecessor, the Wi-Fi connection can also be used for live streaming.

The dual screens on the Action 5 Pro are a little larger and brighter than the previous generation's. The Action 4 had a 3.6cm (1.4") front screen and a 5.7cm (2.25") rear screen, which both run at around 750 nits. The Action 5 Pro's front screen is now 3.7cm (1.46") with a max brightness of 800 nits, and the rear screen is 6.4cm (2.5") with a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, which should make it a bit easier to see in harsh sunlight.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro is available today. The standard kit* will cost $349, while an 'Adventure Combo' will cost $449 and includes a mini quick-release adapter mount, battery case, and 1.5m extension rod.

* The standard kit includes the Osmo Action 5 Pro, a battery, a protective frame, quick release adapter mount, curved adhesive base, locking screen, USB type C to C cable, a rubber lens protector, glass lens cover, and anti-slip pad.

Image: Hasselblad

Hasselblad has announced a limited edition of the X2D 100C called the Earth Explorer. It comes as a kit that includes a 'Tundra Brown' version of the medium format camera, a 55m F2.5 lens, limited-edition camera strap, UV filter, two batteries, and a charging dock.

The company says the camera's color was inspired by "the resilient ecosystem of the Nordic tundra," but it's not the only thing that'll differentiate the limited edition version from the regular X2D. The camera will also have a different startup screen that displays an icon of mountains, and the four-digit serial number will be engraved on the side of the body. Hasselblad says it'll only be selling 1,000 units worldwide.

Both the camera and the strap are laser-engraved. Image: Hasselblad

The strap is also limited edition and is made from 'eco-friendly recycled plastics' and 'high-tech, soft, skin-friendly fabric.' Like the camera, it will have the 'Earth Explorer' branding engraved on the inside of the strap.

The Earth Explorer logo on the box will also display when you boot up the camera. Image: Hasselblad

Getting the limited edition won't come cheap. If you were to assemble a similar kit with the regular versions of Hasselblad's products, it'd cost a touch over $12,000 US. The Earth Explorer kit, meanwhile, comes in at $13,999 or €14,999 in Europe. The company says it's available 'online and at selected retail stores worldwide.'

Images: Tamron

Tamron has announced a firmware update that it says will 'significantly' improve the autofocus tracking performance on the Sony E-Mount versions of its 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD and 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD lenses. The company's press release says the lenses should now 'keep excellent track of moving subjects.'

The updates also add support for Sony's AF Assist function, which lets you manually focus even when autofocus is enabled. That should be handy for videographers who want to use autofocus to initially grab focus but then rack focus to something else in the frame, provided they have a Sony body that supports the feature.

The firmware is now available to download from Tamron's site.

Image: Apple

It's that time of year: Apple has announced its new suite of iPhones, raising the question of whether current owners should upgrade or stick with their older model.

There are many factors to consider – those still using the Lightning port could potentially justify an upgrade for USB-C alone – but we'll mainly focus on the cameras for this article. This year, more than ever, the price premium on the Pro phones doesn't make much sense if you're not using them for photography and videography, so we'll be trying to answer a straightforward question: will upgrading let you take better pictures?

Note: unlike last year's models, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max appear to have identical camera setups. We'll talk a lot about the 'iPhone 16 Pro's' cameras in this article, but anything we say will apply to both size options.

Scenario 1: You have an iPhone 15 Pro

We'll start by comparing the 16 Pro to the last-generation 15 Pro since it lets us talk about the brand new features that will be an upgrade over the 14 Pro and 13 Pro too. However, we'll start by saying it's hard to recommend the year-over-year upgrade unless you have a specific use case that requires the new features.

Even Apple quietly admits this; during the announcement, whenever it compared the iPhone 16 Pro to previous models, it was usually put up against the iPhone 14 Pro instead of its direct predecessor. The iPhone 15 Pro is also the only other phone in Apple's lineup capable of running all the Apple Intelligence features, which are the main selling point of the iPhone 16 line.

Image: Apple

However, there are still some improvements to be found in the iPhone 16 Pro's camera system. Apple says that the 16 Pro uses a 'second-generation' sensor for its main camera, which can read out data two times faster, 'enabling zero shutter lag' even when taking Raw photos.

The 5x, 120mm equiv. camera from the 15 Pro Max is also now available on the regular-sized iPhone 16 Pro, replacing the 3x, 77mm equiv. camera from the 15 Pro. That's not necessarily a clear win, though. The extra reach may be useful if you often shoot far-off subjects, but it makes it a little bit harder to take portraits; you'll have to stand further away from your subject if you want to get the classic 80mm portrait framing, which will also compress the foreground and background more. However, if you want a 5x camera in a smaller phone, the 16 Pro is Apple's first model to offer it.

iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 15 Pro cameras

There are a few other minor improvements to the 16 Pro's camera system compared to the 15 Pro's. It can now shoot 3D-esque Spatial Photos, and Apple has upgraded the Photographic Styles system, which lets you apply different looks to your photos straight out of camera. Previously, they were baked-in, meaning you couldn't shoot a picture with the 'Warm' Photo Style and then change it to the 'Cool' or 'Rich Contrast' one - now you can.

The 16 and 16 Pro also have slightly larger screens than their predecessors, which makes taking and viewing photos nicer, and the QuickTake video that you can access from the photo mode is now 4K60p instead of 1080p30p.

The most significant changes relate to the iPhone 16's ultrawide camera and video modes. That brings us to a few reasons you might be able to justify an upgrade.

Scenario 1a: You're a macro/wide-angle photography enthusiast

The ultrawide camera used for macro shots now has a much higher-resolution sensor. Image: Apple

The iPhone 15 Pro's 0.5x, 13mm equiv. F2.2 ultrawide camera uses a 12MP, 5.6x4.2mm sensor and produces broadly disappointing photos. While the ultrawide camera on the iPhone 16 Pro appears to be using the same size sensor, it's now using 48MP quad-Bayer technology.

This will allow for pixel binning, though the real-world effect remains to be seen. Given that the sensor is the same size and will likely bin down to the same resolution, it's hard to imagine there being much of an improvement in low-light performance, which is where the previous iteration of the camera struggled.

If the 0.5x camera is your favorite, it's probably worth waiting for the reviews to see how much of a difference the resolution bump makes. We'll be sure to update this article as soon as we can with some wide-angle comparison shots.

Scenario 1b: You are going to shoot The Weeknd's next music video with your iPhone

The Weeknd's new music video is the latest addition to the Shot On iPhone gallery. Image: Apple

The next-generation sensor in the iPhone 16 Pro's main camera enables a big jump in video performance: it can now shoot 4K footage at 120fps, double the speed of the previous Pro. You can even shoot at 120fps in Apple's ProRes codec, provided you're recording to external storage via USB-C.

Apple also claims the 16 Pro has much-improved audio with the addition of a 'studio-quality' four-microphone array. The microphones allow for wind noise reduction and some fancy software tricks called 'Audio Mix' that enable you to fine-tune how a video's subjects sound.

As with the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple showed off the 16 Pro's video prowess by having a famous artist shoot a music video with it. This year, it was The Weeknd, whose video for 'Dancing in the Flames' (seen above) was shot with the iPhone 16 Pro, making heavy use of the new slow-motion features. Feel free to judge how the footage fares, though do keep in mind that the video was shot by top-tier professionals using thousands of dollars of lighting and grip equipment.

Scenario 1c: You can't live without the Camera Control

Image: Apple

We get it: new buttons are exciting, especially when they're providing a new function. Apple's new Camera Control button promises to let you launch the camera from anywhere, will act as a shutter button once you've opened the app, and you can slide your finger across it to adjust parameters like the focal length or aperture.

Apple also promised to improve the button via a software update that will make it act like a traditional shutter button that locks focus and exposure with a half press, and takes a picture with a full press. The Camera Control will also be available for third-party developers, so you may get some milage out of it even if the default iOS camera app isn't your go-to.

There will be some people who call the Camera Control a gimmick, and who say that there's no way it'd be worth upgrading from a perfectly good phone that's only year old for it. And sure, it's possible it won't end up being very useful because of its placement, or its relatively complicated control scheme, which mixes gentle taps and press with swipes.

But if it actually improves the ergonomic experience of taking pictures with an iPhone, it could a real nice-to-have - though it's up to you whether it's 'immediately upgrade' compelling, or 'look forward to it the next time you get a new phone' compelling.

Scenario 2: You have an iPhone 14 Pro

The iPhone 14 Pro introduced the 48MP, 9.8x7.3mm quad-bayer sensor that Apple has iterated on for the iPhone 16 Pro, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been improvements in the past two years. The 16 Pro's faster readout speeds should provide the same speed boost compared to the 14 Pro as they did to the 15 Pro.

The lenses on the 16 Pro's cameras also have a variety of coatings not found on the 14 Pro, and, similar to the 13 Pro, the 14 Pro is stuck with the slower Lightning port instead of the near-universal USB-C one found on the 16 Pro.

The 16 Pro can shoot slow-mo ProRes 4K. The 14 Pro can't. (The 128GB 14 Pro can't shoot ProRes 4K at all; it's limited to 1080p.) Image: Apple

For the main camera, many of the iPhone 16 Pro's upgrades lie in software, not hardware. The 14 Pro can only shoot 4K ProRes at 30fps, which rules out the possibility of using it for slow motion like you can with the iPhone 16 Pro's 120fps 4K mode. The 16 Pro also has a 'next-generation' portrait mode, which Apple says offers '2x better low-light performance.' Given that the iPhone 16 Pro's camera hardware isn't taking in any more light, that's almost certainly down to changes in how it handles multi-shot photography.

By default, the 16 Pro will also bin images to 24MP, versus the 12MP that's the only option for the 14 Pro. (Do note that it's not available in all modes, though; night mode and flash photos are still binned to 12MP.)

The ultrawide camera is one of the iPhone 16 Pro's most notable upgrades. Image: Apple

The iPhone 16 Pro's other lenses have more notable improvements. The iPhone 14 Pro's ultrawide camera is the same as the one found on the iPhone 15 Pro, so any jump in quality provided by the 48MP sensor will apply here as well.

The 16 Pro's telephoto lens also has a larger sensor, and tighter focal length; the 14 Pro's 3x (77mm equiv.) camera has a 4x3mm sensor, where the 16 Pro's 5x (120mm equiv.) camera bumps that up to 4.5x3.4mm - a 27.5% increase. Both cameras produce 12MP images, and have F2.8 lenses.

iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 14 Pro cameras

Overall, the 16 Pro's cameras are iterative improvements over the 14 Pros. However, if you take tons of images on your phone or are serious about video, there's probably enough there for you to notice a difference. If you're more of an occasional shooter, though, it may be worth sitting this one out.

Scenario 3: You have an iPhone 13 Pro

If you have an iPhone 13 Pro or one of its predecessors, the 16 Pro's cameras should be an upgrade in pretty much every way. The 13 Pro has a 12MP F1.5 main camera, while the 16 Pro bumps the resolution up to 48MP. While its F1.78 lens is slower, its 9.8x7.3mm sensor also has 65% more area versus the 13 Pro's 7.6x5.7mm sensor – that equates to around 0.3EV more light gathering ability, even with the brighter aperture.

That extra resolution enables a lot of camera features on the 16 Pro that the 13 Pro doesn't have. The most obvious is the pixel-binned 12MP or 24MP shots, as well as the 48MP ProRaw mode. It also allows for the 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm 'faux-cal' lengths for the main camera, which work by taking different crops off the sensor. The iPhone 13 Pro also lacks the '2x' option, which crops in to the 12MP middle section of the sensor.

The 16 Pro's main camera is a notable improvement from the 13 Pro's. Image: Apple

The ultrawide and telephoto cameras also use larger sensors, and the 16 Pro's 5x camera offers a 120mm equiv. focal length compared to the 13 Pro's 3x 77mm equiv.

The iPhone 16 Pro also includes the latest iterations of Apple's image stabilization and HDR systems, though the company hasn't said much about what benefits they offer over the predecessors found on the iPhone 13 Pro.

iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 13 Pro cameras

The 16 Pro has several video features not found on the 2021 model, such as Apple Log, Spatial Video, the super-stabilized 'Action Mode,' and access to 60 and 120fps frame rates when shooting 4K. And if you're shooting a lot of video and want to offload it to a computer, the iPhone 16 Pro will offer a much better experience; its USB-C port can transfer files at 10Gbit per second. That's 20 times faster than the USB 2.0 speeds that the 13 Pro's Lightning port provides.

Outside of the camera, the 16 Pro has a lot of quality-of-life improvements. To name a few, there's satellite SOS, tougher front glass, faster charging, an always-on-display and both the Action button and the new Camera Control button. It's also 5g lighter despite being physically larger because its frame is made of aluminium and titanium instead of stainless steel.

None of this is to say that you must upgrade your iPhone 13 Pro. In fact, two of the winning photos from this year's iPhone Photography Awards were shot with an iPhone 13 or 13 Pro. If you're happy with your phone, by all means keep using it. However, if you do feel ready for an upgrade the iPhone 16 Pro should offer enough features and camera improvements to make it well worth it.

The EOS 5D Mark II was also one of the first mass-market cameras to use the ‘Mark II’ naming system. In an era of R5 IIs, K-3 IIIs and a7RVs, this has become the norm, but it wasn't standard practice at the time.

Just five days after the arrival of first Mirrorless camera, and 16 years ago today, Canon revealed a camera that would help define the final years of DSLR dominance: the EOS 5D II.

This was no simple upgrade to the original EOS 5D, though in a move from 12.8MP to a better performing 21MP CMOS sensor, the addition of an improved viewfinder and the gain of features such as liveview, it was that, too.

What famously set the 5D Mark II apart was its ability to capture Full HD video, the first DSLR to do so. The Nikon D90 had added 720p HD capture about two weeks before but it was the Canon that caught the world’s imagination.

This was helped by the option to download the Cinestyle color preset developed by film processing company Technicolor and a successful PR stunt that involved an entire episode of the TV show ‘House’ being filmed using the camera.

In hindsight, the 5D II is a relatively basic filmmaking tool: all is footage is 8-bit, so has limited grading latitude (an official Canon Log option wouldn't arrive until the Mk IV), there were no tools such as focus peaking to help with focus and to monitor your sound you needed all manner of adapters to get at the audio feed from the A/V socket. It didn't even gain full manual exposure control in video mode until a post-launch firmware update.

The 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world

But the 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world, putting the flexibility and ‘look’ of a full-frame sensor in the hands of budding film makers and letting them use relatively affordable EF lenses.

Beyond this, the Magic Lantern open source software project created an extensive array of video support tools to boost the 5D II's capabilities way beyond those that Canon had developed for it, including focus peaking, false color and control over the A/V output level.

There are plenty of people that used the 5D II solely as a stills camera, and it certainly represented a major step forward, compared with its predecessor: it had a larger, higher resolution screen, a sensor happier to shoot at higher ISOs and could shoot 30% faster than the Mark 1, despite the much higher pixel count. It also gained features that we take for granted, such as Auto ISO.

The newer sensor in the 5D II allowed a maximum expanded ISO of 25,600: three stops higher than on its predecessor. Image: Don Wan

Its top speed of 3.9fps looks disappointing once you've got used to the option to capture the 30fps burst that its spiritual successor, the EOS R5 II can manage. But, even though 4K and 8K modes have become commonplace in the sixteen years since the 5D II’s launch, a well lit, well-exposed and interesting video shot with the 5D II still looks pretty great, even on a big TV.

In the original review we referred to its video capabilities as its ‘party trick.’ Well it proved to be quite the trick, and over a decade and a half later, we’re all still at that party.

Image: FX

Shogun, the FX show set in feudal era Japan, has broken the record for the most Emmys won by a show in a single year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show won 18 awards, including the one for 'Outstanding Cinematography For A Series (One Hour).'

The cinematography nod is particularly interesting, especially for cinematography and camera nerds. Even if you've only watched the trailer, it's clear that Shogun has a distinct visual style. The show is shot on anamorphic lenses with lots of character; in many shots, the frame is filled with aberrations, the background has a strong swirling look (fans of vintage lenses will be familiar with the effect), and the edges of the frame are blurry or even downright vignetted.

The show uses a lot of shallow depth of field and interesting bokeh. Image: FX

Thankfully, the show's creators have gone into a lot of detail about the how and (perhaps more importantly) why of the aesthetic decisions that impressed the Television Academy. FX's website even has a page dedicated to the show's cinematography, which mainly focuses on the choices made around lighting a show set before the advent of electricity.

American Cinematographer provides a deeper look into the technical aspects of how they shot the show. According to the feature, the cinematographers relied heavily on the Sony Venice and FX3, outfitted with several varieties of Hawk anamorphic lenses. The article also goes into even more lensing and lighting choices and contains a plethora of interesting details. For example, the show was apparently shot at 6K but cropped to 4K to meet FX's delivery standards while maintaining a 2.0:1 aspect ratio.

The American Society of Cinematographers also had Sam McCurdy, who shot five episodes of the show, on its interview series. During the conversation, he talks about the lightning and grip setups (complete with diagrams), 'butchering' light bulbs to get a convincing simulation of firelight, and how the story informed the show's aesthetic, down to which aperture was used for certain shots.

Shogun's look has its detractors, with some commenters going as far as saying it made them think something was wrong with their TVs. But even those who didn't like it would likely agree that it's great to live in a time when we can get such an in-depth look at the creative process behind such a critically acclaimed show. Television hasn't always gotten the behind-the-scenes treatment that movies have, but fans of the medium or even people looking to get a job in the industry now have great resources available from the people out there making it.

Image: Halide

It's now even easier to replace your iPhone's default camera app with Halide, a third-party option that offers advanced camera features, such as manual shutter speed and ISO control, histograms and even a mode that claims to strip away almost all of Apple's AI image processing. Halide's 2.16 update, out today, lets you add it as a control on your lock screen, which means you can use it to take pictures without unlocking your phone.

Previously, Apple's default camera app was the only one you could use without entering your passcode or using biometric authentication such as FaceID or TouchID. That gave it a speed advantage over third-party options.

Apple used to add an extra step if you wanted to use a third-party camera app

Halide and apps like it could provide lock screen widgets that live under the clock, but unlike the shortcuts at the bottom of the screen, those would only work after you'd unlocked your phone. The tiny bit of extra time and friction could be the difference between getting the shot and missing it, and that's the problem Halide's latest update lets you sidestep.

The one catch is that you'll have to update to the brand-new iOS 18 to get this functionality. Once you're running the latest OS and have downloaded the new Halide update, you can long-press on your lock screen, then press the 'Customize' button. From there, tap your lock screen again, then tap the remove button on whichever shortcut you'd like to replace with Halide. (Camera and Flashlight are the default shortcuts.) It should now be a blank '+' button that you can tap to bring up the Controls selector, which you can use to select Halide from the Capture section.

Selecting Halide from the Capture section will let you launch it straight from the lock screen.

After doing this, you'll be able to jump straight to Halide from the lock screen without having to authenticate with your passcode or biometrics (though you'll still have to unlock your phone if you want to do anything else with it). You can also still access the default camera app from the lock screen by swiping left from the right edge of the screen.

If Halide isn't your preferred camera app, fear not; other developers should also be able to implement this feature, providing they update their apps for iOS 18.

While the lock screen shortcut is the fastest way to access the camera on Apple's current phones, that will change with the upcoming iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, which include a dedicated 'Camera Control' that will launch the camera. While Apple has said that you'll be able to use the button's touch sensitivity in third-party apps to adjust various settings, it's currently unclear whether you'll be able to launch those apps with it as well. If Apple only allows you to launch its app with the control, it would put the stock app back on top, at least in terms of how fast you can open it.

You can download Halide via the App Store. It costs $19.99 a year, or $2.99 a month, and is also available as a $59.99 one-time purchase.

The APS-C chip in the Samsung NX1 was the largest BSI CMOS sensor we'd then seen. It would be another four years before one was used again, in the Fujifilm X-T3. Photo: DPReview.com

Ten years ago today, in 2014, Samsung announced its flagship mirrorless camera, the NX1. Built around Samsung's own 28MP APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor, the NX1 arrived with a level of performance not previously seen in a mirrorless camera.

The NX1 featured a hybrid autofocus system with phase-detect AF points across 90% of the frame, 15fps burst shooting (along with an AF system that could keep up), 4K video and impressive wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. And, at a body-only price of $1499, it arrived at a competitive price for its class.

When I was assigned to lead the review of the NX1, Samsung was barely on my radar as a camera manufacturer. Of course, I knew Samsung manufactured cameras, but like many serious photographers, I had never used one. To be blunt, I was blown away by what the NX1 could do, and it turned out to be the most capable mirrorless camera I had experienced to date.

I had used quite a few mirrorless cameras before the NX1, but the NX1 reset my expectations for what a mirrorless camera could do, and it felt like the first one that had the potential to replace a high-performance DSLR. The biggest compliment I could give it was that after using it for a short time, I stopped thinking about the fact that it was a mirrorless camera and just got on with the business of taking photos. I was so impressed that I picked the NX1 as my 2014 Gear of the Year.

You wouldn't mistake the NX1's 2.76M-dot OLED viewfinder for an optical viewfinder. Still, the implementation was good enough that after a short time, I stopped noticing it and focused on taking photos, a task for which the EVF was exceptionally well-designed. Photo: Dale Baskin

The NX1 built a reputation for pushing the limits of mirrorless technology, and over the years, it acquired an almost mythical status in camera lore. Even now, I hear people speculate about what the camera industry might look like today if Samsung had remained in the business.

To be clear, many modern mirrorless cameras can run rings around the NX1 thanks to technologies like AI-based autofocus, stacked sensors, and video tools like Log gamma and internal ProRes or Raw recording. However, the NX1 was ahead of the curve, and it took several more years for those other advancements to come to fruition.

"The NX1 built a reputation for pushing the limits of mirrorless technology, and over the years, it acquired an almost mythical status in camera lore."

How far ahead of the curve was it? Far enough that many people didn't even have computers capable of playing the H.265 video files the camera produced. The NX1 was the first time I can remember listing the same feature – the H.265 (HEVC) video codec – as both a pro and a con in the conclusion: pro because the codec was more advanced than the H.264 codec in everyday use at the time, pointing the way to the future, and con because many users had to run the NX1's video files through third-party software to convert it to a format that they could open on their computers.

The NX1 was by no means perfect. In our review, I called out the over-sensitive touch screen and some awkwardly located buttons, but these weren't significant shortcomings.

One factor that impressed us was Samsung's commitment to improving the camera through firmware updates. It provided several updates in the months after launch, some of which added significant features or performance improvements, particularly for video.

I was so impressed by the NX1 that I picked it as my 2014 Gear of the Year. Unfortunately, Samsung exited the camera market a few months later.

In fact, a firmware update was responsible for delaying our review of the NX1 by a couple of months. About three days before our first review was set to publish, Samsung sent us a new firmware update that was only days from public release. It changed and improved the camera so much that it rendered much of our review obsolete. As a result, I had to retest almost every major feature on the camera, a task that took several weeks, and I essentially wrote an entirely new review, which is the version you read on DPReview.

Despite the fact that Samsung exited the dedicated camera market years ago, I have to admit that I still sometimes wonder how the industry might be different today if Samsung had stayed the course, creating competitive products that pushed the limits of what technology could do in a mirrorless camera. Of course, we'll never know, but it's certainly fun to speculate.