The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing a retroactive ban on suspected DJI‑linked drones and cameras, affecting products sold under brands like Xtra and Skyrover. The move escalates last week’s announcement of proposed $25,000 fines against eight companies that allegedly ignored FCC inquiries about DJI‑related gear marketed in the U.S., penalties that were technically for non‑response rather than the hardware itself.

In the past, the FCC’s decisions generally couldn’t touch products that were already approved, but a recent rule adjustment changed that. As The Verge reported, in late 2025, the Commission amended its equipment‑authorization rules so it can now restrict the import and sale of previously approved devices from companies on its national‑security “Covered List,” without formally revoking those original approvals or disabling gear that’s already in users’ hands.

DJI itself was added to the Covered List in late 2025 after a national‑security review under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, a designation that already blocks new DJI radio‑equipped products from receiving FCC approval in the U.S.

Skyrover

This could be the first time the FCC uses its new power, with potential bans on products from Cogito, Fikaxo, Lyno Dynamics, Skyhigh Tech, Spatial Hover, SZ Knowact, WaveGo, Xtra and XAG. The Commission says those products “pose an unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security because they are suspected of containing DJI‑designed radio components under different brand names.

Those who already own products from the at-risk companies won’t be impacted by the FCC’s decision and can continue using them. However, affected drones and cameras are expected to disappear from major online retailers and from the brands’ own sites if the order is finalized, and unsold inventory in the U.S. could need to be written off.

The FCC is accepting public comments for 30 days, so the ban won’t take effect immediately. The Commission says it will consider “specific evidence” that might show the products are compliant, though, as The Verge points out, the organization doesn’t have a great track record of listening to public sentiment. If you would still like to voice your opinion, you can do so via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System on the FCC website.

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

After becoming a go-to brand for tripods and various ways to carry your camera around, Peak Design is tackling the next piece of the puzzle: the L-bracket. As is its usual style, the company isn’t content with simply making a piece of hardware that makes it easy to switch between portrait and landscape shooting. Instead, it has built the Field Bracket as a modular system, launching it alongside additional accessories that aim to solve multiple issues.

The Field Bracket takes design cues from the “Field” tripod plate the company released last year. Like the Field Plate, the L-bracket doesn’t require a tool for installation. Instead, it uses the company’s “Field Latch” mechanism, which features a tab that pops up with the press of a button, turning into a thumb-drive handle. That means no more relying on having a hex tool on hand at all times.

Peak Design

The tool‑free design makes it quick and easy to attach the part of the bracket that goes up the side of the camera, transforming from a simple base plate into a full L‑bracket for shooting in portrait orientation on a tripod. Users can also adjust the upright position to provide room for tethering cables, making it easier to use in a studio setup. The Field Bracket is camera-specific, with versions for select Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm and Leica camera systems.

Peak Design says that the Field Bracket is the base of a modular system of accessories. In that spirit, it’s also launching the Beacon Finder Tag, a smaller version of its card-sized tracker that it released with its wallet system and which ties in with Apple’s Find My ecosystem. Peak Design says the tag is the first tracker specifically designed to fit in Arca-compatible camera plates, offering a discreet way to keep track of camera gear.

Peak Design

The company has also created a few additional new accessories for the Field Bracket. Its Cheese Plate adds 1/4″-20, 3/8″-16 and cold shoe mounting points for adding accessories like lights, mics, monitors and more. There’s also a hand strap, making it easier to work handheld with it attached to your camera. No matter which accessories are attached, Peak Design says all your camera’s ports and controls will remain easily accessible. It also allows full integration with existing Peak Design accessories, such as its camera straps and Capture Clip.

As is typical for Peak Design product launches, the new gear will first be available via Kickstarter (its 17th such launch). The Kickstarter campaign will allow users to purchase the system at a discount before the retail release. The camera-specific Field Brackets have an MSRP of $150, while the Cheese Plate, Hand Strap and Beacon Finder tag will be sold separately, starting at $40.

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

Last year, Adobe’s Nextcam team launched Project Indigo, an experimental camera app for iPhones that offered full manual controls and promised a more natural look from smartphone photos. Now, the team has announced AI Playground, an experimental generative AI tool inside of Project Indigo.

In its announcement, Adobe explains that text-based editing (e.g., asking an AI chatbot to make changes to a photo for you) is still clunky, both in its results and usability. This new tool aims to improve that experience by keeping more of the process – both capture and edit – in one app. It says that AI Playground aims to “explore how generative AI can assist mobile photographers at the point of capture.”

AI Playground offers a handful of buttons that, when tapped, trigger specific generative AI prompts engineered by Adobe. These include options for removing distractions, creating a shallow depth of field, applying certain styles, changing lighting and critiquing photos. There’s also a Custom Edit button where users can input their own prompts, either via typing or dictation. For now, Adobe says it is using Google’s Nano Banana model, but that is subject to change, and may even change on a per-button basis.

Adobe

The “Styles” button allows users to apply a range of preset styles, turning photos into drawings or paintings or changing the lighting. Adobe says the available options “represent techniques we have found to be most successful when applied to everyday snapshots,” so it isn’t an endless list. It also clarifies that it trained the model to identify and highlight the main subject to keep focus on the most important parts of the photo.

Adobe

Object Editing offers tools familiar to editing apps, but Adobe says it is “exploring whether simple editing operations can be performed in the camera app using a generative model.” There are buttons for removing distractions and creating a shallow depth of field. If those specific tools don’t cover what you are looking to do, the Custom Edits button lets you change almost anything, similar to standalone generative AI tools. That includes completely swapping out backgrounds and specifying different styles. Adobe also showed off the ability to turn a drawing into a photo-like image, or change a sculpture into a “real” person.

Adobe

Adobe also highlighted the feedback section, which looks to be a more robust version of Google’s “Camera Coach,” albeit one that critiques photos after the fact, rather than giving you suggestions as you’re composing. It says that it is aimed at helping users learn or advance their photography by providing critique. The tool can provide both reshooting suggestions since it operates within a camera app, along with editing suggestions. Adobe says it is “working on customizing these prompts to reflect individual phone models and lenses, each of which has unique capabilities,” so that users get suggestions specific to what their phone is capable of.

There are some caveats with the AI Playground. First, while it’s free (for now) and doesn’t require sign-in, Adobe is only rolling this out to a small percentage of Project Indigo users. It says that if AI Playground is successful, there will be a paid version. Adobe also makes it clear that this is an experiment inside of an experimental app, so things are subject to change. You need to be connected to the internet to use AI Playground, and to save transmission and generation time, images are 2K pixels on a side.

Adobe

The Nextcam team also explains that it has had to create a workaround for HDR images, as image-generation models only output SDR images at this point. So, if you use Nano Banana to edit an HDR photo (even one taken with Project Indigo), it will produce an SDR image. To address this, Adobe says it built a custom ML model to post-process the SDR image and boost it back to HDR, but warns that it isn’t always accurate.

The announcement also briefly addresses ethics as well. Adobe says it is “working to attach metadata to AI-edited images produced from the AI Playground by using technology from Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative,” and specifies that some models, such as Nano Banana, apply invisible watermarks to images. At the end of the day, though, Adobe puts the onus on users: “Whether the edits you apply are ‘fair’ or ‘misleading’ depend on what you do, who you share the images with, and how you present them.”

Adobe

Ethics aside, it seems like an interesting move for the app, given that the original goal of Project Indigo was to produce more natural images that offer “SLR-like” quality from your iPhone. DPReview’s Dale Baskin even chose Project Indigo as his Gear of the Year last year, because it unlocked the ability to take more natural images, encouraging him to use his phone for photos more often. The AI Playground tools, however, seem to take things in a very different, more synthetic direction.

Additionally, the results, at least for now, don’t necessarily inspire confidence. The image at the top of this article looks more like a video game rendering than a photograph, with a distinctly synthetic sheen rather than the ‘natural’ look Indigo set out to offer. Plus, in some instances, such as the cycling image above, Adobe acknowledges that the models will change details that you don’t want changed. That includes altering face shape and expressions, even if it isn’t part of the user’s prompt or intent. The company’s workaround is to upload reference photos, which certainly isn’t ideal.

For those interested in testing AI Playground, you’ll need to update the Project Indigo app to version 1.1. If you are one of the selected users, you’ll see a screen pop up inviting you to use the feature. If you’re not a fan of GenAI in your camera app and you get invited, you can simply decline and keep using Project Indigo as you did before. Adobe also says that the Nextcam team is working on non-GenAI computational photography features that it plans to launch soon.

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

Kodak licensee Reto has quietly added another beginner-friendly 35mm camera to its analog lineup. The Kodak EC35 is a fixed-focus point-and-shoot aimed squarely at casual shooters and film-curious newcomers thanks to its affordable price and ease of operation.

The EC35 is a simple 35mm film camera with a plastic body and 25mm, fixed-focus, 2-element acrylic lens. It’s a point-and-shoot camera, featuring a fixed F10 aperture and a constant 1/100 sec shutter speed. It does offer manual film advance and rewind, though, for a more traditional film experience. There’s also a built-in flash powered by a single AA battery.

It’s highly compact, weighing 102 g (3.6 oz) and measuring 119 x 65 x 41.5mm (4.7 × 2.6 × 1.6″). It features a slide-out cover to protect the lens, just like highly popular retro compact film cameras, such as the Olympus Stylus (Mju series) and Contax T3.

Reto

While the camera uses Kodak branding, it comes from Reto, the Kodak licensee behind the viral Kodak Charmera cameras. Reto has been steadily rebuilding a Kodak-branded analog ecosystem with playful, affordable cameras like the Ektar H35 half-frame, the H35N half-frame and the Snapic A1, a compact with a 25mm three-element glass lens and double-exposure mode. The EC35 slots in as a more basic model that produces full 35mm frames, sitting below the feature-rich Snapic A1 with its LCD, auto wind/rewind and multi-exposure features.

The Kodak EC35 comes in six colors: black, white, yellow, lavender, light blue, light pink and light green. It’s available for purchase now for $35, the same price as Lomography’s recently released half-frame camera.

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

Lomography is jumping on the half-frame trend with its latest camera. The appropriately named Half-frame Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera is an affordable option that aims to make film easy for those looking to explore the medium.

As a half-frame camera, it uses half of each 35mm frame, resulting in 17 mm x 24 mm vertical images and letting you get twice as many photos from a roll as a traditional 35mm camera. The small point-and-shoot looks like a classic disposable camera and comes pre-loaded with a roll that gives you 40 shots before you need to reload. Despite its lightweight, disposable-style design, the camera is fully reloadable, and with a standard 36-exposure roll, you can capture up to 72 images.

Lomography

Lomography designed the camera to be easy to use. It features a fixed-focus 21mm lens, a single 1/120 sec shutter speed, a fixed F9 aperture and no ISO adjustment options. It offers a built-in flash to help in low-light situations and has integrated gels to slide in front of the flash for pops of color. There are also shooting instructions printed on the camera body to help you use it if you’re new to film.

You can choose between two preloaded versions of the half-frame camera: one with LomoChrome Classicolor ISO 200 film, and the other with Lady Gray ISO 400 black and white film. You can also opt for a kit that includes six additional rolls and a case to store your film. Sitting well below options like the Pentax 17, it’s meant to be an affordable, casual way to enjoy film.

The Lomography Half-frame Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera is available for preorder now and costs $30 with black-and-white film and $35 with color film.

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

Hasselblad launched Phocus Mobile 2 in 2019, as an iOS-only app for editing Raw files from its medium format cameras on phones and tablets. Now, the company has announced Phocus Mobile v1.0.0 for Android, finally bringing the mobile workflow to Android users with the X2D II 100C, X2D 100C and 907X + CFV 100C.

Like the iOS version, Phocus Mobile for Android includes a robust set of editing tools, including exposure, curves, white balance, sharpening, cropping, lens correction and more. It also supports batch adjustments and basic asset management with the ability to add ratings and mark favorites. Images can be imported over Wi‑Fi or, for those using the X2D II 100C (with firmware version 1.3.16.1 or later), via USB‑C. Files can then be exported as Ultra HDR JPEG, HDR TIFF, as well as standard JPEG, TIFF, HEIF or 3FR Raw.

Hasselblad says that the Android app brings its end-to-end Natural Color Solution (HNCS) to mobile, allowing for a consistent look whether editing on desktop or mobile. The app supports HDR viewing and editing for X2D II 100C files on compatible HDR devices. It also features the company’s AI-powered Raw noise reduction, which it says is tuned for its 100MP sensors. The noise reduction tool offers two modes, allowing users to prioritize either cleaner files or better micro-contrast.

There are some hardware caveats, though. The app requires an Android device with at least 12 GB of RAM and Android 12 or later. That said, Hasselblad recommends Android 16 or later and devices powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or newer for the best experience. Given that the phone needs to handle 100MB files, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Hasselblad’s Phocus Mobile for Android is now available on the Google Play Store for free.

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

After more than a month of drama, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally heading into its finale, with the last games set for this weekend. Over the course of the tournament, a small army of photographers has been crisscrossing stadiums to keep pace with the matches and the stories unfolding around them.

One of them is Maddie Meyer, a Getty Images staff photographer who has spent this World Cup on the touchline and in the stands, documenting everything from tunnel nerves to wild celebrations. Meyer took the time to speak with me between matches, sharing insights into what it’s like to cover such an event and how she stays on top of her game.

Finding her way

Getty Images

While Meyer was always interested in photography, she didn’t start out wanting to be a sports photographer. She grew up in Washington, D.C., playing soccer and thinking she would follow the path of Doug Mills, a prominent New York Times photographer she’d known since childhood. “I’ve known him since I was 8, and I looked up to him so much,” she said. “I remember his pictures from the Torino Olympics and thinking this might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Meyer recognizes that having Mills to look up to early on was quite important for her path. “It was so cool to have somebody in my life so early to show me this is a job you can have,” she told me. “He was super encouraging; he said the only difference between me and you is I’ve worked hard at this for 40 more years.” Meyer kept shooting through middle and high school and went on to study photojournalism at Ohio University.

She still thought she wanted to be a White House photographer until she started working with her college athletics department and realized how much she loved traveling with teams and being outside. That led her to apply for a Getty Sport internship in New York City, which quickly felt like the right fit. “I loved the pace and the scale and the intensity of it. After I graduated from college, I got hired in Boston in 2015. I have been here ever since, and I still love it,” she said.

Managing the chaos

Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

At this point in her career, Meyer is no stranger to long days and constant travel, but this World Cup has been especially demanding, with matches held in 16 cities across 3 countries. Group play was the most intense stretch, with 50 Getty editorial photographers bouncing between host cities to cover 72 group‑stage matches. “We were traveling the day of sometimes, so it was like, wake up, take a flight, check into the hotel, head to the stadium,” said Meyer.

Once she’s at the venue, the workday around a single match stretches to roughly 10 hours. Meyer said that the Getty team at a game (generally two to three photographers during group play) typically arrives about five hours before kickoff. They start by setting up remote cameras behind the goals and photographing the dressing rooms. When the teams arrive, the atmosphere shifts quickly. “Some of the African teams come and actually sing down the tunnels and the hallways with drums, which is really cool,” she described. “So I love that right off the bat, sometimes you get a really interesting cultural taste right away.”

From there, Meyer follows the team as they walk the pitch and go through their warmups, then moves into one of her favorite moments: the tunnel. “What I really like is getting access into the tunnel, where there aren’t other photographers, so to me, those are some of the more genuine moments that we see of these athletes before they step out and see these tens of thousands of people,” she said.

After the final whistle, one member of the crew typically goes out on the pitch with a steadicam. “I really love getting closer to those players, whether it’s the celebration, the dejection, it feels a little bit more intimate than using those really long lenses to photograph the action,” she said. They wrap up the day by capturing the press conferences and packing up before heading to the next city.

The long hours and frequent travel can wear anyone down, so Meyer leans on small rituals to keep herself steady. including bringing small things from home and making time for movement. She likes to bring a few comforts from home and find regularity where she can. “I love having my good-smelling soaps in the shower, little things that make me feel like I’m not just sitting in the rain in my raincoat all the time,” she explained. “I also always try to get some sort of exercise in, either walking or in the gym, just kind of moving my body, because most of the time, we’re kind of curled up in these weird positions.”

She also explained that sleep is non-negotiable. “I really believe I can do anything in the world if I have 8 hours of sleep,” she said. “I tell my colleagues, too, listen, if we’re not sleeping and we’re running between places, let’s be really gentle with each other the best we can, because we’re running on fumes sometimes.”

What goes on behind-the-scenes

Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Meyer and her teammates certainly have their hands full during an event. She told me that she typically has four cameras in action during World Cup matches: one remote camera behind the goal, and three on her. She usually fits those handheld cameras with a 400mm lens, a 70-200mm, and, depending on her placement, something wide-angle to catch close action. Across the team, there are multiple remotes behind each net, all positioned to cover key moments around the goals.

Before kickoff, Meyer sets up the remote camera’s exposure and focus, making sure it’s ready for action near the net. She explained that the remote cameras behind the goals are hardwired, as there’s far too much interference to rely on wireless connections during matches. It is still manually triggered, either by remote editors or by someone nearby using a foot pedal.

From the opening match on June 11 to the final on July 19, the Getty Images team will have shot more than 2.6 million images. Thankfully, the photographers aren’t working alone. The Getty Images FIFA World Cup team consists of 115 people, including 20 editors in New York who help oversee operations and are ready to receive images as they come in.

“They have a diagram of where everybody is. So after a goal is scored, they’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s in Maddie’s corner, take a look at what she’s sending us.’ So they’re able to prioritize whose work they want to look at to get those pictures out quickest,” Meyer explained. She works under a “tag and send workflow,” meaning she looks through and sends pictures that she wants the editors to see, often within seconds of something happening.

The remote cameras are handled differently. Those are set to send all of the images to New York as soon as the cameras fire. Once the editors have the photos, they crop, tone, caption and send the pictures out for use. A Getty Images representative told me that they can have photos ready within 30 seconds of capture, often before television replays are available.

Meyer explained that the current process is vastly improved from when she first started. “In 2015, I photographed the Women’s World Cup, and it was self-edit, so I had my laptop out on the sideline, and it was super challenging,” she explained. “Versus now, it’s just such a win for everybody. The editing team does a way better job than me out in the sun, squinting into my laptop. And also, I’m able to shoot more and really focus on the game.”

Staying prepared

Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

With so much happening around each match, Meyer tries to go in as prepared as possible. “I think it’s always great to understand the key players and some of the storylines,” she said, noting that her European colleagues have been especially helpful since they see many of these players regularly and can flag people to keep an eye on.

More than scouting, though, Meyer focuses on her particular location for the match. “We’re assigned where we’re shooting, and so I really think about the backgrounds, how the game is gonna kinda flow,” she said. She went on to explain that she’s also very intentional about which moments are hers to photograph, versus ones that are better for her colleagues to capture. “I really think this is my little piece of the pie, this portion of the field,” Meyer said. “I’m gonna really think about what lenses show off what’s going on here.”

Meyer said she also thinks about her mom a lot when photographing. “She’s a big Maddie fan, but not a big sports fan,” she said. “And I always think, what would I tell her about today? What makes this different? What makes this interesting? What makes this special?” She uses that mindset to make sure she’s telling the bigger story, making it interesting for more than just die-hard soccer fans.

Another challenge Meyer faces is making her pictures feel distinctive. “Sometimes the photos do end up looking the same as the person sitting next to you,” she explained. “I try to think about lens choices – can I shoot really wide to show atmosphere? Tight to show details or faces? A very shallow depth of field to highlight the action? That can be where the difference comes into play when our position can’t be unique.”

A favorite moment on the world stage

Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

As the 2026 World Cup nears its end, Meyer doesn’t hesitate when asked about a favorite moment from the tournament: the Egypt–Argentina match. She was roaming rather than in an assigned spot on the touchline, which she said presents a fun challenge, since she can go anywhere and doesn’t have set compositions and backgrounds in mind as she does otherwise.

There had been lots of back and forth, but Egypt was up towards the end. She got a message saying they would have access to the Egypt locker room, asking whether she would go in with them if they won. “I was like, okay, do I leave before the match is over to wait outside their locker room, or do I stay up a little bit longer?” she recalled. Then, Argentina scored, and she decided to go with the Argentina fans and figure out how to get to the locker room later if she had to.

“The Argentina fans are incredible,” she said. “These people are so passionate. They travel so well. They have the instruments. They’re just out of their minds in the best way that you want to see.” She also told me that she loves how much they want everyone involved, and they are not shy about having a photographer in their midst.

“They ended up winning, crying, shirts off, screaming, and I have all these pictures with a 15mm, and all these people, it’s like, babies, old men, young people, and that was super memorable to me, of just kind of being in that chaos,” she said. “Being on the pitch, it feels pretty high pressure as a photographer, but up there, I was like, I’m in this. And they’re like, ‘Get in here, sister!’ I’m like, okay, I’m not celebrating. I’m gonna photograph you celebrating. One of the guys took my phone and was like, ‘I’m taking pictures of you!’ It was just, like, the rails have come off up here.”

For Meyer, that moment captures a lot of what makes the World Cup special. “What I think is so fun about the World Cup is just how passionate these people are, and getting to be maybe a little bit too close to them even was great,” she told me.

Beyond the World Cup: why the small games matter

Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

While Meyer is photographing on the big stage these days, she is quick to stress that professional events aren’t the end-all, be-all. “Even though I love being at the World Cup, it’s not all about the World Cup,” she said. “There’s so much joy, and sometimes, frankly, better pictures in the smaller events, in the high school, in the college, in the MLS, NWSL, all those types of things.”

It’s a good reminder that although big events like this get most of the spotlight, smaller events are important, too. “As much as I love it, and I love talking about it, I never want people to leave talking with me, thinking it’s this or nothing, because there’s a picture to be made at every single level,” Meyer said.

You can see more of Meyer’s work on her Instagram or through Getty Images.

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

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

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

Viltrox

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Xtra

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who it’s for

Capture One

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

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

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

AI on its terms

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

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

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

A pulse on the community

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

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

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

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

Pricing adjustments

Capture One

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

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

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

A clear vision for the future

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Insta360

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fujifilm has announced the GF19-35mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR, a cinema power zoom lens. This marks the second power zoom lens for the GFX system, joining the GF32-90mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR.

The GF 19-35mm T3.5 offers a 35mm equivalent focal length of 15-28mm, providing an ultrawide perspective. It offers the widest angle of view for the GF format, though it just achieves that by only 1mm over the GF 20-35mm F4 R WR. Like Fujifilm’s first power zoom lens, the 19-35mm T3.5 covers the GFX Eterna 55’s full sensor, making it compatible with the camera’s open gate recording mode.

The lens’s built‑in focus motor enables the GFX Eterna 55’s full suite of autofocus modes, making it suitable for everything from handheld documentary work to more controlled studio productions. Its internal servo system lets users control focus, iris (aperture) and zoom directly from the GFX Eterna 55 body for more precise, integrated operation on set. It features built-in image stabilization, ideal for run-and-gun filming.

Fujifilm

The lens consists of 23 lens elements in 15 groups, including four extra-low dispersion (ED) elements and three aspherical elements, which Fujifilm says successfully suppress aberrations. Fujifilm says its optical design suppresses focus breathing, keeping the angle of view consistent as the focus is adjusted. It features a 13-blade aperture.

The GF 19-35mm T3.5 shares the exact exterior dimensions as the GF32-90mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR, measuring 222mm (8.7″) and weighing 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs), making it possible to use the same accessories and setups. It also shares the same controls, with geared rings for focus, iris and zoom, all of which use the same 0.8m gear pitch as existing Fujinon cinema lenses.

The GF19-35mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR will be available on July 23 at a suggested price of $5499.95.

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

Stuart Palley

When Stuart Palley began photographing California wildfires in 2013, the data already pointed toward more serious wildfire problems ahead. Over the next 13 years and nearly 200 fires, he watched that prediction come true. Fire seasons grew longer, fires burned faster and more aggressively, and January 2025 brought an inferno to the hills of Los Angeles at a time of year that usually felt like a safe time.

Through all of it, Palley has been there with a camera, building a visual record of the American West’s fire crisis. I had the opportunity to chat with him about his journey capturing wildfires, the toll it takes and Terra Flamma, his current ongoing series dedicated to a fresh perspective.

Fire as light

Stuart Palley

While Palley is still very focused on the journalistic side of his photography, his Terra Flamma series blends the boundaries between documentary and fine art. The project involves using long exposures to photograph fires at night, and Palley was drawn to making these images in part because of the colors they allow.

Palley explained that he frequently thinks about a quote from Vincent van Gogh, who said, “I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.” Van Gogh’s paintings, like “The Starry Night ,” were direct inspiration for Palley’s fire-lit nightscapes. “That use of color and night scenes just always stuck with me from growing up, and I just loved access to the color palette that wasn’t otherwise available,” he said.

Stuart Palley

The images grasp onto that idea, showcasing landscapes in a manner we don’t often see. “Fire is its own light source, and it bathes everything in this warm light,” Palley explained. “When you add in smoke and other geographic features, it can either be an enormous warm softbox, or it can paint everything in orange and red, and then contrast it against a more blue or purple night sky. So it creates this incredible color palette that is only available when the fires are happening.”

Terra Flamma isn’t just about color, though. The long exposures give you a different look at the fire’s behavior, too. “You see what it’s doing, you see where the smoke’s going, and it sort of illuminates the scene,” said Palley. The long exposures also showcase the landscape, providing a bigger view of the situation. “Ultimately, the goal of Terra Flamma is to take these landscape photos of fire and put them in the context of where they are,” he said. “Is this happening in the mountains in the middle of nowhere? Is it happening near downtown LA?”

Stuart Palley

Palley has also expanded the series to include stories beyond the fire itself, including firefighters, crews, communities, air quality, forestry management and more. “The fire has become part of a broader ecosystem when it comes to storytelling about climate and natural disasters here in the American West,” he told me.

While Terra Flamma occupies the fine art end of his work, it represents only part of what Palley does at a fire. During the day, he’s working as a photojournalist documenting firefighters, crews and affected communities with the same immediacy as any news photographer. The long-exposure landscapes come when the sun dips down.

Putting gear in the line of fire

Stuart Palley

Of course, long exposures create logistical challenges that daytime images don’t. Fires are dynamic and can change rapidly, and setting up for a long exposure requires time. Thankfully, most of his long exposures give him the benefit of distance as a safety buffer. “A lot of times when I’m doing these longer landscape exposures, it’s from further back, looking at the fire in context across a canyon or down a hill,” he said. “So, I typically have some space built in that gives me both geographic safety and the time to make these images.”

That’s not always the case, though. Palley remembered one image in particular where he was much closer to the fire, with a 30-second exposure capturing embers swirling around him. “I had to stand there holding my camera in the wind, getting pelted by embers,” Palley said. “I’ve got like a hood, a helmet, goggles and all this stuff. So, I was fine. But I decided at that point that it was worth making that picture because it showed the ember cast in such a wild way that it was worth sitting there for the 30-second exposure.”

Stuart Palley

Thankfully, fires haven’t been the direct cause of damage to Palley’s gear. “I’ve certainly damaged and destroyed multiple cameras at these fires, but it’s not necessarily from negligence,” he said. He recalled one time in 2015 when he dropped his camera after getting attacked by a displaced beehive because they were attracted to his yellow Nomex suit. Another time, he melted a lens hood because it fell into burning grass.

The most common issue, he says, is smoke. “The cameras smell like ashtrays,” he said. “You get smoke and ashes on it, but you get alcohol wipes, and you wipe the cameras down every day to reduce smoke exposure and things like that.” He also sends them off yearly for a cleaning to maintain his gear. “But ultimately, it’s a tool and tools used in challenging conditions just often need more maintenance,” he explained.

Training is key

Stuart Palley

While Palley, of course, wants to create incredible photographs, he draws a clear line. “The key thing here is no photo is worth me getting hurt or getting in the way of firefighters,” he said. He’s always putting his safety and the job of firefighters first.

That focus on safety has only increased over the years, too, as fires have become more intense. “I’ve always been safety oriented, but I’m very, very conservative now on how I approach these fires because the fire behavior is so extreme,” he said. “From having been at almost 200 wildfires at this point, the fire behavior continues to surprise me with how aggressive and rapid it is.”

Stuart Palley

Palley’s safety record is no accident. Since early on in his career, he has devoted a lot of time to making sure he is well-trained, knowledgeable about fires and has the right gear. “When I first started photographing fires, I had basic Nomex PPE, but the boots didn’t quite fit right. I didn’t have the right fire shelter,” he told me. “So within the first year, I went to a private wildland fire school for a week to get my general wildland firefighter training.”

He’s also careful to continually update his gear so that it meets current standards. For example, he recently purchased a $3000 radio because many agencies have updated their radios, and he needs an easy way to listen to what’s going on to stay safe and out of firefighters’ way. “When I’m at fires, I want to be there to tell the story, not become part of it,” he said.

Stuart Palley

Palley has also started sharing his knowledge with others. He recently led a two-day wildfire media safety course for 20 Reuters staffers and freelancers. “It’s a blend of some very general wildland fire behavior and training that’s standardized for firefighters, but it’s sort of customized in a curriculum I just developed to teach journalists,” he explained. That information can then help other journalists stay safe, while producing informative coverage of these events.

That directness extends to how he talks about irresponsible coverage more broadly. Palley is a genuine believer in the democratization of media and is all for more people covering these events. But he has little patience for journalists or creators who treat dangerous situations carelessly. “When I’ve seen so many extreme fires, fatality fires, homes burn down, I don’t have time to sugarcoat these explanations,” he said. “Sometimes you have to just be direct and tell people to get their shit together. This is serious stuff happening. It needs to be taken seriously.”

Building trust and the ethics of wildfire photojournalism

Stuart Palley

Trust is also a factor when photographing these fires. Palley is often working in the vicinity of firefighters, and they need to know that he’s not a liability and that they can trust him to be responsible and safe. “If you’re a journalist there, to a wildland firefighter, you’re the X-factor,” he said. “Trust is one of the biggest things, and that’s the reason why I’m big on having the right gear and the training and knowing how to use it.”

Trust extends beyond wildland firefighters and safety crews, too. Palley often photographs communities when people return to their homes after fires, a traumatic and emotional experience. “When you’re photographing people on the worst day of their lives or the most stressful day of their lives, sometimes they don’t want that to be photographed,” he described.

“I want to respect the dignity that people deserve in these situations and build that trust,” Palley said. Because of that, he gives people space when requested, moving on to other areas and photographs. “To me, that’s more important than making that picture,” he told me.

The cost of the work

Stuart Palley

Palley considered conflict photography early in his career before deciding against it, in part because of the mental health toll he knew it could take. The irony is that wildfire photography has its own cost.

“Journalists deal with vicarious trauma, and if it’s not treated, it essentially develops into PTSD,” he said. He’s clear about what the work actually demands. “When these fires happen, you’re working 16, 18-hour days on assignment. It’s just very intense,” he said. “The human body and mind are not designed for that level of stimulation for that amount of time.”

There’s been a growing movement in both journalism and the firefighting world to acknowledge this, and Palley learned it firsthand. In 2023, he was feeling the burnout and stepped back from photographing fires for about a year.

Chiara Dollak

Recovery, for him, has meant therapy, stepping away from social media during intense fire periods and making space to decompress. “When it’s been a really intense fire reporting period, just kind of be present, literally touch grass, rest, get away from the digital screen,” he said.

The cost of this work is real, but so is Palley’s commitment to it. He returned to the fire line when the LA fires broke out in January 2025 and hasn’t stepped back since. For those looking to stay informed, he recommends Watch Duty, a free nonprofit app he volunteers for that sends real-time alerts about fires and evacuations across the United States.

His parting advice, after 13 years and nearly 200 fires, is straightforward: “If you’re worried about a fire and you haven’t gotten an evacuation order, you don’t have to wait for an evacuation order to leave. You can always leave.”

You can follow along with Palley’s work on his Instagram , YouTube channel and website .

Fujifilm

Fujifilm is celebrating the 40th birthday of the QuickSnap series of single-use 35mm film cameras. To mark the occasion, the company has announced two new additions: the QuickSnap Black and White and Active.

The QuickSnap Black and White is Fujifilm’s first one-time-use camera that uses monochrome film. That perhaps isn’t too surprising; while Fujifilm has produced black and white film under its Neopan brand since 1952, the line has been whittled down over the years to just a single stock, Neopan 100 Acros II.

Fujifilm

The new disposable camera uses 400 speed film, but Fujifilm hasn’t specified an emulsion. Given that Fujifilm’s only black and white film in production right now is 100 speed, it isn’t that. But it isn’t clear if this is a proprietary emulsion made for the camera, or if it’s sourced from a third party like Ilford. Either way, Fujifilm says the film stock is “designed to capture rich contrasts, tones and textured grains.”

The black and white camera uses a 1/140 sec shutter speed and a plastic, 32mm lens with fixed focus and F10 aperture, as is typical on single-use film cameras. It features a built-in flash with a range of roughly 3 meters (10′), and a switch to turn the flash on and off. It offers 27 exposures and can be developed with C-41 chemistry.

Fujifilm

The QuickSnap Active replaces the previous waterproof QuickSnap. It’s designed to withstand rain and underwater adventures up to 10 meters (33′), thanks to an integrated waterproof housing. It also uses a 32mm plastic lens with F10 aperture and fixed focus, though a slightly slower 1/125 sec shutter speed.

The Active uses an 800 speed color negative film. The previous waterproof camera likely used Superia X-TRA 800, but it isn’t clear yet if that continues in the new Active. Unlike the black and white offering, the Active does not feature a flash. It is capable of 27 exposures and can be developed with C-41 chemistry.

The Fujifilm QuickSnap Active and Black and White will be available for purchase in early September for $25 and $23, respectively.

Capture One / Hasselblad

Capture One and Hasselblad are partnering up: a new update is adding support for editing Raw files from some of the camera-maker’s medium format models.

At launch, Capture One will support Raw files from the X2D II 100C, the X2D 100C and the CFV 100C digital back. Support for tethering is coming later in 2026 as well.

Capture One long declined to support Hasselblad Raw files, and the company was fairly candid about why. The roots of the tension trace back to Capture One’s origins as part of Phase One, a direct Hasselblad competitor in the medium format space, before the two were split into separate companies by private equity firm Axcel in 2019.

In an official support article , CEO Rafael Orta said that the decision came down to both technical considerations and “the nature of our relationship with the manufacturer.” He went on to say that “the relationship between Phase One and Hasselblad was notoriously antagonistic, and as I’m sure you’ll know from life experience, it takes a second to blow up a bridge and a very long time to rebuild it.”

Capture One / Hasselblad

It seems that the bridge has now been rebuilt, and the relationship is strong enough for a partnership. While the tension between the two companies may have eased since Capture One became its own entity, it wasn’t a simple step to add support for Hasselblad Raw files. In an interview with Orta ahead of the partnership announcement, he told DPReview that it “takes quite a bit of work to support super-capable cameras, especially the latest generations.”

Orta explained that Capture One only adds support for cameras after the team has had a chance to use them and create thousands of images. He said they work to develop a deep understanding of how individual image sensors, file formats, and each brand’s color science work.

The process involves very close collaboration with the partner companies, and adding support for Hasselblad Raw files was no different. “Every camera and every manufacturer is special,” said Orta. “Each one has its own take on color science and how they process sensor data inside its cameras. We’re very dedicated to making sure that when you open that file, you’re seeing colors that are true to our standards.”

Capture One / Hasselblad

“The way we see it, it’s a labor of love, to be honest,” Orta said. “We give each individual device the same process, but we also understand that each device has its own technology.”

The new Raw support and upcoming tethering won’t be the extent of Capture One’s partnership with Hasselblad, according to Orta. “Tomorrow is the start line, and we’re excited to see where photographers take this,” he said.

Raw support for the X2D II 100C, the X2D 100C and the CFV 100C digital back is available starting today. Users will need version 16.8.3 of the desktop app and version 3.3.4 for the mobile app. A free seven-day trial is available from the Capture One website.

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

Blufftonian

A ton of great content and related photography is created by the DPReview community in our forums: lively discussions, sharing of gear and photography in spotlight articles, collaborative photo events and more. In this “What you missed” roundup for June, we highlight community forum activity from the past month, including some of the photography that didn’t make it into articles.

Scroll down to the section of interest as previewed in this list:

• Article of the month: Joining a local photography group
• ‘What’s in your bag?’ community member spotlights
• Question of the week
• Join our collaborative photo chain
• Discussion of the month: Why is it so difficult to buy a first camera today?

Article of the month: Joining a local photography group

DPReview’s Features Editor, Abby Ferguson, wrote a great piece about the benefits of joining local photography groups . As a community manager, I naturally found this article fascinating and the kind of advice I feel all of you would find a great insight into photographers outside our forums. After reading her article, I even took it upon myself to look up some photography groups in my local corner of Texas, United States.

“Despite my reluctance, I knew meeting other photographers would only be a good thing. Plus, as this is a place my husband and I will be for the long term, I wanted to set down some roots and finally make some connections here. And so, last fall, I finally put aside my reservations and attended a meetup.” – Abby

What’s in your bag? A community member spotlight

Every week, we spotlight a community member’s unique photographs and gear in our ‘What’s in your bag?’ series . The series highlights a reader’s favorite camera gear and how they use it. You’ll also get tips and tricks on capturing your own photography.

Mark Lamb shared his portrait photography in celebration of our week of portrait-themed community content. Below is an interesting excerpt from Mark’s story about his fondness for portrait photography in Britain. The photo above is a new one he provided us that we couldn’t fit into the article.

“In recent years, my work has become centered on a long-term project called One Thousand Contemporary Portraits , an attempt to create a broad and inclusive portrait archive of contemporary Britain. The project has taken me from fishing communities and military veterans to Goths, performers, campaigners, artists and ordinary people whose stories might otherwise go unrecorded.”

Check out this month’s other reader spotlights:

• Brian Ach: From Prince to NYC streets: A photographer’s life in two worlds
• Giacomo Farabegoli: This DPReview reader backpacks with a Sony a7R IV in the mountains
• Alberto Tanikawa: Knives, whiskey, and RGB light: Inside one photographer’s obsessive still-life work

Question of the week: we ask, you tell

Every other week, we ask the community a question about their photography, usually on a specific topic, with the results spotlighted on DPReview’s front page and in the forums the following week. There are often many great photos submitted that we don’t get a chance to spotlight them all in a single article.

Here is a newly revealed reader’s photo and excerpt of their story from the latest question.

What camera is your most memorable?

thorstenwulff

Featured quote : “My first love was the F3. In the summer of 1987, she went to New York with me and a box of T-Max 400. Paired with a 24mm F2.8 lens, it was my perfect combo for street photography, even if you had to get a bit closer. The other lens was the 105mm F2.5. In early May this year, I took them back to Manhattan, but was put off a bit by the flood of gimbal-toting influencers everywhere Instagram deems worthy of a shot. This couple is one of my favorite pictures from 39 years ago. I love the tenderness between them.” – thorstenwulff

Participate in community-led photo initiatives

Dale Baskin

Every week, new community-created photo discussions and mini-challenges pop up across the forums. Usually, these start as a discussion about a particular camera brand or type of photography . For the month of June, we wanted to highlight Alan WF’s invitation to take fresh photos with your adapted lens cameras .

Visit our Community photo threads index for the latest opportunities to share a photo from your collection. We would also love for you to participate in DPReview’s own initiatives: Weekly photo exhibitions and the new Collaborative photo chain .

Discussion of the month: Why is it so difficult to buy a first camera today?

FrancoD

Community member, BernardoSC , asked a great question in the forums that has gained quite a bit of traction. He asked everyone, “Why is it so difficult to buy a first camera today?” This is an excellent question, BernardoSC! I have asked this question of myself recently about various purchase interests, from cameras to computer equipment.

Here is a peek at what others had to say:

JT26 : It’s hard as there are so many options now. New cameras and new versions of the above are using new tech and are not sold in millions like they used to be, so they are naturally more expensive.

ahaslett : The optical viewfinder is what limits your choice. Apart from retro designs, cameras these days are nearly all mirrorless. There isn’t much between a phone and a camera for £1,000, given how fast phones have improved.

Plankowner110 : In the 1960s, you simply adjusted aperture, shutter speed, and focus ring, and it didn’t matter if you were using an inexpensive Sears Tower (camera) or a rugged pro-body Nikon F. The major variable was selecting which film to use. Cameras all operated basically the same way, and one could easily pick up any brand of camera and begin shooting. We didn’t have to peruse a myriad of menu settings or press tiny re-programmable buttons all over the camera body.

What community content did you enjoy reading, and what more would you like to see in these regular updates? Let us know in the comments below.

For even more content directly from our readers, join the discussion forums and share your camera gear and photography curiosities!

Editor’s note: Future editions of this article may include camera use and photo-taking tips and tricks, additional quotes from community members in various discussions and more. If you are interested in seeing community content presented this way, please let me know.

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

Hasselblad Masters 2026 winners

Hasselblad has announced the winners of the Hasselblad Masters 2026 photography competition. The contest awarded 7 photographers from 70 finalists, chosen from more than 108,000 submissions across 160 countries.

Winners were selected across seven categories: Landscape, Architecture, Portrait, Art, Street, Wildlife, and Project//21. The winning photographers were selected by the Hasselblad Masters Grand Jury, which included representatives from National Geographic, Magnum Photos, Aperture Magazine, Getty Images, Foam, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre. Images were chosen based on their conceptual strength, originality, creativity and technical excellence.

The competition drew some attention earlier this year when Hasselblad confirmed it had disqualified one shortlisted photographer for including AI-generated elements in violation of competition rules, replacing them with a new finalist. It’s worth noting that the finalists were selected through an internal selection process at Hasselblad, not by the acclaimed photographers on the Grand Jury. A representative has confirmed that all of the winning images were “thoroughly vetted, and EXIF data was confirmed,” and that they are all authentic photographs.

Each winner receives the title of Hasselblad Master, a Hasselblad medium format camera, two XCD lenses, and a €5,000 creative fund. Their work will also be featured in the commemorative Hasselblad Masters book.

We’re showing one image per winner below, but you can view all three selected images for each photographer on the Hasselblad Masters website . Traditional captions and EXIF data were not available, and the descriptions and jury quotes accompanying each image are taken directly from Hasselblad’s competition materials.

Art winner: Yudha Kusuma Putera

Yudha Kusuma Putera | Waste Colonialism (Sapi-Sapi Piyungan) | Indonesia

Rooted in everyday life and inspired by its complexity, Yudha Kusuma Putera turns a keen eye toward the social issues that hide in plain sight, exploring the tensions between humans, nature, and the systems we build around us.

The winning images are part of a project examining how developed nations export their waste to developing countries, where labor and costs are lower. This logic repeats on a smaller scale too: within cities, landfills are built on the outskirts, kept out of sight and out of mind. At Yogyakarta’s Piyungan landfill, a city’s waste is sorted by scavengers and consumed by cows, quietly piling up into a second hill.

He photographed the backs of these cows stacked together, with their forms mirroring the landscape of trash around them. The work does not seek to assign blame, but to invite collective reflection on the waste we produce, and the futures we are building from it.

“On the surface, the images appear direct and unambiguous, and yet they consistently resist easy reading, generating a sense of visual uncertainty that keeps the viewer engaged and questioning. The images do not announce themselves loudly, but reward sustained attention with a slow-building sense of strangeness that is both intellectually stimulating and visually striking,” says Kalle Sanner, Executive Director at the Hasselblad Foundation.

Architecture winner: Kevin Boyle

Kevin Boyle | DaySleeper | Movieland | Canada

Kevin Boyle was shaped by the open skies and close-knit communities of the Canadian prairies. After the loss of his father, he returned home, only to find the places he once knew hollowed out and silent, their gathering spaces boarded up and left to disappear. For over ten years, his photographic journey has been a profound tribute to the abandoned architecture of North America’s local communities.

The winning series is comprised of photographic montages, with each part of the building lit with flashlights and blended in post-production to create an ethereal ‘portrait’ of once important gathering places. Through his lens, these forgotten spaces become vibrant, glowing symbols of community heritage and shared human connection.

“The composition, and the fact that the images are empty of people, triggers our imaginations, taking us back to a time when these buildings would have thrived with the community meeting for evening entertainment. By making this series, the photographer invites us to consider the myriad of small venues that make up the social fabric of small communities,” says Sonia Jeunet, Photography Consultant and Education at Magnum Photos.

Portrait winner: Svetlana Jovanovic

Svetlana Jovanovic | Otherness | The Netherlands

With a psychology background, Svetlana Jovanovic’s portraiture is driven by a deep curiosity about identity – how we experience the world, construct our sense of self, and see ourselves through the eyes of others. Her style brings together fine art portraiture and a commitment to visual beauty, believing that the conceptual and the aesthetic are inseparable: each gives the other meaning.

The winning images are part of Otherness, an ongoing long-term project exploring identical twins and the tension between shared identity and individual presence. While twins share so much, it is the small differences that emerge over time, the subtle ways each person’s character becomes visible within the shared image, that lie at the heart of the work. Each portrait is a collaboration, shaped as much by the relationship between the twins as by the photographer’s own vision, inviting viewers to reflect on how we define ourselves both apart from, and through, one another.

“Through precise use of light and composition, this portrait series explores the themes of mirroring and duality. Whether capturing two sides of the same face or the closeness of two kindred souls, the images reveal subtle layers of emotion with quiet precision,” says RongRong, Co-founder and Artistic Director at The Three Shadows Photography Art Center.

Landscape winner: Rohan Reilly

Rohan Reilly | Ephemeral Visions | Ireland

Rooted in the discipline of a composer, Rohan Reilly’s images strip away complexity to reveal the essentials, which are texture, tone, and stillness. His signature long-exposure technique transforms moving water and shifting skies into silk-like surfaces, while vast negative space and low saturation give his work a poetic, meditative quality that transcends documentation. The process is one of patience and preparation: studying weather patterns, returning season after season, and waiting for the precise conditions that cannot be engineered but only earned.

This winning series captures a row of poplar trees planted along the banks of the River Po in Italy, which are natural guardians against flooding, now standing immersed in perfectly still water beneath soft, diffused light. What was once a purely functional landscape transforms into something surreal and dreamlike. In this quietly breathtaking scene, the photographer’s vision can find its fullest expression: nature distilled to its core, and time momentarily held still.

“A forest of birch trees could be a monotonous subject. But these photographs are hypnotic objects of meditation, creating something expansive through repetition and ostensible sameness,” says Zack Hatfield, Managing Editor at Aperture Magazine.

Project//21 winner: Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya

Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya | Dwellers of the Night | Thailand

Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya is a young underwater photographer and scuba diver from Thailand. His work is rooted in a quiet dedication to the ocean, documenting its life, its fragility, and the ecosystems that sustain it, in the hope that what is seen through his lens will not be forgotten.

His winning series was captured in the waters of Anilao, Philippines, where pelagic and larval marine life migrate from the depths each night to feed under the cover of darkness. Using slow shutter speeds to capture the elegant motion of his subjects, and carefully chosen coloured lighting to reveal their form and beauty, he illuminates a world rarely seen. For the ribbon eel, a diffused warm light conjures a subtle sunset behind the subject – crowning it as a master of the night. Some of these creatures spend their entire lives in the open ocean, making the pelagic ecosystem as fragile as it is extraordinary.

“I’m drawn to the quiet whimsy of these sea creatures. Set against black, the creatures feel almost otherworldly- strange, delicate, and entirely captivating. There’s a simplicity to the presentation that allows their inherent oddness to shine, reminding us how unfamiliar and compelling the natural world can be when seen without distraction,” says Alex Pollack, Director of Photography at National Geographic.’

Street winner: Gosse Bouma

Gosse Bouma | Morning Ritual | The Netherlands

Gosse Bouma is a photographer whose work is driven by a quiet pursuit: to offer moments of tranquility in a world that rarely slows down. His distinct style lies at the intersection of urban geometry and natural elements, pairing the hard lines of architecture with the soft, unpredictable textures of weather. Each photograph is infused with the intention of invoking serenity amidst the chaos of everyday life, creating visual experiences that invite stillness and reflection, even if only for a fleeting moment.

His winning series, taken across the Netherlands, turns to the street market as its subject, a space where people of all ages and backgrounds meet, exchange a few words, share warmth, and move on. In capturing these small, unhurried encounters, Bouma preserves something increasingly rare in contemporary life: a genuine sense of togetherness.

“The photographer understands atmosphere, scale and timing. The small lit kiosks within the vast blue urban emptiness create images that feel both intimate and monumental. Here, genuine photographic tension emerges. The series uses color structurally, not decoratively. Mist, artificial light and architecture form one coherent world,” says Aya Musa, Senior Curator at Foam.

Wildlife winner: Alfred Minnaar

Alfred Minnaar | The Forest I Roam | South Africa

Alfred Minnaar’s creative process often begins with observation and patience. Rather than simply documenting his subjects, he seeks to understand their behavior, environment, and relationship with the surrounding ecosystem. Over a decade of global exploration, his fine-art philosophy has evolved from a traveler’s passion into a powerful voice for conservation, capturing fleeting deep-sea and wildlife narratives to inspire the preservation of our planet.

The winning images of a tiny goby living amongst coral were created to challenge our perception of scale and encourage viewers to look closer. Rather than focusing solely on the fish, the photographer wanted to use it as a point of reference within a much larger world. By placing the goby within its environment, the reef itself becomes the subject, inviting viewers to imagine its vastness from the perspective of one of its smallest inhabitants.

“The vibrancy of the palette immediately draws you in, and the way the small fish are framed against their environments creates a sense of scale that almost reads as landscape. There’s a nice balance here between detail and composition, with the micro subjects holding their own within a larger, almost abstracted environment,” says Alex Pollack, Director of Photography at National Geographic.

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

Mykim Dang

After teasing the Osmo Pocket 4P at the Cannes Film Festival in May and giving media and influencers hands-on time with the device at the beginning of June, DJI has finally fully unveiled its higher-end camera gimbal via its Chinese and Southeast Asia platforms.

DJI has yet to give Western media a clear timeline when full details can be published; we were told we could only post hands-on photos of the device, without any information about it. This is particularly unusual, since outlets in China have already been allowed to post their reviews, and it’s available for purchase in China and Southeast Asia, making much of the information we’re not allowed to share – specs, pricing information, test footage, etc. – public.

Like the Osmo Pocket 4 , the 4P features a camera with a 20mm equiv. lens with F2.0 aperture. However, DJI opted for a new Type 1 (116mm²) sensor featuring LOFIC technology, rather than the conventional CMOS sensor used in the base model. In addition to that is a dedicated 60mm equiv. telephoto camera, allowing for greater flexibility than a single camera (contentiously, it’s not the only gimbal camera to offer this ). The telephoto camera uses a Type 1/1.28 (75mm²) sensor (only 35% smaller than the main sensor) and a slightly faster F1.8 aperture.

Mykim Dang

The camera supports up to 12x digital zoom for video and 9x for stills. The company’s subject tracking (ActiveTrack 8.0) is compatible with the 12x zoom range as well, helping to keep subjects centered in the frame even when fully zoomed in.

DJI claims the 4P’s main camera provides 17 stops of dynamic range, which is 3 stops more than the Osmo Pocket 4. As usual with DR claims, we’d take that figure with a massive grain of salt; 17 stops would be exceptional even for a much larger sensor. The company has developed a new, flatter Log curve, D-Log2, which can encode a wider dynamic range, explaining the increased claim, compared to the Osmo Pocket 4, despite its use of the same camera. It’s important to note that D-Log2 is only available with the main camera.

The camera can shoot at up to 4K 240p, enabling dramatic slow motion footage. It also offers a “Pro” mode that gives users control of the shutter speed from 1/16,000 sec to 1/4 sec, allowing for more creative control. As a gimbal camera, it benefits from three-axis mechanical stabilization for smooth footage even when you’re moving. It also supports gesture control to start tracking and recording, and the ability to rotate the touchscreen to power the camera on and start recording.

Mykim Dang

While primarily meant for video use, the Osmo Pocket 4P does provide some photo features, too. It is capable of 37MP photos and can take images in 1:1 or 16:9. It also features a Live Photo mode, recording 1.5-second clips for every photo.

The Osmo Pocket 4P offers 103GB of integrated storage and supports microSD cards up to 1TB. It promises 210 minutes of runtime on a charge and is compatible with the existing Osmo lineup of accessories. It will be available in white and black

Unfortunately, there’s still confusion about the timing of the full release of the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P. It is available in China as of today for ¥3799 (roughly $559), but full global availability – and whether it will come to the US – is still unclear.