Fujifilm X-T5 w/ XF14mmF2.8 R | F2.8 R | 1/25 sec | ISO 125 Photo: Paulo Bizarro
DPReview reader, Paulo Bizarro, known as biza43 in the forums, has taken up the challenge of writing about what he carries in his camera bag on photography journeys for our What's in your bag? spotlight series. The series showcases the interesting gear and photography of our community members, and shares their stories of how that gear helped them to capture the perfect shot.
Check out Paulo's gear and nature photography experiences below, all of which have built on his photography, which dates back to the early 1990s.
Favorite camera and lens: Fujifilm X-E5 with the Voigtlander 27mm F2 – a small, manual-focus combo that Paulo enjoys carrying everywhere, from family outings to long hikes.
Typical photo scenes: Landscapes and travel photography, especially coastal scenery, mountains and desert environments.
“I’ve been photographing since my university days in the 1980s. It started while documenting geology field trips, and it never really stopped.”
Paulo describes himself as a patient landscape photographer who prefers quiet places and often shoots alone. Originally from Portugal, he spent many years exploring the country’s varied scenery, from the mountains in the north to the rugged southwest coast. Hiking trips along the coast were often the perfect excuse to bring a camera along.
His career as a petroleum geologist also gave him opportunities to travel all over the world. Since moving to Oman in the early 2000s, he has continued documenting nearby landscapes, from mountain wadis to as far as the vast dunes of the Empty Quarter. One of his most memorable photographic experiences was visiting that desert for the first time, where the immense red dunes made him feel as if he had arrived on another planet.
Tripod: A lightweight travel tripod that has been with him for more than 20 years and still accompanies him on many landscape outings.
Filters and accessories: Spare batteries, a charger and a Lee Big Stopper filter, which he uses along the coast to smooth water and create long-exposure effects.
Camera bags: For hiking, he prefers a simple Decathlon backpack rather than a dedicated photo pack. When traveling by air with his full kit, he uses a MindShift BackLight backpack. He also keeps a couple of shoulder bags on hand, including a classic Billingham Hadley and a Think Tank Mirrorless Mover for lighter outings.
Paulo's MindShift BackLight camera bag.
Photo: Paulo Bizarro
What other gear makes a difference?
“A few small things always make a big difference. I usually carry spare batteries and a charger, and I still use a lightweight travel tripod that I bought more than 20 years ago. It has been with me on many trips and hikes and is especially useful for landscapes in low light. Along the coast, I often bring a Lee Big Stopper filter, which helps smooth the water and create long-exposure images.”
Fujifilm X-Pro2 w/ XF16mmF1.4 R WR | F16 | 1/26 sec | ISO 160 Photo: Paulo Bizarro
How do you adapt your setup to outdoor challenges?
For long hikes or casual walks, he prefers to travel light. Paulo will often bring just a small camera and a single lens. When heading out specifically for landscapes, he will add his wider lens, telephoto zoom and tripod so he can be prepared for changing light or distant details in the scene.
“Most of the time I’m hiking or walking long distances. Depending on where I’m going, keeping things simple helps me focus on the scene rather than the equipment. Weather and light can change quickly outdoors, so being prepared, arriving early and taking time to observe the landscape often makes the biggest difference.”
Fujifilm X-Pro2 w/ XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR @ 140mm | F5.6 | 1/3 sec | ISO 200 Photo: Paulo Bizarro
Paulo's advice for other photographers
One lesson that keeps Paulo coming back to familiar locations is that there’s always something new to discover. It's often a different lighting scene or a small detail previously overlooked. For Paulo, staying curious and attentive to your surroundings is what keeps photography rewarding.
Discuss with Paulo his photography and gear in the forums.
If you’d like to share your photography setup, tell us about your main camera, lens choices, key settings and strategies. Your photos and story could be featured in the next article!
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 to be featured in a future installment? Tell us a bit about yourself and your photography by filling out this form. If you're selected for a feature, we'll be in touch with next steps.
Samsung recently announced its latest lineup of Galaxy phones at its annual Samsung Unpacked event, unveiling the S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra. The company focused heavily on AI during the event, glossing over some camera hardware upgrades in the S26 Ultra. Those updates are worth looking at more closely, though. Thankfully, YouTuber JerryRigEverything took the time to break down the new flagship to see what's actually going on with the cameras.
In the video, JerryRigEverything meticulously takes apart the phone, looking at just about every component along the way, so it's worth watching all the way through if you are generally interested in the inner workings of smartphones. That said, the camera talk begins at 6:50 if you'd like to skip to that.
The S26 Ultra's 5x telephoto camera sees a notable aperture upgrade, going from F3.4 on the S25 Ultra to F2.9 on this year's model. JerryRigEverything also points out that Samsung has made the telephoto module 22% thinner. To do all of this, Samsung used its "All Lenses on Prism" (ALoP) design, which moves the entire lens group onto the periscope prism surface instead of between the prism and the sensor. The video shows the S25 Ultra's 5x telephoto camera module for comparison, so you can see the difference between the two designs.
The video compares the two 5x telephoto camera modules. Images: JerryRigEverything
The main camera and ultrawide also saw boosts in aperture from the previous generation. The main camera now features an F1.4 aperture, up from last year's F1.7, and the ultrawide now sits at F1.9 compared to the S25 Ultra's F2.2. The 3x telephoto camera is the only one that doesn't get the benefit of a brighter aperture; it keeps the F2.4 of its predecessor.
Sensor
Aperture
Equivalent focal length
Main camera
Type 1/1.3 (∼72mm²)
F1.4
23mm
Ultra wide
Type 1/2.5 (∼24mm²)
F1.9
13mm
3x telephoto
Type 1/3.94 (∼10mm²)
F2.4
67mm
5x telephoto
Type 1/2.52 (∼24mm²)
F2.9
111mm
Other than aperture improvements, three of the phone's cameras retain the same sensors as last year. The 200MP main camera uses a Type 1/1.3 (∼72mm²) sensor, while the 50MP ultrawide uses a Type 1/2.5 (∼24mm²) sensor. The S26 Ultra features two telephoto cameras, including the aforementioned 5x telephoto module with a 50MP Type 1/2.52 (∼24mm²) sensor. The 10MP 3x telephoto camera, however, sees a very slight downgrade in terms of sensor size. It now has a Type 1/3.94 (∼10mm²) sensor compared to the S25 Ultra's Type 1/3.52 (∼12.54mm²).
Beyond cameras, the main upgrade for Samsung's new flagship phone is the latest Snapdragon chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It also offers faster charging: wired up to 60W and wireless up to 25W. Otherwise, the phone leans on AI-related software features rather than big hardware upgrades.
The latest Samsung Galaxy S lineup is available for purchase now, with the S26 Ultra priced at $1299, the same as last year's model.
[This story was originally published on March 12 2026, it has been updated with additional detail after the Kickstarter project launched]
I'm Back, the crowd-funded startup that has spent years trying to deliver on the promise of a digital module for film cameras has taken a step closer to doing so, via a new Kickstarter project.
The Kickstarter is now open and has received over $450,000 worth of funding from nearly 1000 backers. The project says it is targeting the delivery of units to backers by December 2027.
The company says working prototypes exist but that the electronics are not finalized. Development of elements such as printed circuit board assembly, film shaped battery and steps including APS-C sensor integration will be funded from the money raised via Kickstarter.
AI-generated image of how the Bluetooth trigger may look
Image: I'm Back
Further details include that there will be modules with between 64 and 256GB of storage. A version designed for Leica M cameras, including a rear door is also offered. No details are given about battery life, other than that it'll be limited. The bluetooth trigger that activates the digital sensor prior to using the camera's shutter to take an exposure has not yet been developed and the mockup shown is noted as being AI-generated.
The company says it it working on an optional external pack that boosts battery life and adds mic input and HDMI out.
The long-held dream of digital modules for film cameras
The concept of a digital module the shape of a roll of 135 film has existed almost as long as digital photography, with DPReview's founder Phil Askey following the story and failure of the Silicon Film project between 1999 to 2001.
Kickstarter-funded project I'm Back has been promising something similar in recent years, and has developed a series of interesting attempts.
These have included a version that required you to remove the rear plate of your film camera and add a large box with a compact camera sensor that took photos of a translucent screen set into the film plane. And, more recently, an insert built around a Four Thirds sensor that slotted into the film bay, but required a large external box for batteries, storage and control.
Like Silicon Film's final attempt, the last-gen I'm Back Film connected to an external box that was home to batteries, processing and controls.
And yet, true to the company name, I'm Back has returned, teasing another attempt at the elusive dream of simple film-to-digital conversion, a quarter of a century on.
Details of the I'm Back Roll are relatively sparse, beyond that it'll be built around an APS-C sensor and won't require any external parts. The implication appears to be that, like film, you won't be able to change settings such as ISO, or preview your image until after you've finished shooting and opened the camera up.
The company subsequently confirmed that it will be using the familiar IMX571 sensor from Sony Semiconductor, a 26MP BSI CMOS sensor that appears in a number of popular cameras.
The company's talk of a "more human way of photographing" immediately makes us wonder why a vastly complex mechanical or electro-mechanical film camera, designed around pretty sophisticated chemistry, should be considered more "human" than a digital device, but it'll be interesting to see what they come up with, this time.
As always, our decision to report on a Kickstarter project should not be seen as an endorsement of the project. I'm Back has a history of successfully completing its projects, but opting to support a project does not guarantee that it will result in a delivered product.
This story was originally published on March 12 2026, it has been updated with additional detail after the Kickstarter project launched
I'm Back email:
Hello,
For years, we have been working on a simple idea:
What if your favorite 35mm film camera could become digital, just by loading a roll?
Now, we are almost ready to reveal it.
Introducing
I’m Back Roll APS-C
One Roll. No Screen. Pure Shooting.
This is our new digital module designed to fit inside 35mm film cameras, so you can keep the feeling, rhythm and imperfections of analog photography while shooting digital.
If you knew the previous I’m Back Film project, you already know where this story began.
This time, we removed the external parts. Everything is now inside.
And if this is your first time discovering us, the idea is simple: to bring back a more human way of photographing. No AI. No instant corrections. No tricks. Just real images, real mistakes, real feeling.
We are preparing the official Kickstarter launch.
The campaign page is already live as a waiting room.
Join now to be notified the moment we launch, receive updates on the exact launch date, and get access to the early bird price.
Be Ryder may not have been at home in the water when she was young, but that certainly is the case now.
Photo: Serena Lutton
Beatriz (Be) Ryder has built a career in one of photography's most unforgiving spaces: swimming a heavy camera rig into tumultuous surf while trying to capture photographs of the action. From Championship Tour stops with the World Surf League to a silver‑winning frame at the World Sports Photography Awards, her images favor quiet, in‑between moments over the typical hero shots.
Along the way, Ryder has made herself known in a space that's long been dominated by men and become a model for others who want to follow her into the water. I recently had an opportunity to sit down with her over video chat to talk about her path into photography, how she works in the water, and what keeps her swimming back out.
Finding the ocean and photography, slowly
Photo: Be Ryder
Given how comfortable Ryder is in the water, you may never guess that she hasn't been spending time in the ocean since she was young. She grew up in Portugal, where the ocean is really strong and cold, so being in the water wasn't a priority. Photography is somewhat of a different story, though. Ryder's dad was a photographer, and the medium was always a part of her life because of him.
"We used to go on little walks and take photos of things and then go back home, edit the photos and even upload to this website where other photographers would give you feedback on your photos and things," she explained. However, as many of us do as teenagers, she drifted away from the medium.
Things changed when she met her partner, who is a surfer. While at the beach watching him surf, she fell in love with the ocean. Eventually, her partner suggested she pick up a camera while hanging out. "Later on, he was like, 'Instead of sitting at the beach, why don't you try and take photos?'" she recalled. "And I'm like, 'Oh, I guess that's better than sitting there.' So I kind of picked up a camera again then."
She says it was during this time that she fell in love with photography again. Eventually, he gave her a camera, and later on, also gave her a waterproof housing. However, she still wasn't spending much time in the water at that point, so the housing sat on her shelf for over a year.
This image was from Ryder's first-ever shoot in the water, when she finally decided to take out the underwater housing.
Canon 600D | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II | F5.6 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 Photo: Be Ryder
A trip down the coast in 2018 changed things, and Ryder finally took the step to try out getting in the water with her camera. "I was like, you know what, maybe I'll just take the housing and try it out. So I did, and to this day, my favorite photo that I ever took was in that session. I completely loved it," Ryder explained. "It was a glassy day, the ocean texture was just beautiful, and everything about it was magical. The water was actually warm, and the sun was out. It was sunset. It was just beautiful."
That moment marked the beginning of Ryder's surf photography path. "That kind of started things. I was like, 'Wow, well, if I can do this, then maybe I can do something else,'" she said.
Learning the ropes
For competitions, Ryder mostly uses a 70-200mm lens with her Nikon Z9. Photo: Matt Dunbar
After finishing school, Ryder decided to focus on her surf photography career and moved from Portugal to Australia. She may make shooting from the lineup (the zone where surfers wait for incoming waves) look effortless now, but learning to work in the ocean was a long, self‑directed process. When she first started taking it seriously, she was living in a caravan park at The Pass in Byron Bay, working in a cafe and surf shops and jumping into the water before and after every shift to figure things out. She didn't have mentors or formal training to lean on, so she treated each session as an experiment.
Early on, even the gear made things harder. Her first housing didn't allow her to adjust many settings in the water, so Ryder had to decide everything in advance. "I would just really have to think, okay, so this time I will try this, this time I'll try that," she explained. "And so it was basically like trial and error the whole time for maybe two years." Eventually, she started getting little jobs and meeting other creatives to learn from them. She was also watching heaps of YouTube videos and finding people on Instagram, all with the goal of learning as much as she could and getting information from everywhere.
Photo: Be Ryder
At the same time, Ryder was learning how to exist in the ocean itself. She had to get used to currents, sets and wipeouts, all while holding a camera. She credits living right by the beach with helping her build confidence in the water, since she prioritized getting in the water every single day. "It definitely helped so much moving here and living at the beach because it's literally a matter of the more times you go in the water, the more comfortable you'll feel," she said.
"Literally every time you shoot in the water, you feel vulnerable"
Over time, repetition built confidence, at least at home. But any new break means starting again. "It's like starting not from zero, but learning that spot in specific," she explained. "Literally every time you shoot in the water, you feel vulnerable, and you don't know what to expect, because it's such an unpredictable environment." She's had to get used to feeling like a beginner over and over as her career expanded, but with repetition, her confidence – and skills – grew.
Nikon Z9 | Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8E FL ED VR | F5.0 | 1/1600 | ISO 500 Photo: Be Ryder
There are still challenges every time, though. For competitions, Ryder is using a Nikon Z9 with a 70-200mm lens in underwater housing. The setup weighs nearly 5 kilos (11 lbs), which makes maneuvering in the waves to capture the action even more challenging. "You basically need to be kicking vertically so that you're out of the water, not shaking too much because otherwise the photo won't be clear enough, and make sure you're not in [the surfer's] way. It's a lot," she explained.
"It is a lot of pressure because it's a live situation that's happening in front of you. People's careers are at stake."
At competitions, there's also a careful balance of being close enough to get the action without getting in the way of the surfer. "It is a lot of pressure because it's a live situation that's happening in front of you. People's careers are at stake, and you're in their field. It's like a tennis player having someone on the court," she explained. "We are very lucky because it's a unique angle and it's a privilege to be able to be in their field and capture that, but at the same time, with that comes heaps of responsibility."
Seeing surfing differently
Ryder took the silver-winning image from the World Sports Photography Awards on a day when conditions weren't great for many reasons, but they decided to play around with some duck dive shots (when you dive under the wave with your board) just to get something. When she looked at the back of the camera after taking this, she knew it was something special.
Nikon Z9 | Nikkor Z 24-70mm F2.8 S | F3.2 | 1/5000 sec | ISO 250 Photo: Be Ryder
From the start, Ryder was focused on finding a way to stand out and capture her own vision. She's been less interested in documenting peak action just as everyone else is, and more interested in everything that happens around that moment. "I always try to capture the things that people usually don't look at, like the style or the emotion... the in-between moments," she told me. She knew her work would just blend in if she stuck to the status quo. "We get tired of seeing the exact same things, like always an action moment of the surfer in the center of the image, the color really blue and contrasty. You've seen that, so I'm not going to stand out," Ryder said.
Representation is part of that shift as well. Ryder feels that "women surfing we never see enough," so she's intentional about centering women in her work and making pictures that show a different side of the sport. That's a big reason the quiet duck‑dive image that she created in March of 2025, which later won silver at the World Sports Photography Awards, resonated for her: under the wave, it's not the loud, explosive surf photo audiences expect, but a calm, almost introspective moment that fits exactly with what she's been chasing.
Making space for women in the lineup
Nikon Z9 |Nikkor Z 24-70mm F2.8 S | F5.0 | 1/2500 sec | ISO 320 Photo: Be Ryder
When Ryder joined the World Surf League's (WSL) Championship Tour photo team in 2022, she walked into a space still dominated by older men who had been shooting surf professionally for decades. Because she'd been trained directly by the WSL's photography manager in Australia, she suddenly found herself as the person explaining updated workflows to veterans.
"Imagine a 26-year-old, 1.6m super tiny girl coming in and saying, 'I know you've been doing this for 20 years, but actually, that's not how they want you to do this, and they asked me to teach you,'" she told me. Earning respect in that first year was difficult as a result. Some of her colleagues repeatedly asked, "How did you get here?" and "Where did you come from?" But once they saw her work and spent a season alongside her, then it was okay.
Change has been happening in front of the lens, too. Ryder points to 2022 as the first year the tour offered equal prize money and sent men and women to the same stops, including a historic return of women's competition to Tahiti after more than a decade. Behind the scenes, 2025 quietly delivered another milestone: for the first time, a WSL event was covered by an all‑women photo team – Ryder and another female photographer. This happened as a result of a small scheduling twist that underscored how unusual it still is to see more than one woman holding a camera in the lineup.
Breathing through fear in Tahiti
Ryder's most high‑pressure assignment to date has been preparing to shoot the Olympic surfing events in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, a location that produces waves that intimidate even seasoned pros. Knowing she couldn't rely on instinct alone, she committed to breathwork and underwater training ahead of the trip. Her focus was working specifically on staying calm when held down so she could keep making pictures instead of panicking.
That preparation became the backbone of Breathe, a six‑minute short film created with Morgan Maassen and Dan Scott that follows her as she confronts her fear, learns to trust herself in heavy water, and tries to become the kind of woman in the lineup she never saw growing up. In the film, Ryder says, "Every single step outside of my comfort zone really opened a new door or created a new opportunity." That quote is a fantastic reminder to all photographers, and extends well beyond photography, too.
Belonging, burnout, and what's next
Nikon Z9 | Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8E FL ED VR | F4.0 | 1/3200 | ISO 200 Photo: Be Ryder
For all the travel and big‑stage moments, Ryder's career hasn't been a straight upward line. To secure some stability, she took a full‑time creative job with McTavish Surfboards in Australia, but the workload eventually left her burned out and questioning how much she could give. She's since stepped back to part‑time, but still enjoys working for the team. "It's really grounding because I have the same team. They're always there, you know? I can travel the world and feel like I'm from everywhere and from nowhere at the same time, but going there kind of makes me feel good, and like I belong somewhere," she explained.
Looking ahead, Ryder wants to keep balancing commercial gigs and WSL work. She also wants to focus on projects that feel personal, folding as much of her own voice as possible into client shoots when she doesn't have the energy for separate passion projects. Workshops, especially women‑focused ones like a recent retreat in Tahiti, are also becoming part of that future. Even if she's hesitant to call herself a mentor, she loves simply sharing what she's learned.
Whatever comes next, her plan is uncomplicated: keep working hard, stay humble and continue opening the door a little wider for the women who will paddle out after her.
Connexion
