Flashback, the company behind the disposable-inspired One35 digital camera, has announced its next offering, the One75. The new digicam takes on the half-frame format and brings a more premium aesthetic.

Flashback says the One75 is inspired by classic half-frame film cameras, and, like those, it produces vertical photos. The company says it takes 13MP photos, though it doesn’t specify a sensor size or sensor resolution. It also didn’t specify the lens’s focal length, though the sample photos suggest a fairly wide-angle view. Unlike its vertical frame competitor, the Fujifilm X half, the One75 can capture Raw photos (in DNG format), though you’ll have to plug it into a computer to access them, rather than using the Flashback app, which can access the JPEGs.

Flashback

There are other film-inspired features, too. The camera supports up to 27 photos at a time (like a small roll of film), with a frame counter on the OLED display and a mechanical winder for advancing the “roll.” Users then need to transfer images to the app or a computer using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or USB-C. That transfer triggers a reset on the camera, like putting in a new roll.

Photographers can choose to wait 24 hours to view the photos (using Film Camera Mode) or use Digicam Mode to see photos instantly in the Flashback app. The camera also offers a double exposure mode and eight built-in film types for different looks, which can be changed on-camera.

Flashback

The One75 isn’t technically screen-free, as it features an OLED display on the top of the camera for adjusting settings. However, it lacks a display for viewing photos. Users will need to use the free companion app or transfer the files to a computer to see them. There is a portrait-oriented optical viewfinder for composing images.

Instead of a full plastic build like the One35 and many other film-inspired digicams, the One75 features aluminum top and bottom plates and brass controls. It also offers a tripod mount and self-timer, giving photographers more flexibility with how they use the camera. In addition, the lens features a 25mm threaded mount, making it compatible with filters and add-on lenses. It also includes a xenon flash.

Flashback

The Flashback One75 is available for pre-order now for $179 (no, that’s not a typo, it doesn’t cost $175), with the company stating that pre-orders will arrive before Christmas. It comes in Brushed Aluminum (silver and black) or Noir (all black).

The Micro Four Thirds standards group recently posted a warning on its site saying that it can’t guarantee that products made by companies not in the group will work as expected. The message, a link to which is prominently displayed in the site’s top navigation bar, doesn’t name any specific brands or products, but comes at an interesting time for the Micro Four Thirds system.

The official statement says that “the Four Thirds Office does NOT guarantee that products manufactured or sold by non-member companies comply with the Micro Four Thirds System standard or are compatible with individual devices.” It also tells users to check specific compatibility information with the manufacturer or seller of whatever gear you’re trying to buy.

Micro Four Thirds

When we first saw the warning at DPReview, we thought it might be related to the recent GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS. That camera has a Micro Four Thirds mount, but without any electrical contacts, so most of the lenses for the system from OM System and Panasonic won’t work, since they require those contacts to control aperture and focus.

That’s something potential buyers of the camera should be aware of, and it’s probably the most prominent instance of a product that uses the mount but that’s incompatible with many other products in the system. However, it also seems unlikely that the warning is referring to the ILS: while GoPro wasn’t a member of the group when that camera launched, it has since joined, and the warning explicitly calls out products from non-member companies.

So why was it issued? Honestly, there’s no clear answer. We’re not aware of any major scandals in the Micro Four Thirds world recently, though there have been rumors swirling around Insta360 using the mount for the cameras it’s currently working on. As of the time of writing, it isn’t listed among the supporting companies on the Micro Four Thirds website.

There’s also, as was pointed out several times in a Reddit thread, the case of SG-image, a budget lens company which is also not part of the Micro Four Thirds group. It has released one lens for the system that, according to several reports, doesn’t work at all with older cameras, and has some limitations on several newer models too. However, that lens has been out for a few months, so it would be a bit odd for the group to issue a warning about it only now.

Of course, it’s also possible that it’s just a general message, issued as a standard bit of housekeeping as an increasing number of companies release gear with Micro Four Thirds-shaped mounts without official support. As always, it’s worth reading a variety of reviews before spending your money on a product, especially if you’re going a bit off the beaten path.

The Astrophotography Prize has announced the winners of its 2026 edition of the competition. Astrophotographer Evan McKay took home the Photographer of the Year prize, while Alpha Zhang earned a unanimous Gold rating from all five judges in the Remote Imaging category.

The contest, which is independent and astrophotographer-run, is still in its early years, with this year marking the fourth edition. It drew approximately 500 entries from 22 countries. The competition offers four categories: Aurora, Deep Space, Astro Landscape and Remote Imaging.

The Astrophotography Prize hosts public, live judging for each category. The judging panel provides constructive feedback on entries, allowing the public to hear the rationale behind the decisions and gain insight into the technical and artistic qualities of exceptional astrophotography. The judging panel also made written feedback available to entrants to help them continue to improve their work.

Below you’ll find a selection of the 2026 winners, along with captions provided by entrants and statements from the judging panel. You can see all of the winning images and learn more about the Astrophotography Prize at the competition website. You can also rewatch the judging panels on the competition’s YouTube channel.

Photographer of the Year

Evan McKay

Photographer: Evan McKay

Awards: 2026 Photographer of the Year, Astro Landscape Category Winner

Entrant statement: This is a multilayer 24-panel mosaic taken from Cathedral Cove before and during a moonrise. I timed it in such a way that I was able to finish capturing the sky just before the moon started to rise.

Exposure: Full color sky: F2, 15 sec, ISO 1600 | Duoband: F2, 120 sec, ISO 1600

Total integration time: 15 hours

Equipment: Nikon Z6a, Sigma 40mm F1.4 DG HSM , Optolong L-Para

Location: Cathedral Cove, New Zealand

Judges’ statement: McKay’s winning image was praised for its exceptional detail and depth, drawing viewers into the scene. Judges highlighted its balanced composition and strong sense of atmosphere and place, describing it as beautifully executed and deserving of the award.

Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Evan McKay

Photographer: Evan McKay

Award: Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: This is a multilayer 2-panel mosaic in full color and duoband data of the Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS with Orion above Mount Taranaki. All was shot with a 135mm lens on location.

Exposure: Full colour sky: F1.8, 30 sec, ISO 1600 | Duoband data: F1.8, 60 sec, ISO 1600

Total integration time: 1.5 hours

Equipment: Nikon Z6a, Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM IF ART, Optolong L-Para

Location: Mount Taranaki, New Zealand

Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Matteo Strassera

Photographer: Matteo Strassera

Award: Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: Panorama of the Milky Way captured in Rub’ al-Khali desert, in the UAE. A solitary figure is framed between two elements, the cosmos and the dunes, both immutable but in constant evolution.

Exposure: Land: 6 x 120 sec + manual bracketing for light; Sky: 8 frames x 360 sec + bracketing for light pollution

Total integration time: 360 seconds each frame, total around 42 minutes

Equipment: Canon R5, Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG HSM Art

Location: Rub’ al-Khali, United Arab Emirates

Gateway Award

Brian Puhl

Photographer: Brian Puhl

Awards: Gateway Award, Deep Space Category Finalist

Entrant statement: LDN 1251, the Rotten Fish Nebula. A dark nebula of rich brown dust in Cepheus. A little over 19 hours of LRGB from my North Carolina back yard.

Exposure:  232 x 300 seconds

Total integration time: 19 hours, 20 minutes

Equipment: Esprit 150, QHY-268M, Antlia LRGB

Location: North Carolina

Judges’ statement: The 2026 Gateway Award was presented to Brian Puhl of the United States for his image of LDN 1251, commonly known as the Rotten Fish Nebula.

Sponsored by Nebula Nest, the award provides a year of free hosting at its remote observatory in rural Victoria, Australia, under Bortle 1 skies. The award is valued at $2150 and is selected from the ten highest-scoring Deep Space images.

Deep Space Category Winner

Marzena Rogozińska

Photographer: Marzena Rogozińska

Award: Deep Space Category Winner

Entrant statement: The Chameleon Dark Clouds in the constellation Chamaeleon, captured from Namibia. The image reveals intricate streams of interstellar dust illuminated by delicate blue reflection nebulae.

Exposure: 300 x 180 seconds

Total integration time: About 15 hours

Equipment: ZWO Asi 2600MC Pro, Takahashi Epsilon 130d, UV/IR Cut filter

Location: Hakos, Namibia (during the expedition in may 2025)

Judges’ statement: Rogozińska’s image stood out for its dynamic treatment of interstellar dust. Judges described the structures as appearing almost alive and turbulent, like a tornado, and praised the image’s detail, processing and composition. The panel found the result both beautiful and exciting, and considered it thoroughly deserving of recognition.

Deep Space Category Top 5 Finalist

Dan Bartlett

Photographer: Dan Bartlett

Award: Deep Space Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: Fifteen Consecutive Nights, Star-aligned sequence of Comet 13P/Olbers Surrounding Perihelion, June 26 – July 10, 2024. The first comet to show the extreme variability of its blue ion tail by solar winds.

Exposure: 440 x 60 seconds, 46 x 45 seconds

Total integration time: 7 hours 54 minutes 30 seconds

Equipment: asi6200mcPro, RASA11

Location: June Lake, California USA

Aurora Category Winner

Jason Perry

Photographer: Jason Perry

Award: Aurora Category Winner

Entrant statement: The Aurora Borealis dances above the mountains of Å in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, its vibrant green light reflected across the calm waters below.

Exposure: A single exposure at 6 seconds

Total integration time: 6 seconds

Equipment: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S

Location: Å, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Judges’ statement: Perry’s image impressed the judges with its technical quality and depth. The foreground detail was particularly notable, with the image remaining pin-sharp from front to back, an impressive achievement for a single-exposure photograph. The judges considered it a beautifully executed image.

Aurora Category Top 5 Finalist

Kavan Chay

Photographer: Kavan Chay

Award: Aurora Category Top 5

Entrant statement: This Aurora Australis display was so expansive, it needed a 12 frame panorama to capture the full display, with another 6 to capture the lighthouse in the foreground.

Exposure: 12 at 5 seconds + 6 at 30 seconds(sky/foreground)

Total integration time: 0.016 hours

Equipment: Nikon Z7a, Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S

Location: Waipapa Point, New Zealand

Remote Imaging Category Winner

Alpha Zhang

Photographer: Alpha Zhang

Award: Remote Imaging Category Winner

Entrant statement: Galileo’s Finger Through a Faint Hα Veil. A near-threshold Hα veil rather than a bright red sea: dust sets the direction, Ha builds the depth, and distant galaxies still thread through the field.

Exposure: 74 exposures

Total integration time: 14 hours

Equipment: ToupTek SkyEye 62AM, SkyRover 180APO Pro, Sky-Watcher EQ8-Rh

Location: SiChuan China

Judges’ statement: Zhang’s image received a unanimous Gold rating from all five judges, a rare result in the competition. Judges praised its natural presentation, framing and sense of movement, describing it as exceptionally
well presented and close to flawless.

Remote Imaging Category Top 5 Finalist

Kevin Morefield

Photographer: Kevin Morefield

Award: Remote Imaging Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: As this complex is in the distant LMC, it is really a collection of many objects. I wanted to highlight the similarity with the Rosette. Massive young stars carving out the central cavity.

Exposure: Red: 32 x 300 sec | Green: 33 x 300 sec | Blue: 33 x 300 sec | Hydrogen-alpha: 50 x 900 sec | Sulfur II: 50 x 900 sec | Oxygen III: 49 x 900 sec

Total integration time: 45 Hours 25 minutes

Equipment: QHY600M, Planewave DR350, Chroma SHORGB

Location: El Sauce Observatory

Updated October 19, 2026

$1000 might sound like a lot of money for a camera, but it’s probably the least we’d recommend spending if you want to go beyond phone photography, especially as photography equipment is steadily getting more expensive. The picks on this list will give you more control than a phone and offer a more satisfying photographic experience.

At this price point, your options for a new camera will be entry-level interchangeable lens cameras or larger-sensor compact cameras with built-in lenses. Compacts offer more control than a phone and a greater zoom range, but likely won’t offer a huge jump in image quality compared to the latest flagship phones (despite their typically larger sensors).

Meanwhile, an interchangeable lens camera won’t be as easy to carry around and comes with the added expense of lenses. However, they can make you feel even more involved in the photographic process, and the flexibility of swappable lenses will let you learn and grow into different types of photography as you develop your passion. They also feature much larger sensors than phones and the majority of compacts.

It’s worth noting that camera makers sometimes assume that beginners will stick with the basic ‘kit’ zoom that comes with the camera, so it’s worth checking whether a good selection of lenses is available (at a price you’re willing to spend) before deciding which brand’s system to buy into.

Our recommendations:

• Best camera under $1000: Nikon Z50II
• The best value for money: OM System PEN
• Best compact camera under $1000: Canon G7X III
• Best camera for content creators under $1000: Fujifilm X-M5

Best camera under $1000: Nikon Z50II

It earns its place at the top of this list by offering most of what you’ll need for stills and videography, and having a relatively easy-to-use and reliable AF system with automatic subject detection. Nikon has made a few fast APS-C zooms for Z-mount, and allowed a select few third-party options, so you won’t be stuck with a mediocre kit zoom, though other systems do offer a bit more choice.

The other options

Canon’s EOS R10 is a close competitor to the Z50II, offering much the same functionality. We also appreciate its inclusion of an AF joystick, but its biggest advantage over the Nikon is the wider selection of compelling APS-C zooms available for RF mount (even if they come from Sigma and Tamron, rather than Canon itself). However, its AF is ever so slightly less reliable than the Z50II’s, and it costs $100 more, so we feel the Nikon still deserves the top spot.

If you genuinely only have $1000 to spend on a camera and lens, and aren’t willing to buy used, your best bet is the Sony a6100. It’s quite elderly at this point (though it was relatively advanced when it released, compared to its peers), and the kit zoom that comes with it is quite poor. But if every last penny counts, it’s one of the few option that gets you a camera you can actually shoot with for under $1000.

The best value for money: OM System PEN

Richard Butler

It offers a list of features that you won’t find on the other cameras in this buying guide: in-body image stabilization, multi-shot computational modes and rated weather sealing (even if its IPX1 rating is relatively modest), all wrapped in an attractive rangefinder-styled body. You’d have to pay substantially more to get these features in a camera with a larger sensor, but the PEN offers it at a reasonable price point, and in a system with plenty of good lenses to choose from. Its autofocus isn’t as easy to use as our top pick, and it’s substantially less capable at video, but it’s unmatched when it comes to features (and maybe even fun) per dollar.

Best compact camera under $1000: Canon G7X III

The Canon PowerShot G7X III is the last in what used to be a popular style: the pocketable enthusiast photographers’ compact, with a relatively large Type 1 20MP sensor and bright zoom lens. Canon has added features to make it more vlogging-friendly, but the clicking control wheel gives a satisfying, hands-on shooting experience.

A note on availability: the PowerShot G7X III has been difficult to get for a while, despite Canon’s continued promises about ramping up production. Getting your hands on one for anything near its original MSRP may require some patience.

Best camera for content creation: Fujifilm X-M5

It’s aimed at creators taking pictures and video for the web, with a suite of vlogging features that let you shoot video that’s ready to upload as soon as you transfer it to your phone. It also has a dial for easily switching between ‘Film Simulations,’ Fujifilm’s much-loved color modes, and the full suite of stills features from larger, more expensive models – minus a viewfinder. Its support for X-mount lenses also gives you access to the most complete range of APS-C lenses, no matter what journey you’re on.

What if I only vlog?

If you plan to shoot more videos than photos, it’s worth considering the Canon PowerShot V1. It’s a compact camera built for vlogging with its integrated 16-50mm equiv. F2.8-4.5 lens, large (for a compact) Type 1.4 (18.4 x 12.3mm) sensor, complete with optical image stabilization and an ND filter. While we don’t think it offers an especially enjoyable photography experience , features like a built-in fan for cooling, headphone and microphone ports, very usable stabilization and the ability to shoot 4K60p with a 1.4x crop make it a quite powerful video camera for its size.

If you only care about vlogging, and want an even more pocketable option, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 comes in under $1000 and can’t be beat when it comes to stabilization thanks to its built-in gimbal. That, and the ability to sync with DJI’s wireless microphones, earn it the top spot in our dedicated vlogging buying guide.

Why you should trust us

This buying guide is based on cameras used and tested by DPReview’s editorial team. We don’t select a camera until we’ve used it enough to be confident in recommending it, usually after our extensive review process. The selections are purely a reflection of which cameras we believe to be best: there are no financial incentives for us to select one model or brand over another.

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.

This week, Time published its list of the Best Inventions of 2026, and three cameras were among the 300 honorees: the Nikon ZR, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS and the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema. According to Time, it gathers nominations from its editors and correspondents as well as through an online application process – meaning companies can nominate their own products – then evaluates each nominee based on “originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.” But its write-ups on each product are very brief.

We’ve covered all three of these cameras since they were announced, so here’s what our experience with them adds to the picture – including where we might disagree with Time’s editors.

Nikon ZR

Nikon

The Nikon ZR is Nikon’s inaugural take on a video-first body, and the company’s first camera to carry both Nikon and Red branding. Under the hood, it’s essentially a Z6III without the viewfinder or mechanical shutter, but with a boxy body that sports a 4″, 1000-nit screen, internal 32-bit float audio and Red’s R3D (NE) Raw codec at up to 6K/60p. And at $2,199, its launch price landed $500 below the Z6III’s.

Time pitches the ZR (or, as it calls it, the “Nikon RED ZR”) as a tool for emerging cinematographers, but our take is slightly different. Despite the Red branding, the ZR has more in common with creator-focused cameras like the Sony ZV-E1 and Panasonic S9 than with cinema cameras like the Sony FX3. That’s not a criticism: our review found it to be one of the best vlogging cameras we’ve tested, earning it a Gold award. That said, we’d steer photographers away from it entirely, no matter how much they fall in love with the camera’s looks.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS

GoPro

The Mission 1 Pro ILS is GoPro’s first interchangeable-lens camera. It’s essentially a Mission 1 Pro, with the same 50MP Type 1 sensor and 8K/60p capture, but with a Micro Four Thirds mount where the fixed wide-angle lens would be. And at $700, it’s an inexpensive entry point to 8K open gate and 4K/240p slow-motion video.

Time’s article cites a GoPro product manager who imagines the same camera “careening down a mountain” and capturing valley flowers après-ski, but our experience with the camera points to a more specialized audience. The lens mount has no electronic contacts, meaning there’s no autofocus, and it can’t drive the focus-by-wire or electronic apertures found in most Micro Four Thirds lenses. Pulling focus by hand on a 2.59″ screen is no easy feat – especially while careening down a mountain.

As we noted in our earlier coverage, this is a cinema tool built for rigs and crews, not a take-everywhere pocket camera, and GoPro’s recent beta firmware, which adds anamorphic support, reinforces that.

Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema

Fujifilm

The Instax Mini Evo Cinema is Fujifilm’s first Instax camera to shoot video. With a design reminiscent of Fujifilm’s 1960s Fujica Single-8 cine camera, it captures stills and 15-second clips, prints on Instax Mini film, and can print a frame from a video clip with a QR code that plays the video back on a phone. The camera’s “Gen Dial” applies effects inspired by ten different eras, ranging from the grainy 1930s to the modern look of the 2020s.

Time says the camera offers “oodles of analog charm in a digital friendly package.” On paper, though, it’s a tougher sell, which is why we called it divisive when it launched. It’s built around a tiny 5MP Type 1/5 sensor – smaller than those in even budget smartphones. Most of its video modes top out at 800×600 pixels, and the video “memory” in each print isn’t permanent; Fujifilm only stores clips for 24 months, so you’ll want to download them. And then there’s the price: at $410 before you even buy film, it feels like an indulgence.

When our team went hands-on with the camera, the takeaway was that it’s a fun device, built around nostalgic looks, and that one of its core appeals was transforming digital clips into keepsakes using QR-coded prints. It’s a camera you buy for the experience, not the image quality.

All three are innovative takes on what a camera can be, and it’s nice to see companies experimenting with different camera formats. However, if one of these catches your eye, just make sure it’s built for the way you actually shoot.

Nikon

Nikon RED Z Cinema | ZR Cinema Camera | 32-Bit Float Audio RED Color Science 6K Full-Frame Camera Body with 4" DCI-P3 Monitor

• $2196.95 at Amazon
• at B&H Photo

I have something to admit: I’ve never really printed my photos. Sure, I have some drugstore 4 x 6″ prints of pictures taken with both digital and film cameras, as well as a few photo books and pieces of wall art, but I’ve never done anything that would be considered a large print, nor have I ever actually been involved in the process.

When I told my coworker Abby this, she was horrified. Making prints is an important part of her process, especially for work that ends up in a gallery. So, long ago (March 5th of this year, according to my Slack records), we decided that the next time we were in the same town, we should make a video where she teaches me how to print.

That opportunity didn’t come quickly – we live on basically opposite sides of the US, after all – but the stars eventually aligned, and we were able to make the video, which you can watch below.

Ever since our first conversation, I knew what image I wanted to print: a film photo I had taken of a baseball player signing autographs. It’s one of my favorite shots, and having the negative meant we could make the video using the photochemical darkroom process. I’ve developed almost all my own film, but that was done almost exclusively in my bathroom using a daylight tank. I figured the fully immersive experience would be far more interesting, and I was right, even if it did present some filming challenges*.

While we didn’t go through the full end-to-end process – I’d already scanned the roll, so I knew exactly what picture to print, obviating the need to make a contact sheet – I feel like the few prints we did gave a lot of appreciation for printing as an art form. I’ve seen my images blown up on a pretty big TV, and spent time laboring over some of them in Photoshop, but the physical printing process forced me to spend time with them in a way that I rarely do. I suspect I’d have a very different relationship to photography if I were in an era where printing was an integral part of the process, rather than a novelty.

Mitchell Clark

Despite having looked at the image on my monitor many times, I still noticed new things about it after printing it. It also helped me see past some of the flaws. Perhaps this is a bad habit, but when I’m looking at photos on a computer, I often zoom in to 1:1. Doing that with my film photos is a recipe for disappointment; I can see that not everything is sharp, and that I may have used a shutter speed that was a touch slower than optimal.

All of that melts away when looking at the print, though, and I can focus on the photo itself. At the size we used, those “issues” aren’t as obvious, and it can just be a picture that I can experience and enjoy. Looking at it from the other side, though, I can also see how printing could be a very educational process, since spending so much time with the image forces you to consider what you’d do differently if you were shooting it again.

Abby was also kind enough to do a digital print with me too, though the process doesn’t make for as good TV. (We have posted the lightly edited video of it, though, if you’re interested.) I personally enjoyed the darkroom experience a lot more, but almost all of my photography is digital these days, and I think I could still learn a lot by printing digitally.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I will. I don’t really have room for a large photo printer, and I think I’d struggle to spend the money on the ink for one even if I had a place to put it. And even if I were taking film photos worth printing, I don’t think there’s anywhere I could do it in my local area.

Still, I’m glad I had the opportunity to do a print, and feel like I learned a lot from the experience. I’m interested to hear from our community, though. As Abby says in the video, we did a survey in our newsletter about printing habits and there were several responses from people who said they never printed. If that was you, why haven’t you printed, or why don’t you anymore? Lack of interest? Access? Let me know in the comments below.

* – Yes, I probably should’ve manually focused the camera… but then how would I have tested its autofocus in an extreme situation?

Almost every time a camera maker announces a new model, I spot a few comments that follow a familiar script: someone sees the price, winces, and declares the company “greedy.”

It’s not just cameras. The same charge gets thrown at smartphone makers, appliance manufacturers, and even app developers who choose to charge a subscription. I see it far more often today than I did ten years ago, and in most cases, I think it’s misguided.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand sticker shock, and I feel it too. My colleague Richard Butler has done a great job explaining why your sense of camera prices might be out of date and why launch prices always seem high. Even with that perspective, though, we still feel the sting of higher prices. But a price that makes us cringe isn’t evidence of greed.

Mitchell Clark

Few people start a business to give something away, and camera companies aren’t charities. Like most companies, their goal is to make money, ideally as much as they can. That’s not wrong – it’s business.

Consider what that means. Camera makers want the highest price they can get today. But they wanted the same thing five years ago, and ten years before that. Their appetite for profit didn’t suddenly appear when prices went up, and that appetite always has to be tempered by what people are willing or able to pay. What has changed is what it costs to design and build a camera, and what we’re comparing new prices against.

In fact, it can be in our interest for camera companies to be profitable. Profit keeps them in business and pays for R&D. And let’s be honest – making cameras isn’t exactly a gold mine. Olympus sold off its camera business, and Samsung walked away from the market entirely, just as it was emerging as a more serious player.

Additionally, we always want more. I’ve never seen a camera launch where everyone said, “That’s it. This camera is perfect. It’s all we’ll ever need.” There’s always a “but.” But if it only had this one feature… The catch is that nobody agrees on what that feature is, so manufacturers have to keep developing. That requires money.

Am I suggesting that manufacturers never overreach? Of course not. We’ve all seen a company swing for the fences on price, sometimes to the point of being laughable. As Richard pointed out, launch prices in particular are essentially an opening bid, the most a company will ever get for a product, and they’re often optimistic.

However, consumers have power too: we can choose not to buy. If a camera sits on shelves, its price will come down. It almost always does. And if it sells out at full price, that tells us something too, even if we don’t like what it says.

Richard Butler

Is the system perfect? No. A handful of brands dominate the camera market, and once you’re invested in a system, switching is neither easy nor inexpensive. Companies do have real leverage over pricing, and it tends to show up where you’re locked in: proprietary batteries, pricey accessories, or even mounts that restrict the use of third-party lenses. Those are fair targets for criticism. But it’s a much more specific complaint than “this camera costs more than I want to pay, so the manufacturer must be greedy.” And when it comes to the cameras themselves, you have alternatives.

The next time a new camera’s price makes you cringe, try asking a different question. Instead of “why are they so greedy?”, ask “is this worth it to me?” If the answer is no, don’t buy it. It’s the most effective message a camera buyer can send.

That message has its limits, though. Holding off on buying might bring an optimistic launch price down, but it can’t make a camera cheaper to manufacture. If enough people decide the answer is yes, that price may simply be the new normal. If enough decide it’s no, we’re more likely to get a cheaper camera than the same camera for less.

Last month, Yashica announced it was working on the Y16, a tiny pocket camera that mimics the design of the Y16 released in 1959 by the original Yashica company. While details on the camera were slim, the company has now fully revealed it, giving us its specifications, price and release date.

The Y16 has a 12MP ~18mm² sensor paired with a 27mm F12 equiv. lens. Like many of the other cameras the company makes, this means its image quality will be far lower than that of a typical smartphone, though for some, that’s part of the charm. Alongside the announcement, Yashica has shared some sample images from the camera, which you can see in the gallery below.

What phones don’t have is a proper xenon flash built-in, which will help in low-light situations. The company says it should work at up to 2m (6’6″) away from your subject. The camera also features an optical viewfinder, and a 1.45″ display.

Yashica

Physically, it’s minuscule, weighing only 93g (3.3oz). It measures 91 x 45 x 29mm (3.6 x 1.8 x 1.1″), so it should fit in most pockets and pretty much any purse or bag.

The Y16 has a microSD card slot for storage, and actually comes with an 8GB card. While that’s not huge, it should hold quite a few of the relatively small JPEGs the camera produces. Plus, given the price, it’s hard to complain about included storage: the Y16 will retail for $119. The company says it’s currently still in production, but it’s available for pre-order now and is expected to ship in late November.

The Yashica of the 1950s isn’t the same as the one today, as in the 1980s it was sold to Kyocera, which has since licensed the name to other companies. The current crop of Yashica cameras appears to be sold by the Hong Kong-based 100 Enterprises.

Manufacturer samples

Godox has announced the A2, a flash that’s designed to attach to the back of your phone. While almost every smartphone has a flash built-in, they’re almost always LEDs, which aren’t particularly powerful, and don’t really produce the look most people associate with flash photography. The A2, meanwhile, has a xenon flash tube, like you’d find on a traditional compact or flash gun.

It magnetically connects to the back of your phone, providing the classic front-on flash look that is nostalgically associated with photos from compact cameras. However, since it’s wireless, you’re also free to detach it from your phone and use it as a bounce or fill light. The company says its bluetooth connection should work at up to 15m (49′) away.

Godox

Unlike most cameras, phones don’t really expect you to be using them with an external flash, which means you can’t use the A2 with your phone’s built-in camera app. Instead, Godox is providing its own app, which lets you either shoot in auto mode, which decides how bright the flash should be and your exposure settings for you, or in a fully manual mode that gives you control over all those settings.

Godox

Godox says that, at launch, the app will work with the iPhone 15 or newer running at least iOS 18. The company promises that versions for Android and Huawei’s HarmonyOS are in the works.

The flash is small enough to fit in most pockets once detached from your phone, so it’s not surprising that it’s not the most powerful light out there, with a guide number of 15. The company says that, for best results, you should have the flash within 2m (6’6″) of your subject. But while it’s not particularly powerful in the world of standalone flashes, it’s still much brighter than the flash included on your phone.

The A2 also has a 3W bi-color modeling light built-in, which you can use to make focusing and composing easier in dark environments, or as a video light with adjustable color temperature. The company says you should be able to leave it running at full power for up to an hour off of the 500mAh internal battery, which is also good for up to 400 full-power flashes.

Alongside it, Godox is releasing several optional accessories that you can use to shape the light and change its look, and that give you more options for positioning it. The magnetic ring that lets you attach the flash to your phone also means you can theoretically mount it to any magnetic surface.

The A2 seems like a very interesting product for anyone who’s serious about phone photography, and we’ve enjoyed Godox’s flashes in the past. It will, however, be interesting to see how well its camera app works, and whether it comes with a hit to image quality. So much of mobile photography comes down to multi-shot exposures and computation, and it’s unclear whether Godox’s app will have any of that (and, if it does, how well it’ll play with flash).

Godox

Thankfully, Godox isn’t demanding too high a price for the A2: it retails for $85, and comes with a diffuser dome and carrying case. It’s also available in four colors which, perhaps unsurprisingly, match this year’s crop of pro iPhones: silver, black, light blue and dark red.

Meet Jim Kasson

Home base: United States

Jim Kasson, a long-time member of DPReview’s moderator team, has been taking and processing photographs since he was given a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye in the early 1950s. His work has since ranged from documentary and photojournalism to fine-art series, and his current kit includes the Nikon Z8, Hasselblad X2D II and Fujifilm GFX 100 II.

In this spotlight, Jim shares the practically boundless diversity of cameras and lenses he uses today, the lessons learned through years of darkroom and digital work and why he believes a photographer’s own images will show them how to improve.

“In 1951 or 1952, when I was eight or nine, my parents bought me a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera. It took a dozen 2 1/4-square pictures on a roll of 620 film, was made of Bakelite, and had a not-very-precise waist-level finder and a shutter release you pressed with your thumb. I loaded it with Super-XX film and started making a pest of myself behind the camera ever since.”

Our ‘What’s in your bag?’ community spotlight series features readers sharing their favorite gear and photography, including from past DPReview collaborators. See below for what today’s guest has to share.

What’s in Jim’s bag

Jim Kasson

Favorite cameras(s):

• Nikon Z8 with the 105mm macro or Plena lens
• Hasselblad H2D II with a 35-100mm lens
• GFX 100 II with a 110mm F2 or Rodenstock 105mm F5.6 HR Digaron macro lens

Favorite lens(s):

• Nikkor AF-S 105mm F1.4 ED
• Zeiss Otus 55mm and 85mm
• Leica 280mm F4 Apo-Telyt-R
• Cosina-Voigtländer 125mm F2.5
• Jenoptik 60mm F4 IR-VIS-UV

“In the past, I’ve used a Graflex Speed Graphic 4×5, Minolta Autocord, Mamiya 330, Hasselblad 501 and 503, Linhof Technika, Plaubel Makina, Nikon F, F3, F4, F5, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, Leica M8, M9, M10, Sony Alpha 7 and 9. As you can see, I’ve used a lot of cameras.”

Favorite gear: “My favorite piece of gear is the one that best enables me to realize my current vision for a series. So that changes from series to series. Currently, I’m using the Fujifilm GFX 100 II and the Rodenstock 105mm F5.6 HR Digaron Macro, and liking the results.”

How did you get started in photography?

Jim Kasson

“Early on, I did what a lot of photographers did: I worked for the school newspaper and yearbook, entered student contests, etc. Then I was photo editor of the Stanford Chaparral. After that, I took photos of auto racing for Competition Press and AutoWeek.

After getting the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera, it soon became obvious that drugstore processing was too expensive. So, my father purchased a rudimentary darkroom kit: a plastic Kodak developing tank with an apron that took a day to dry, a Kodak Tri-Chem pack (developer, stop, and fixer in tiny foil packets), a 15 W light bulb that’d been dipped in red dye, three plastic five-by-seven trays, and a small contact printing frame. I’d load the film into the developing tank in a closet and develop and print in the bathroom, washing the film and prints in the sink. This didn’t exactly endear me to my mother, but I loved it.

In the spring of 1957, I was a freshman at Choate. During spring break, I got the idea of taking pictures for the school newspaper. I talked my father into loaning me a Weston Master II light meter and his folding Zeiss Ikon camera: 16 pictures on a roll of 120mm film, in a format we’d today call 6×4.5. It had no rangefinder, and the film traveled from side to side so that the normal orientation of the picture was portrait.

What was developing film at the school like?

Jim Kasson

“Back in school, I presented myself to the newspaper staff, and they decided to give me a trial assignment.

“Do you know how to develop film?” they asked. “Sure,” I answered, thinking of all the rolls that I’d put through the Kodak tank. I went off to make the picture. It was a boring shot: all the seniors elected to cum laude that year lined up in two rows. It was 7:30 am when I was done, and paste-up was supposed to start at 10:30 am.

I headed for the school darkroom. I found the chemicals, but the developing tank was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It said “Nikor” on it. Totally unrelated to Nikkor lenses. The tank itself, the lid, and the cap seemed to be easy enough to figure out, but the stainless-steel spiral befuddled me. If I’d had any sense, I would’ve used an unexposed roll of film to teach myself how to load the reel, but I just turned out the lights and struggled for 10 minutes.

After the film was fixed, I opened the tank to see how bad off I was. It was bad; the film was stuck to itself in lots of places, and those places weren’t fixed. I finally found an intact frame. While the film was drying (I turned the drier thermostat up so high I’m lucky the film didn’t reticulate), I turned to the enlarger. I’d never seen one before. After the prints were washed, I even figured out the print drier.

I got the prints in on time, and my career as a photojournalist had truly begun.”

How has your photography changed since you started?

Jim Kasson

“In my high school and college years, my photography was mostly documentary. I was a photographer for my high school newspaper and yearbook. Most of that was headshots, candids, sports and event coverage. I was photo editor for the Stanford Chaparral, and that was mixed editorial work and ads. The Chappie told the advertisers that if they didn’t have photos, they’d provide them, and that task fell to me, including recruiting models.

For many years, I just did family photos, but in 1980 I built myself a proper darkroom, bought a Hasselblad, then a Linhof Master Technika, and tried to make art in earnest.

Doing the work was the biggest factor in my improvement, but I took a lot of workshops, which helped immensely, by the way. I’ve had the pleasure of taking workshops with Ansel Adams, George Tice, Eugene Richards, Chris Newbert and many others. All of them have helped me be a better photographer.”

Tell us a little bit about the places you like to shoot

Jim Kasson

“For five years I made images of people working in the fields in the Salinas Valley and around Yuma, Arizona. I produced a body of work of which I am proud. Much of this work was exhibited in 2003 at the Hartnell College Gallery, which Eric Bosler curated. It was titled Pastures of Plenty. Keeping to the Woody Guthrie theme, I call the whole series This Green Growing Land. The series was also exhibited at Hartnell about 15 years later.

I get bored easily, and I work in series. I go where the series I create takes me. For Alone in a Crowd, that was train stations in New York, Zurich, London and other cities around Europe. For Nighthawks and Staccato, it was Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Las Vegas. For underwater work, I mostly worked in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea and various other locations.

What suggestions do you have for others on improving their photography?

Jim Kasson

“Usually, it takes me two to five years to work through a set of ideas, and then I move on. I don’t really have a default style, though I naturally develop one for a series that is strong by the end. I believe that if you pay attention, your work will tell you what you need to do to improve it.

Strategies and techniques evolve over time in response to results. When I start out on a series, I don’t know what will work and what won’t, so there’s quite a bit of flailing and missteps. After I get on top of things, I know what I need to do.

A big factor in my improvement as a photographer was letting go of trying to copy other people’s styles and, even worse, their subject matter. I learned to follow my work where it takes me, try to ignore what others are doing in the moment while learning from them about broad approaches that resonate with me. My mantra is, “Your work will tell you what you need to do to make it better, if you are willing to listen to it.”

Jim really enjoyed participating in this spotlight article and would love to hear what you think of his photography and to answer any of your questions in the comments below.

You can check out Jim’s other work and photography discussions right here on DPReview in the community forums, or visit his blog.

Editor’s note: This article continues a series, ‘What’s in your bag?’, highlighting DPReview community members, their photography and the gear they depend on. Would you like your photography to be featured in a future installment? Tell us a bit about yourself by filling out this form.

Launched in February 2009, the Fujifilm F200 EXR was an update to Fujifilm’s popular “F” series of large(r than typical) sensor compacts. It had a 28-140mm equivalent zoom lens in front of a Type 1/1.6 (8x6mm) that was around 65% larger than most compacts of the day.

But it’s the specifics of that sensor that make it interesting. The F200 EXR was the first instance of what proved to be the final iteration of Fujifilm’s Super CCD concept.

Richard Butler

Richard Butler

Previous versions of the Super CCD concept had essentially rotated the standard Bayer filter pattern by 45 degrees: exploiting the fact that the standard Bayer layout has better resolution capture along diagonal axes than along its vertical or horizontals. Later versions partially masked some pixels to mean that they captured less light during a given exposure and hence didn’t clip when the larger pixels did, allowing better highlight capture.

SuperCCD EXR expanded on both of these concepts. It continued to use the rotated Bayer pattern idea but this time re-arranged to put pairs of same-colored filters next to one another. This means you have pairs of adjacent pixels whose information can be easily combined. This, in turn, let Fujifilm offer three distinct modes:

• High Resolution (HR) mode – This would render a 12MP image using all the pixels
• High Sensitivity (SN) mode – This combined the output of pairs adjacent pixels in low light, to give 6MP images with improved signal-to-noise ratio
• Dynamic Range (DR) mode – This stopped the exposure early for alternate lines of pixels, meaning they were less prone to clipping. Adjacent pairs of bright and darker exposures were combined to give a 6MP image with better highlight retention.

Sound familiar? Because those three modes are essentially the three ways in which Quad Bayer and TetraCell sensors are used in modern smartphones. These have an oversized Bayer pattern (the same R,G,B,G pattern but expanded so that each color covers four photosites), rather than a rotated version. But they end up with sets of adjacent pixels that sample the same color. This means they’re able to pixel-bin for improved performance in low light or expose alternate lines of their sensors for different periods of time, then combine the result.

So, even though the SuperCCD concept was eventually abandoned, some of the ideas in introduced are at the heart of many of the images from today’s most popular smartphones. Even if the user isn’t necessarily aware of that.

Getty Images has said it plans to go through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process as a step to being taken private by members of the Getty family and Koch Inc’s investment arm, who will together invest up to $533M in the business.

“Under the Plan, vendors will be unaffected and paid in full in the ordinary course of business,” the company said: “There is no anticipated impact on content contributors, partners, customers, or employees across the Company’s worldwide network.”

The stock image library had given up on its attempts to buy rival ShutterStock after the UK competition body forced revisions to the deal. The heavily indebted company has now been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and its two largest shareholders say they’ve developed a plan to take the company private.

Although the company said it expects a reduction in revenue from its iStock division, “due to reduced eCommerce
demand,” it said it still expects to see growth in its editorial business that provides images to news outlets.

This plan, if approved by the remaining creditors, will be implemented via a “prepackaged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy: a mechanism by which a company can be significantly reorganized, overseen by a bankruptcy court but under the control of the existing owners, in order to remain as a going concern. Some existing lenders have agreed to write-down and restructure some of the company’s debts as part of the process, and the company confirmed “the requisite majority of creditors have committed to vote in favor of the plan.”

It says the restructuring process should be complete by the end of the year.

News agency (and competitor) Reuters reports that competition from AI-generated imagery and heavy debt have played a role in the move. It highlighted that the company’s total debt was around $2.1B at the end of June, whereas its market valuation had slipped to just under $21M when markets closed last Friday. The company’s revenue estimate for 2026 is $920M.

In an accompanying financial update, Getty Images said it had spent around $105M on the failed ShutterStock acquisition, along with $17M in ongoing costs relating to its copyright infringement cases against Stability AI, which it accuses of using its images to train an image generation model.

The Association of Photographers, or AOP, has announced the winners of its 2026 Emerging Talent Award, highlighting up-and-coming photographers who have been working in the field for fewer than three years.

This year’s Gold winner is Austin Bradley, who photographed a highline across Sólheimajökull Glacier in Iceland, intent on illustrating how much the glacier has been shrinking due to climate change. The Silver award goes to Ritchie Elder, who documented the last day of class at a newly-established Ukrainian Saturday School in Scotland.

You can see some of that work, and read more of the story behind it, below. If you want to see the work from other finalists, you can find a gallery on AOP’s website.

Gold award: 57 Metres : Iceland’s Shrinking Glacier by Austin Bradley

Austin Bradley / AOP

According to AOP’s press release, Bradley’s goal was to visually show how far a specific glacier was retreating every year. “He rigged a 57-metre highline across Sólheimajökull Glacier in Iceland, with the length of the line representing approximately how far the glacier retreats each year due to a warming climate. Over several carbon offset days Bradley worked with highliners, a small film crew and a glaciologist, to document the process, which will later be released as a documentary.”

Austin Bradley / AOP

The shots were taken on a DJI Mini 5 Pro, though there are others in the series that appear to have been taken on a standard camera.

Silver award: Saturday School by Ritchie Elder

Ritchie Elder / AOP

According to the press release, the series by Ritchie Elder documents a school that “provides Ukrainian children displaced by the war with the opportunity to learn Ukrainian language, culture, and history alongside their mainstream education and plays an important role in helping young people maintain a connection to their heritage while building new lives in Scotland.”

Ritchie Elder / AOP

Most of the shots are portraits, taken with a Canon EOS R6 and Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM lens, with Ritchie working “closely with the children, their parents, and school staff to create this series.”

Last week’s Question of the week asked: what one camera feature that doesn’t yet exist would you like to have? More than 100 DPReview readers responded with ideas ranging from practical improvements to hilarious and ambitious reimaginings of what a camera could do.

Built-in GPS, a true raw histogram and smartphone-style computational photography came up repeatedly. So did requests for more durable travel cameras, universal flash triggering, sensor-based tilt control and a return to smart depth-of-field modes. Below, we’ve gathered 10 of the most interesting suggestions – and a few wonderfully unconventional ones.

#1 – Built-in GPS, and why it’s harder than it sounds

GPS and geotagging were the most requested new camera features, with several posters adding location tracking and anti-theft locking to this bucket type. This makes sense. Who doesn’t want to know where they and their gear are at all times… right?

mach21photo asked for “a way to remotely brick your stolen camera.”

thielges explained why in-camera GPS has been unpopular: “it can take minutes to re-lock, and keeping it on drains the battery”. His suggested fix is to tether the camera to a phone over Bluetooth and stamp the phone’s location into the EXIF data. A winning solution.

#2 – Computational photography, but on the photographer’s terms

Several of you want smartphone-style processing in “real” cameras. Cameras and phones seem to be ever growing closer together, so you may actually get this wish someday.

jande9 wants a camera that constantly takes pictures in the background, so that pressing the shutter produces an image that averages each pixel to reduce noise, and that sends the result straight to the phone, much as a phone does today.

Mario F. described a very specific use case: an in-camera “window pull” HDR mode for real estate and interior photographers, who currently spend hours blending brackets for every property.

jesbe took that idea even further and asked for in-camera raw processing that runs while the camera is on standby or charging, using full Lightroom-level profiles, plus a compact with a real zoom, real flash and larger sensor but phone-level processing tricks.

Getty Images

#3 – A true raw histogram

If computational photography isn’t of interest, how about a real raw histogram, raw-based zebras and a waveform display tech?

The community drilled down on a technical level as to why JPEG-based histograms mislead, with nobru1958 explaining the in-camera processing behind it and mcantsin noting that digital cinema cameras already offer raw exposure tools.

#4 – Cameras you can open up, lock down and trust

Franck Mee had three “simple” requests: standard Bluetooth audio support, file encryption (“a matter of life and death for reporters”) and open-source firmware, so that poor operating behavior can be fixed and security updates can be applied.

Others added their support, including patrol_taking_9j, who put it in two words: “Open firmware.”

A very practical set of considerations.

#5 – Designed for how people really shoot

IEBA1 wants more ruggedness in compact travel zooms. After, unfortunately, two of his had died, including one dropped while being pulled from a pocket (whoops), IEBA1 would happily accept a slightly larger body with a magnesium frame and a grip.

Chris Cookson wants a waterproof camera small enough for a rock pool or shallow creek, with at least a Micro Four Thirds sensor and strong macro capability, asking: “More of the earth is under water than in air, so why is it impossible to find a more capable go anywhere camera?” Great point, Chris!

#6 – Built-in wireless TTL flash triggering

Wireless flash control was a recurring wish, often accompanied by complaints about proprietary systems. psartman kept it short: “Built-in wireless TTL flash triggering.” When a reply pointed to a Nikon body that does this through its pop-up flash, psartman answered that many advanced and professional bodies don’t have a built-in flash.

Phill L wants to end the problem at the hot shoe, literally: “The end of proprietary hot shoes. Get with the game and have all brands’ flashes work on all cameras, with at least most of the functionality. Just add a digital communication bus so each brand can add their own special features and communicate through it. Sort of like USB but for flashes.”

Getty Images

#7 – In-camera back tilt movements capability

Several of you want the camera to do what a tilt lens does, using the sensor stabilization system. dan pv had a good take on the idea:

“In-camera back tilt movement capabilities. The sensor could be tilted for a close-to-far sharpness at any f-stop in landscape or product photography. It could be done by the camera IBIS, extended a bit. One could choose on the LCD screen 2-3 points of sharpness, and the processor could compute and automatically apply the needed sensor tilt.”

L Lenson agreed and suggested where it could start: “At least medium format backs should have this capability. They are already expensive as it is, so adding the extra cost would perhaps not matter so much.” L Lenson also noted that the closest thing available today is a lens with a defect in which one side focuses closer than the other.

#8 – Borrowing tricks from astronomy

Perhaps the most ‘out there’ answer came from geekyrocketguy, who wants cameras to read the sensor non-destructively during an exposure:

“My background is astronomy, and this is a standard technique for the detectors there. It’s called ‘read up the ramp’ or ‘sample up the ramp.’ Basically, the sensor gets read out many times during an exposure and is only reset at the start. This offers the potential to greatly reduce read noise.”

This is actually a big deal. If a bright object saturates after three of ten reads, its brightness can be extrapolated from those three reads, which greatly extends dynamic range. For night and landscape work, geekyrocketguy calls it “game-changing.”

#9 – Bringing back DEP/A DEP

Not every idea was for something new. Several of you asked for the return of a feature that older Canon film and digital cameras already had: depth-of-field modes that work out the aperture for you, based on the nearest and farthest points you want sharp.

The idea came up in more than one post, and the most developed version, which drew some of the most reactions in the thread, came from Tony Hall, who would also like it updated for modern subject detection.

“Bring back DEP (or A-DEP) in which the camera calculates depth of field for you, either automatically or by defining a start and end point for your depth of field. Today, it would probably be called “smart aperture”. It could have various modes you could toggle by assigning a button to flip through them:

• Portrait: Both eyes in focus, eyes and ears or entire head in focus
• All detected faces in focus
• Only registered faces in focus
• Touch screen: touch near limit, touch far limit
• Similar settings for animals and other detected objects

While they’re at it, throw in some zone focusing modes you can assign to a button.”

rawdinal described how the original worked on the Canon EOS 5: “Focus on the closest point, focus on the farthest point. Then shoot.” He added a mysterious bit about the mode: “Nobody knows why this wonderful Mode was ripped off.”

Getty Images

#10 – Old ideas that deserve a revival

Anyone remember the Contax AX, which focused by moving the film plane rather than the lens? It imagined a smaller modern take that could autofocus vintage primes.

ismith talked about it and said that he wanted “cool cameras” back, such as a new take on Sony’s DSC-R1.

A few bonus ideas for fun

When writing this article, I knew we would come across some wild ideas, but this one is extra unique. “A rope-pull starter for an internal combustion camera”, from focal yokel. It was noticed by our own reviews editor, Mitchell Clark, who said it would only work “if it takes, like, 5 times to get it running like most of the lawnmowers I’ve used.”

hieronymusevers asked for “the absence of 95% of all features a modern camera has,” which drew plenty of agreement from fans of simpler cameras. We can all relate to this sentiment at times, I bet.

Thanks to our inventive community for coming up with some truly unique and interesting new features that help us get the most out of our gear. I’ll take two of those internal combustion cameras, please.

Do you have a new feature to suggest? Join the discussion in the forums and tell us (and by extension, your favorite camera company) the feature you’d most like to see.

It’s been a busy week for APS-C enthusiasts. First, Sigma released a lens that many of us – Richard Butler especially – have requested for years: a sensibly-sized and priced 70-200-ish equiv. lens for APS-C. Alongside that, it released its first APS-C zoom lens for Nikon’s Z-mount, and, later in the week, Tamron released a new fast, standard zoom for pretty much every APS-C system.

A few of us on the DPReview team got together to discuss the news, and what it means for for APS-C as a format. We also reacted to some of our community’s commentary about the new lenses, and your reactions to Richard’s op-eds about full-frame not being the full story, and lenses being the key to making a format shine.

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Tamron has announced the 16-50mm F2.8, a fast standard zoom for all the most popular APS-C mirrorless mounts.

The compact, unstabilized lens arrives in the lineup alongside the existing 17-70mm F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD and will be available for Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Sony E and Nikon Z mounts. This makes it one of the few instances of a lens Nikon has lisenced that competes directly with one of its own lenses.

Richard Butler

Elsewhere, the 16-50mm offers a wider alternative to Sigma’s 18-50mm F2.8 and, while it’s physically longer, it takes the same 55mm diameter filter.

The lens delivers a 24-75mm equivalent range on Sony, Fujifilm and Nikon bodes, or a 26-80mm range on Canon RF bodies, making it a useful fast everyday lens as a kit zoom replacement.

At 80mm (3.2″) long and with a diameter of a little over 64mm (2.5″) maximum diameter, it is around half the volume of the stabilized 17-70mm F2.8 VC. And with a weight of 305g (10.8oz), it’s 42% lighter. It’s only 4% longer than the Sigma 18-50mm in their retracted states and around 5% heavier, despite covering an appreciably wider range.

Richard Butler

The new lens features 14 elements in 10 groups, these include one LD low-dispersion element, two molded glass aspherics and two hybrid aspherical lenses. It can focus as close as 15cm (6″) at wide angle, giving 0.22x magnification. Its 7 aperture blade design is the main area you can see costs being cut, vs the 9 blades on the more expensive 17-70mm.

Sadly, we’ve not had a chance to shoot with the 16-50mm yet, but we hope to in the coming weeks.

Richard Butler

The Tamron 16-50mm F2.8 A benefits from the company’s simplified naming system, with “A” indicating that it’s for APS-C and a code number (B091) to distinguish it from any future lenses with similar specs. The Canon, Sony and Nikon versions include a USB-C port, to allow firmware updates. We’re told this is not present on the X-mount version.

The 16-50mm F2.8 will arrive for Sony E-mount and Canon RF users in late October, with Fujifilm X following a month later and Nikon Z hitting the shelves just before the end of the year. It will sell with a list price of $529 for the Sony E and Fujifilm X versions and $549 for Canon and Nikon users. These are at least $170 less expensive than the larger, stabilized 17-70mm F2.8 VC will set you back.

It’s also significantly less than the camera makers’ own-brand 16-50-something F2.8s, which range from $900 for the Nikon 16-50mm F2.8 VR to $1700 for Sony’s 16-55mm F2.8 G.

Fujifilm has announced a new Instax camera, the Square 2. As its name suggests, it takes the company’s square instant film, and it offers some new ways to change how your photos look.

The headline feature of the Square 2 is what Fujifilm is calling “Mood Filters.” With the flick of a switch, you can change “the overall color, tone, or mood” of your photo, putting it into “Warm” mode for a “subtle golden tone” or “Cool” mode for “crisp, blue-toned color.” Of course, you can also shoot without a filter, to get the familiar standard Instax colors.

The Square 2 has also been redesigned. Somewhat ironically, it now features a more rounded design than the boxy SQ1, which was essentially all right angles. However, it comes in the same mix of colors, just with updated: white, red and blue.

Fujifilm

It retains several features from its predecessor, including a selfie mirror mounted to the lens, landscape, close up and standard shooting modes, and automatic exposure and flash settings. The 32mm F6.2 equiv. lens and flash also appear to be unchanged; the camera can focus as close as 0.3m (11.8″), and will take around 7.5 seconds to recharge between flash photos.

The Square 2’s electrical system, however, has been redone. Rather than requiring two somewhat specialized CR2 lithium batteries, it now runs off of four standard AA cells. Fujifilm says you should still be able to get through around 30 packs of film before having to replace them, but, when you do, it should be a bit easier and a lot cheaper.

Alongside the Square 2, Fujifilm has announced a new variant of its square Instax film. While the company will typically tweak the borders around the image, the new variant, called “Soft Haze” changes how the photo itself will look. Fujifilm says it features “color tone with reduced saturation and contrast” and “glowing highlights and warm, diffused shadows.”

The Square 2 will retail for $120 when it launches in late October, and will include a hand strap and batteries. The Soft Haze film, which will work with any camera that shoots the Instax Square format, will be launching around the same time for $18.99 a pack.

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For years, Pelican has dominated the arena of hard-sided roller cases meant to keep camera gear safe while traveling across land, air and sea. And while several competitors have started to crop up, none have really had the same brand recognition.

That may change today, though. Yeti, a company made famous by coolers that has branched out to other outdoorsy gear, has introduced its LoadOut GoBox cases, the smallest option of which is aimed squarely at photographers and videographers.

Yeti

Like most of these kinds of cases, the GoBox is focused on durability. Yeti says it’s designed to withstand “serious impact” and that it’s IP65 and IP67 rated to withstand even total immersion. It also has points that let you lock it closed, and tie-down slots for securely mounting it. Interestingly, Yeti has opted for a segmented, telescoping handle for use when rolling it around.

Unlike Pelican, Yeti isn’t offering a foam insert that you can customize to fit your exact gear. While the case comes empty by default, you can equip it with the company’s “Kor” protective insert, which basically vacuum seal into the shape of your gear. This makes them substantially more reconfigurable than foam, though they cost a pretty penny: Pelican demands about $40 for a roller-bag-sized foam insert (when you purchase it with the case), while the Kor will run you $250.

Yeti

Of course, you can also fill the case with more traditional packing and camera cubes. Yeti sells its own, but they don’t really seem to have the padding you’d want for valuable camera gear.

Like Pelican, Yeti is selling other accessories, too, including multiple organizers for the top lid, which let you keep small bits and bobs oriented.

The GoBox 28 is slightly heavier than the Pelican Protector 1510, which has a similar size and volume: Yeti’s is 6.1kg (13.5lb), versus 5.4kg (12lb). Both companies promise the cases will fit as a carry-on for most airlines, though obviously both will eat into any weight budgets that might exist.

Yeti

Photographers aren’t the only market Yeti’s targeting with the GoBoxes, but with this latest product (and its recent, smaller boxes) the company is clearly starting to take an interest in protecting people’s cameras. It’ll be interesting to see if these start showing up on sets, rather than their Pelican or Nanuk counterparts, though getting people to trust you with their most valuable gear can sometimes be an uphill battle.

The LoadOut GoBox 28 costs $350 by itself, and comes in tan, black and orange. The company also makes much larger 68 and 88 options, but they’re larger than most photographers and videographers would use.

Yeti

Yeti LoadOut GoBox 28

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It’s once again time for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, where the Natural History Museum, London, presents some of the best images of the natural world across 19 categories. The competition has been going for 62 years, and, in 2026, garnered 65,000 submissions.

The winning photos depict animals in their natural – and sometimes unnatural – habitats, as well as plants, fungi and more. As usual, the museum is holding an exhibition of 100 images from the competition, starting this week and running into July 2027. If you want to see some (still very good) images that didn’t quite make the cut, you can check out our article covering 15 other entries that were highly commended.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 / Behaviour: Mammals – The Aftermath, Federico Veronesi

Federico Veronesi

Caption: Federico was tracking elephants when he came across an unusual pattern of drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. The source became clear when he caught up with a family group. A female emerged with the calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk.

Behaviours centring on death have been observed in both Asian and African elephants, including vocalisations, guarding the dead, inspecting and handling bones, and carrying the deceased. Some researchers suggest these behaviours could indicate an elephant’s journey to understanding death, while others interpret these actions as possible displays of grief.

Location: Huab River Valley, Damaraland, Namibia

Technical details: Nikon Z8 | Nikon Nikkor Z 400mm F2.8 TC VR S | F2.8 | 1/1000 | ISO 72

Animals in their Environment – The Meeting Place, James Lewin

James Lewin

Caption: While there was no shortage of subjects and action around this waterhole, James had to deal with the harsh, unforgiving light. He chose to soften the light using a camera converted to infrared, creating this dream-like scene.

Waterholes can act as vital lifelines during severe droughts. Larger animals, such as elephants, have priority over others for access to waterholes. Herbivores spend more time at these drinking spots when elephants are present, possibly because their size deters predators, although competition for access to water may also prolong herbivores’ stay.

Location: ol Donyo Lodge, Chyulu Hills National Park, Makueni County, Kenya

Technical details: Nikon Z 7II (infrared converted) | Nikon Nikkor Z 28–75mm F2.8 lens | 45mm | F7.1 | 1/800 | ISO 800

Animal Portraits – A Watchful Eye, Aaron Sanders

Aaron Sanders

Caption: Aaron had been diving off Porthkerris Beach when he noticed the footprints of octopus suckers through a thin blade of kelp, and a single eye slowly emerging. ‘We remained perfectly still, watching one another with a seemingly shared curiosity,’ says Aaron.

In recent years in the waters off southwest England, there has been a dramatic increase in sightings of common octopuses, a species more frequently found in warmer Mediterranean waters. The influx or ‘bloom’ of these cephalopods has been linked to above-average springtime sea temperatures.

Location: Porthkerris Beach, Cornwall, England, UK

Technical details: Nikon Z8 | Nikon Nikkor Z 24–50mm F4–6.3 | 27mm | F7.1 | 1/40 sec | ISO 125 | Nauticam WWL-C wet lens | Inon Z-240 and Z-330 underwater strobes

Behaviour: Birds – Scenes from the Swamp, Isak Pretorius

Isak Pretorius

Caption: Exploring the swamp in a narrow canoe with a guide, Isak felt exceptionally lucky to see not one but two elusive shoebills. The birds pulled out vegetation, dropped it and then repeated the process several times. It’s likely this is a breeding pair gathering nesting material.

Though often called the shoebill stork, these large birds are more closely related to pelicans, herons and ibises. Fewer than 5,300 mature shoebills survive across their entire range and their numbers are decreasing.

Location: Mabamba Swamp, Wakiso District, Uganda

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 | 500mm F4 | F4 | 1/2500 sec | ISO 1250

Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles – Protective Pose, Anton Sorokin

Anton Sorokin

Caption: Anton hadn’t seen this pose before, despite documenting newt behaviour each winter. The pond was too dirty to swim, so Anton waded along the edge, carefully dipping his camera and lighting beneath the surface to record this remarkable view of parental care.

California newts interlock their back feet to protect the clutch, which are vulnerable to predation by other newts. They will stay like this until the gelatinous mass around the eggs has swollen too large to be eaten and has solidified onto the stem.

Location: Contra Costa County, California, USA

Technical details: Nikon D850 | Nikon AF-S 8–15mm fisheye F3.5-4.5E ED | F18 | 1/100 sec | ISO 400 | Nauticam housing | Seacam 60D strobes

Behaviour: Invertebrates – Shifting Sand, Sitaram Raul

Sitaram Raul

Caption: Exploring the dunes at night near the village of Sam, Sitaram saw many scorpions searching for prey. But as sunrise approached, they started burrowing to avoid the intense heat. Sitaram timed the exposure so that the excavated sand was suspended in mid-air.

Just one known species of Buthacus scorpion is from India. It uses its pincers to dig into large piles of sand. Stiff, elongated bristles or ‘sand combs’ are used like snowshoes to stop it from sinking into the dunes.

Location: Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

Technical details: Nikon D750 | AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm F2.8G IF-ED | F14 | 1/250 sec | ISO 125 | Godox flash

Oceans: The Bigger Picture – Night-Time Catch, Alex Lindbloom

Alex Lindbloom

Caption: Alex started searching for sharks around dawn when the nets were still in the water. Initially lacking natural light for his drone’s camera, he found these sharks illuminated by the bagan’s bright lights.

Local fishing communities are using the predictable occurrence of whale sharks at bagans to attract tourists. Although contact with bagans can cause some minor injuries to whale sharks, this isn’t a major cause of mortality. The species’ significant decline in the Indo-Pacific region over the past 75 years is primarily driven by ship strikes, entanglements with fishing gear and illegal fishing.

Location: Off Cenderawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia

Technical details: : DJI Air 3 | 24mm F1.7 lens | F1.7 | 1/60 sec | ISO 3200

Plants and Fungi – Shedding Light, Agorastos Papatsanis

Agorastos Papatsanis

Caption: On the lower slopes of Greece’s Mount Olympus, Agorastos experimented with ultraviolet (UV) illumination until it revealed the strongest fluorescent response from these mushrooms known as ‘beautiful bonnets’.

While humans cannot see UV light, we can get an inkling of its effect, thanks to the phenomenon of fluorescence. Mycologists are harnessing this phenomenon to distinguish closely related species of fungi by the colours and patterns they reveal under UV.

Location: Litochoro, Pieria, Greece

Technical details: Nikon D810 | Laowa 15mm F4 | F20 | 8.0 sec | ISO 400 | UV light | focus stack of 6 images

Natural Artistry – Escape Artistry, Michał Michalski

Michał Michalski

Caption: Michał was in a field of unharvested sunflowers that had attracted mixed flocks of birds, especially goldfinches and bramblings. As they took to the sky, startled by a sparrowhawk, Michał blurred the movement against a backdrop of leafless birches.

There is evidence that flocks containing multiple species forage more efficiently, partly because each brings different skills to the group. With more eyes on the lookout for predators, individuals can also afford to devote more time to feeding.

Location: Miłochowice, Lower Silesian Township, Poland

Technical details: Nikon D500 | Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5.6E PF ED VR | F8 | 1/30 sec | ISO 250

Under Water – Making Morays, Tony Wu

Tony Wu

Caption: Tony has been working with biologists to address a knowledge gap in the social behaviour of this eel species. Guided only by a dim red-light source to minimise disturbance, and using a customised fisheye camera lens, he has studied this male since 2024 as it visits females that dwell in crevices on the reef.

This is likely the first time Abbott’s moray eel courtship and spawning have been documented, and the observations from Tony’s work with biologists are feeding into published scientific studies.

Location: Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan

Technical details: Sony a1 | Customised Nikon fisheye 13mm F2.8 | F11 | 1/320 | ISO 500 | 2x Backscatter Hybrid HF-1 strobes

Urban Wildlife – Urban Jungle, Seth Forestson

Seth Forestson

Caption: The challenge wasn’t finding these lizards, but catching them in action, as they spend most of the day basking in the sun. When Seth spotted this one, he lowered himself down onto the mud to frame this city dragon against the Bangkok skyline.

Common water monitors have successfully adapted to living within cities across South and Southeast Asia. They will take whatever food source is available, such as the plentiful supplies of catfish and koi in the lakes of Bangkok’s Lumphini Park.

Location: Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand

Technical details: Google Pixel 7 Pro | Main camera | F1.9 | 1/291 | ISO 47

Wetlands: The Bigger Picture – The Great Divide, Alex Visbal

Alex Visbal

Caption: This photograph is part of Alex’s long-term project documenting the industrial footprint on bodies of water.

The distinctive pink colour on the left is caused by bright pink microbes that thrive in extremely saline water, which happens when an area is cut off from a supply of fresh water. The ecology of the lake is in sharp decline due to industrial use, upstream diversions and climate change. Since this image was taken, the State of Utah has brought the area under conservation management.

Location: Stansbury Bay, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 Mark II | Canon EF 70–200mm F2.8 IS II USM | 70mm | F3.2 | 1/640 sec | ISO 1250

Photojournalism – Warning Sign, Francisco Negroni

Francisco Negroni

Caption: Tied to the fence and presented as a hunting trophy, this display was one Francisco had ‘never witnessed or photographed before’. In 2025, Santa Cruz banned the hunting of pumas, but illegal persecution continues.

Livestock predation is one of the major causes of human–puma conflict, and it’s suggested that enclosing sheep at night and using guard dogs can significantly reduce the loss of livestock without resorting to hunting. In southern Chile, some owners have even abandoned sheep farming in favour of puma tourism.

Location: Route 40, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 | Canon RF 70–200mm F2.8 L IS USM Z | 70mm | F3.2 | 1/640 | ISO 100

10 Years and Under – Flight of the Bumblebee, Amelie Davis

Amelie Davis

Caption: Amelie had been taking photographs of bees for several months. On this August afternoon the garden was ‘teeming with bees’. Without her camera, Amelie borrowed her dad’s smartphone and was able to record the delicate detail of a single wingbeat.

Bees perceive plants and flowers in many ways. Distinguishing one colour for nectar and another for pollen helps them make rapid decisions when foraging. Their vision is tuned to blue, green and ultraviolet wavelengths, so they can see markings that are invisible to us.

Location: Surrey, England, UK

Technical details: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max | Ultrawide lens | F2.2 | 1/895 sec | ISO 40

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 / 11-14 Years – Labour of Love, Oscar Whitfield

Oscar Whitfield

Caption: Using a fast shutter speed and high light sensitivity, Oscar lay flat on the ground to photograph the beetle at eye level, with the sunshine and heat creating dry dust all around him.

There are more than 5,000 species of dung beetle found around the world, and they play a vital role in their environments. Breaking up dung and burying it prevents the conditions required for methane production, reducing the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions. Burying dung also helps it decompose faster, reducing the number of pests affecting livestock and wildlife.

Location: Zambezi National Park, Hwange District, Zimbabwe

Technical details: Canon EOS R6 Mark II | Sigma 150–600mm F5–6.3 DG OS HSM | 500mm | F6.3 | 1/1250 sec | ISO 3200

15-17 Years – Birdsong Painted in Light, Konrad Gräeter

Konrad Gräeter

Caption: Konrad had to crouch down low on the steep slope of the vineyard and point his camera through a gap in the foliage to frame the blackbird within its landscape.

Blackbirds can be heard singing at different times of day, but their songs have the most complex compositions at dawn. During the spring breeding season, the males sing from elevated vantage points to proclaim their territory and to attract a mate. Females respond with a softer sound, known as a subsong, during courtship.

Location: Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Technical details: Fujifilm X-H2S | Fujifilm XF 150–600mm F5.6–8 R LM OIS WR | 600mm | F8 | 1/800 sec | ISO 400

Photojournalist Story Award – Wily Coyotes of San Francisco, Loren Elliott

Loren Elliott

Caption: A coyote pads along a trail in Bernal Heights Park, overlooking the city and bay of San Francisco. This individual is part of a resident pack that Loren observed hunting rodents in the park, which is also popular with people and dogs.

Around 100 of these urban-adapted wild canines live alongside more than 800,000 human inhabitants, and attitudes towards them are mixed. While coyotes sometimes prey on domestic animals, they also bring benefits such as controlling disease-carrying rodents.

In this portfolio, Loren invites us to reconsider our perceptions of these wild animals and their place in urban environments, living alongside humans.

Location: San Francisco, USA

Technical details: Sony a9 II | 20mm F1.8 | F5.6 | 1/800 sec | ISO 250 | 2x Pocket Wizard Plus IIIe radio triggers

Rising Star Award – Hidden Depths, Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas

Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas

Caption: When Alexis spotted this robber fly, it had already impaled the flesh fly with its needlelike mouthparts. The bubbles forming in the victim’s eyes indicate that the robber fly has injected digestive enzymes that liquefy its internal tissues before they are sucked out.

A previous winner of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, Alexis got his first camera aged ten. His focus shifted to macro photography during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when he was unable to venture farther than the urban habitats close to home in Berlin, Germany.

By experimenting with focus stacking techniques, which involve combining multiple images with different planes of focus to increase the depth of field, Alexis wants to bring Winner Rising Star Award attention to species that often go unnoticed.

Location: Germany and Northern Ireland, UK

Technical details: Fujifilm X-H2 | Laowa 65mm f2.8 macro | F5.6 | 1/200 | ISO 200 | Godox V860III flash + Cygnustech diffuser | focus stack of 24 images

Portfolio Award – Secret Worlds, Kutub Uddin

Kutub Uddin

Caption: Fine threads, known as capillitium, emerge on the round, yellow-green bodies, which will eventually help disperse reproductive spores. Kutub says they appear like ‘tiny clusters or unusual textures on the wood, often appearing as minute pins, spheres or dust-like groupings’.

Kutub became interested in slime moulds in 2024, and as a macro photographer now devotes much of his time to revealing this tiny hidden world. He loves exploring his local woodlands in southeast England, where fallen logs and damp forest floors provide opportunities for discovering these fascinating organisms.

Slime moulds occur throughout the world, mostly growing on dead wood or leaf litter while feeding on other micro-organisms. The structures depicted in this portfolio are just one to two millimetres high (less than 1/12 of an inch).

Location: West Sussex, England, UK

Technical details: Canon EOS R5 | Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x Macro Photo | F3.2 | 1/4 sec | ISO 400 | diffused flash | Cognisys StackShot macro rail | Benro Bat tripod | focus stack of 124 images

GoPro has announced a free firmware update for its Mission 1 series of cameras aimed at making them nicer to use for photography, as well as adding greater support for anamorphic lenses and upgrading its external monitoring software.

One of the big new features in the release is the addition of a burst mode, which will let you hold down the shutter button to capture more than 100 12MP stills (or over 20 Raws in the camera’s 50MP mode). The company says the camera will have an on-screen indicator for when the buffer is getting full. The company doesn’t say what burst rates the camera will shoot at, or whether you’ll be able to change them, but we’ll be sure to update this article as soon as we can test it for ourselves.

The company also says it has changed the sound that plays when you take a picture, updating it to a “modernized shutter sound delivers clear, distinguishable audio confirmation for each photo as it’s captured.”

Mitchell Clark

More importantly, it’s also attempted to reduce the amount of lag between you tapping the shutter button and the camera taking a photo. While I haven’t found it to be particularly bad while testing the Mission 1 Pro ILS, it does take a considerable amount of time to process and save the photo after taking it, so it’ll be interesting to see if the update lets you quickly take one photo after another, even if you’re not in Continuous mode.

The update isn’t just for photographers, though. The company is adding beta support for anamorphic lenses to the Mission 1 Pro ILS, its model with a Micro Four Thirds mount. GoPro says this update will make its digital image stabilization work with anamorphic lenses, and will add metadata to your files that tell your editing software what squeeze ratio it was recorded in, with support for 1.33x, 1.5x, 1.6x, 1.8x and 2.0x. The update doesn’t include a way to preview desqueezed footage on the camera, but the company says that feature will be “coming soon.”

Finally, alongside the firmware upgrades, GoPro is updating its Mission Monitor app, which is designed to let you control the camera from an iPhone or iPad, and to see the preview on a larger screen with some pro-level assist tools and overlays. The app can now work wirelessly, rather than requiring a USB-C tether, and supports controlling the new photo modes.

It also gains support for four new assist tools: histogram and waveform exposure monitors, a false color overlay, which displays your image in a variety of colors according to their brightness level, and an RGB parade display to let you see scopes for all three of your color channels side-by-side.

It’s nice to see GoPro making improvements to the Mission 1 line, even if I’m still not entirely sold on the concept of using an action camera in lieu of a compact. (More to come on this later, but I’ve found the photo cage accessories from GoPro and others to be quite unsatisfying, especially when paired with touchscreen controls.) Still, it’s hard to complain about a product getting better at taking pictures; for someone carrying it around to take video, it’ll make the experience of grabbing the occasional still nicer.

The updated firmware for the Mission 1, Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 Pro ILS is now available through GoPro’s website or the Quik app.