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86%

Overall score

Jump to conclusion

The Fujifilm X-T30 III is the company's latest entry-level, SLR-shaped mirrorless camera, with its latest color mode recipes and autofocus.

Key specifications

• 26MP X-Trans APS-C BSI CMOS sensor
• Film simulation dial with recipe positions
• Tilt up/down rear screen
• 2.36M dot EVF
• 4K/60 video with 1.18x crop, 6.2K/30 full-sensor capture
• 315 shot-per-charge battery life, 425 in power saving mode

The X-T30 III is available at a recommended price of $999. There is also the option to buy the camera with a new, unusually wide, 13-33mm F3.5-6.3 OIS zoom lens, which will cost around $1150.

Index

• What's new?
• What is it?
• How it compares
• Body and handling
• Image Quality
• Autofocus
• Video
• In Use
• The Auto Experience
• Conclusion
• Sample gallery
• Specifications
• Press release

What's new?

The Film Simulation dial on the camera's shoulder has three custom positions that can be assigned to film simulations or the simulation-and-parameter-tweak combinations known as 'recipes.'

The X-T30 III, as the name implies, is an iterative update of the existing X-T30 II. It gains the latest Fujifilm processor, which brings subject recognition autofocus. This brings it into line with the X-M5 and X-T50.

It also gains a Film Simulation dial, instead of the drive mode dial on the previous X-T30 models. Like the more expensive X-E5, the three custom positions on the dial can be set up to store 'recipes': sets of JPEG processing settings that modify the behavior of an underlying film simulation.

The more powerful processor also brings a boost in the video features, with 60fps 4K video options (with a 1.18x crop) and the option to shoot using the whole sensor in 6.2K resolution at up to 30fps.

Finally, the X-T30 III becomes the first model to be offered with a new 13-33mm F3.5-5.6 stabilized kit zoom. This offers an unusually wide 20-50mm equivalent range, which is likely to be a welcome capability for photographers whose previous experience has mainly been with the wide-angle cameras on smartphones.

What is it?

The X-T30 III maintains the classic-SLR looks of the X-T series.

The X-T30 III plays the same role in the lineup as its predecessor did: the least expensive SLR-shaped camera in the Fujifilm range. Like the Mark II and the X-M5, it's built around an unstabilized 26MP BSI CMOS sensor. It's an APS-C-sized chip with Fujifilm's proprietary X-Trans filter pattern in front of it. This was originally designed to reduce visible errors in images, but increasingly just seems to make the files a little trickier to process.

The X-T30 III offers a decent set of features: it'll shoot moderately quickly, captures good quality video and offers a range of subject-recognition AF modes, making it quick and easy to focus on common subject types. It also has a switch to jump quickly to its Auto mode that tries to select the appropriate scene mode and settings for whatever you point it at. It's also somewhat unusual in still offering a small pop-up flash.

The standout feature of the X-T30 III, in common with the rest of the Fujifilm range, is the provision of its film simulation color modes, giving you a selection of (mostly) well-judged, attractive color responses for your images. The Mk III puts these at your fingertips by providing a dedicated dial, making it easy to experiment with the different looks it offers.

How it compares

The X-T30 III is one of Fujifilm's entry-level models. The viewfinder means it's a little more expensive than the rangefinder-style X-M5, but it has a list price lower than that of the image-stabilized X-S20. We'll include the X-S20 as the most affordable stabilized APS-C camera.

In terms of rivals, the Nikon Z50II is probably the most like-for-like competitor, with Canon's EOS R10 also offering similar specs for similar money. We're omitting the distinctly elderly Sony a6400 as it only shoots 8-bit video and doesn't have such extensive subject recognition AF. The OM System lineup either offers the OM-D E-M10 IV for less money or the OM-5 II for more, both are built around smaller but stabilized sensors. The OM-5 II is the least expensive mirrorless camera to offer an 'IP' rating for its weather sealing.

In spec terms, there's not much to choose between these models. What the chart can't show is that the Nikon probably has the best autofocus tracking performance here, with the Canon a very close second (it's a little less dependable in video mode). This is still something of a weakness for the Fujifilm, though its subject-recognition modes do well.

Both the Canon and Nikon handle better than the Fujifilm, having fewer, but in our experience, better laid-out controls that are harder to operate accidentally. The Fujifilm's Auto switch will be handy for some users and anyone looking for a camera to grow into is more likely to find the lenses they want in the X mount, but the offerings for Canon and Nikon are (finally) improving, so it's worth investigating whether the lenses you think you might want are available for each system, before picking a camera body.

The X-T30 III is also the smallest camera here and offers a wider array of attractive color modes than its rivals. There's also the option of that unusually wide kit zoom.

Body and handling

The X-T30 II offers plenty of hands-on control, including two clickable command dials, an exposure comp dial and an AF joystick, but these have all been fitted into a small space.

The body of the X-T30 III is essentially the same as the one from previous X-T30 models, meaning it's slightly smaller than the X-T50 and lighter. A ridge down the front of the camera and a protruding bump on the back means it fits firmly in the hand, and feels secure thanks to the tactile rubber coating, front and rear.

The X-T30 III has a fair degree of external control, including six buttons that can be customized and four swipeable directions on the rear touch screen. It also has two well-positioned clickable command dials, a dedicated exposure comp dial and dedicated shutter speed dial, as well as that film simulation dial.

There's also a joystick for positioning the AF point or navigating the menus and flick switches under two of the dials to activate the flash and to engage full Auto mode.

While we're pretty impressed, overall with this level of direct and customizable control, we find it's perhaps a little overwhelming on a body this small. If you have larger fingers, or don't know what all the controls do, the X-T30 III risks being a bit of a handful. The clicking button under the front command dial can also be easy to inadvertently press when holding the camera or trying to change your settings, which, by default, will cycle it to control a different parameter than the one you were attempting to change. Of course, you can customize it to perform only a single function to avoid that problem.

The X-T30 III only has three ports on its right-hand side, but they offer a lot of functions.

In terms of ports, the X-T30 III has a 2.5mm socket that serves double-duty as a remote control connector or a mic input. Most mics use a 3.5mm plug, so you'll need an adapter to attach one. Below this there's a USB socket that can be used for charging the camera, transferring data or connecting a pair of headphones, with the supplied adapter.

Finally, there's the micro HDMI socket for outputting video or a Raw video data stream that can then be encoded by either a BlackMagic or Atomos external recorder to BRaw or ProRes Raw, respectively. This isn't the obvious model to do that from, especially not given how delicate micro HDMI sockets can be, but it's nice that Fujifilm hasn't omitted a feature this hardware can support.

Battery

The X-T30 III uses the same 8.7 Wh NP-W126S battery as most of Fujifilm's smaller cameras. It powers the camera to a rated value of 315 shots per charge, or 425 in 'Economy' mode. These numbers don't reflect the number of shots you'll get from the camera (getting twice the rated figure isn't unusual, depending on your use of image review, flash or burst shooting), but they're broadly comparable between cameras.

A figure of over 300 shots per charge is good for this class of camera and is likely to mean you can use it for a weekend of casual shooting without having to think about the battery. The battery can be recharged over USB.

Image Quality

The X-T30 III has proven image quality. Fujifilm X-T30 III | Fujifilm XF 35mm F2 R WR | F5 | 1/680 sec | ISO 320 Photo: Mitchell Clark

Fujifilm is using a very familiar sensor in the X-T30 III, as it's the same one that appeared in the previous two iterations of the X-T30 (and older versions of the more expensive X-T series). It's also the same sensor/processor combination that we saw in the Fujifilm X-M5.

None of this should be read as a complaint; the images from these cameras capture a good level of detail in Raw, with ever so slightly less than other 26MP models, potentially because of Fujifilm's 'X-Trans' color filter design not playing particularly well with Adobe Camera Raw. We've also found that the JPEGs don't always make fine details pop, a situation that gets slightly worse at higher ISOs when noise reduction is being applied, though you may not even notice either unless you're zooming or cropping pretty far into your images.

If you're a beginner photographer, though, don't take those quibbles as a reason to avoid the X-T30 III. Its image quality and dynamic range are very good, and those factors won't hold you back as you build your skills. Plus, you'll benefit from Fujifilm's well-considered JPEG colors, which have proven to be crowd-pleasing.

Shutter shock

One caveat to its otherwise good image quality is that, when paired with the 13-33mm kit lens, there can often be noticeable shutter shock in images taken with the lens zoomed in. This manifests as them looking not particularly sharp when you zoom in on them (though typically they'd still be acceptable to post on social media or to send to friends).

The easiest way to avoid this is to set the camera to use the electronic first curtain shutter (using the "E-Front + mechanical" mode so that it switches back to mech shutter at fast shutter speeds), especially if you plan to shoot at our around 1/100 sec shutter speed, or if you're letting the camera automatically set your shutter speed. Fujifilm programs its more entry-level cameras to use a faster shutter speed in auto, which means that, when paired with lenses up to 35mm, the X-T30 III's minimum shutter speed in several of its modes will be 1/100 sec; directly in the problematic range.

The issue also isn't as prevalent with all lenses; we didn't see much shutter shock when we tested it with the 35mm XF F2 lens, despite its focal length being very similar to the long end of the kit lens, where the issue is most noticeable.

Autofocus

Fujifilm X-T30 III | Fujifilm XC 13-33mm F3.5-6.3 OIS | 30mm | F6.1 | 1/180 sec | ISO 320 Photo: Mitchell Clark

The X-T30 III uses essentially the same autofocusing system as the rest of the company's modern cameras. It lets you select what you want to focus on with a variety of AF area sizes, ranging from a single point if you're trying to be precise, to the "Wide" mode that hands control of what to focus on over to the camera. If your camera is set to continuous focus mode, Wide mode is replaced by a tracking box, which will attempt to stick to whatever you put it over as it or the camera moves.

You can select the focus point using the joystick on the back of the camera or by tapping directly on your desired subject using the touchscreen. There's also the option to use a customizable portion of the touchscreen as a joystick when your eye is up to the EVF.

The tracking option gives you a single-size box, but other modes offer more precision.

The X-T30 III has AI-trained subject detection modes for humans, animals, birds, cars, motorcycles/bikes, airplanes and trains. The settings for human detection are separate from the other subject detection modes, which, in most cases, makes it a small hassle to switch between them. You'll either have to set up two custom buttons or delve into the Q menu if you want to go from taking pictures of people to a non-human subject, or vice versa.

The subject recognition works no matter what your focus point selection method is, and it does a good job of only trying to focus on a recognized subject that's directly under or quite close to your chosen AF point. That means you can leave subject detection on without worrying that the camera will try to jump to a recognized subject if it's somewhere else in the scene.

This means you can use the AF area to specify which subject you want to focus on, if there's more than one in the scene. This works less well in Wide mode, where the camera is choosing where to focus. It'll only indicate a single recognized subject, and though you can use the joystick to pick another, you won't really be sure of what it'll select. Similarly, if the current subject turns away, the camera will leap to any other subject it can find. Generally, we find you can get more out of the subject recognition modes when you select an AF area to tell the camera what to focus on.

Autofocus performance

When it comes to photographing relatively static scenes or subjects the camera can recognize, it does a decent job of getting things in focus, even if they're moving at moderate speeds. For everyday photography, its single and continuous autofocus modes will likely get the job done.

If you're trying to shoot sports, action or even particularly squirmy pets or children, though, the story may be a bit different. As with many of Fujifilm's cameras, tracking non-recognized or fast-moving recognized subjects isn't the X-T30 III's strong suit. Even in decent lighting, there were several times when the tracking box would wander off the static subject we wanted it to stick to, and even if it does stick to something, it may slightly misjudge the focus or just not be able to keep up with a subject moving quickly towards it (though it's hard to say how much of that is on the camera, versus on the lens).

While there were just as many times that it let us successfully use the track and recompose method, it'd be hard to trust it as much as a similar camera from Nikon, Canon or Sony in a situation where you only had a limited amount of time to get the shot. This isn't to say that you can't get the shots you want with the X-T30 III; you can, with a little bit of practice. It's just that other cameras may make it a bit easier.

Video

The X-T30 III's video specs are competitive, but there are other models better suited to video within the range.

The X-T30 III gains all the video modes we've seen appear in this generation of 26MP Fujifilm models. In many respects, it's a sensor better suited to video than the 40MP chip in their more expensive models, because it doesn't have to read out so much data to produce its 4K footage.

The X-T30 II can capture full-sensor, 'open gate' footage at up to 30p in 6.2K resolution, or it can deliver 4K derived from this 6.2K resolution in more common aspect ratios. It can shoot 4K at up to 60p with a slight crop, and also has a "9:16 short movie mode" like the X-M5, allowing you to record vertical videos from a center crop of the sensor, without having to actually turn the camera on its side.

Like the X-M5, it produces relatively detailed video in its 6K and 4K/24 modes, though you'll lose a bit of quality if you shoot 4K above 30fps (with the trade-off being that you can change the playback framerate when you're editing, producing slow-motion footage.) The camera lets you use its Film Simulations in video as well, including the subtle, attractive 'Eterna' Sim designed for video, and supports recording HDR video using the HLG tone curve. It also offers FLog and FLog2 tone curves. These trade convenience – you'll have you edit your footage before it's ready for viewing – for flexibility, giving you the ability to adjust lightness and tones when you're editing, either manually, or with a pre-made LUT (Look Up Table) that lets you easily apply a specific look to your footage.

However, while the video specs are more than solid for this class of camera, the X-T30 III's lack of image stabilization makes the X-T30 II a harder camera to shoot good footage with (a flaw shared by the rest of the cameras in this class that can be rectified with a tripod or gimbal). The kit zoom is stabilized, and you can add digital stabilization in the camera, but the X-S20 is probably the better choice if video is a significant interest to you. As well as stabilization, the X-S20 has standard 3.5mm mic and headphone sockets and is compatible with the accessory fan unit to extend recording times.

In Use

Forgive the awkward grip on the camera; it's mounted to a tripod whose stability was questionable. Photo: Antoni Carlson

The X-T30 III's big new trick over its predecessor is its 'Film Simulation' dial, which comes with an improved experience by supporting the 'Film Recipes' that are popular with many in the Fujifilm community. The dial gives you easy access to several of the company's mostly well-judged color modes, encouraging you to change up the aesthetic of your photos while you're shooting, rather than in editing.

The 'Recipes' system lets you customize it further, letting you modify those Simulations further with a selection of settings, and letting you save recipes to the three "FS" positions on the dial. This feature is taken directly from the higher-end X-E5, and its inclusion is just as welcome here.

While more experienced users may enjoy how many physical controls the X-T30 III has, we fear that it risks being overwhelming to beginner photographers. Not only is it covered with buttons and dials, but some are multi-function, and too easily activated. While more experienced shooters may notice that their easily pressed dial is suddenly doing something other than what they wanted, a beginner might be tricked into thinking they're doing something wrong. And while we're happy to have the joystick, its placement in the camera's already tight grouping of controls means it's not the easiest to reach, especially if you're trying to use the camera one-handed.

It's not a camera you have to think long and hard about bringing with you

One last small annoyance: rather than being near the center of the camera, the tripod socket has been put as close to the battery / SD card slot compartment as it could be. That means that, no matter how small your tripod plate is, you'll have to remove it if you want to get to your storage or battery. The camera's use of a 10Gbps USB-C port means it's less likely that you'll need to do that, as you can quickly offload images from it or charge it, but it still would've been nice to have the option to open the flap without taking off your tripod plate.

It is worth noting, though, that this decision could be mostly due to the camera's compact size. It's just a touch smaller than the higher-end X-T50, which means it's just as easy to carry around, or to throw in your bag on a whim. That's especially true if you're using the collapsing kit lens, which makes its footprint even smaller. While it'd be a stretch to call it pocketable, it's not a camera you have to think long and hard about bringing with you.

The Auto Experience

Flipping the Auto switch puts the camera in charge of most of the settings, but doesn't take away your creative control.

The X-T30 III's Auto mode, easily accessible by a switch on the top plate, is a useful provision for beginners who won't have the experience to know which settings are best to use in every situation. We found that it typically used reasonable settings and didn't feel too limiting: it still allows shooting in Raw + JPEG, and gives you control over settings like the focus point, Film Simulation, exposure compensation, and whether to use the flash or not. This means the X-T30 III offers some of the ease of shooting with a phone, while still retaining the engagement of using a dedicated camera.

The camera attempts to recognize what you're trying to take a picture of, and in what conditions

Part of what makes it work is that the camera attempts to recognize what you're trying to take a picture of, and in what conditions (e.g., backlit portrait, fast-moving animal, etc), and set its exposure parameters and dynamic range settings accordingly. You can also manually specify what you're shooting to have the camera tune its settings to be more appropriate, with dedicated modes for shooting portraits, landscapes, sports and more.

The autofocus also works a bit differently in Auto mode. Rather than making you manually select between human recognition or other kinds of subject recognition, it uses an automatic subject detection mode that you don't have access to in the traditional shooting modes, which tries to detect any of its recognized subject types in the scene, including humans. While it does a good job of showing which subject it's selecting, it still doesn't make it obvious if it's recognizing multiple subjects that you can switch between.

Another complaint around Auto mode is that, if you set an ISO setting in the standard mode, and then switch to Auto, it retains that setting, which could leave the camera fighting to get a proper exposure. While it's nice that you have control over ISO in Auto, it'd probably be best for it to initially switch to auto ISO mode.

Conclusion

By Mitchell Clark

Overall, the X-T30 III is a solid option for beginners looking to start with photography, or for those who feel like the lack of interchangeable lenses on their phone is holding them back. Paired with its kit lens, it offers a range of focal lengths that people will likely already be familiar with, but with enough image quality to stand out from most smartphone snaps (though you can get even more out of its sensor by switching to a nicer lens).

While the shooting experience might be overwhelming at first – there are a lot of buttons, dials and switches – the camera offers the escape hatch of a well-considered Auto mode that lets you focus on composition, without taking away all your creative freedom. And when you're ready for it, you can customize the buttons and dials to act in a way that works for you, though it would be nice if they were set up a little more sensibly out of the box.

Speaking of creative freedom, the Film Simulation dial and its support for quickly switching between the "Recipes" often shared by the Fujifilm community is a useful tool for getting the look you want straight out of camera. While you could achieve everything it's doing with a Raw file and editing software, the latter requires the knowledge of how to use it and, often, a subscription or up-front payment that you may not be ready to commit to.

It's a solid option for beginners, and should grow with you

The X-T30 III isn't a perfect camera, though. It's unfortunate that you have to manually work around the shutter shock issue to get maximum image quality with the kit lens, and its autofocus system isn't the easiest or the most confidence-inspiring. You'll have to practice a fair bit with it to get results that other cameras let you achieve out of the box.

Ultimately, it's a combination of these factors that keeps this camera from getting a Gold award. But it's still a solid option for beginners, and should be able to grow with you wherever your photography journey takes you, in part thanks to the near-endless selection of lenses that you can pair with it. For that, it earns our Silver award.

Scoring

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

Compared to its peers

Nikon's Z50II has better autofocus than the Fujifilm X-T30 III, which could be important if you think your photography journey will lead you to shooting sports and action. It's also likely a better pick for video, thanks to its standard ports for headphones and microphones. However, while Nikon has slowly been improving its APS-C lens lineup, there still aren't nearly as many options as there are for X mount, and the company exerts stricter control over what lenses are allowed to exist for Z mount.

The story is very similar for the Canon EOS R10, though its video capabilities are closer to the X-T30 III's. As with Nikon, Canon exerts more control than Fujifilm over what lenses can be made for its lens mount and produces far fewer first-party options. However, its autofocus will perform better than Fujifilm's, and its ergonomics (though probably not its looks) will be preferable to some.

By virtue of its stabilized sensor and price, the Fujifilm X-S20 represents a step up from the rest of the cameras we're comparing. Its image quality and autofocus will be virtually identical to the X-T30 III's, and while it offers the same Film Simulations, it doesn't make it quite as easy to get to them, nor does it make adopting recipes so simple. The IBIS system, fully articulating screen and full headphone / microphone jacks make it a much more capable video tool, despite it having otherwise very similar specs.

Sample gallery

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

Production samples

Pre-production samples

Image: OM System

OM System has unveiled the OM‑3 Astro, an astrophotography‑focused variant of its OM‑3 mirrorless camera. The new model keeps the core specs and handling of the original OM‑3, but it adds astro‑oriented enhancements, including a modified IR‑cut filter and dedicated custom modes designed to make capturing the night sky easier and more effective.

The primary upgrade for astrophotographers is an integrated infrared (IR) cut filter in front of the sensor. OM Systems says the dedicated filter is tuned for 100% transmission of Hydrogen α wavelengths, making it more sensitive to the dim red light emitted by many nebulae. This allows photographers to capture the colors of Hα‑emitting nebulae more effectively than with standard cameras.

The OM-3 Astro features a dedicated IR cut filter that enables better capture of red nebulae. Image: OM System

Beyond the filter, OM System added additional features to streamline night‑sky photography. The camera includes new color profiles specifically designed for astrophotography, including one for photographing red nebulae and one for night-time landscapes. Additionally, new preconfigured custom modes dedicated to astrophotography allow faster setup when using stacking modes or during handheld shooting.

Like the base OM-3 model and previous OM bodies, the OM-3 Astro offers several tools that are ideal for astrophotographers. This includes Starry Sky AF, which lets users lock onto stars with autofocus instead of relying solely on manual focus. It also offers stacking options, a Night Vision mode that adds a red overlay to the interface and more.

Image: OM System

In addition to the camera, OM System also introduced two new body-mount filters for astrophotography. The Light Pollution Suppression Filter, as the name suggests, reduces the impact of artificial light to preserve nebula and constellation colors. The Soft Filter enhances point light sources, making small, bright stars stand out more with a subtle glow.

The OM System OM-3 Astro will be available in March on a made-to-order basis for $2500. The Light Pollution Suppression Filter and Soft Filter will also be available in March for $340 and $230, respectively. All three products are available for preorder now.

Preorder now:

Sometimes, the availability of even a single lens could be the deciding factor on whether to invest in a particular mount. Photo: Mitchell Clark

If you've spent any time in the comments sections of articles about cameras, you've probably come across the idea that which camera body you choose barely matters: the lenses are the most important thing to consider. While this can read as people being dismissive of new tech, or even as sour grapes from people who don't want to admit that something new is, in fact, better than what they have, I have to begrudgingly admit that the killjoys have a point. They're correct when they say that you're likely to keep your lenses longer than any particular body.

Because of that, your lenses become (a sometimes very substantial) lock-in to a particular mount, which is something of a walled garden. With seemingly every company on its A-game when it comes to designing cameras, it's possible that the most important part of choosing which system to go with is making sure that you'll be comfortable in that garden. The most capable body in the world won't do anything for you if the lenses you want aren't available at a price you're willing to pay.

Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM - $240	Canon RF 50mm F1.4 L VCM - $1550	Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM - $2600
Nikon Z 50mm F1.4 - $600	Nikon Z 50mm F1.8 S - $670	Nikon Z 50mm F1.2 S - $2250

It'd be impossible to go through every combination of lenses that someone might want and rank how each system stacks up, but that's sort of the point. Only you know your exact wants and needs, and everyone's will be different, which is why it's not safe to assume that each mount will have all the options you're looking for. When choosing which garden you'll spend the next ten to twenty years in, you'll want to consider what lenses are currently available, and whether the manufacturer's capabilities and R&D budget will be enough to fill in any gaps.

Conversely, if a system you like already has the lenses you want, that may be enough. There's no benefit to you in knowing that some other system has umpteen more lenses available if they're lenses you can't imagine yourself ever using. Similarly, one mount offering a choice of eight 50mm lenses won't tip the scales in its favor if all the others have one that matches your price and performance criteria.

It's worth noting that the exercise of checking lens availability becomes even more important if you have niche or unusual requirements. Sure, companies have been building out their lineups with more experimental lenses, but if you're looking for something truly weird, there's a good chance the more restrictive mounts may not get what you want in an amount of time you're willing to wait. Canon currently doesn't allow any third-party full-frame autofocus lenses for RF mount, and while Nikon allows Tamron and Sigma to produce Z-mount lenses, there's a question mark over the future of lenses from makers that don't have a license.

If you're factoring in third-party lenses into your choice of mount, keep in mind what level of legal gray zone they're operating in

Panasonic, Leica and Sigma, meanwhile, have a bit of a bigger tent with the L mount, with each making lenses that work on each other's cameras, and allowing other companies like Samyang, Siuri, Viltrox, and many others to join the alliance and do the same. Then there's Sony, which hasn't made any overt attempts to control what lenses are made for its E mount, though it does appear to arbitrarily restrict shooting faster than 15fps to its own-brand lenses (which could be a disappointment if you're excited by the amazing sports lenses Sigma has been making).

The point is that if you're factoring in lenses from third parties into your choice of mount, it's worth keeping in mind what level of legal gray zone they're operating in, and whether you'd still be happy with your decision if some of the lenses you were planning on picking up suddenly become unavailable, or if they don't work as expected in all cases. It's also up to you to decide whether your personal moral convictions about companies' right to defend their intellectual property have any bearing on your decision.

It's easy to get overwhelmed trying to compare lens ecosystems. While there may only be a handful of cameras you're interested in, you'll probably have to parse several more lens offerings if you choose to make those your main consideration. And that's not even mentioning the idea that some manufacturers might make something that you never would've even thought about, but you'd really like to try.

Choosing a lens mount is a commitment

Still, we think it's a worthwhile part of the buying process; perhaps even the most important part. Choosing a lens mount is a commitment, and it's worth the extra work up front so you don't find yourself peering over the garden wall after realizing that your system just doesn't have the specific option you'd like (or, at least, not for a price you're willing to pay).

Back in the days when DPReview was part of Amazon, I took photos at an event called "Barktoberfest," where people brought their pets to work in Halloween costumes. At one such event, I came across this French Bulldog, dressed in a Mexican poncho and sombrero, who had a look on his face that said, "I can't believe my person is making me do this." Photo: Dale Baskin

Our January Editor's photo challenge theme is "Canine Capers."

This month, our Editor's challenge has gone to the dogs. Literally. We want to see your most impressive dog photography. Whether you've captured a soulful portrait, an action shot of a pup in flight, or your furry sidekick in an embarrassingly bad Halloween costume, we want to see it. Our favorites will be featured in an article on the DPReview homepage.

Photos can be submitted between Sunday, February 15, and Saturday, February 21 (GMT). The challenge is open to photos captured at any time.

Important: Images MUST include a title and a caption of at least 25 words to be eligible. We need to be able to share 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 as soon as the challenge opens.

Visit the challenge page to see the full rules

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.

In addition to its ultra-wide prime, Canon announced a rather exotic lens this week: the RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L Fisheye STM, which, at its widest setting, has a 190° field of view, meaning it can actually see behind itself. We got to spend a bit of time with it prior to its launch to get an idea of what shooting with this kind of focal length is like. (The experience gave us a renewed awareness of where our fingers and the feet of our tripods are.)

We hope to spend a bit more time with this lens to capture a few more kinds of subjects with it, such as architecture in good weather and, if we can find one, a skateboarder. We'll be sure to keep you updated when we add those images, but for now, enjoy the gallery.

There have been several rounds of lens news recently, with Canon introducing two new ultrawide options for RF mount, Leica releasing its first wide-angle Noctilux and Viltrox finally announcing its first lens for L mount. Some of DPReview's editors sat down to discuss these new options and to talk about what impact they might have for photographers.

Let us know what you think of the new lenses in the comments or on our forums!

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.

This week, Canon announced its widest non-VR prime lens for full-frame RF cameras, the 14mm F1.4 L VCM. We were lucky enough to get the chance to shoot some samples with it to get a feel for how it performs.

Of course, one of the most exciting uses for this kind of lens is astrophotography. Thanks to a combination of shipping delays and almost exclusively overcast weather, we weren't able to get any shots of the stars in time for this launch, but we'll be making sure our resident astro enthusiast, Dale Baskin, gets a chance to take some samples with it. Look forward to an update with those in the near future (assuming the skies cooperate, of course).

Close-up Photographer of the Year 7

The winners of the seventh edition of the Close-up Photography of the Year (CUPOTY) contest have been announced. This year's competition drew more than 12,000 entries from 63 countries, with images revealing wonders of the world through macro, micro and close-up photography.

A jury of 22 expert photographers, naturalists and editors selected the winners. They collectively spent more than 20 hours on Zoom calls to make the winner selections and choose the Top 100 images. The contest includes 11 categories: Animals, Insects, Butterflies & Dragonflies, Arachnids, Invertebrate Portrait, Underwater, Plants, Fungi & Slime Moulds, Intimate Landscape, Studio Art, and Young Close-up Photographer of the Year (for entrants aged 17 or under).

"This was the toughest competition yet," says CUPOTY co-founder Tracy Calder. "The winning image embodies everything close-up photography can achieve – it shows us a perspective we've never seen before and reveals hidden beauty in a familiar subject. The judges were captivated."

You can see all of the winning and finalist images at the CUPOTY website.

Grand Prize

© Ross Gudgeon / CUPOTY

Name: Ross Gudgeon

Title: Fractal Forest

Category: Underwater

Place: 1st

Nationality: Australian

Picture details: The inside of a cauliflower soft coral in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.

Caption: Named for its characteristic cauliflower-like appearance, this coral has numerous small, rounded, bump-like polyps that give it a puffy texture. This unique perspective was made possible by the Nauticam EMWL (Extended Macro Wide Lens), an underwater version of the probe or insect eye lens. Due to its long length, small diameter, close focus, and wide field of view, this lens allows for perspectives impossible with conventional lenses. I decided to experiment with the EMWL on the soft coral to capture a different view of a common life form. I carefully threaded the end of the EMWL through the branches of the soft coral so as not to damage them, creating an image looking from the inside out.

Technical information:

• Camera: Sony A7R IV
• Lens: Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F9
• Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
• Accessories: Nauticam EMWL with 160º objective lens and 2x Retra Pro flashes
• Post processing: DXO Pure Raw, Adobe Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI and Adobe Photoshop

Further information:

Instagram: @ross_gudgeon

Facebook: Ross Gudgeon

Animals - First Place

© Filippo Carugati / CUPOTY

Name: Filippo Carugati

Title: Amphibian Galaxy

Category: Animals

Place: 1st

Nationality: Italian

Picture details: A Malagasy frog (Guibemantis sp.) egg clutch hangs on a small trunk next to a pond in Maromizaha rainforest, Madagascar.

Caption: Conducting fieldwork during cyclone season gave me the opportunity to witness a wonderful natural spectacle: Malagasy frogs' mass reproduction. The Maromizaha rainforest, where I spent six months collecting data for my PhD thesis, hosts an outstanding richness of amphibians, with at least 74 endemic species. For many Malagasy frogs, reproduction peaks correspond with winter months, a period characterised by higher temperatures and intense rainfall. During my nocturnal explorations, I was deeply impressed by the variability in shapes, colours, and sizes of the numerous egg clutches deposited on leaves, branches, and trunks. In this shot, I documented a large egg clutch (20–30cm) hanging on a small trunk. Inside this egg aggregation, several tadpoles were swimming peacefully through the gelatinous substance. Using an external remote-controlled flash, I lit the subject from behind, enhancing the shapes of the converging tadpoles and the colourful mixture within the gelatine, which suggested a cosmic appearance.

Technical information:

• Camera: Canon EOS R7
• Lens: Canon EF100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM
• ISO: 800
• Aperture: F11
• Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
• Accessories: Remote-controlled flash (Canon Speedlight 430) with softbox
• Post processing: Photoshop Camera Raw

Further information:

Website: www.filippocarugatiphotographer.com

Instagram: @wildlais

Facebook: Filippo Carugati - Wildlife Photographer

Arachnids - First Place

© Artur Tomaszek / CUPOTY

Name: Artur Tomaszek

Title: Dinner

Category: Arachnids

Place: 1st

Nationality: Polish

Picture details: A lynx spider (Oxyopes sp.) feeds on a few termites in Hong Kong.

Caption: Lynx spiders are ambush predators that actively hunt prey by sight. Though they produce and use silk, they do not build webs to capture prey. I came across this one during a moth survey on a particularly memorable night. It had been a very hot spring with little rain, but that evening it suddenly started raining, prompting thousands of termites to begin their mating dance and swarm in the air. This provided an excellent opportunity for the lynx spider to make its catch of the night. The main difficulty in capturing the picture was the thousands of termites flying in my face, attracted by the camera's flash. In the end, the spider managed to catch two or three termites at once, creating this striking scene.

Technical information:

• Camera: Canon EOS R5
• Lens: Laowa 100mm F2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO
• ISO: 320
• Aperture: F11
• Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
• Accessories: Cygnustech diffuser
• Post processing: Lightroom

Further information:

Website: www.arturtomaszek.com

Instagram: @artur.tomaszek.photo

Facebook: Inglourious Reptiles

Flickr: Artur Tomaszek

Butterflies - First Place

© Pål Hermansen / CUPOTY

Name: Pål Hermansen

Title: Butterfly Flash

Category: Butterflies & Dragonflies

Place: 1st

Nationality: Norwegian

Picture details: A Camberwell beauty (Nymphalis antiopa) flashes its wings to defend its feeding spot on a birch tree trunk in Follo, Norway.

Caption: The butterfly was sitting on a birch tree trunk, drawn by the leaking sap caused by an attack of goat moth (Cossus cossus) larvae. Some red admiral butterflies and wasps were also attracted to the sweet sap. When the wasps approached, the Camberwell beauty did not fly off, but instead defended the spot by suddenly flashing its wings several times. The other insects kept their distance, allowing it to spend sufficient time feeding undisturbed.

Technical information:

• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1X
• Lens: M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO
• ISO: 125
• Aperture: F22
• Shutter speed: 1/3 sec
• Accessories: MC-20 (2x teleconverter)
• Post processing: Photoshop

Further information:

Website: www.palhermansen.com

Instagram: @hermansenpal

Fungi - First Place

© Valeria Zvereva / CUPOTY

Name: Valeria Zvereva

Title: Mushroom in the 'Nude' Style

Category: Fungi & Slime Moulds

Place: 1st

Nationality: Russian

Picture details: Fragment of the lower part of the cap of a lamellar mushroom in the Moscow region, Russia.

Caption: The lower part of the cap of a lamellar mushroom. After all, there is something of the "nude" style in this.

Technical information:

• Camera: Canon EOS R
• Lens: Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x Macro
• ISO: 1600
• Aperture: F5.6
• Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
• Accessories: Flash
• Post processing: Adobe Photoshop CS6

Further information:

Instagram: @zebrav1

Facebook: Valeriya Zvereva

Insects - First Place

© Imre Potyó / CUPOTY

Name: Imre Potyó

Title: Blue Army

Category: Insects

Place: 1st

Nationality: Hungarian

Picture details: Danube mayflies (Ephoron virgo) swarm in Szentendre, Hungary.

Caption: After a few decades, the spectacular endangered Danube mayfly has returned to the river Danube, probably due to increasing water quality after disappearing from the rivers of Middle Europe owing to water pollution. The summer of 2024 was memorable for fans of these mayflies, as the season — likely extended by dry, hot days and persistently low water levels — lasted nearly a month. On 25 occasions, we waded deep into the strong currents, surrounded and overwhelmed by the mayflies. A massive swarm numbering in the millions is approaching the illuminated city of Szentendre. The lights lure the mayflies out due to their positive phototaxis. During the late August festival, dense clouds of mayflies engulfed the restaurants, vendors, wine bars, and concerts, becoming an unmissable and alarming spectacle. The mayflies circled around the lights for a long time, unable to break free, and sadly perished on the asphalt. Such an evening can result in ecological damage worth billions, as mayflies writhing and drying on pavements, roads, and ledges perish along with the egg clusters that represent their offspring.

Technical information:

• Camera: Nikon D7200
• Lens: Nikkor AF DX Fisheye 10.5mm F2.8G ED
• ISO: 1250
• Aperture: F22
• Shutter speed: 10 sec
• Accessories: Tripod, KuangRen Macro Twin Flash, lights
• Post processing: Lightroom

Further information:

Instagram: @imrepotyo

Facebook: Imre Potyó

Intimate Landscape - First Place

© Sho Hoshino / CUPOTY

Name: Sho Hoshino

Title: Dreamy State

Category: Intimate Landscape

Place: 1st

Nationality: Japanese

Picture details: A tree covered with rime ice in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Caption: I took this photograph when frost-covered trees stood before a mist that turned pink in the morning sunlight. The composition relies on soft, pale tones, anchored by the dark, intricate shape of the tree trunk and its distorted form. I intentionally excluded the base of the tree to highlight the complexity of its trunk. I also wanted to emphasise the special conditions of frost and mist, so I waited for the moment when the background turned pink. Although the scene depicts the freezing cold of winter, the warm colour tones give it a gentle sense of warmth rather than loneliness.

Technical information:

• Camera: Fujifilm GFX100S
• Lens: Fujinon GF 100-200mm F5.6 R LM OIS WR
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F8
• Shutter speed: 0.6 sec
• Accessories: Tripod, CPL filter
• Post processing: Lightroom and Photoshop

Further information:

Website: www.shohoshinophotography.com

Instagram: @shocha_photography

Facebook: Shocha Photography

X: @shochacamera

YouTube: Shocha Photography

Invertebrate Portrait - First Place

© Laurent Hesemans / CUPOTY

Name: Laurent Hesemans

Title: Good Boy

Category: Invertebrate Portrait

Place: 1st

Nationality: Belgian

Picture details: A moth (Bombycidae sp.) in Tinamaste, Costa Rica.

Caption: A favourite quarry of many macro photographers, it is always a lovely opportunity to spend time with members of the Bombycid family. Incredibly photogenic, the large eyes and antenna positions of these moths, especially the males, always lend their portraits a somewhat melancholy feeling. They are a lesson in beautiful subtlety and a reminder to always give even the simplest arthropods and small creatures a second, closer look.

Technical information:

• Camera: Sony A7R V
• Lens: Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• ISO: 200
• Aperture: F8
• Shutter speed: 1/125 sec
• Accessories: Godox V860III flash, Cygnustech diffuser, Raynox DCR-250
• Post processing: Focus stack processed in Helicon Focus, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Topaz Sharpen

Further information:

Website: www.laurent-hesemans.com

Instagram: @Laurent_nam

Facebook: Laurent Hesemans

Plant - First Place

© Minghui Yuan / CUPOTY

Name: Minghui Yuan

Title: Rebirth from Destruction

Category: Plants

Place: 1st

Nationality: Chinese

Picture details: Decaying lotus leaves and floating fern (Salvinia natans) in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, China.

Caption: In a pond outside the tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, I found these decaying lotus leaves floating on the dark water, their skeletal veins creating a delicate lacework of purple and green. Amongst them, bright clusters of floating fern had taken hold. Floating fern thrives only in warm, clean waters, so finding it here amongst these skeletal leaves felt like the rebirth of hope and a symbol of the continuation of life.

Technical information:

• Camera: Fujifilm X-H2
• Lens: Fujinon XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
• ISO: 200
• Aperture: F10
• Shutter speed: 1/42 sec
• Post processing: Photoshop

Studio Art - First Place

© Paul Kenny / CUPOTY

Name: Paul Kenny

Title: COPPER WORKS No.25 - 2024

Category: Studio Art

Place: 1st

Nationality: British

Picture details: A copper plate distressed and oxidised by everyday household materials.
Caption: Three years ago, at the age of 71 and after 35 years in rural/coastal tranquillity, my wife and I moved back into the centre of a big city. For 50 years, my work had been concentrated on creating visionary landscapes, constructed from insignificant scraps from the shoreline. My new environment conjured up memories of my upbringing in the post-Industrial Revolution Lowry-esque landscape of inner-city Salford. Over three years, a new body of work has emerged, but the fragments of flotsam and jetsam that formed the source of my medium have been replaced with the chemical fragments of common household materials — bleach, cleaners, gardening products, bathroom products. This image is made on a glass plate and captured with a scanner.

Technical information:

• Scanner: Epson Perfection V750 Pro scanner
• Scan time: 15 minutes
• Post processing: Photoshop Elements

Further information:

Website: www.paul-kenny.co.uk

Instagram: @jmarmaduke

Threads: @jmarmaduke

Young - First Place

© Rithved Girish / CUPOTY

Name: Rithved Girish

Title: Guardians of the Hive

Category: Young

Place: 1st

Nationality: Indian

Age: 14 years old

Picture details: Stingless bee (likely Tetragonula sp.) nest in Mezhathur, Kerala, India.
Caption: During my summer holiday in Kerala, India, I encountered a nest of stingless bees, likely from the Tetragonula family. Fascinated by the tiny wonders of nature, I make it a point to explore and learn more about the natural world whenever I visit India. These small yet remarkable bees had carefully built their home using wax, resin, and mud, creating a unique tube-shaped entrance to safeguard their colony. The guard bees at the entrance remained alert, ensuring the safety of their hive from potential threats. No bait or attractants were used whilst capturing this moment, allowing their natural behaviour to remain undisturbed. This image serves as a reminder of the vital role these tiny creatures play in maintaining ecological balance.

Technical information:

• Camera: Nikon D850
• Lens: Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro Art
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F11
• Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
• Accessories: Rollei Flash 58F, Radiant diffuser

Further information:

Instagram: @rithved.girish

Facebook: Rithved Girish

Image: Richard Butler

If you've recently picked up a new Nikon camera, you might be a bit overwhelmed about where to start setting it up. After all, camera menus can be hard to navigate, and the sheer number of settings options can be dizzying.

Some settings are universal, no matter your camera brand or preferred shooting style. We've already covered those in a separate article, so you may want to start there. This guide walks you through some of the Nikon‑specific settings worth changing on day one. The suggestions below are aimed at addressing the needs of most photographers; if you have a specific shooting style or preferred genre, there may be additional considerations. But below you'll find a good starting point for setting up your camera.

Basic Nikon behaviors

If you're new to Nikon, there is a key quirk you might want to be aware of: that nothing is selected until you've pressed the OK button. It's very easy to navigate to a menu parameter, think you've selected the option you want, and then hit Menu or half-press the shutter to exit, only to discover that nothing's changed. Get into the habit of assertive confirmation.

This option won't be in the same exact position on every Nikon model, but it should be located in the purple Controls section.

Another behavior that may be unfamiliar, if you've come from other brands, is that you need to hold buttons such as WB or Exposure Comp down while you turn the command dial. If you want to just press once, rather than having to hold the button down, you need to change the "Release Button to Use Dial' option in section 'f' of the Custom Settings menu.

Engaging and controlling Auto ISO

Auto ISO is typically On by default on most Nikon Z-mount cameras. However, there are points worth being aware of. If your camera has a dedicated ISO button, or you've defined a custom button to control ISO, you can hold that button down and turn one of the command dials to toggle Auto ISO on and off.

However, be aware that the other dial will define the minimum ISO that the camera will use, which risks limiting the maximum image quality available. If you are finding that the Auto ISO system isn't using as fast a shutter speed as you'd like, it's better to go into the Photo Shooting menu and adjust the "Minimum Shutter Speed" setting under "ISO sensitivity settings."

Easy Exposure Compensation

Easy Exposure Comp makes one of your command dials act as exposure comp without having to press a button. If you ever shoot in A or S mode, you should set this to 'On.' Screengrab: Mitchell Clark

Nikon cameras offer an "Easy Exposure Compensation" setting that lets you customize how you dial in exposure compensation (EC).

By default, this is set to off, which means that you have to hold the ± button while turning a command dial to change EC. However, when you use P, S and A modes, you’ll have a command dial that isn’t being used. By changing to "On (auto reset)" or just "On," you'll be able to use the free dial to quickly change the EC setting without pressing a button at the same time. The auto reset option simply means that the camera will reset the EC to zero when you power off or the standby timer times out.

Choosing a Raw mode

In our article on general settings to change on any camera, we suggested enabling Raw files for greater flexibility when editing your images. But with Nikon cameras, you’re also asked to choose a type of Raw file (NEFs on Nikon cameras), which can get confusing.

On the first two generations of Z-mount camera, you'll have the option to choose 12‑bit or 14‑bit Raw. Full-frame models also let you chose a compression method: Uncompressed, Lossless Compressed or Compressed (often referred to as lossy compressed). Without getting too deep into the technical details, Lossless Compressed uses reversible compression. You get the benefit of smaller files, but you can restore the image for full editing capability. 12-bit mode makes the files still smaller and lets you capture more images during burst shooting, with very little impact unless you're shooting at low ISOs and really pushing the Raws.

Cameras that with Expeed 7 branded processing offer the newer TicoRaw-based HE* and HE

On cameras newer than the Z9 (those using Expeed 7 generation processing), you instead get the choice of Lossless Compression, High Efficiency* or High Efficiency (HE) compression. You no longer have to decide the bit-depth the camera uses. The Lossless compression is the same as on the older cameras, whereas the two HE options use a more modern, more effective compression system.

If you have one of the older cameras, we'd generally suggest shooting 12-bit Raw with Lossless Compression, if you're given the choice. The only exception would be if you're shooting ISO 64 on a Z7 or Z7 II and really pushing the Raws to make full use of their dynamic range.

We've been impressed with our experiences with HE* compression on the newer cameras.

Engaging Raw shooting

Don't forget to tell your camera to actually shoot in Raw after choosing your Raw settings; it's easy to do.

While both older and newer Nikon cameras have menu options to define what type of Raw file they capture, it's important to recognize that they don't actually make use of this setting until you select Raw or Raw+ from the "Image Quality" setting, further up the Photo Shooting menu.

Sensor shield

The Z9 and Z8, which always use electronic shutter mode, have a carbon "sensor shield" that can be used to keep dust off the sensor, without having to worry so much about damaging delicate, fragile shutter blades. Photo: DPReview

The Nikon Z8 and Z9 both offer an option to enable a "sensor shield" when the camera is powered off. It helps reduce the amount of dust and debris that can land directly on the sensor during lens changes. We'd suggest setting "Sensor Shield Behavior at Power Off" to "Sensor shield closes." In the setup menus.

This option is not available in other Nikon cameras because they do not have carbon blades that can be used to prevent dust ingress. Instead, they have mechanical shutter blades which are much easier to damage than the sensor is.

We'd suggest being wary of dust with most Nikon cameras and being careful not to touch the sensor shield if you have a Z8 or Z9.

Shutter angle

If you have a higher-end camera, you'll be able to change the Shutter Mode in the Video ('g') Custom Settings menu.

Shutter angle is a feature specific to videographers, so if you're not shooting video, there's no need to worry about this one. But, especially if you plan to shoot video at different frame rates, expressing the exposure time in terms of shutter angle can be really handy.

This setting only affects video shooting and is currently only available on the ZR, Z6III, Z8 and Z9.

AF-F

One Nikon-specific quirk to be aware of is that the mode that continuously refocuses during video capture is called AF-F (fulltime AF) on Nikon cameras, rather than some variety of continuous autofocus, as is more commonly the case. This is because Nikon also has an AF-C mode that acts like the same mode in stills shooting: only re-focusing when you're pressing a button to tell the camera to do so.

Specifying different settings for video

By default, certain settings such as White Balance and Picture Control will carry over from stills to video mode. However, you can choose different settings by going into the "Video Shooting" menu and changing the setting to something other than "Same as Photo Setting." This makes it easier to switch back and forth between stills and video shooting without accidentally carrying your settings across.

Customize your camera for your needs

Depending on your camera model, several buttons and button/dial combinations can be separately configured for stills shooting, video and playback modes.

If you want to go beyond these basics, you can configure custom buttons the the "Custom Controls" option(s) the 'f' section of the Custom Settings menu. You can customize buttons for video use in "Custom Controls" in section 'g.'

The i menu can be configured to give you semi-fast access to the settings you regularly change, and can be configured separately for stills and video

It's a similar story if you wish to change which options appear in the i quick menu, these are also configured at the top of section 'f' for photo mode and section 'g' for video mode.

The above options are Nikon-specific items that apply to most users, regardless of their specific niche. However, it's also not an exhaustive list. If you have other settings that you change as soon as you purchase a new (or new to you) Nikon camera, share them in the comments.

Image: Viltrox

Viltrox has announced its first L-Mount lens after joining the alliance last September. The company will now sell an L-mount version of its AF 16mm F1.8 lens, which has previously been available for E and Z mount cameras.

Optically, the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 L is the same as the models released in 2024. It's built around 15 elements in 12 groups, an optical design that includes 3 aspherical elements and 4 ED elements to better manage distortion, chromatic aberration and coma. Viltrox promises ultra-high resolution from the ultra-wide and says it is sharp edge-to-edge even when wide open.

The lens offers a wide F1.8 maximum aperture and can focus as close as 0.27m (10.6"), which is twice the distance of Sony's 16mm F1.8, its closest like-for-like rival. It uses Viltrox's stepper motor for autofocus, which it says is fast and accurate. Viltrox also promises minimal focus breathing, making it a suitable option for video applications.

Image: Viltrox

Like the original E and Z-mount versions, the lens offers plenty of on-body controls. It features two function buttons: one is customizable, while the other enables users to quickly switch between two preset focus distances. Its aperture ring can be clicked or de-clicked, and it features an AF/MF switch. There's also a 0.96" color display at the top of the lens that shows focus distance, depth of field, and aperture settings.

Unlike some ultra-wide lenses, the Viltrox 16mm doesn't feature a bulging front lens element. The flat lens design reduces the risk of damaging the glass when walking around with it and also allows for a 77mm filter thread. It uses metal construction and weighs 550g (1.2 lbs). It also offers some weather sealing to protect against dust.

The Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 L is available for purchase for $580.

Viltrox 16mm F1.8 specifications

The gray colorscheme, 30th Anniversary logo, 'diamond' knurling on the control ring around the lens and the price set the Anniversary edition apart from the standard G7 X III. Image: Canon

Canon is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its PowerShot line of compact cameras with a premium-priced special edition of its hard-to-find G7 X Mark III enthusiast compact.

It features a gray top plate and different knurling on the control ring, along with 30th Anniversary branding on the flash. Other than that, it's identical to the standard G7 X Mark III that's reliably unavailable.

As such it has a 24-100mm equiv. F1.8-2.8 lens in front of a 20MP Type 1 (13.2 x 8.8mm) Stacked CMOS sensor. It also has a clicking control dial around the lens, a dedicated exposure comp dial and a rear screen that flips 90 degrees down and 180 degrees upward, helping it become something of a TikTok favourite, as well as being an excellent enthusiast compact.

Canon North America will also provide a leather PeakDesign wrist strap with the 30th Anniversary logo but this isn't included in all markets.

The Anniversary Edition is described as a limited edition, but the extent of its availability has not been disclosed. Image: Canon

Canon refers to it as a "limited edition" but declined to specify how many units the edition is limited to. Canon North America told us it will run a lottery for people wanting to buy them from its own website but it'll be left up to retailers to decide how to allocate the units they get into stock.

The special edition G7 X Mark III will be available from April 2026 in unspecified numbers at a cost of $1295. This is a $420 premium over the regular version that isn't formally limited. A company spokesperson said that supply constraints on the standard version "should get better, later in the year."

In the UK, the special edition will cost £860, only a £40 increase over the cost over the standard model. Though you don't get the custom wrist strap. It will go on sale on April 23rd.

European outlets are reporting that the Anniversary edition and all G7 X III's will move over from the NB-13L battery to a new unit called the NB-15L. Batteries with the new designation differ only in that they won't attempt to charge if they've been over-discharged, as a safety feature.

Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III Specifications

Image: Canon

Canon has announced the 14mm F1.4 VCM L, the latest in its family of similarly-sized F1.4 lenses designed for shooting both stills and videos. With the exception of the company's "Dual" lenses designed for VR, this becomes Canon's widest-angle prime for RF mount.

The lens is made up of 18 elements in 13 groups, with a litany of special glass and coatings: there's a fluorite lens, a UD lens, a Blue Refractive "BR" optical element for correcting chromatic aberration, and three glass-molded aspheric elements, as well as a fluorine coating for anti-fouling and the company's SWC and ASC coating for reducing flare, ghosting and reflections. It can focus on subjects as close as 0.24m (9.4") away, providing up to 0.11x magnification.

Physically, the lens is a similar weight to the rest of Canon's VCM lenses, coming in at 578g (20.4oz). At 112mm (4.4") long, it'll stick out a touch further from the camera than the others, though that's primarily down to its integrated lens hood. Speaking of, the front element is slightly bulbous, meaning the lens can't be used with filters that screw on to the front. It does, however, have a holder for pre-cut gelatin filters on the back of its mount. A special lens cap that clips on is included.

The 14mm F1.4 VCM accepts gelatin filters at the back of the lens. There doesn't appear to be room behind the optics to use the slot-in filter modules used on the co-announced 7-14mm L fisheye lens. Image: Canon

It has plenty of controls and switches, including a customizable function button, a manual / auto focus switch, Canon's control ring and an (unfortunately clickless) aperture ring, which can be locked into "Auto" mode. As with the rest of the VCM lenses, the latter can be used in video mode across Canon's RF camera lineup, but can only be used in stills mode on the relatively recent EOS R1, R5 II, R6 III and R50V.

The RF 14mm F1.4 VCM L fills a hole in Canon's mirrorless lineup, which previously lacked a fast, high-end ultra-wide prime, the kind that's the bread and butter of astro-photographers. Of course, there are plenty of other uses for this focal length, but some of those will have already been covered by lenses like the 10-20mm F4 zoom.

We wouldn't have necessarily guessed that this would be Canon's next choice for a VCM lens, partially because the company has always stressed its focus on making the lenses good for both stills and video. While the company says it has well-controlled breathing, the lens still falls a bit short for the latter use case since its front element makes it difficult to attach filters. Presumably for reasons of space, Canon hasn't used the drop-in filter port included on the fisheye lens launching alongside this one, which would've made at least some affordance for a variable ND. Still, we're glad to see the company finally offering a high-end ultrawide prime for full-frame RF.

The RF 14mm F1.4 VCM L will be available near the end of February and will retail for $2499.

Sample gallery

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

Canon 14mm F1.4 VCM L specifications:

Image: Canon

Canon has announced the RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L Fisheye STM, which it says is the first zoom lens of its kind to provide a 190° field of view at its widest setting. The lens also has a few other tricks up its sleeve, including a way to use filters – even variable ones – despite its hemispherical front element.

The lens is made of 16 elements in 11 groups, with two aspheric elements and 5 UD lenses. It has a minimum focusing distance of 0.15m (5.9") across its zoom range, providing up to 0.35x magnification at 14mm. When paired with a full-frame camera, its widest angle offers a circular field of view, which becomes a diagonal fisheye field of view at the 'long' end.

It has a dual-purpose locking / limit switch, which you can use for different purposes, depending on what kind of system you're using it on. If you're shooting on a full-frame camera, you can use it to lock the zoom at 7mm, making sure you maintain the full circular fisheye effect. If you're using it with an APS-C body, however, you can use it to lock the lens in to only use focal lengths that fill the entire frame, starting at around 8.7mm.

To help with this mode, there's a "C" indicator on the zoom ring, which lines up with the limit switch once you've reached that focal length. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from using this limit setting on a full-frame camera, too, but the focal lengths it limits you to won't have any particular significance on a larger sensor.

The lens also has Canon's control ring, a programmable button and an autofocus / manual focus switch.

You can use the slot-in circular polarizer previously offered with Canon's EF/RF adapter, this has a small, geared wheel (shown towards the upper left of this image) to let you rotate the filter inside the lens. Image: Canon

It weighs 476g (16.8oz) and is 109mm (4.3") long. While its front element makes it impossible to use standard screw-on filters, Canon has borrowed a trick from one of its EF to RF adapters, building in a slot for drop-in filters into the lens. It ships with a clear filter, but it can accept any of the ones used by that adapter, meaning there's already a circular polarizer, gelatin filter holder and even a variable ND filter for it. The circular polarizing and vari ND filters come with a geared wheel that lets you rotate the filters while they're mounted in the lens.

The Canon RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L Fisheye STM will be available later this month at an MSRP of $1899. As you'd expect of an L-series lens, it's weather sealed and comes with both a lens hood and lens pouch.

Sample gallery

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

Canon RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L Fisheye STM specifications:

A muddied construction site in Indonesia during the wet season got revenge on this camera. Photo: I Beam

In last week's Question of the week, the community didn’t just swap specs or talk wishlists; you traded reports from a diverse set of danger zones in photography. We were amazed by how many cameras managed to survive such incredible disasters. Cameras were flung off boats, buried in mud, run over by construction trucks and even pulled from rice paddy firefights. Yet, amazingly, many of them remained functional with just a bit of cleanup needed to get them going again.

Read on for some of those intense stories that pitted cameras against the wrath of nature.

Your camera disasters revealed

Bearly There: A bear tried to eat my GoPro. I had it sitting on a fence post along an animal trail attached to a Gorillapod and set the GoPro to take a photo every five seconds. I left it there for a few hours before going back to retrieve it, only to find it on the ground, covered in slimy slobber.

Hike Pics: Early 90s, on our 1st anniversary, my wife and I were down in Savannah, Georgia. I was stepping out of one of the many shops facing the Savannah River. I missed the first step, causing my 80-200mm to flip out of my front-facing fanny pack (that I forgot to zip) and land on the street. I heard glass break. I tossed it and the fanny pack into the garbage can. I NEVER got another fanny pack!

woxx: I was on a beach in Iceland with my Fujifilm GFX 50S and GF45 on a cold spring day with high wind and rough water. They say never turn your back on the water, but I stupidly did. Right then, a wave pushed about a foot of water up, knocking me down onto my hands and knees. The wave completely submerged my GFX 50S in cold Atlantic saltwater.

Dropped Ricoh Caplio R6 survived in sand, but did not survive a second, more disastrous drop. Photo: ThvdW

RecklessCoding: Over a decade ago, I was doing my mandatory military service. There was this big event, an unveiling of a monument for a dead war hero. The president of my country, ambassadors, generals, etc, were all set to come as they would double the event as a full-on inspection of the guard. I was asked to take photos at the event.

During the president's speech, I thought of getting up on the platform he was standing on to take a nice portrait. I took the first step, and bam, I lost my balance. My camera bag was open, and one of the lenses flew out in front of the president's face and landed somewhere on a bush behind him. Longest second of my life.

The Squirrel Mafia: Back in 2014, I went to Disneyland with the family. I took my 10 MP Sony A200 DSLR. By midday, we got on the Jungle Cruise. I took the camera strap off my neck and took a few photos. Then I put the camera on my lap. When the boat got back to the dock, I thought I had the camera strap on my wrist. As I got up, the camera flew off my lap and fell upside down onto the hard floor of the boat. The camera survived, but the flash mechanism didn't. Had I turned the other way, it would have fallen right into the "river".

Kowa Super 66 was shot dead by a deer rifle due to the owner's frustration at not being able to repair the camera. Photo: KICK14

deep7: I was out on a horse trek with some friends. We weren't far from base when my Olympus Mju film camera fell out of my backpack. I went back for it once the horses were sorted, to find that an eight-ton horse truck had driven right over it! The camera had a massive crack and didn't function, but pressing the film rewind button made it work. I retrieved the film, completely undamaged. Tough little cameras, no wonder they sold millions of them.

The Point and Shoot Pro: During the days when I was shooting 4/3s cameras, I was talking to a nice older gentleman who had an E-1. He was on one of these Nikon "Mentor" trips, shooting by a slow-running river. A few Canikon fans were there, sort of talking crap about his "inferior" Olympus setup. So he walked over to the river, dropped his camera in, looked at the boys, and said, "Go ahead, do that with your gear".

Vetteran: We took a day trip in Iceland (all 4.5 hours of sunlight in January) to the infamous Reynisfjara "Black Sand Beach" known for sneaker waves. Of course, I was about 100 feet from the surf when a sneaker wave came in. The wave hit my camera bag hard. The result: both of my Leicas, D109 and VLUX Type 114, which were in my Domke camera bag, slipped off my shoulder, and the interior of the bag was water-drenched, ruining both cameras.

Sometimes, putting your camera in harms' way to get the shot works out. Other times it doesn't. Photo: Mitchell Clark

These tales feel less like minor mishaps and more like danger zones, with cameras hurled off boats, buried in mud, drowned in surf and even dragged through firefights. Hard lessons learned: trust your straps, respect the weather, zip the bag, spread the tripod legs, and always have a plan for when gravity or water wins.

So many other great stories we couldn't fit in this article are shared in the forums. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write up a fascinating account of your camera accidents.

Keep watch for the next Question of the week every other Wednesday to participate in this series. New questions are posted here on the homepage and in the forums. We can't wait to read and share your stories!

Had a camera destroyed? Click here to share your story!

It's become increasingly common for cameras to be able to capture Raw video without the need for an external recorder, making it that bit more accessible. Photo: Mitchell Clark

Raw video looks set to become increasingly common on cameras, with cameras from Panasonic, Canon and Nikon all offering internal Raw capture options. We thought it was a good time to take another look at the pros and cons of Raw video, whether it's worth the effort and whether you should consider it an essential feature, next time you buy a camera.

It's not as significant as for stills

The first point worth reiterating is that the benefits of Raw shooting aren't anywhere near as significant as they are for stills shooting. The main reason for this is that the alternative to shooting Raw stills is typically an 8-bit JPEG with a high-contrast S-curve applied to it, ready for viewing which leaves relatively little scope for significant brightness and tonal edits. Whereas the alternative to Raw in video tends to be 10-bit footage encoded with a Log response curve which is specifically designed to maintain tonal flexibility.

"A 10-bit log file can comfortably retain all the meaningful content of a 12-bit linear one"

It also tends to be the case that most video is derived from 12-bit sensor readout, rather than the 14-bit modes used on most large pixel cameras. Reducing the readout bit-depth boosts the readout speed but puts a limit on the amount of DR that can be retained. That said, many modern cameras increasingly oversample for their core video modes, an act that helps reduce noise and boost DR.

Little information is given about most 'Raw' video formats, but if they are encoded in a linear manner, as delivered by cameras' ADCs, it's worth pointing out that a 10-bit logarithmic file can comfortably retain all the meaningful content of a 12-bit linear one.

It's more that there's a well-established alternative to Raw capture, rather than any weakness of the Raw footage, that leads us to stress that the benefits are more modest than you might expect, if you're coming from a stills-shooting background.

So what benefits do you gain?

Control over white balance and ISO

The easiest benefit to spot is that, as in Raw photos, Raw video typically doesn't apply multipliers to its color channels and 'bake' a white balance into the file. This retains maximum flexibility in the edit, as it eliminates the risk that a badly judged white balance has prematurely clipped a channel that you then want to recover.

In practice, there isn't going to be a big difference between this and a 10-bit Log workflow, if you get the white balance quite close at the point of capture.

Raw footage should let you adjust the white balance and brightness rendering of the footage, after the fact. In this instance the interface gives you "ISO", "Exposure Offset" and "Color Temperature" tools. There's no setting for adjusting the Magenta/Green 'tint' axis. Screengrab: DPReview from Final Cut Pro 11.1

Another benefit of the better Raw implementations is the ability to change ISO after the fact. Strictly speaking, you can't edit ISO after the fact any more than you can adjust "exposure" in a stills Raw converter, but you can see why they might choose to label the control that way.

Typically what's actually happening is that your camera is shooting at its base amplification setting (or its second gain step) to prevent unnecessary clipping, then brightening the footage in post, based on the "ISO" value to assign in your editor. As with white balance, this lets you second-guess your decisions at the point of shooting, but the end results are unlikely to be radically different to having shot Log in the 'correct' ISO, at the time.

Control over sharpening and noise reduction

What you definitely gain is much greater control over the sharpening and noise reduction being applied to your footage. Even at their minimal settings (and different brands have a very different idea of what minimal processing looks like), most hybrid cameras will apply quite a lot of noise reduction and sharpening to their processed output.

Shooting Raw gives you much more choice about the level and complexity of noise reduction and sharpening being applied. Of course, this also means you need to come up with a sharpening and noise reduction strategy in your workflow.

Support

Support for Raw video has been improving in recent months, with Adobe adding beta support for Nikon's NRaw and related R3D formats. Between plugins from the manufacturers and third-party options such as Color Finale Transcoder 2, you can use most Raw formats in the most popular editing software.

This is particularly useful as, for instance, Nikon cameras derive their native Raw and their ProRes Raw output on different sensor modes, so the quality and available framerates can differ between them.

Lens corrections

Another consideration is that a great many modern lens designs only deliver the combination of angle-of-view, size and price they offer, because they use software corrections as part of their design. Not all Raw video workflows maintain the necessary correction parameters, meaning you'll need to find correction plugins to mimic them, if you want to use many modern hybrid lenses.

The Nikon ZR lets you choose between capturing Nikon's N-Raw or the related R3D NE format. Alternatively you can capture the more widely supported ProRes Raw format, though not at the higher frame rates offered in its native formats. Screengrab: Mitchell Clark

This isn't an issue if you're adapting manual focus lenses, but it's worth testing whether the Raw format you hope to use will maintain the lens correction information if you're planning to use most systems' native AF lenses. For instance, Nikon writes its lens corrections parameters to its NRaw and R3D Raw formats, but doesn't embed them in ProRes Raw mode.

Canon's lens corrections are provided as part of its Raw files. Premiere honors the lens settings, whereas DaVinci Resolve lets you hack around them, if you prefer. And, although correction support has been added to ProRes Raw, Panasonic's cameras don't yet add the metadata to present its lenses correctly.

File sizes

Raw video tends to be larger than processed footage, not just because of increased bit-depth but also because chroma sub-sampling and sophisticated compression tends to be used on processed files. However, another factor is that truely Raw files are typically created from the sensor's native resolution. Sub-sampling the sensor by line-skipping would reduce the quality of the footage and rendering it then downscaling wouldn't be very raw. Some cameras let you crop in to a 4K region of the sensor but this effectively reduces the sensor size of your camera, lowering the quality of the footage.

This means you typically end up with roughly 6K or 7K footage with modern hybrid cameras. Differences in file size then add up very quickly. Here we've put together some typical bitrates and then extrapolated from that to work out roughly how much footage you can fit on a 256Gb memory card.

If you want the additional resolution, many recent cameras can also record processed, compressed 10-bit footage at their native capture resolutions (around 6 to 7K), which is typically captured at similar bit-rates to the 4K footage, though often with 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling.

But, as the table above should make clear, you can expect to get less than a third as much Raw footage on your memory card. Or, to put it the other way 'round: you'll need to buy at least three times as much media and storage in order to capture a project in Raw.

Is it worth it?

Overall then, is it worth it? Ultimately that's up to you, what you shoot and whether you want to maintain some flexibilty / pass extra work to the editing stage of your workflow.

Increasingly the tools are becoming available to let you work with Raw footage, but it's definitely worth considering whether the additional workflow steps and added storage requirements are worth it for the marginal gains in post-processing flexibility.

As things stand, we don't believe Raw video should be a deciding factor when choosing a camera unless you're absolutely certain that it's essential for the work you plan to do.

CIPA's latest data, expertly visualized by one of our forum members, doesn't shine any light onto how any particular camera model is doing, but it does show that cameras with built-in lenses are on the rise. Image: Richard Butler

The Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has released its annual figures on camera and lens shipments for 2025, and the statistics paint an interesting picture about the state of the camera industry. As a whole, it's back to growth, but one category of cameras is making far larger strides than the others. DPReview forum user Funtaril has put together a collection of visualizations based the data, which help illustrate those changes.

Before we take a look, there are some important things to note about where the CIPA data comes from. It's an industry group that gets statistics from member companies, including all of the major camera companies currently producing cameras for the market, and most of the major lens manufacturers. However, according to the most recent data available on CIPA's site, companies such as JK Imaging (which sells the Kodak-branded Easyshare cameras that frequently top Amazon's sales charts), Viltrox, 7artisans, Laowa and a host of other popular Chinese lens producers don't participate. That means the statistics offer a useful, but not comprehensive view of the market as a whole.

Image: funtaril

With that said, perhaps the most interesting datapoint is that 2025 saw a 11% growth in digital camera shipment volumes compared to 2024, which itself was the first year to see the market expand, rather than contract, since 2020. While sales of mirrorless cameras showed moderate growth, shipments of cameras with built-in lenses grew by 30%, making them 25.8% of the total volume of shipments for 2025. Clearly, manufacturers have taken notice of compacts' increased popularity.

It's also worth reiterating that these percentages represent how many units were shipped, rather than their value. That means that, if there was a rush to buy expensive fixed-lens cameras like the Sony RX1RIII or the Fujifilm GFX100RF, that's not skewing this particular data. And as noted before, that figure likely undersells how popular compacts have been, since it doesn't account for many of the models being sold at Costco, Amazon, or via TikTok Shop.

This is made all the more interesting by the scarce availability of the few compacts still on available on the market. It's hard not to wonder if the growth could have been even greater if cameras such as the Canon G7X Mark III were being produced in sufficient numbers to satisfy demand.

The Canon EOS Rebel T7, the last of the entry-level DSLRs, is almost unbelievably cheap at American retail giant Costco, going for $639 in a kit with two lenses, a backpack, and an SD card. Photo: Jeff Keller

While it's exciting to see growth in the camera market, it's also clear that DSLRs are playing a smaller and smaller role in it. Funtaril's chart shows that shipments of them dropped 31% year over year in 2025, making it their sixth year in decline. As it stands, they only made up 7.3% of overall camera shipments last year.

According to CIPA's data, the 690,911 DSLRs shipped in 2025 were worth around ¥30.4 billion (∼$195 million). That means that each one was valued around $282, compared to the average value of a mirrorless camera at approximately $711. To be clear, these numbers represent the revenue manufacturers earn when selling the cameras to wholesalers, not the retail price the consumer ends up paying, but the difference is stark, suggesting that a lot of the remaining sales are the $639 Rebels being sold at Costco, rather than the latest $2000+ mirrorless cameras.

Image: funtaril

It's interesting to drill down to where exactly those DSLRs were going to. The CIPA numbers show that the vast majority are going to the Americas and Europe, where they accounted for 14.9% and 11.7% of the cameras shipped to those regions, respectively. By contrast, they made up only 1.2% and 1.5% of shipments for China and Japan, respectively (though the later is hardly representative of the market as a whole; 52.7% of its shipments were cameras with built-in lenses).

Shipments of full-frame and medium format cameras only increased by about 2%

Despite 2025 seeing the release of the excellent Nikon Z5 II (and its existing low-cost rivals hitting ever lower prices on sale), shipments of full-frame and medium format cameras only increased by less than 2%, and made up a slightly smaller percentage of overall cameras shipped in 2025 than the year before. While 36.3% of the market is nothing to sneeze at, cameras with smaller sensors still made up the bulk of shipments at 63.7%.

Image: funtaril

The story is a little different when it comes to lenses. In 2025, Funtaril shows lenses for crop sensors making up 54.9% of shipments, with full-frame and larger lenses making up 45.1%. While crop lenses still make up the majority, the delta is much smaller. Again, this number is based on the absolute number of units, not the value, so the full-frame lenses' higher per-unit value doesn't affect this data.

One last interesting, but somewhat thorny, trend revealed by the data is regarding overall lens shipments from manufacturers that are part of CIPA. Funtaril calculated the attachment rate (how many lenses were being shipped for each interchangeable lens camera being shipped), and the number of full-frame and larger lenses shipped per camera has been dropping precipitously since the early 2020s (when CIPA started breaking out that data by sensor size).

Image: funtaril

It's hard to pin down exactly what that tells us for a variety of reasons; the lack of historical data means that it's always possible the numbers from 2020 and 2021 were artificially high due to people buying new lenses as they switched to mirrorless. It's also worth noting that owners of crop sensor cameras also purchase full-frame lenses, though the data doesn't tell us anything about the quantities in which they do so. These factors make it hard to tell how much of the drop in shipments is due to lack of interest, or the growing might of Chinese lens makers.

It's worth taking a look at Funtaril's full post on our forum, as there are over 30 charts and graphs to dig into, showing things like how regions' buying habits have been changing over time, and breakdowns of prime lens sales versus zoom lens sales. Funtaril also posted another thread late last year that looked at cameras' lifecycles, in an attempt to predict which cameras might get an update this year.

Check out the full thread

Image: Godox

Godox has announced the V1mid, a round-head on-camera flash unit. The company's latest flash sits in the V1 lineup and aims to provide a relatively affordable option for photographers who need more than a strictly budget-level flash but in a compact package.

Godox hasn't published any information on the V1mid's guide number or power, so those specs are unclear at this point. The company does specify a 1.7-second recycle time, which is just slightly lower than the V1's 1.5-second recycle time. It also promises up to 650 full-power flashes on a single charge, which is more than both of the other V1 flash units.

The V1mid mostly relies on a touchscreen for control. Image: Godox

The Godox V1mid is smaller than the V1 and V1Pro, making it a more compact and lighter option for photographers on the go. It weighs 413g (14.6oz), compared to the V1's 530g (18.7oz) weight. To accommodate the smaller size, Godox did away with most of the buttons and dials found on the V1 and V1Pro, with the V1mid instead relying on a two-inch touchscreen and dial.

The V1mid supports TTL, manual and multi-modes. It is also compatible with high-speed sync up to 1/8000 sec, or 1/80000 sec with Sony cameras with global shutters. The flash also supports first- and rear-curtain sync. Flash power is adjustable from 1/256 to full power. It can function as both a sender and receiver using Godox's 2.4 GHz 'X' wireless radio system, making it possible to use in multi-flash setups. It also supports wired sync via a 2.5mm sync port.

Image: Godox

Like the existing V1 models, some features of the V1mid are camera-dependent. For example, only certain versions offer a 2W LED modeling lamp. Additionally, the Canon version supports camera menu control. All versions are compatible with the Godox AK-R1 round-head magnetic accessory system, making it easier to modify the light.

The Godox V1mid is available for purchase today for $179 in versions for Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus/Panasonic and Sony.

Buy now:

Shooting open gate video uses the entire sensor, not just a 16:9 or 17:9 window of it. Photo: Richard Butler

Nowadays, the internet is often abuzz with discussions about open gate video recording, especially when a new camera adds (or fails to add) it as a feature. But for the uninitiated, it can be hard to tell why people care enough about it to leave endless "no open gate, no buy" comments, and there's even a risk of overemphasising its usefulness in all the excitement.

What is open gate?

A still from footage shot using the Canon EOS R6 III's ~7K open gate mode.

In case you've missed it, open gate is a recording mode that captures the entire area of a sensor. In hybrid stills/video cameras, that typically means producing a 3:2 or 4:3 image, rather than a 16:9 or 17:9 one, like most people will be used to. This often, but not always, also results in a much higher-resolution file; some cameras that don't offer >4K modes for the more standard aspect ratios will give you access to the sensor's full resolution in open gate mode.

The feature has been gaining popularity in consumer-focused cameras since Panasonic added it to the GH5 via a firmware update. Its inclusion has seemingly corresponded with sensors getting faster readout speeds: since the camera has to read out more of its sensor's height than when it's recording 16:9, the sensor has to be fast enough to read out its entire area in 1/24, 1/30 or 1/60th of a second to deliver video.

Why would you use it?

The feature came to hybrid mirrorless cameras as a way to give videographers a better experience when shooting with anamorphic lenses that have a high squeeze factor. By capturing a taller image, then squishing it down, you can get a stronger "look" (ovular bokeh and interesting compression when focus racking) without having a toothpick-thin aspect ratio like you'd get if you'd originally shot it in 16:9.

If that all sounds like Greek to you, don't worry too much; it can be complicated to shoot anamorphic lenses 'properly,' which is why doing so isn't particularly common. If that was all open gate shooting let you do, it would have likely remained an extremely niche feature. However, users – and manufacturers' marketing departments – quickly discovered that there are other reasons to capture the entire sensor.

Chief among them is that it gives you room to manipulate your footage without having to crop in beyond your native resolution. If you're shooting at 3:2 or 4:3 and delivering to 16:9, you have quite a bit of freedom to choose which part of the frame you want to take your crop from. You also have more leeway to reposition your subject in the frame, rotate the footage, or stabilize it in post, without losing too much resolution or substantially changing your original horizontal framing. The additional vertical space and, often, resolution, let you crop in further to simulate an additional, tighter focal length. You can also move the crop around, simulating a pan or tilt to add a sense of dynamism without the need for an actual camera operator.

This illustration from the S5II's product page shows one of the main selling points manufacturers push when talking about open gate. Image: Panasonic

What may be driving increased interest in open gate shooting is the ability to take that reframing to the extreme, pulling two entirely different formats from a single shot. That extra vertical headroom makes it easier to take a vertical crop out of your video, letting you shoot one clip and then cut it for horizontal platforms like YouTube and vertical ones like TikTok or Instagram. As these platforms have gained popularity, so too has the desire to take video shot for other, more landscape-focused platforms, without having to do two separate takes.

A 9:16 vertical crop taken from a 3:2 open gate image. Plenty of room for captions and overlaid UI.	A 9:16 vertical crop taken from a 16:9 image. Which could come across as a bit tight.

While this is technically possible with 16:9 footage, it can be quite difficult to find a framing that works for both horizontal and vertical with such a narrow aspect ratio.

What are the downsides?

This open gate shot, taken on a Panasonic S1II, can technically be split into vertical and landscape shots, but as often happens, one won't be as nice a composition as the other.

Of course, open gate footage isn't necessarily immune from this problem, either. When producing videos for our YouTube channel, we sometimes shoot in open gate when we plan on also uploading a cut to social, and we've found that it can be tricky to find a framing that will work for both. In the example above, the vertical crop shows off the interesting glass sculpture hung in the treetops, but any horizontal crop that includes the presenter will look either off-balance or just make it look like he's standing in a featureless forest.

Open gate footage also usually takes up more storage space, owing to its higher resolution, which is something to keep in mind. It may also be a bit harder to edit on lower-end hardware, depending on what you're trying to do with it.

Finally, there's the issue of framing. Unless you're delivering video in your sensor's aspect ratio, shooting in open gate means you'll have to crop in on your footage when editing, which is an extra step in the process, requiring you to decide what the best framing is on a shot-by-shot basis. If your camera has the ability to display framelines, you can try to make sure your framing is relatively consistent while shooting, but there may still be the temptation to endlessly fiddle in post, trying to get the perfect crop.

So should I actually care?

The Sony a7 V doesn't have open gate. Some people view this as a dealbreaker, which it may very well be for them. But that doesn't mean it will be for everyone. Photo: Mitchell Clark

If you've reached this point in the article and have found yourself thinking something along the lines of "I can't ever imagine needing/wanting to do any of this," you're probably not alone. People have gotten along very well with cameras that only shoot 16:9 for years, and while there's definitely an element of "I can't go back now that I've tried it" to open gate, many of its benefits are decidedly niche.

Of course, if you fit into that niche, open gate can be a valuable tool. Personally, I find it most valuable as a way to give myself more leeway when I'm trying to record myself, or when I feel artistically called to deliver video in a more square aspect ratio.

The point is not to prescribe where on that spectrum you should fall, but to highlight the fact that open gate isn't a universally useful feature. There will be those for whom it's a nice-to-have, but not necessarily a reason to pick one camera over another, and others whose needs make it a must-have feature (and still others who won't ever use it, plus those who are mad their camera even shoots video at all).