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Sigma’s 20-60mm F2.8-4 gives full-frame shooters who bought the kit lens a serious upgrade

Its size makes it travel- and everyday carry-friendly, and its price is approachable. What’s not to love?

A person holds a Sony camera up to their eye with the Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 attached.Sigma / Jack Redgate

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Sigma has announced the 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG Contemporary, a full-frame zoom lens that goes from quite wide to approaching telephoto. For full-frame shooters who wish their kit lens was just a bit more capable, or for anyone looking for a compact but relatively versatile option, it could be a great pick… as long as the company that makes your camera has decided to allow Sigma to use its mount.

One of the big appeals of the lens is its size. It weights 385g (13.6oz), and is 88mm (3.5″) long at its shortest (though it will extend as you zoom in). It also takes 67mm filters, helping you keep your photography kit relatively small. Sigma says it’s dust and splash resistant, too, and that the front element has a water and oil-repellent coating. It is, however, relatively sparse on controls; you get the zoom ring, and that’s pretty much it.

Three quarter view of the L-mount Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4, showing its front element.Sigma

The lens is made up of 15 elements in 13 groups, with three aspheric lenses and three SLD elements. It can focus on objects as close as 15.8cm at 28mm, providing a maximum reproduction of 0.43x, though at the long end that goes down to a still-respectable 0.34x.

Autofocusing is handled by a linear motor, making for a responsive shooting experience even at higher framerates*.

Side view of the L-mount Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 extended
The lens gets a touch bigger when extended.
Sigma

Arguably, the biggest downside of this lens has nothing to do with Sigma. The 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG Contemporary will be available for L-mount and Sony E-mount, but, as we’ve come to expect, not for Nikon Z or Canon RF, despite the fact that it’d make a great pairing for budget cameras like the EOS R8 and Nikon Z5II. Of course, anyone outside of those systems now have an excellent step-up option from their relatively slow kit-lenses, one that doesn’t ask them to sacrifice size or versatility for light-gathering ability. 

First impressions:

This first thing you notice about the 20-60mm is how compact it is, to the point that I had to look for the letters ‘DG’ to confirm to myself that it was designed to cover full-frame.

Despite going significantly wider than a conventional 24-70mm, and without losing much at the long end, it’s a usefully small and light option.

As such, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise to find that the lens drops away from its F2.8 maximum aperture almost immediately. Mounted on a Panasonic body, that reports aperture value with an unusual level of precision, the lens drops to F2.9 before you’ve zoomed as far as 21mm, so it’s worth thinking of this lens as closer to being an F4 than an F2.8 zoom.

The other factor contributing to the lens’s small size is its use of digital distrotion corrections as part of its design. On L-mount bodies these are typically applied automatically, but third-party lens makers can’t force E-mount bodies to Auto apply them, so it’s essential that you engage them if you’re shooting on Sony.

This is a pretty standard approach for lenses in Sigma’s more cost-sensitive ‘Contemporary’ series, and it’s worth recognizing that this lens wouldn’t be possible at this size, weight or price if geometric distortion was handled using glass elements.

In use, we’ve been pretty impressed with the results and extremely impressed with the flexibility of an ultra-wide to standard zoom. I’d be inclinded look at this lens as a replacement for the basic kit lens on any system that Sigma’s been allowed to make it for (E and L-mount, so far).

The ultrawide 20mm setting also makes the lens a handy option for video, as does its gimbal-friendly size and weight. It extends a fair amount on zooming but it’s light enough that this shift in its center of gravity shouldn’t be too much for a good gimbal to handle.

Both E and L-mounts have 20-something zooms available already, but this is smaller and more ambitious than the Panasonic 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 and much smaller and lighter than the Sony 20-70mm F4. Its extra range over the Tamron 20-40mm F2.8 is likely to be more valuable as an everyday lens than the extra stop of brightness that the Tamron offers for much of its range.

The lens will retail for $849, and will be available starting October 6.

* – Though Sony limits continuous autofocus on third party lenses to 15fps, so the motor’s responsiveness won’t help beyond that. That’s not an issue on L-mount, though.

A three-quarter view of the Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4, showing its front element.Sigma

Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG Contemporary


Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 sample gallery

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

Thanks to Panasonic for the loan of an S1RII to shoot this gallery. All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with the manufacturer’s distortion correction applied but no correction of vignetting. The profile corrects a large amount of barrel distortion at the wide end and a minor amount of pincushion distortion at the long end. We’d consider it an essential part of the lens’ optical design.

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About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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Sigma’s 85mm F1.2 for Sony and L-mount portrait photographers is here and costs $1599

For those who need as much bokeh as possible.

A pair of hands holding the Sigma 85mm F1.2 Art attached to a Sony body.Sigma

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Sigma is finally releasing its 85mm F1.2 DG Art for E and L-mount, after announcing that the lens was in development early this year. This is the company’s third F1.2 prime, following 35mm and 50mm options, and provides a classic focal length for portraiture.

The lens has 17 elements in 12 groups, with two SLD elements and three aspheric lenses. It has 13 aperture blades, which is a few more than we’d typically expect. It can focus as close as 84cm (33″), for a maximum reproduction of 0.11x.

04_PPhoto_85_1.2_dg_A026_Lmt_show-front-lensSigma

Sigma says the lens is the “smallest and lightest in its class.” It weighs 905g (31.9oz), which is around 24% lighter than Canon’s 85mm F1.2 for RF, and 22% less than Nikon’s Z 85mm F1.2 S. (Of course, this lens doesn’t directly compete with those options, as it’s not available on those mounts.) The E-mount version is around 122mm long – the L-mount version is 2mm shorter – and both have an 87mm diameter. It can accept 82mm filters, and is “dust- and splash-resistant.”

Despite its focus on being relatively light, the lens still feels premium, and has all the features we’d expect of a high-end prime. It has an aperture ring, which can be clicked or declicked, a switch that locks it into or out of ‘A’ mode for aperture (which hands over control to the camera body) and a customizable button, duplicated in the portrait and landscape shooting orientations.

05_PPhoto_85_1.2_dg_A026_Lmt_switch-side
The lens has just the right number of controls and switches.
Sigma

Its autofocus is handled by dual linear motors, and the company says it’s designed to have minimal focus breathing for video shooters. 

As my colleague Richard Butler pointed out when this lens was first announced, its release means that all four major full-frame mirrorless systems now have an autofocusing 85mm F1.2 option; the lenses previously available for E and L-mount only went down to F1.4 (though relative newcomer SongRaw has announced its own 85mm F1.2 for Sony and Nikon systems, but it doesn’t seem to be widely available yet).

While Nikon and Canon’s 85mm F1.2s retail for $2999 and $3099, respectively, Sigma’s comes in at substantially less. It costs $1599, and will be available starting October 6.

Side view of the Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG Art with its lens hood attached.Sigma

Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG Art


Sample gallery

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

All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with the manufacturer’s distortion correction applied but no correction of vignetting. The profile corrects an extremely minor amount of pincushion distortion, but we don’t consider it essential if you don’t prefer to use it, or if your workflow doesn’t support profiles.

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Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG Art specifications

Quick Specs

AF motor type
Linear motor
Aperture ring
Yes
Autofocus
Yes
Distance scale
Unknown
DoF scale
Unknown
Filter thread
82 mm
Fisheye
No
Maximum Focal length (T)
85 mm
Minimum Focal length (W)
85 mm
Max format size
35mm FF
Hood supplied
Unknown
Image stabilisation
Unknown
Lens mount
L-Mount, Sony E, Sony FE
Lens Type
Prime lens
Macro
No
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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The Nikon ZR is getting fixes for (some of) videographers’ most common complaints

There are still a few outstanding issues, but Nikon is already promising further updates.

The Nikon ZR with a large microphone attached to it.Mitchell Clark

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Nikon will be releasing a new firmware update for its video-focused ZR, which seems to correct some of the complaints videographers have had with the camera, including the more mature Log3G10 curve only being available when shooting in Raw, the relatively heavy-handed noise reduction and focus peaking not always being available. The company is also promising a big update for next year that will unlock open-gate recording, a first for its mirrorless cameras.

Nikon says firmware version 2.00 will make Log3G10 available when recording in H.265. Previously, you could use Log3G10 – a Red-developed Log curve that we found to be more sophisticated – in the R3D NE Raw format, which takes up substantially more space and requires more post-processing. You could shoot Log in H.265, but only using Nikon’s NLog. 

The company says it’s also adding an option that lets you select the level of High ISO noise reduction when recording H.265 in Log, “enabling image rendering tailored to the creator’s intent and the tone of the work.” When we reviewed the camera, we found that the ZR was clearly applying more noise reduction in the shadows than the Z6III with which it shares a sensor. This problem was also famously highlighted by YouTuber and cinematographer Philip Bloom, who cited it as a major issue with the camera. It’s good to see that Nikon’s taking that feedback and giving users more control over the effect.

Finally, the firmware will let you use focus peaking when recording in R3D NE, a feature that was bizarrely missing from the camera since its launch last year. The ZR supported focus peaking in its other Raw recording modes, just not the one that was introduced with the camera.

The company also says its goal is to add additional requested features to the ZR next year via a firmware update, including adding an open gate mode and a desqueeze assist mode for shooting with anamorphic lenses.

Many of the changes coming in V2.00 were already being promised by company representatives earlier this year, though there are still a few things they brought up that aren’t included in the upcoming updates Nikon’s announcing today. There’s no mention of a further compressed mode of R3D NE, like the one that exists for N-Raw, which uses half the bitrate. Arguably, this has become even more important since this summer, as the cost of SSDs and storage media has continued to rise thanks to AI. (It’s also a bit of an odd exclusion, given that R3D NE appears to be heavily based on N-Raw.) 

I’m also not quite sure Nikon is delivering on its promise of general improvements to H.265 recording, based on what’s in its press release. Control over noise reduction is a great first step, but there are still a few odd issues to have on such a video-focused camera, including the bitrate being substantially lower in the first few seconds of footage, and the camera not providing an accurate report of how much record time it has left.

Still, it’s great to see that Nikon is solving some of the community’s biggest issues with the ZR, and promising to make it even more powerful in the next few years. The update may be a bit overdue, but if it’s done right it’ll have been worth the wait. Nikon also says it’s updating the Red Control and Red Control Pro apps to support remotely controlling the ZR, and says it will “continue to enhance its products through firmware updates that address user needs, while also contributing to the development of imaging culture in the field of cinema.”

The firmware update is due out at some point this year.

About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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Nikon formally announces the nine cinema lenses it’s been teasing for a year

But there’s still plenty of mystery left.

A Nikon-branded 50mm T1.9 cinema lens with gold accents.Nikon

Nikon is announcing a series of nine T1.9 cinema lenses, following up on a teaser from this time last year and another (slightly more detailed) one in April. The company is still keeping plenty of aspects about the line under wraps, though. There’s no word on pricing, when they’ll be available or what focal lengths will be included, with one exception.

Here’s what Nikon has said: the lenses will be branded as the “Nikkor Z Cinema T1.9 VV ” series, and one the nine lenses will be a 50mm. (While there’s no word on what the other options will be, the relatively fast T1.9 figure suggests they’ll all be primes.) The company also says it’ll be the “first Nikkor lens series to feature an image circle large enough to cover the V-Raptor [X] VV sensor,” which has a 46.3mm diagonal, versus standard full-frame’s 43mm.

The lenses will cover Red’s V-Raptor [X] VV sensor

The company also says the lenses will feature “a highly precise autofocus mechanism,” though that was hinted at in the teaser by the presence of an AF/MF switch. It also seems safe to assume they’ll be fitted with the Z-mount, given both the name and the fact that many more standard cinema mounts like PL don’t support autofocus. 

It’s hard to guess when we’ll get the next drop of information about these lenses. This is one of several cinema and video related announcements this month, which are likely tied to the International Broadcasting Convention happening in Amsterdam this week. And while there’s a National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show happening in New York in October, the main event is scheduled for next April.

About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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

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On tombe des nues : Squadron 42 est reporté à 2027, la faute à GTA VI

Par : Estyaah
7 septembre 2026 à 14:13

Oui, l’information date de fin août, mais elle nous a tellement dévastés à la rédac’ qu’on ne pouvait pas décemment en parler sur le coup de l’émotion. Mais après un temps de deuil douloureux, voici le moment de vous la transmettre : Squadron 42, pourtant promis, juré, craché, pour 2026, est finalement reporté à 2027. Saint Chris Roberts lui-même, par le biais de son divin clavier, a écrit un message à ses ouailles pour annoncer la terrible nouvelle. « C’est la faute à GTA VI », peut-on lire entre les lignes de la désolante annonce. Dans sa grande humilité, le guide spirituel de la plus grande communauté colombophile concède néanmoins que le titre de Rockstar évolue dans une autre dimension, mais il explique, dans sa grande mansuétude, pour quelle raison il était préférable de décaler la sortie du pendant solo de Star Citizen. En effet, il ne s’agit pas d’un problème de concurrence, mais, d’après lui, d’un problème de disponibilités. Eh oui, si tout le monde est occupé à occire des prostituées dans des commissariats sur GTA VI, plus personne ne sera là pour admirer les efforts incommensurables des développeurs de Cloud Imperium Games pour produire les plus beaux bugs de la galaxie. Et ce serait bien dommage, car le jeu est terminé à 100 %, croix de bois, croix de fer !

C’est pourquoi le prophète des cétacés annonce que Squadron 42 ne sera pas disponible dès le début de 2027, mais bien au deuxième trimestre, parce que pourquoi pas, bande de connards ? Et alors, vous allez faire quoi ? Si, le jeu est terminé, on vous dit ! Alors fermez bien vos gueules, bande de rageux.

En parallèle, le développement de Star Citizen semble bien progresser, comme on a pu le voir lors d’un récent live de quelques développeurs du studio pour montrer à quel point l’alpha 4.10 était d’une finition exemplaire. On n’a jamais été aussi proches d’une release finale !

À plus dans le bus

7 septembre 2026 à 12:23
Tout juste repassé indépendant depuis sa séparation forcée avec Xbox, le studio Double Fine vient d'annoncer son prochain titre : ça s'appelle Thank You Bus Driver (j'adore déjà le titre, j'espère que vous faites aussi partie de ces personnes qui remercient systématiquement le conducteur au moment de descendre à votre arrêt), et vous y incarnez un chauffeur de bus qui doit faire respecter différentes règles à chaque trajet. La bande-annonce nous montre, par exemple, un périple vers un silo à grains où le coupage d'ongles de pied et les coups de fil sont strictement prohibés. Ça a l'air foutraque à souhait, et je suis très curieuse d'incarner ce chauffeur qui dispose d'une interprétation toute personnelle du code de la route, mais aussi d'un bras élastique qui lui permet de gifler violemment les usagers qui iraient à l'encontre de son autorité. ER.

Breathedge 2, le jeu de survie spatial avec des poulets, est sorti en accès anticipé avec peu de contenu

Par : Estyaah
6 septembre 2026 à 14:05

Comme vous le savez sans doute si vous lisez régulièrement NoFrag, on n’est pas tous très fans de jeux de survie à la rédac. Aussi, la sortie en accès anticipé de Breathedge 2 nous en touche une sans faire bouger l’autre, d’autant que le précédent opus ne nous avait pas convaincus, malgré un thème pipi/caca très attirant pour le joueur moyen de FPS. La suite semble être plus ou moins du more of the same, donc pas de quoi sauter au plafond. On n’est sans doute pas les seuls à penser cela, car la courbe de joueurs dépasse à peine celle du premier jeu pour le moment.

Si quelques-uns se plaignent du peu de contenu de cette version, indiquant qu’il y a à peine plus de matière que dans la démo de l’année dernière, la majorité apprécie toutefois la finition et le fait qu’il soit fun. Mais même les avis positifs hésitent à recommander le jeu pour l’instant, alors ne vous attendez tout de même pas à grand-chose.

Si vous êtes convaincus par l’exploration spatiale arrosée d’urine et de fientes de poulets, vous pouvez retrouver l’accès anticipé de Breathedge 2 en promo pour la sortie à –20 % sur Steam, ce qui le fait à 16 € jusqu’au 12 septembre.

Les bons plans NoFrag du week-end font leur rentrée en retard

Par : Estyaah
4 septembre 2026 à 22:10

Cette semaine, c’était la rentrée. Et manque de bol, les bons plans NoFrag du week-end avaient complètement oublié d’acheter leurs fournitures, trop occupés à glander ! Vite, on fonce sur les derniers cahiers qui restent en rayon, on prend un paquet de crayons, quelques gommes et un compas, puis on fourre tout ça dans un beau sac. Quoi ? Les téléphones sont interdits en classe ? Ils n’ont rien dit pour les tablettes, alors pourquoi s’en priver ? Et si on y adjoint un casque à réduction de bruit active, plus besoin de s’emmerder à parler avec de vrais gens pendant les récréations. Ensuite, en cas de petite fringale dans la matinée, il ne faut pas oublier la boîte à goûter et la petite gourde. Voilà, on est prêts pour la rentrée !

Les bons plans Amazon

Comme à son habitude, notre cher Gothax nous a concocté une petite liste bien sympathique :

Et si aucun de ces produits ne vous fait de l’œil, vous pouvez tout de même nous soutenir en ajoutant ?tag=nofrag-21 à la fin de l’URL de n’importe quelle marchandise sur Amazon et ainsi nous permettre de grappiller quelques euros fort utiles.

La pause souris

Ragnock Ergostrike 7 promo NOFRAG

Comme vous étiez nombreux à nous demander quelle était la souris qu’on utilise souvent en stream (la Ragock ErgoStrike 7), on s’est dit qu’on pouvait peut-être contacter le fabricant (chinois) pour savoir si on pouvait avoir une petite réduction. Et ils ont bien voulu nous faire une promo de 12 % avec le code NOFRAG. Les frais de port sont offerts en France métropolitaine, ce qui porte le prix total à un peu moins de 93 €. On précise que ce n’est pas un lien sponsorisé. À noter que le « recul » est vraiment gadget, mais que le reste de la souris (précision, usage à long terme) est très bon. Malgré sa forme atypique, elle se rapproche beaucoup d’une souris ergonomique, ce qui permet d’éviter les tensions dans le poignet. C’est la raison de son utilisation exclusive par l’un des membres de la rédaction. Un test détaillé de l’engin est prévu dans les prochaines semaines.

Gamesplanet S36

Les bons plans Gamesplanet

Cette semaine, notre partenaire Gamesplanet propose l’un des meilleurs FPS en escouade sortis cet été, le très bon (et un peu buggé) Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, qui est à –15 %, soit 34 € pour l’édition classique et 51 € pour l’édition Deluxe. Mais il y a évidemment plein d’autres choses :

Et dans tous les cas, si vous trouvez des choses qui vous intéressent, vous pouvez ajouter ?ref=nofrag à la fin de l’URL pour nous faire gagner quelques centimes. Ça arrivera dans notre porte-monnaie virtuel Gamesplanet et nous permettra de nous payer les clefs que les éditeurs ne nous envoient pas !

On termine cette page de bons plans avec notre boutique ! Si vous avez encore quelques euros à jeter par la fenêtre, on a récemment mis à jour le catalogue Spreadshirt avec les nouveaux logos. Alors pourquoi ne pas craquer pour un body bébé, un magnet, une gourde ou un tapis de souris ?

Spreadshirt mai 2026

Merci à tous pour votre soutien !

This is refreshing: Blackmagic is making some of its cameras over $1000 cheaper

These days, it’s not often you get to write about prices going down, rather than up.

A Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K in front of a desert landscape.Blackmagic

Here’s a refreshing bit of news: there’s at least one camera company out there whose products are getting appreciably cheaper. Today, cinema company Blackmagic Design announced that it’s slashing the prices of its full-frame Cinema Camera 6K and Pyxis 6K models by over $1000, something it says it can do after “securing better pricing on parts.”

Neither camera is particularly new: the Cinema Camera was announced in 2023, and the Pyxis in 2024. So it’s not surprising that Blackmagic is able to make them for less than it initially was. What I wouldn’t typically expect is the company passing those savings on to its customers, given our age of prices rising due to AI-driven chip scarcity and inflation. 

New PriceOld PriceSavingsLaunch Price
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K$1595$2715$1120$2595
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K L$1995$3080$1085$2995
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K EF$1995$3070$1075
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K PL$2195$3265$1070

It’s also not a situation where Blackmagic raised prices due to tariffs in the US, and is lowering them back down now that they’re gone. It did raise prices – the Cinema Camera 6K launched for $2595 – but the new prices are well below what the cameras were originally announced at.

Realistically, I realize most of our audience won’t be interested in dedicated cinema cameras in an age when the best hybrid mirrorless models excel in both video and stills, no matter how inexpensive they are. But I’d like to think this is a sign that things might be changing in the camera world. While it may be too much to hope that we’ll see new models that are cheaper than their predecessors, or similar price reductions for existing cameras – I suspect the bigger, more established companies are already getting parts for as cheaply as they can, and Blackmagic is just moving up towards that level of economy of scale – perhaps we’ll at least see some cameras that aren’t substantially more expensive than their predecessors.

About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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

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GoPro’s CEO says the company isn’t done with cameras despite its merger promises

The company’s announcement earlier this week placed a lot of emphasis on AI and national security.

The three GoPro Mission 1 cameras against a dark black background.GoPro

GoPro’s merger with Starman Optical doesn’t mean the company will stop making action cameras, according to a letter from the action cam company’s CEO, Nick Woodman. Earlier this week he said the company planned to address “important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure,” but now tells the GoPro community that he expects the merger to “make GoPro a stronger, more capable camera company than ever before.”

If you missed the merger announcement earlier this week, that statement may seem unnecessary; of course GoPro would keep making cameras, that’s the main thing it does. But its consumer-facing business didn’t get much attention in its merger announcement, with the company talking more about expanding into “AI data center, government, defense and aerospace markets.” It did promise to “continue to fully support its existing consumer products and its subscription and cloud platform,” but the word “existing” made some (myself included) wonder how much work it’d put into future consumer cameras.

“we’ll be in a much better position to innovate, invent and advance the future of consumer and professional content creation”

Nick Woodman

In his new letter, Woodman says the company’s “improved financial strength” after the merger, planned for later this year, pending regulatory approval, will put the company in “a much better position to innovate, invent and advance the future of consumer and professional content creation.” He also says that Starman is passionate about the GoPro brand, too.

“We plan to bring you more innovative cameras, smarter accessories, and more powerful software and services designed to make capturing, editing and sharing your experiences easier and more exciting than ever,” he says later in the letter.

Personally, I’m glad to hear this, as I think GoPro is an important competitor in the action camera space, even if it’s struggled to keep up with the pace set by other companies like DJI and Insta360 in recent years. Of course, there’s a storied history of companies and executives making promises about what things will be like post-merger, with the reality ending up very different. But for now, it sounds like GoPro plans to continue working on cameras alongside bringing manufacturing of optics and transceivers to the US and breaking into the defense market.  

About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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

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Télex

Par : Perco
4 septembre 2026 à 13:00
Microsoft instaure un plafond d'heures mensuelles pour le Cloud Gaming du Game Pass et facturera le reste à l'heure. Pas de panique, assure le géant : cela ne toucherait que 4 % des joueurs. Bref, si vous rentabilisez un peu trop votre abonnement en jouant beaucoup en Cloud, vous repasserez à la caisse. Remercier les clients fidèles, c'est important. P.

Lomography’s Fisheye No. 2 Graffiti is a budget gateway to analog fisheye

The new camera features the same 170° optics and fixed F8 lens as the standard Fisheye No. 2, wrapped in a new graphic design.

A colorful, toy-like camera with a large yellow lens and artistic designs is held in a hand against a blurred, vibrant graffiti wall background.Lomography

Lomography recently launched the Fisheye No. 2 Graffiti, a redesigned version of its long-running Fisheye No. 2 camera that pairs a 170° fisheye lens with a graffiti-styled 35mm body. It sits below the brand’s LomoApparat in price, and Lomography says it packs bulb mode, multiple-exposure capability and a built-in flash into a compact, beginner-friendly body.

The Graffiti edition shares its core optics and feature set with the standard Fisheye No. 2 but distinguishes itself with its graphic design. It still is a point-and-shoot camera with a fixed F8 aperture and 1/100 sec shutter speed. There are also no ISO settings. Its bulb mode allows for long exposures, and multiple-exposure support lets photographers play with layered images in camera for unexpected results. 

Red and blue neon signs displaying the word IZAKAYA are illuminated against a dark background, with reflections on nearby surfaces and additional neon symbols and text surrounding them.Lomography

Lomography describes the lens as producing heavy vignetting and spherical distortion, characteristics that the brand frames as exciting features rather than flaws. The camera focuses as close as 10cm, which opens up the opportunity for exaggerated wide-angle close-up shots. The beginner-friendly features and its relatively affordable price make it an ideal option for experimental shooters looking for an easy entry into analog fisheye photography.

This isn’t the most affordable camera Lomography has launched this year, either. The brand recently added a $35 half-frame camera that gives photographers twice the frames on a single roll of film. These build on a broader industry trend of releasing beginner-friendly film cameras, a pattern Kosmo Foto’s Stephen Dowling recently argued is good for the medium.

The Fisheye No. 2 Graffiti is available now for $69 through the Lomography shop.

About the Author: Abby Ferguson holds an MFA in photography and blends a fine-art background with extensive editorial and commercial experience. She built and led an in-house imaging program for a large vacation rental company and has served as an associate editor at Popular Photography. She also teaches at a local community college and serves on its Photographic Technology Program Advisory Board, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium.

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KKK d’école

Par : Perco
4 septembre 2026 à 07:05
La Maison-Blanche vient d'atteindre un niveau supplémentaire de cynisme politique (si si, c'est encore possible) en publiant deux jeux rétro sur son site officiel. Le premier, un clone de Snake, vous glisse dans la peau de Tom Homan pour rafler un max d'immigrés le long du Rio Grande et les expulser. Le second, un pastiche de Tetris intitulé « Protégez la frontière », vous demande d'empiler des briques pour bloquer « la horde ». Transformer deux monuments de l'histoire du jeu vidéo en outils de propagande racoleuse et facho, c'est un concept. On attend avec impatience leur prochain titre : un Paperboy où l'on jette des avis d'expulsion. Monde de merde... P.

Fujifilm rounds out its sports and wildlife trio with a 400mm F4.5

The XF 400mm F4.5 shares nearly the same optical design as the XF 500mm F5.6, but Fujifilm claims it will offer better sharpness.

Large telephoto camera lens with tripod mount, black finish, positioned horizontally against a dark background; glass elements visible at the front reflecting light.Fujifilm

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Fujifilm has announced the Fujinon XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS WR, a new super-telephoto prime lens for its APS-C X-mount system. The company says the lens delivers exceptional sharpness in a relatively compact package aimed at wildlife and sports photographers.

The XF 400mm F4.5 is positioned as a sister lens to the previously released XF 500mm F5.6 R LM OIS WR. Alongside the XF 200mm F2 R LM OIS WR, which Fujifilm sees as a set, the three lenses cover full-frame-equivalent focal lengths from roughly 305mm to 762mm.

Large white Fujinon camera lens with tripod mount shown horizontally on a black background, details and controls clearly visible.Fujifilm

The new 400mm F4.5 provides a 609mm equivalent focal length on X-mount cameras. It is also compatible with Fujifilm’s 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters, providing equivalent focal lengths of 852mm and 1219mm, respectively. It offers 5.5 stops of optical image stabilization and is weather resistant with 20 sealed points, two must-have features for most wildlife and sports photographers. 

Fujifilm says the 400mm lens shares a nearly identical optical design to the 500mm, with some slight changes to the rear group. It features 21 elements in 14 groups, which include 4 ED and 2 super ED elements. According to Fujifilm, its engineering team in Japan says the 400mm is sharper than the 500mm. It is also slightly lighter than its 500mm sibling, weighing 1245g (2.7 lbs). It measures 239.5mm (9.4′) long with a 104.5mm (4.1′) diameter. The lens is compatible with 95mm filters.

Close-up of a metallic camera lens control panel with engraved labels, featuring switches for focus range, image stabilization (OIS), focus mode options (AF, MF, and preset), and a SET button.Fujifilm

The XF 400mm F4.5 uses a linear motor for autofocus, which Fujifilm says results in silent operation. It can focus as close as 2.7m (9′) and offers a maximum magnification of 0.16. There is a focus limiter switch to prevent it from focusing closer than 5m away, resulting in faster autofocus when photographing distant subjects. Near the front of the barrel, a Focus Control button works in tandem with a Focus Select switch, allowing photographers to choose whether the button activates autofocus, locks AF, or recalls a preset focus distance. 

The XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS WR will be available sometime in mid-September for $3200. That’s a $200 premium over the XF 500 mm’s launch price, but that lens now retails for $3599 due to tariff-related price increases.

Sample gallery

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

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About the Author: Abby Ferguson holds an MFA in photography and blends a fine-art background with extensive editorial and commercial experience. She built and led an in-house imaging program for a large vacation rental company and has served as an associate editor at Popular Photography. She also teaches at a local community college and serves on its Photographic Technology Program Advisory Board, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium.

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

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Nexon prépare le terran

Par : Perco
3 septembre 2026 à 13:00
Selon le quotidien coréen Chosun, Nexon (le studio d'Arc Raiders) serait sur le point de signer avec Blizzard pour développer un nouveau StarCraft. Un « contrat proche d'être finalisé », chuchote un « responsable senior » resté anonyme, comme d'habitude. Vingt-huit ans après sa sortie, StarCraft squatte toujours le top 10 des jeux les plus joués dans les PC bang coréens, ces temples des LAN qui refusent de mourir. De quoi donner des idées à n'importe quel éditeur en manque de licence increvable. Petit bémol qui pique : le boss de Nexon, Junghun Lee, est aussi celui qui a déclaré qu'il fallait « supposer que tout le monde utilise l'IA générative » en développement. Reste à savoir si Blizzard glissera une clause anti-IA dans le contrat, histoire d'éviter l'émeute chez les fans. Pendant ce temps, Blizzard planche discrètement sur son propre spin-off StarCraft, un FPS en monde ouvert dont on pourrait apercevoir un bout à la BlizzCon. Deux StarCraft en 2026, cela n'était pas sur mon bingo. P.

Leica’s new Summicron 66mm F2 is a tribute to a military lens M shooters have never been able to buy

There will only be 660 of them made, which still makes it far less rare than the original.

Close up of the 66mm designation on the Leica Summicron-M 66 F2's front ring.Leica

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Leica has announced the Summicron-M 66 F2, which it says is a “reinterpretation” of one of the rarest M-mount lenses ever made: the Elcan 66mm F2, which was specially designed for the US Navy’s use in “covert reconnaissance photography.”

According to Leica’s press release, there were only around 200 copies of the original lens, designed by Dr Walter Mandler of Ernst Leitz Canada in the late 1960s, ever made. Its spy-centered origins also explain the odd focal length; it was designed to balance providing maximum resolution and contrast, without being too big. It’s not hard to imagine why the US Navy and its allies would want that in the midst of the Cold War.

A person holding an M-series camera with the Summicron-M 66mm F2 attached.Leica

The new lens contains several references to its lineage. Leica says the aperture ring turns in the opposite direction from a typical M-lens – you twist it left to stop down, instead of right – and the distance scale is military-spec. It will also be a limited edition; the company is producing 660 of them, which will have their serial number engraved on the front ring. The first lens, 001, will be auctioned.

Optically, the lens has 6 elements in 5 groups, and can focus on subjects as close as 1m (3′ 3″) away. It has a 9-bladed aperture. Leica says that, at F2, it will have “distinctive rendering” with “soft bokeh and high contrast,” while providing “maximum resolution” when stopped down. You can see some samples taken by Mike Chudley and provided by Leica below, though it’s hard to critically examine a lens’s performance based on JPEGs that have gone through an unknown editing process. Thankfully, Leica has also provided MTF charts.

The MTF charts for the Leica Summicron-M 66mm F2 at F2, F2.8 and F5.6
Talking about the Hugo 66mm T2.1, Leitz Cine says of the original Elcan 66mm: “While considered extremely sharp for its time, the images match remarkably well with the strong character of the modern day HUGO lenses.” Strong character indeed.
Leica

The lens weighs 456g (16.1oz), and is around 60mm (2.4″) long. It has a 49mm filter thread and, unlike some other premium Leica lenses, has a screw-on hood, rather than an integrated one.

This isn’t the first reinterpretation of the lens that we’ve seen. Leica’s movie-focused sister company, Leitz Cine, sells the Hugo 66mm T2.1, which is also based on the Elcan. However, that lens is designed for PL and L mount, is much larger and has geared focus and aperture rings designed to make life easier on a movie set.

Leica says the Summicron-M 66 F2 will be available starting September 3 for $10,900. While that’s a hefty sum for an F2 lens, even by Leica standards, it’s a pittance for what you’d pay for one of the originals, assuming you were even able to find one (which is apparently no small task). One went up for auction in 2020, with a starting price of €40,000, though it ended up going unsold. Similarly, every listing of the cine version of the lens that I found had a “Contact Us” button instead of a price, essentially saying that if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. 

Manufacturer Samples

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Three quarters image of the Summicron-M 66mm F2Leica

Leica Summicron-M 66 F2

Specifications

Quick Specs

Lens Type
Prime lens
Zoom range
N/A
Fisheye
N/A
Perspective control
N/A
Macro
N/A
Mirror
N/A
Max format size
35mm FF
Minimum Focal length (W)
66 mm
Maximum Focal length (T)
66 mm
Max aperture (W)
F2
Min aperture (W)
16
Aperture ring
Yes
No. of diaphragm blades
9
Aperture actuation
Mechanical
No. of elements
6
About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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

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DJI’s new Osmo 360 II is a small step forward for video, and a big one for repairability

DJI will lead with native 8K at 60fps, but the ability to replace a scratched lens without retiring the whole camera is the real star of the show.

Two black DJI action cameras with wide fisheye lenses positioned upright on rocky outdoor ground, with blurred brown rock formations and blue sky in the background.DJI

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DJI has announced the Osmo 360 II, its second-generation 360-degree action camera. The latest version is an iterative successor rather than a redesign, building on the original model’s dual square-sensor design and 8K panoramic capture, without substantially changing the camera’s core hardware or shooting concept.

M-PI-dji-osmi-360-lens-kit
The Osmo 360 II now features interchangeable lenses, so they can be replaced if damaged.
DJI

One of the most consequential changes is the move to swappable lenses, rather than the fixed ones used by the original Osmo 360. Following in the footsteps of Insta360, DJI now sells a replacement kit for $30, which is substantially more affordable than having to replace the entire camera if you accidentally scratch or crack a protruding lens.

The camera uses two Type 1/1.1 square sensors (one for each lens) with 2.4 μm pixels, matching the sensor specifications of the original Osmo 360. The company says each of its sensors features “an imaging area equivalent to that of a 1-inch CMOS sensor with a 4:3 aspect ratio,” or 123mm² each.

DJI claims 14.5 stops of dynamic range from the camera, which is one additional stop compared to the previous model. As with most dynamic range claims, though, we’d take that number with a grain of salt, and DJI hasn’t specified where that extra stop is coming from. There’s every chance it’s mainly due to noise reduction, although DJI did somewhat quietly switch to a LOFIC sensor in its Osmo Pocket 4P to improve dynamic range.

M-PI-dji-osmi-360-ice-climbing
The Osmo 360 II shoots 8K video at up to 60fps, a step up from the original model’s 8K/50 cap.
DJI

The camera is capable of up to 8K/60 video, up from the original version’s 8K/50. Slow motion video also gets an increase, with up to 4K/240 possible, compared to a max of 4K/100 previously. Panoramic photo resolution remains at 120MP, though it gets the benefit of HDR this time around. DJI also added a ‘Spotlight Follow’ mode that promises to track your subject, keeping them in the center of the frame, with footage up to 4K/30 possible in this mode. 

DJI has also updated how users connect the camera to its Mimo app. It now supports the ability to tap to connect using NFC. The Osmo 360 II keeps the same 105GB of onboard storage and is waterproof to 10m (33′) without a case.

The DJI Osmo 360 II will be available for purchase outside of Asia starting on September 15. As expected, it will not be officially available in the US. In most EU countries, the new camera will cost 589 EUR.

Close-up of a black action camera with a front display screen showing footage of a motorcyclist on a scenic road bordered by orange rock formations and a low sun.DJI

DJI Osmo 360 II

About the Author: Abby Ferguson holds an MFA in photography and blends a fine-art background with extensive editorial and commercial experience. She built and led an in-house imaging program for a large vacation rental company and has served as an associate editor at Popular Photography. She also teaches at a local community college and serves on its Photographic Technology Program Advisory Board, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium.

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

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Un rachat dans le visage

Par : Perco
3 septembre 2026 à 07:17
SteamDB, le site que la moitié de la rédac' rafraîchit plus souvent que ses mails, change de mains. Son créateur solitaire, xPaw, a filé les clés à Nexus Mods, plateforme reine du mod qui promet de garder « le nom, la marque, la communauté ». Traduction : on va monétiser tout ça, mais sans changer la déco trop vite. En cause : « la charge mentale » d'un site géré seul pendant des années, et un bon vieux coup de blues. « Après le Covid et avec la montée de l'IA, l'Internet qu'on aimait a disparu, et ma passion avec », confie le développeur, dans ce qui restera comme le post LinkedIn le plus déprimant de la rentrée. Nexus, lui, lorgne surtout les archives de SteamDB, une quantité incroyable d'informations sur les versions de jeux, les dépôts, les manifestes, les fichiers et l'historique des mises à jour, vitales pour réparer les mods qui claquent à chaque update. Bilan : encore un bout du bon vieux web indé qui passe sous pavillon corporate. P.

GoPro says its future is “defense, government, robotics and aerospace” after $285 million merger

It still promises to “fully support its existing consumer products and its subscription and cloud platform.”

The GoPro logo on a dark blue backgroundGoPro

GoPro has announced that it’s entered into a “definitive merger agreement” with Starman Optical, a little-known entity described in the press release as a “privately held optical-photonics company.” According to current GoPro CEO Nick Woodman, the company hopes the move will help it “grow across consumer, commercial and defense markets,” and address “important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure.”

This is, to put it mildly, a bit of a pivot from its current role as an action camera company. A few hints suggest that the action camera business may not be going away, though. For one, GoPro promises it will “continue to fully support its existing consumer products and its subscription and cloud platform.” While that’s good news for anyone who just bought the Mission 1 Pro ILS, released just a week before this news broke, the word “existing” casts a bit of doubt on whether we’ll see new consumer cameras from the company in the future. 

The company will focus on “important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure.”

There are a few references to the company’s “growth potential” in consumer markets, but there’s much heavier emphasis on US national security and manufacturing. GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman says the company plans to address “important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure.” And Charles Tebele, CEO of Starman Holding, says “The combination of GoPro’s world-class optical expertise and intellectual property with Starman’s advanced transceiver capabilities and U.S. manufacturing platform creates a unique opportunity. Together, we intend to bring production of these critical components back to the United States.”

In the US, national security has long been big business, with lucrative military contracts sustaining many companies, even ones better known for their consumer products. But it’s become an increasingly hot-button topic in recent years, with the US government promising billions to companies making semiconductors within its borders, and placing import restrictions on companies like DJI based on perceived threats to national security. The company also promises to expand into the hot and controversial “AI Data Center” space, though to me that reads more as it filling out its bingo card of phrases you’re required to use in a press release in 2026.

As a camera company, GoPro has some share in the military industrial complex – when we interviewed NASA astronaut and US Air Force Col. Terry Virts in 2019, he said Russia beat the US to the punch by flying GoPros into space (though NASA has since included the cameras on multiple flights, including its recent Artemis II mission) – but it’s not exactly a major player. It’s clear its leadership sees the merger as an opportunity to change that, with intents to “leverage its IP, optics and imaging capabilities across defense, government, robotics and aerospace markets, building on demand for U.S.-made solutions.” Woodman reiterates that point, saying: “We’re excited to combine with the Starman team to capitalize on this opportunity and play an important role in America’s future.”

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS with its lens mount and sensor facing the camera. Beside it is a small Laowa cinema lens.
The brand-new GoPro Mission 1 ILS shakes up GoPro’s formula with an interchangable lens mount and features aimed more towards cinematographers than action camera users.
Mitchell Clark

GoPro has been in dire financial straits for a while, following years of Chinese competitors like DJI and Insta360 introducing action cameras that tempted would-be buyers away with innovative features, new form factors and larger sensors, while the Hero line largely stagnated. This year, the company announced the Mission 1 series that largely caught back up with, and in some respects surpassed, those competitors, but it may have been too late. Earlier this summer, it warned investors that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue in business. At the time, it said it was investigating “opportunities within the defense and aerospace sector.” Those investigations were apparently fruitful.

According to the press release, the merger – which will see $285 million paid to GoPro shareholders – will see the company’s $92 million in debt paid off, “resulting in a clean, substantially debt-free balance sheet.” The company will remain publicly listed, though its unclear whether that listing will be for GoPro alone or the newly combined entity; GoPro’s press release promises “additional information regarding the transaction upon closing.”

Finally, there’s the question of who Starman Optical is, and how it has the money to buy GoPro. As best I can tell, it’s a subsidiary of Starman Holding, a company that owns several sub-brands, including popular phone case and accessory companies like Incase and Incipio. While Starman Holding’s website doesn’t list Starman Optical as one of its companies, it does list Starman New Photonics, and its About Us page names Charlie Tebele as its CEO. The websites for both Starman Holding and Starman New Photonics don’t have a ton of information on them, though that’s not that odd for this kind of company.

GoPro expects the deal to close by the end of the year, assuming it’s approved by regulators and GoPro shareholders. 

About the Author: Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.

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

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