Photo: Abby Ferguson

It's no secret that things in the United States are in flux right now due to the president's implementation of new tariffs. Companies across all categories are making adjustments, including plenty of photography-related businesses. Earlier this week, Blackmagic Design announced higher prices for some of its products, and now Harman Technology is doing the same.

Harman Technology is the UK-based parent company of the Ilford and Paterson brands; it's well-known for its products for analog photographers. PetaPixel reported that the company is raising prices of its film, paper and chemicals in the US in response to the tariffs. Shutter Junkies, a Texas-based photo lab, shared the information in a blog post, revealing that Ilford and Harman film and paper will increase by 11%. Liquid chemistry will go up by 12% and there will be an 11% increase on most Paterson products. It also says there will be larger increases on Paterson items manufactured in China.

"While we understand how frustrating price hikes can be, especially in a niche like film photography, these increases are a direct result of the newly imposed tariffs. HARMAN, like many manufacturers, is responding to increased costs on their end," Shutter Junkies wrote in its post. "HARMAN has expressed that they hope to reduce prices if and when trade agreements shift." It also added that Phoenix film prices and powder chemistry prices will remain unchanged.

President Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, but he didn't fully back off. The baseline 10% global tariff that President Trump announced on April 5 is still in place. Plus, he has increased tariffs on China to 125%. That's likely why we're still seeing rising prices even with the 90-day pause.

Shutter Junkies added that the price of disposable cameras would remain unchanged for the stock that they currently have. That's likely to be the case for many companies; pricing for things they already had on shelves or in store rooms will be without markups, but new stock may require a higher price. So, if you need film, you may want to stock up now.

This film Friday, we're sharing a video profile of Australian photographer Trent Mitchell. Mitchell has been a photographer for more than 20 years, working in both digital and film. He won the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize in 2015, has been featured in the International Photography Awards, Sony World Photography Awards and more, and his work has been acquired by the National Library of Australia.

Flotsam Festival – an annual surf film and photography festival hosted on the Gold Coast of Australia in May – produced the video as part of its Liquid Lens lens series. The series aims to showcase ocean-based filmmakers and photographers who capture "the waves and their riders, while illuminating their artistry, inspirations, and passion for the sea."

Mitchell started using a camera as a tool for his art process diary, but he explained that he didn't know anything about the medium, so he couldn't get good images. Then, a few years out of school, he was doing design work, and he realized photography was the perfect skill to add to what he was already doing.

In the video, Mitchell talks about balancing personal work and working for someone. He explains that he loves personal photography and that paid work has resulted from that. "You can work personal work into your job as well," he says. "They're not these separate things." Spending time on personal projects is an especially good tip for new photographers hoping to get paid work. It not only gives potential clients something to look at before you have much of a portfolio, but it can also be a critical tool for finding your style and voice.

Mitchell also touches on how he doesn't believe the common sentiment that everything has already been done. "Tomorrow's never been done, so there's heaps of opportunity to do new things." He says that while there may be themes that recur, everything's new all of the time, so there are always new things to do.

"A successful project is anyone you finish"

Finally, the point that stuck out to me the most was when Mitchell explained what makes a project successful. "A successful project is anyone you finish," he said. Mitchell said he has worked on all sorts of things but has plenty of unfinished projects, so they aren't successful. As someone with plenty of unfinished projects sitting on hard drives and in portfolio boxes, this one hit especially close to home.

Photo: Michael Reaves / Staff / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Retirement isn't for everyone, as is apparently the case for baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Junior. Most recently, he's been in the spotlight for being at the Masters this week as a credentialed photographer for Masters.com. Getty Images photographer Ben Jared captured Griffey on the course with what looks to be either the Sony 400mm or 600mm lens attached to his camera.

Behind the lens 📸@MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is working as a credentialed photographer for the first time @TheMasters pic.twitter.com/NjQqBDSCJF

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 10, 2025

Griffey Jr. retired from baseball in 2010 as a 13-time MLB All-Star. He spent most of his career playing for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, though he also had a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. He picked up a camera in 2015 and has been photographing ever since.

Griffey Jr. originally got into photography not only because of his love for sports, as he explained on Mornings at the Masters. As a celebrity, no matter where he goes, he's sure to garner attention. That attention got in the way of him watching his kids' games, and he was frequently distracted. So, photography became a way for him to avoid all the attention. "My daughter literally stopped dribbling a basketball and just looked at me when she was five. I was like okay, I’ve got to pay more attention to what’s going on," Griffey said. "I figured no one’s messing with the photographer, well let me pick it up, let me try it."

While this is the first time Griffey has photographed the Masters, his photography has taken him to plenty of events. He's worked as a credentialed photographer at MLB, MLS, NFL, NASCAR and IndyCar events. The Masters go on through the weekend, and Griffey Jr. will be there through the end, capturing the event up to the big finale with the iconic green jacket.

Griffey isn't the only former MLB player – or player for the Seattle Mariners, for that matter – to turn to photography, either. Former pitcher Randy Johnson, who played 22 seasons in the MLB, nearly a decade of which was for the Mariners, is also a photographer. Johnson studied photojournalism at the University of Southern California before going pro, when photography went on the back burner, naturally. He has photographed NFL games, concerts and lots of wildlife. His logo – a dead bird – references a famous moment in his baseball career when one of his pitches killed a bird after it flew into the path of the ball.

Photo: Mitchell Clark

This week, PolarPro announced the RoadRunner collection, a range of photography-focused bags with a lightweight yet rugged design. I recently bought a 7L Peak Design Outdoor Sling, because it promised many of the same things, so I've decided to put it head to head with PolarPro's 6L shoulder bag. We'll compare how the bags are built, what they can carry and who they're made for.

Two strapping bags

One of the major differences between these two bags is clear right from the names: the Peak Design is a sling bag, where the strap goes around your body and the pouch rests against your front or back. The PolarPro bag, meanwhile, has a strap that goes around your shoulder and a bag that sits down against your hip or side. Both straps can be completely detached from the bag and have ample padding for carrying even relatively heavy loads.

Photo: Kevin Mahoney

PolarPro's strap is made of adjustable webbing with clips on each end that attach to rings on the bag's body. The Peak Design bag's strap attaches with hooks but also has a clasp in the middle, making it easy to buckle and unbuckle.

Perhaps too easy to unbuckle – I've heard several people say they've accidentally opened the clasp, leading to them dropping their bags. While it's never happened to me, it's not hard to imagine; instead of a traditional buckle that you have to press in on both sides, the Peak Design bag opens with a single push of a lever, which isn't really ideal for a bag meant to hold expensive gear.

I don't think I want my camera bag to be this easy to unclasp.

One last gripe about the Peak Design's strap: it's much easier to switch which shoulder you're carrying the PolarPro on since you won't have to adjust the strap at all. If you want to switch shoulders with the Peak Design, you'll have to detach both sides of the strap and flip it around.

Exterior Design

Photo: Mitchell Clark

PolarPro's bag is made out of a 600D ripstop nylon that the company says "resists" water. The Peak Design, meanwhile, is made out of a 210D ripstop material that the company calls "weatherproof," a label it also applies to the zippers. Despite the clear weather sealing, the Peak Design's zippers are about as easy to open as the PolarPro's unsealed ones, which isn't always true for water-resistant zippers.

PolarPro's bag has a beefy, rubberized handle on the top lid, which feels much better than the cord handle the Peak Design uses. However, if the lid for the PolarPro is unzipped, that handle essentially becomes useless, whereas you can use the Peak Design's handle to move it around even if it's open. Doing so is obviously a bit reckless, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Photo: Kevin Mahoney

Empty, the 6L PolarPro bag weighs 579g (20.4 oz), while the Peak Design weighs 335g (11.8 oz). However, adding the X-small camera cube required to turn it into a proper protective camera bag on par with the PolarPro brings the weight up to 555g (19.6 oz).

Interior Design

The Outdoor Sling and RoadRunner shoulder bags have a very similar layout – one main zippered compartment, then a smaller front zippered pocket. Both have a wide array of pouches designed to hold things like lens filters, batteries and SD cards, though I found the Peak Design's to be much easier to use. The ones on the PolarPro have a top flap, which keeps things from falling out when you open the lid but also makes it difficult to insert or remove larger items like camera batteries.

Photo: Mitchell Clark

Those main pouches are the second big difference between the bags. The interior of the Peak Design is the same ripstop as the face fabric, and the compartment doesn't feature any padding or dividers to speak of. To get those features, you'll have to add on Peak Design's X-Small camera cube, which fits neatly into the main pocket, taking up most – but not quite all – of the space. The cube comes with two dividers and can be used separately from the Outdoor Sling.

The Peak Design bag looks far less spacious when fitted with the camera cube you'll want to keep your gear safe. Photo: Mitchell Clark

The RoadRunner, however, comes with all of that from the get-go, as its body is essentially a camera cube with rigid, padded sides. The interior is lined with microfiber, which lets you re-arrange the two included dividers however you like. Like with many camera bags, the dividers attach to the side walls with hook-and-loop flaps.

The RoadRunner has an additional zippered pocket on the front, which is quite slim – you could fit a passport or a notebook and pen in there, but not much else. The Peak Design has a pocket that is similarly sized but on the inside of the main compartment.

Carrying Capacity

If you're looking to fit the most camera gear possible, the PolarPro is the clear choice, despite the fact that it's marketed as a 6L bag while the Outdoor Sling is marketed as a 7L bag. The reason is that the RoadRunner's rating is for the padded compartment, while the Outdoor Sling's is for the bag overall – the padded X-small camera cube, meanwhile, only has a volume of 3.5L.

There's still a fair bit of room inside the PolarPro when carrying an EOS R5 II with a 20mm F1.4 lens. Photo: Mitchell Clark

What does that mean in real-world terms? Well, a Canon EOS R5 II with a 20mm F1.4 prime just barely fits into the Peak Design camera cube – you have to reverse the lens hood to make it work. Meanwhile, the PolarPro can carry that same camera/lens combo* and a Canon PowerShot V1. You could also fit a Lumix S1RII and a 24-70 F2.8 in the RoadRunner, with room to spare for a small battery bank. The Peak Design cube has no chance of carrying even just the camera – it'll technically fit in the main compartment of the sling with no cube but with very little space left to add your own padding, which you'll almost certainly want.

With the EOS R5 II in the X-small camera cube, there's really not much room left in the Peak Design. Photo: Mitchell Clark

Both bags are more comfortable with smaller systems. The Peak Design bag would easily accommodate my Fujifilm X-T3 and a pair of F2 primes or my Nikon F3 with a 50mm F2 and a digital point-and-shoot. However, the PolarPro can, too, with room left over for extra bits and bobs.

The story flips if you're carrying stuff that isn't camera equipment. Without the camera cube, the Outdoor Sling can expand a lot more than the PolarPro can. I've carried a X-T5 with a 16-55mm F2.8 attached, two wireless mic packs, a 72mm ND filter with a hard case and two Cliff bars in it, with a fleece beanie to keep it all from banging together. The PolarPro could handle the same gear with no problem, but the beanie and snacks might be a tough squeeze.

I've also carried an XL Patagonia R1 Air fleece and XL Arc'teryx Atom puffy jacket in the Peak Design, and it all just barely fit. The puffy alone fills the PolarPro, with pretty much no room left for gear – that's likely down to it being substantially more structured than the Outdoor Sling.

* The EOS R5 II's large viewfinder hump does bow the bag out slightly – I wouldn't try to put too much in the other pockets while carrying it.

External Storage

Both bags have an option to attach a tripod to the bottom. The RoadRunner uses adjustable webbing, while the Outdoor Sling uses elastic straps. Both solutions have one end attached with a hook, letting you easily detach them to speed up the process of taking your tripod on and off.

In my experience, both bags were relatively comfortable to carry with the aluminum Peak Design travel tripod attached to the bottom, though I probably wouldn't want to carry anything much bigger than that.

Even when carried at an angle on your back, the Peak Design bag does a good job of holding onto the tripod. Photo: Mitchell Clark

Both bags also include a back pocket, which can be used to carry pretty much any size phone. Peak Design's has slightly more padding and a magnet to keep it shut but a narrower opening that can make it a little finicky to get your phone in and out, depending on how you're wearing it. Despite the PolarPro's pocket being completely open, it's deep enough that I have no concerns about my phone falling out of it.

Neither bag has any real affordance for carrying a water bottle. Since I almost always want to have one with me, I just attach my bottle to the strap with a carabiner. This is slightly more convenient with the PolarPro since you're generally not going to have to unclip the strap to take the bag off your shoulder. With the Peak Design, you have to make sure the bottle's not going to fall off the strap when you unclip it to set the bag down.

Aesthetics

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so which bag you prefer will likely come down to your personal tastes. However, I do suspect most people will find the Peak Design bag to be more attractive – it's not just a utilitarian-styled box that hangs off your shoulder. The Outdoor Sling also comes in three colors, and I'll admit I had a hard time choosing between them.

Images: Peak Design

The RoadRunner sling, meanwhile, just comes in black, though it features some tasteful dusty gold accents. The inside of the bag's main compartment is also that color, making it easy to see your gear. The Peak Design bag also features a light gray interior.

Versatility

The Peak Design is built to act as two different kinds of pack. Photo: Kevin Mahoney

That strap brings up the Outdoor Sling's biggest selling point: versatility. You can wear it not only as a sling across your front and back but also as a lumbar pack or belly bag around your waist. This not only gives you a different way of carrying it but also lets you use it in addition to a smaller backpack.

It's also made for a lot more than just carrying cameras. While you can remove the dividers from the PolarPro, you can't get rid of the padding, and its rigid sides and shape make it harder to really stuff it full. The Peak Design bag, meanwhile, is more freeform and can easily accommodate items you'd need when traveling or hiking.

It also comes with a detachable stabilizer strap that wraps around your back and keeps the bag locked in place if you're doing something especially active while wearing it in sling mode. I've taken it with me down a mountain bike trail, and once I added the stabilizer strap, I had no worries about it creeping around to my front and messing with my peddling.

The stabilizer strap means you can use the Peak Design on all sorts of adventures. And while I have worn the PolarPro while riding a bike, it was only on a flat, paved road at a very relaxed pace. Image: Peak Design

While the 6L RoadRunner bag can't fill quite so many roles, the lineup is a bit more complete. Peak Design also sells a 2L sling, though there's no camera cube made for it to add padding. You also can't get a larger bag without stepping up to the much heavier 10L "Everyday" sling.

If you need a bag that's bigger or smaller, PolarPro has you covered. Photo: PolarPro

PolarPro, meanwhile, offers a 1L case designed to protect compact cameras like the Fujifilm X100 series, or the Leica D-Lux. There's also a 12L shoulder bag designed for larger loads. The comapny says it can fit a full-frame mirrorless camera and a 70-200mm lens, along with an additional lens and powerbank or mini drone. The larger bag's back pocket can fit an 11" iPad.

The Extras

Both bags clearly have a lot of thought put into them, and that's made clear by their design flourishes. For example, both have a lanyard in their front pocket, so you can rest assured that you won't accidentally drop your keys while digging around for something else.

PolarPro also includes not one, but two microfiber cloths attached to the inside of the bag, which can be used for cleaning off lenses, screens and viewfinders if they happen to get grungy on your adventures.

Each bag has delightful design touches

Peak Design's bag is bring-your-own-cloth, but it has little pockets on the back where you can tuck away any additional straps that would otherwise just be dangling around. And, if you're not carrying a tripod, the elastic straps on the bottom can be used as compression straps to give it a slimmer profile.

The Peak Design can also be used as a chest pouch when paired with the company's Outdoor backpacks – you simply take the sling strap off and lash it to your pack's shoulder straps. If you can do something similar with the RoadRunner shoulder bag and backpacks, PolarPro doesn't mention it.

Price

The 6L RoadRunner retails for $99, which initially seems more expensive than the 7L Outdoor Sling, which is $89. However, the X-small camera cube is an additional $50, bringing the total up to $140, though you can bundle them at the time of purchase to knock $14 off the price.

Even with that discount, the Outdoor sling is still the spendier option by a wide margin if you need the camera cube. I have used it to carry gear without the cube, though I wouldn't recommend doing so unless you're very careful and also have soft goods in there to add some padding and gear separation.

So which bag do I buy?

If you've made it all the way through this article and are still unsure which bag is for you, this is my take: if you want a bag exclusively for photography gear, the RoadRunner is the way to go, especially if you want to access your gear quickly. It can just plain hold more, and I'd be comfortable leaving the lid unzipped if I'm actively taking my camera in and out of it since it's on the top; unless I'm doing a somersault, the camera's not going to fall out of it. I'm not as confident about that with the Outdoor Sling's zipper placement, though the one time I accidentally left it open, it managed to keep everything inside.

However, if you want a versatile travel/adventure bag that can also carry camera gear, the Peak Design is definitely worth a look – assuming you have a relatively small setup. While the PolarPro can just manage a high-end full-frame mirrorless camera, I wouldn't want to carry one very often with the Outdoor sling. It's happiest with a crop sensor camera and maybe an extra lens, or with a small drone.

To put it another way, I spent $140 of my own money on the Peak Design Outdoor Sling and camera cube, and I don't regret that now that I've tried the RoadRunner, which PolarPro provided as a review sample. However, that's only because I already have a massive camera bag for when I'm testing out the big cameras, and I was in the market for a small, light bag that I could wear while biking, hiking or traveling. If either of those things weren't true and I was shopping for a bag, I'd pick the PolarPro.

Peak Design Outdoor Sling 7L:

PolarPro RoadRunner shoulder bag 6L:

Image: Oppo

Phone manufacturers are perpetually on a quest to craft the best camera phone. Oppo has announced its latest entry into the competition with the Find X8 Ultra, promising groundbreaking camera tech made with Hasselblad color calibration. The Oppo Find X8 Ultra competes with the likes of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Vivo X100 Ultra and features some camera specs that surpass the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The latest Oppo flagship features a five-camera system, all of which offer a 50MP resolution. The star of the show is the main camera with a Type 1 (13.1 x 9.8mm) Sony sensor. Oppo says it is 63% bigger than the iPhone 16 Pro Max's main camera and 69% bigger than the 200MP main camera on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as GSM Arena reports.

Image: Oppo

Also found on the Find X8 Ultra are 3x and 6x periscope telephoto cameras, both of which feature brighter apertures than the Find X7 Ultra. The 6x telephoto camera also gets a healthy bump in sensor size compared to the previous model's Type 1/2.51 (5.7 x 4.3mm) sensor. That means greater light-capturing ability across the board.

The ultra-wide camera, though, gets a slight downgrade. The Find X7 Ultra featured a larger Type 1/1.95 (8.2 x 6.1mm) sensor. The aperture remains at F2.0, however. Finally, the front of the phone uses the same 32MP 21mm equiv. F2.4 camera as the previous model. On the video front, all of the cameras are capable of 4K60p video, while the main camera and 3x telephoto offer 4K 'Dolby Vision' recording up to 120p.

Oppo also promises that the Find X8 Ultra's cameras' photos will have better color accuracy, in part thanks to a 'True Chroma' sensor, which it says uses a nine-channel multispectral system to analyze the scene's color temperature. It works in tandem with the Hasselblad processing, promising to deliver accurate skin tones in any lighting conditions.

There's also plenty of other tech behind the scenes aiming to improve image quality even more. That includes Oppo's 'HyperTone Image Engine,' which the company says improves computational abilities and performance in tricky lighting conditions. AI tone mapping also provides better depth and detail, particularly in backlit scenes, according to Oppo. Finally, the ProXDR engine improves brightness and color information.

Image: Oppo

Despite the impressive camera specs, the Find X8 Ultra hasn't ended up absurdly massive like some other camera-focused phones. Oppo claims the Find X8 Ultra is the thinnest flagship camera phone currently available, measuring 8.8mm (0.35") thick. The emphasis there is on camera phone – the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are slightly thinner, though they use smaller cameras. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra, meanwhile, ranges from 9.3mm to 9.5mm, depending on the material.

Keeping things slim hasn't resulted in compromises in terms of performance, either. In fact, the battery gets a decent bump from the Find X7 Ultra, using silicon-carbon battery tech with a 6100mAh battery, which is nearly 21% larger than the previous model. Oppo also upgraded to the Snapdragon 8 Elite with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. The display remains the same, with a 6.82-inch QHD+ AMOLED display with a 1-120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1600 nits. Finally, it has an IP68 rating against water and dust ingress.

Oppo also announced the Find X8s and X8s Plus, which are less camera-focused. Unfortunately, as enticing as the Oppo Find X8 Ultra looks in terms of camera chops, it will be available exclusively in China. Oppo typically sells its devices in Europe as well, but that isn't the case with its latest release. It will go on sale on April 16 in China for CNY 6,499 for the base model (12GB/256GB), CNY 6,999 for the 16GB/512GB model and CNY 7,999 for the 16GB/1TB model.

Photo: Abby Ferguson

Google recently announced the Pixel 9a, its budget offering in the Pixel smartphone lineup. For this model the company opted to ditch the camera bar for a flat camera bump, resulting in a larger battery but smaller cameras. Though it sticks to the two-camera design, with a wide-angle main camera and ultra-wide camera, its main camera uses a 48MP Type 1/2 (6.4 x 4.8 mm) sensor, down from the 64MP Type 1/1.7 (7.3 x 5.5mm) sensor found in the Pixel 8a's main camera. However, Google says that other upgrades, such as software and silicon improvements, make up for the dip in resolution and sensor size, and promises that the 9a is capable of capturing "class-leading photos and videos."

We've had the opportunity to take the phone around for a week, testing out the cameras to put together a sample gallery.

See the sample gallery

The Pixel 9a is hitting shelves on April 10 in the US, Canada and UK. It will be available on April 14th in Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Czechia, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Finland. Australia, India, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia will have to wait until April 16th.

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

Image: Adobe

Last week, Adobe announced that a handful of AI-based features would be moving out of Premiere Pro beta. Now, the company is teasing even more AI tools for Premiere Pro and Photoshop ahead of Adobe Max London on April 24. In a blog post, the company provides a basic overview of what's coming, promising even faster edits and helpful tools for learning.

All of the new features rely on agentic AI, or tech "capable of conversing, acting and solving complex problems." It's essentially a highly capable chatbot that combines elements of generative AI with decision-making and execution capabilities. Adobe says its approach to agentic AI is similar to its approach to generative AI, aiming "to give people more control and free them to spend more time on the work they love – whether that’s creativity, analysis or collaboration."

Image: Adobe

To that end, Adobe teased that at Adobe Max London, it will showcase its first creative agent in Photoshop, found in an all-new Actions panel. "Our vision is for Photoshop to be able to analyze your image and recommend smart, context-aware edits," Adobe explained. It says the editing platform could find ways to improve your image and actually make those improvements with a single click. It also says it wants users to be able to use natural language to access "more than 1,000 one-click actions in Photoshop" for faster and simplified edits.

In the video examples provided in the blog post, prompts are typed into the AI agent, which then handles the edits for the user. The creative agent adds all of the edits as layers, just like if the person were to be making the changes themselves. That means you can still go in and tweak things by hand as needed.

Adobe says this isn't exclusively about speeding up the editing process. Instead, it also envisions the creative agent as a way to learn Photoshop. Given how complex and overwhelming the software can be for new users, such a resource could be helpful. Plus, Adobe says it could also handle repetitive tasks like preparing files for export.

Image: Adobe

Adobe also envisions agentic AI coming to Premiere Pro. One example it provides is using the creative agent to create a rough cut. Getting started on projects is often the hardest step, after all. "While AI can’t replace human creative inspiration, with your input it can make some educated guesses to help you get your project off the ground."

Adobe's Media Intelligence can already help you search for clips by automatically recognizing objects and visual compositions. The platform also understands spoken dialogue and can generate captions and transcripts. So extending those features to a tool that can help quickly cut together clips to help you get started doesn't seem that far-fetched. "We envision a world where you can direct a creative agent to help you refine shot choices, craft rough cuts, assist with color, help mix audio, and more." Like Photoshop, Adobe also wants to use agentic AI in Premiere Pro to help users learn the software, including understanding keyboard shortcuts for complex actions.

Adobe says that the Adobe Research team is currently working on the foundational pieces of the company's agentic AI framework. It will likely be showing off the tools and providing more details during Adobe Max London, which you can catch online for free on April 24.

Image: Atomos

In late 2022, Atomos told investors that it had "completed development of a world class 8K video sensor" and that it was "actively exploring opportunities for commercialisation" and holding talks with camera makers that it said were "showing great interest." In an interview with PetaPixel later that year, the company said it was a full-frame, global shutter sensor capable of capturing 8K at 60fps with up to 15 stops of dynamic range, all while drawing just 2W of power.

We've heard very little about the project since then, but PetaPixel has just reported that it's been abandoned, citing a conversation with the company's COO. Currently, there are no further details about when the call was made to sideline the sensor or why that decision was made. We've reached out to Atomos and will update this story if we hear back.

While there's been very little news about the sensor – dubbed the 'Sapphire F8' – since 2022, it seemed like an interesting proposition. Global shutters are especially useful for video applications, where rolling shutters can cause distortion on fast-moving subjects or during quick camera movements.

In 2022, the Sapphire would've been ahead of the curve

While several cinema-focused cameras have used the tech over the years, it's only recently become available in cameras with larger (full-frame or above) sensors. When Red announced the V-Raptor X in early 2024, it said it was the "first available large format global shutter" cinema camera. Around the same time, Sony's a9 III became the first full-frame mirrorless camera to feature a global shutter. In 2022, Atomos' Sapphire project, developed after it acquired rights and technical staff from broadcast equipment company Grass Valley in 2017, would've been ahead of the curve.

Whatever caused the company to drop the project, it's unfortunate that there won't be more competition in the high-end sensor market. Making a sensor is no small feat, and neither is actually getting it into a finished product – something Atomos already knew since work on the Sapphire began during a project to create a cinema camera, which also wound up being canceled.

Photo: Abby Ferguson

Embedding social media posts has become a widespread practice and a critical tool for all sorts of websites. It allows sites to share content without hosting it themselves, opening the doors to showcase more dynamic content and user-generated or brand materials. Now, though, a photographer is asking the US Supreme Court to consider if embedding social media content is a violation of copyright.

As initially reported by Digital Camera World, photographer Elliot McGucken filed a petition for certiorari (a request to review) on March 28. This petition is part of his lawsuit against media company Valnet, Inc., which runs thetravel.com. The lawsuit results from The Travel embedding 36 photographs in McGucken's Instagram posts across multiple articles without his permission. The case argues that embedding a copyrighted work without the artist's permission is copyright infringement.

This debate, which centers around the "server test," is far from new. The server test was a guideline initially established in a 2007 Ninth Circuit Court decision. It essentially says that if a website hosts a copyrighted image on its own systems, it is a copyright violation. But if the website uses third-party hosting, such as by embedding a social media post or an image from an artist's website, it does not violate copyright.

There have been multiple challenges since the initial guideline was established. However, the most recent (outside of this new case) was in 2023, when photographers Alexis Hunley and Matthew Brauer filed a class action lawsuit against Instagram. They claimed that Instagram violated their copyright by allowing Time and Buzzfeed to embed photos they shared on their Instagram profiles. A three-judge panel at the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Instagram was not liable for copyright infringement, though, explaining that when a photo or video is embedded, no copy is made.

The district courts and Ninth Circuit court have already dismissed the complaints, but the photographer has now asked the Supreme Court to weigh in. The petition gives multiple reasons for why it should be granted, one of which is that it "presents a clear legal question that has divided the federal courts." However, as VitalLaw reports, district courts in the Second, Fifth and Tenth Circuits, including a federal court in Manhattan, have all rejected it.

Instagram, like many other social media platforms, allows users to turn off embedding, which prevents websites from sharing content in this way. Instagram rolled this out in 2021, and users can change the setting under the "How others can interact with you" option inside the Settings menu.

The Supreme Court has until May 1 to issue a response.

PowerShot V1 | 25.6mm (50mm equiv.) | F4.5 | 1/640 sec. | ISO 125 Photo: Mitchell Clark

Canon recently made its PowerShot V1 compact available globally, after it was initially launched for the Asian market. While the company's marketing it as a vlogging camera, photographers also seem to have taken an interest in it, with its reasonably large Type 1.4 (18.4 x 12.3mm) sensor paired with a 16-50mm equiv. F2.8-4.5 lens.

We've gotten the opportunity to shoot with it a bit and have put together a sample gallery, which should give you some idea of how the sensor and lens perform. We'll dig deeper into image quality in our full review.

See the sample gallery

Given that it's a vlogging camera, we've also put together some sample footage taken with it. It's embedded below, though, so note that you may need to click through to watch the video on YouTube if you want to see it at its maximum quality.

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

A screenshot of the Google Learning Light Experiment.

Understanding how to control light is one of the more complex parts of learning photography. That's why introductory photography classes typically focus exclusively on ambient light and why there are entire semester-long classes dedicated to lighting. Learning how to manipulate light could get easier now, though, with Google's new Learning Light tool.

Learning Light is part of Google's newly released series of AI "experiments" focused on arts and culture. It combines an AI chatbot with a virtual stage, allowing users to learn about different lighting setups and see them in action. The chatbot, with its delightfully retro LuxeBot3000 name, walks you through eight mini-lessons covering different aspects of lighting, including intensity, color, shape, position, mood and more. There are also four different lessons on the lighting in specific artworks, such as Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

The chatbot walks you through various aspects of lighting.

The lessons are very quick and straightforward. Instead of allowing open-ended chats, the chatbot provides preset answers for users to select from. In fact, the chat bar is fully disabled during the lessons, so there's not even an opportunity to ask follow-up questions. You can, however, choose to exit the guide at any time and play around, which is where I think the tool could be most useful.

Outside of the guide, you can manually adjust multiple settings for six different lights. Users can control power, angle, penumbra, hue and saturation for each individual light or adjust those settings for groupings of lights. The set starts with a mannequin and plant, but you can also add additional props like a couch, plants, and an old-school TV. You can also change the backdrop from a basic studio setting to real-world options like a restaurant, ski resort, train station and more.

There's a rather odd selection of props available.

Of course, the tool is far from perfect. The selection of props is quite small and rather strange (I don't know too many photographers who use a busted-up cardboard box, rusted barrel, or two fire hydrants as props). The lights can't change position, either, so you're stuck with the existing positioning. Additionally, since it is focused on stage lighting, it lacks accessories photographers would use to modify the light, like softboxes or beauty dishes.

The chatbot is also rather limited and not extremely helpful. It is only able to make changes to the properties of the available lights or answer very basic questions about lighting. In fact, it seems a bit odd that this is based on Google's 'Gemini' generative AI tech. Given the long list of limitations, it's a bit like watering houseplants with a fire hose. Perhaps that means that more advanced tools and features could come later, but for now, a lot of technology is backing a fairly simple platform.

Learning Light can walk you through creating a lighting scenario inspired by Nobility in the Evening Cool (Koki nōryō no zu) by Yōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu.

Despite its flaws, the Learning Light Experiment has benefits. The simple controls make it very approachable no matter someone's experience level, providing a good introduction to what's possible with lighting. It could also be useful for planning basic lighting scenarios for shoots. Perhaps most important, though, is that it's free. More capable programs for playing around with lighting setups can cost substantially more, such as set.a.light 3D, which costs a minimum of $119 when full-price. That could be a hard sell for beginner photographers, so it is nice to see a free platform, even if it is more limited.

Photo: Fujifilm

Fujifilm has announced its latest Instax Mini camera, the retro-looking Instax Mini 41. The company says that the new instant camera features a "stylish new look and improved functionality" compared to its predecessor. The Instax Mini 40 came out four years ago, so it is nice to see a refresh. Unfortunately, for anyone hoping for a massive revamp, it's only a subtle update.

The most significant change to the Instax Mini 41 is a fresh look. Unlike the faux leather finish on the Mini 40, the updated camera features a "textured, tactile body" to provide a "secure, ergonomic grip." It also offers a metallic-looking (though not actual metal) finish and orange color accents for a more polished look.

Fujifilm promises better close-ups thanks to the added parallax correction. Image: Fujifilm

Beyond its new look, the camera also promises improved close-up images. Given that the viewfinder and close-up lens on Instax cameras aren't perfectly lined up, what you see through the viewfinder isn't exactly what the final composition will be. To address this, Fujifilm added parallax correction, which makes it easier to center subjects. The closeup mode is meant for subjects from 30-50cm (11.8-19.7") and doubles as a selfie mode.

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 41 will be available for purchase by the end of April. Interestingly, Fujifilm did not provide any US pricing for the camera, which is unusual for the company. The camera is currently listed on B&H with the option to sign up for notifications, but no price is listed. Likewise, the listing on the Fujifilm website lacks a price as well. While it didn't say specifically that the lack of a price is a result of uncertainty related to the US tariffs, that could be the cause.

Image: Content Authenticity Initiative

Panasonic has become the latest camera company to become a member of the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), joining Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm and Leica. The organization aims to coordinate the industry's efforts to create transparency around how images were created, using tools like C2PA Content Credentials that certify details about how an image was made and edited – especially useful as generative AI becomes increasingly accessible.

In a blog post on its website, the CAI says Panasonic is "joining more than 4,500 media and technology companies, non-profits, creators, educators" to help "build trust and transparency in our digital ecosystem." The post quotes Toshiyuki Tsumura, Business Division Executive of the Imaging Solution Business Division at Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co., who says: "By joining the CAI, we are committed to contributing to the ecosystem, ensuring the authenticity of digital content, and fostering an environment of trust and transparency online."

"We are committed to contributing to the ecosystem, ensuring the authenticity of digital content"

The post doesn't mention any concrete details, like whether this means we'll see content authenticity tools in current or upcoming Lumix cameras. Historically, the matter has been complicated – Fujifilm joined the CAI in early 2024, but in an interview last month, it told us that it was "still developing and investigating how to implement the CAI and the C2PA."

Even brands that have implemented it don't necessarily make the tech available to everyone – some Leica models come with support for Content Credentials unlocked out of the box, but companies like Nikon and Sony have said their authenticity features will mainly be for news agencies. Many of Panasonic's stills cameras are more consumer-oriented, though models like the S1RII are explicitly aimed at professionals and come with features that would mainly be worthwhile for those users. The company is also a big player in the professional video market and makes several cameras specifically aimed at news companies.

However Panasonic chooses to work with the CAI and implement its technologies, this seems like another step forward for content authenticity initiatives. Rebuilding the public's trust in the images they see online will only become more important in the future, and it would be an extremely large task for companies to accomplish alone. Organizations like the CAI help streamline the process and make sure that everyone in the chain has a say, including camera companies, photo editing software companies and technology companies whose platforms will be used to share images.

Photo: Natnan Srisuwan / Moment via Getty Images

There's no ignoring that the latest US tariffs are a hot-button topic right now for Americans who are looking at paying more for products made outside the country. Since the tariffs are so far-reaching, questions are swirling about the impact on the pricing and availability of goods for each industry. That includes the photography and videography industries, since most equipment is made outside of the United States. Unfortunately, things aren't looking great. There's a lot of speculation, but we spoke with experts whose job is to analyze the potential impact.

Product pricing, in general, is a complicated endeavor, even with standard tariffs. It involves many calculations, ranging from tariffs to forecasting future changes in relative currency values. While new tariffs are broadly applied, the rates vary depending on the country. Given that many goods could have individual parts from multiple countries, the situation becomes complex quickly. Additionally, some companies might manufacture certain products in one country while other items in their lineup are made in another, resulting in inconsistent pricing changes across their catalog.

When we look at the three big brands – Canon, Sony and Nikon – all three are based in Japan, but Nikon and Sony have shifted much of their production to Thailand and China. Canon makes some of its more budget-focused equipment in Taiwan, Thailand and China, but it also manufactures some in Japan. Anjali V. Bhatt, the Communications Manager and Research Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) explained that products from Japan have a tariff rate of 24%, while products manufactured in Thailand face a 36% tariff. "So Canon products made in Japan might actually become more affordable than Nikon or Sony for comparable/substitute products, depending on where the gear is shipped from," she said.

Bhatt went so far as to suggest opting for a lens adapter that allows you to use Canon lenses on Nikon or Sony gear. That way, you could save money on new lenses since Canon lenses may become more affordable compared to Nikon and Sony as a result of where they are produced. Of course, that will only save you money if the Canon version of what you want is made in Japan and the alternatives are made elsewhere. Additionally, given that even Japan is subject to tariffs, Canon won't be immune to pricing changes, either.

"All photography equipment not made in the US...will be more expensive."

The tariffs could also push companies to adjust where they manufacture cameras and lenses. That doesn't necessarily mean coming to the US, though. Since many of these companies have existing ties to Japan, it could simply mean moving production to Japan because of the lower tariffs. "Since Nikon and Sony have extensive production capabilities in Japan as well, it’s possible they reshore production back to Japan, away from Thailand," Bhatt said. "But the bottom line is that all photography equipment not made in the US, which is a significant majority of it, will be more expensive," she explained.

Outside of cameras and lenses, auxiliary equipment like tripods will likely also become more expensive. That's because much of it is produced in countries like China or Vietnam, which "will see even higher tariffs (the estimate for the tariff rate on Chinese products is around 75%; Vietnam has been assigned a 46% tariff)," Bhatt said.

Because of the complexity of import tariffs and wholesale pricing, we likely won't see a 1:1 correlation between tariff rates and price increases. In other words, Chinese products likely won't cost 75% more, Japanese products won't cost 24% more and Thai products won't have a 36% increase. The system is a lot more complicated than that. However, economists agree that there will be price hikes of some amount across the board.

Another piece of fallout from the high tariffs could be availability. "If there's equipment from highly-tariffed nations – like China – the tariffs may make them so uncompetitive that retailers drop the brand altogether rather than importing cameras they won't sell," explained Justin Wolfers, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He went on to say that prices may not seem higher immediately. Initially, "it'll just be that buyers find it harder to find a good deal," he said.

"All of this is going to cause a lot of short-term change and turmoil, which will be painful and costly."

Blackmagic Design was the first camera company to specifically announce pricing increases as a result of tariffs. Its prices have changed multiple times over the past two days, with the company explaining that "it’s a bit in flux as developments are happening with the tariffs." Indeed, as we are already seeing, "All of this is going to cause a lot of short-term change and turmoil, which will be painful and costly," Dr. Wolfers said.

Photo: Richard Butler

Nikon has announced the 2.0 firmware for its full-frame Zf camera. The update adds a dedicated bird mode to the camera's subject recognition autofocus, support for connecting to the company's Imaging Cloud service and other improvements that will make shooting video and using older, manual-focus lenses more convenient.

The company says the dedicated bird subject detection mode will be quicker and more accurate at detecting and tracking birds than the Auto or Animal modes, especially in complex scenarios like shooting in forests or mountains. While the Zf likely isn't the first camera people reach for when doing wildlife photography – its gripless retro design is better suited to smaller lenses – it's nice that Nikon is making this mode available on the camera regardless.

Nikon Imaging Cloud lets your camera automatically upload photos to the cloud and download color mode "recipes." Image: Nikon

Support for Nikon Imaging Cloud is also a nice addition. It allows the camera to automatically upload images when connected to a Wi-Fi network, rather than requiring you to connect it to your phone or a computer to offload your shots. Additionally, you can configure Nikon Imaging Cloud to automatically offload those images to other services, like Dropbox, Google Drive, Lightroom and more. The service can also be used to sync additional color profiles to your camera – the Zf can store nine – and to automatically keep your camera's firmware up-to-date.

The 2.0 update also adds Nikon's 'Hi-Res Zoom' mode for video, which lets you progressively apply a digital crop up to 2x your lens' actual focal length when shooting 1080p. The company says it doesn't introduce any loss in resolution, as the camera is still using a 1080p region of the sensor. However, in other cameras like the Z9, the feature does incur some loss of detail, as you're no longer getting oversampled video. Still, if you want to make your footage look like you're zooming in, you'll at least have the option to do so.

The final big change with the update revolves around using manual-focus lenses. The company has improved the focus magnification feature, letting you quickly exit it by half-pressing the shutter button so you can see your full composition before actually taking the picture. When you're using the display, the maximum magnification has been increased from 200% to 400%. You can now also assign ISO and exposure compensation to the cameras' command dials in the manual shooting mode and manually record your aperture value if you're using a lens that doesn't electronically communicate with the camera.

It's not surprising that features like Hi-Res Zoom, Imaging Cloud and bird subject detection are coming to the Zf. After all, they're included in the just-launched Z5II, which uses very similar internals. However, it's nice to see them come so quickly, so users who bought the more expensive Zf won't have to be envious of Z5II owners. It's also one more step to making the company's lineup more cohesive, with most of its latest-gen cameras getting Imaging Cloud.

The update is available now from Nikon's website.

Image: Blackmagic

Almost every news site is flooded with stories about the new tariffs and their impact on individual product categories. Given that so many photography companies manufacture their goods in places other than the United States, several outlets have predicted that the tariffs will impact photography gear. Now, those expectations are becoming a reality, with Blackmagic Design being the first to officially announce price increases because of tariffs.

In a statement provided to DPReview, Blackmagic explained: "In general, it’s a bit in flux as developments are happening with the tariffs, and our team is trying very hard to keep customers informed with updated pricing, so that’s why they may see some changes. Since we have factories in different countries, it causes different price increases, and we are moving production of some products to help lower costs for customers from what we had previously raised them to since the tariffs went into effect. This will take us some time, so customers may continue to see some pricing change, but again, we are working very hard to keep customers informed with updated pricing."

A screenshot of the Blackmagic website reflecting a $5495 price for the Pyxis 12K camera, taken at 12:42 PM EDT on April 7.

Yesterday, CineD reported that the newly released Blackmagic Pyxis 12K camera went from the launch price of $4995 to $6595 on Blackmagic's website, a 32% increase. CineD included a screenshot of Blackmagic's website reflecting the $6595 price. However, at the time of writing, the website shows $5495 for the camera. While that isn't as substantial an increase as what CineD reported, it is still a bump in price, which no one likes seeing. Since Blackmagic said things are in flux right now, that number could likely continue to change. At the time of writing, the price at B&H is still the original launch price.

A screenshot of Blackmagic's statement on Facebook about pricing changes.

Blackmagic also posted a statement on Facebook about general US prices for its products. It said that most products in the US have increased because of the tariffs, and that these price changes only impact the US. A quick look at the Blackmagic website shows that the company also increased the price of the Pyxis 6K camera from a launch price of $2995 to $3295, while the Ursa Cine 17K went from $29,995 to $32,995.

Image: Blackmagic

The NAB 2025 show is underway, with plenty of announcements related to broadcasting and filmmaking coming out. Among those was a lengthy livestream from Blackmagic Design that revealed multiple new products and software tools, including the latest version of its video editing platform. Blackmagic calls DaVinci Resolve 20 "a major new update which adds over 100 new features." Unsurprisingly, many of those new features are AI-related and aimed at speeding up and simplifying the editing process.

The updates cover just about every step of the editing process and touch most aspects of the editing program. You can see all of the update details in the press release below, but there are some standout features worth mentioning. First, AI IntelliScript can automatically create timelines based on the original project script. This is done by first creating an automatic transcription of the video files and then uploading the original script text file. DaVinci Resolve chooses the best takes but provides alternative takes in additional tracks so that you can easily review those as well.

Image: Blackmagic

The company says the IntelliScript doesn't require an exact match to the original script, as similar wording is matched. You can also create a script after the fact by uploading the transcription of the master take and using that as the basis for the timeline. In a similar vein, AI Multicam SmartSwitch promises to automatically switch between multiple camera angles based on the active speaker in each scene.

Also coming to DaVinci Resolve 20 is a tool for animating subtitles. The AI Animated Subtitles feature uses the transcription tool to generate a subtitle track on a timeline, automatically animating them with highlighted text as things are spoken. AI Detect Music Beats will analyze "beat-driven music" and automatically place markers on each beat, making it easier to edit clips to the beat of the music.

Image: Blackmagic

Blackmagic also announced AI Set Extender, which sounds similar to Adobe Premiere Pro's Generative Extend. Blackmagic didn't provide extensive information on the feature but says it "creates a scene extension to fill an entire frame based on a simple text prompt."

While many of the standout features are AI-related, there are plenty of updates to hands-on tools as well. For example, Blackmagic Cloud support will now offer better collaboration tools. Blackmagic also changed the cut, edit and color pages when working with a vertical timeline or project, aimed at optimizing the vertical viewer without wasted space or needing to constantly zoom.

Image: Blackmagic

The voiceover palette tool makes it easier to record voiceovers directly into the timeline, providing cue, record and stop controls. Plus, there's quick access to voice isolation and dialogue leveling tools. Blackmagic also added a "full audio mixer with professional loudness metering" to the cut page, allowing users to mix and monitor audio while recording, editing and finishing their content.

“This is a massive update this year, with AI tools and new features that help to speed up every stage of our customer’s workflow” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “By automating tasks that take a long time manually or are tedious, with features such as keyframe editing, voice over palettes, live overwrite and multi-layer compositing tools, our customers are free to spend more time than ever being creative. The new processing code we’ve been rewriting over the last few years is an amazing base to be able to build these new features on. It’s exciting to see how we can provide tools with DaVinci Resolve to help our customers spend more time exploring their creativity.”

You can see a comprehensive list of all the features on the DaVinci Resolve 20 product page, or in the press release below. DaVinci Resolve 20 public beta is now available for download from the Blackmagic Design website. The standard version is free to download, however you'll need DaVinci Resolve Studio 20 for $325 to unlock the advanced editing tools.

This week, Nikon announced the Z5II, its entry-level full-frame camera. It uses a 24MP BSI sensor we've seen in plenty of other cameras, such as the Zf and Z6 II, but that's not a complaint – in the past, it's provided excellent image quality.

We spent a day shooting with a pre-production Z5II. While rainy weather doesn't always make for the best samples, it was just enough to add a bit of ambiance. Do keep in mind that although the samples provide an idea of how the camera performs, they may not exactly reflect the output of a final production model. We'll be looking to get ahold of one of those when they become available, so stay tuned.

See the sample gallery

This photo was taken at a train station in France from the safety of the platform. I was testing out Sony's latest ultra-wide lens, and was very excited that I could get the red bumper posts, the rails, and the parked train all in the shot. Sony a7C R | FE 16mm F1.8 G | F1.8 | 1/60 sec | ISO 100 Photo: Mitchell Clark

Our April editor's photo challenge is now open for submissions. The theme this month is red, green and blue, and we're looking for photos that utilize all three colors.

Some examples: an apple orchard under a blue sky, a color-coordinated bookshelf, a parrot – anything with a tri-chromatic color palette utilizing the three colors that form the basis of all our digital images. Our favorites will be featured on the DPReview homepage at the end of the month.

This challenge is open to photos taken at any time. The last day for entry will be Saturday, April 12th (GMT).

IMPORTANT: Images MUST include a title and a caption of at least 25 words to be eligible. Viewers want to know the story behind your photo. We will consider both photos and captions when selecting our winners, so make sure to tell us that story!

Visit the challenge page to read the full rules and to submit your photos for consideration. Please remember to include a caption or your submission will be deemed ineligible, and we'll ask you to resubmit it.

Visit the challenge page to read the rules and submit your photo

Images: Zoom, Cutasunda, BlackMagic, 3 Legged Thing

Happy weekend, everyone. We're deep into camera news season, but the accessory makers haven't been slacking at all. Today, we'll be taking a look at a big update to a solid audio recorder, a new take on the light stand and a host of other accessories – but first, the deals.

Canon deals

Photo: Dale Baskin

Canon's mid-range full-frame camera, the EOS R6 II, is currently on sale for $200 off. When we tested it, we were very impressed with how well-rounded it is, combining excellent autofocus, great ergonomics and solid performance.

Photo: Richard Butler

Speaking of cameras we were impressed with, the EOS R5 II is also on sale for $300 off its MSRP. It takes everything that's good about the EOS R6II and turns it up to 11, with a higher-resolution sensor, faster burst rates and more.

Not just a light stand

Image: 3 Legged Thing

3 Legged Thing is getting into the light stand market. On the surface, its new product, the Luna, looks like a standard piece of grip equipment, but if you look closer, you'll notice it's made of carbon fiber. The company says this makes it light, stable and compact when folded up. It has a maximum height of 2m (79").

That's not its only trick, though: you can also detach the center column from the legs and use it as a boom pole for recording audio or getting your camera closer to a hard-to-reach subject. While the head features a 3/8"-16 thread, common for lighting and microphones, it's actually retractable: push down the outer sheath, and it'll reveal a 1/4"-20 thread, which can be used to mount a wide variety of accessories.

Even more grip

The Impact 3-stage Baby Folder Roller is just one of the products in the new KeyGrip series. Image: Impact

If you prefer more traditional light stands, Impact has you covered. The company has announced a new KeyGrip lineup, which it says is supposed to provide rugged, flexible designs at a relatively affordable price. The lineup includes everything from small, sturdy stands meant to hold camera sliders to three-stage stands on rollers that can extend up to 3.35m (11') tall.

Video Performance Guaranteed

Image: Nextorage

If you're a videographer who shoots on Sony cameras and have to be absolutely sure your storage media is fast enough for any resolution, codec or framerate, you have a new option. Nextorage has announced its NX-A2Pro series of CFexpress Type A cards, which it says are the first of their kind to comply with the Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) 800 standard. That means the cards can write at least 800MBps of data continuously.

Of course, the cards' peak write speeds are much higher, at 1900 MBps. Both speeds, however, are well above what you'll need today. The manual for Sony's flagship a1 II says that even the camera's highest-bitrate modes only require a VPG200 or higher card. Nextorage says the NX-A2Pro is designed for "the high-end camera market in the future."

If you're not looking for future-proof storage, the company also announced its NX-A2AE line, which has a VPG400 rating. Both cards will be available starting in "late April."

NX-A2Pro:

NX-A2AE:

A new school way to shoot old-school

Image: Cutasunda

While shooting film gives you a completely analog experience, if you're doing so in 2025, you'll probably want to digitize your photos at some point. The Myriad film holder by Cutasunda, which got a shout-out from PetaPixel this week, promises to help make that process a little easier. It has a diffusion panel to help ensure your film is evenly backlit, and its top panel makes sure your film is flat, even if months in a canister have given it a tendency to curl up. Its adjustable film guides support film sizes from 110 to 6x9, so it'll work with pretty much whatever you're shooting.

It's not a complete package – you'll still need a quality backlight to put behind it, a camera with a macro lens and a tripod – but it plays an important part in bringing your film from the analog world into the digital one.

A legend improved

Photo: Zoom

Zoom's Handy Recorders – especially the H4 and H5 lines – have been popular among videographers for years, as they provide a versatile way to capture audio wherever you are. Now, the H5 has gotten an upgrade: the new H5studio includes an even better stereo microphone capsule, as well as the ability to record in 32-bit float audio, which essentially means you don't have to worry about your audio clipping.

Like the standard H5, the H5studio has a "capsule" system that lets you attach various microphones and inputs to it. It comes standard with a stereo XY capsule that features "the largest mics ever" included in the Handy Recorder lineup, which can capture around 130dB of dynamic range. The recorder's body also features two combination XLR / TRS inputs, line and headphone out jacks, and USB-C. If you swap the capsule, though, you can add two more XLR inputs or even a dual-channel wireless receiver or shotgun microphone. The H5studio can record up to six tracks, which you can monitor via its LCD screen.

A slew of software updates

Finally, an end to copying and pasting color boards or having to use compound clips.

This week, Apple released an update for its Final Cut Pro editing software. The free 11.1 update includes a few minor improvements and integrates one of the company's new AI features, but the biggest addition is Adjustment Clips. If you've ever edited in Premiere Pro or Davinci Resolve, you'll likely be familiar with the concept: it's a layer you can put over multiple other clips to apply the same effect or transition to them. This can be especially useful with color grading; if you have clips that all need the same grade applied, you can simply apply it to an adjustment clip layered over them rather than having to apply them to each clip individually.

As big as that is, it pales in comparison to what BlackMagic has been working on. The company announced a new version of its Resolve editing software that adds an AI tool for creating animated subtitles, a dedicated keyframe editor and an even easier-to-access audio mixer.

Photo: BlackMagic

Its blockbuster announcement, though, is the Blackmagic Camera 9.5 Update, which is currently in beta but provides a massive upgrade to the autofocus system for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K. When it launched, the camera just had single autofocus – the camera could focus once but wouldn't update if your subject moved. The new update, though, adds continuous autofocus, which will work to keep whatever's under its selected focus point sharp. It also supports tracking autofocus, where it will attempt to keep its focus point on a selected subject, even if it moves or the framing changes, as well as face tracking autofocus. These changes should make the camera substantially more useful for smaller productions or even single-shooter setups with no dedicated focus puller. The company says it'll be bringing the feature to its other large-sensor cameras as well.

Read last week's roundup