Insta360 has announced the third offering in its wireless mic lineup: the simply named Insta360 Mic. It shares many of the same features as the more expensive Mic Pro, including the customizable E-Ink screen, though it trades built-in storage for a bring-your-own approach.

The Mic Pro has 32GB of storage built in, which it can use to internally record 32-bit float and more standard, but less flexible 24-bit audio. The Insta360 Mic can do the same, but only after you’ve added a microSD card. The Mic transmitters can still record via Bluetooth or through the receiver if memory cards are not inserted.

The other main difference between the Mic and Mic Pro is the microphone capsule. The pro version features a three-mic array, with four different pickup modes (omnidirectional, super-directional, cardioid and figure-8). The Mic, on the other hand, uses a single mic with an omnidirectional pickup pattern.

Insta360

The display on the Mic, like the Mic Pro, uses color E-Ink technology, which can be fully customized using the Insta360 app. This means users aren’t stuck having to cover the microphone with not very attractive tape if they don’t want another company’s logo on their chest.

The app comes pre-loaded with a range of designs, from Insta360 logos to emojis, pets, colorful avatars and more. You can also upload your own design or photo, if you want your own branding on display, with the option to make small tweaks to those images in the app before loading them onto the transmitters.

Insta360

The Insta360 Mic uses AI noise cancellation, which the company says suppresses background noise while keeping the audio from the person speaking clean. It also offers two automatic gain modes. Auto mode helps to prevent clipping, while Dynamic mode, Insta360 says, balances volume changes for more consistent loudness. There are also three voice tone presets: Regular, Rich and Bright.

Insta360 says the Mic supports a transmission range of up to 400 m (0.25 miles). A single Mic receiver can connect to up to four transmitters at once, and it can be used with both Mic and Mic Pro transmitters. Additionally, for multi-camera shoots, two transmitters can send audio to up to four receivers at once.

Insta360

Select Insta360 cameras can pair directly to a single Mic transmitter via Bluetooth, enabling 48kHz audio without the receiver. The Insta360 X6 and Luna can pair to two transmitters at once. Additionally, the Mic can connect to smartphones and cameras through the included USB-C adapter or 3.5mm cable. Each transmitter promises 13 hours of recording on a single charge, while the included charging case extends that to up to 34 hours, which is slightly more than the quoted time for the Mic Pro.

The Insta360 Mic is available for purchase now. The kit with two transmitters and one receiver costs $250, which is $80 cheaper than the Mic Pro. Insta360 is also offering a kit with a single transmitter and receiver for $140, and a single Mic transmitter without a receiver for $80.

Nikon has announced the winners of its Small World Photomicrography Competition for 2026, where contestants are tasked with sharing images taken through a microscope. The winner is a stunning image that shows what happens inside a printer as it puts ink to paper, with the result looking like something out of a blockbuster sci-fi movie.

This is the 52nd year that the competition has been held, and there were over 1803 entries from participants in 69 countries. We’re showing the top 20 images here, but you can see honorable mentions and images of distinction over on the Small World website.

First place – Microscopic view of an inkjet printer depositing ink onto paper, Ole Bielfeldt

Ole Bielfeldt / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Ole Bielfeldt, macrofying, Cologne, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany

Technique: Slow-Motion, Image Stacking

Magnification: 20x (Objective Lens Magnification)

Caption: Captured using a self-constructed imaging rig, using a microscope objective, Bielfeldt’s image sheds light on the previously unseen intricacies of a common process: printing words onto paper.

Bielfeldt is the creator behind macrofying, his photography and videography brand, where he combines photography, microscopy, and self-built equipment to showcase everyday objects in an unfamiliar manner. The winning image was guided by his search to answer a simple question: How does a printer place ink onto paper so precisely? At normal scale, the process happens too quickly and too routinely to notice. But under Bielfeldt’s lens, tiny droplets travel through the air before landing on glossy paper, exposing the machinery, motion, and small imperfections hidden within a device many people use every day.

“I think it was super interesting because I didn’t know how it really worked,” Bielfeldt said of the printer’s internal process. “It’s like it was magic, and I didn’t understand it, but now I do.”

Capturing that moment required Bielfeldt to rethink both the printer and the imaging setup. His first attempts failed because the printhead moved too quickly to keep a small area in focus, and the droplets were too fast for his camera’s shutter speed. Rather than turning to expensive equipment, he reverse-engineered the printer so the paper instead moved beneath a stationary printhead. Working in a dark room, he then used a flash to freeze the droplets in midair, allowing the brief burst of light to serve as the effective shutter.

“After trying and failing many times to capture the droplets in motion, I thought I would need some expensive equipment,” Bielfeldt said. “But it turned out I already had everything I needed.”

Second place – Jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollen, John-Oliver Dum

John-Oliver Dum / Nikon Small World

Photographer: John-Oliver Dum, Medienbunker Produktion, Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Third place – Neurons in an expanded mouse brain, Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery

Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery, Allen Institute, Department of Neural Dynamics, Seattle, Washington, USA

Technique: Expansion Microscopy, Fluorescence, Light Sheet

Magnification: 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Fourth place – Tip of a ballpoint pen, Justin Theodore Benttinen

Justin Theodore Benttinen / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Justin Theodore Benttinen, Benttinen Photography, Berkeley, California, USA

Technique: Image Stacking, Reflected Light

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Fifth place – Inner structure of a closed daisy, Mike Crutchley

Mike Crutchley / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Mike Crutchley, Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom

Technique: Darkfield, Image Stacking

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

6th place – Hemitrichia slime mold spore structures (fruiting bodies), Eric Epstein

Eric Epstein / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Eric Epstein, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

7th place – Human neurons reprogrammed from skin cells growing in a microfluidic chamber, Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol

Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine, Augusta, Georgia, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

8th place – Pencil lead during exposure to a high-voltage electrical discharge, Dr. Marcel Clemens

Dr. Marcel Clemens / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Marcel Clemens, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

9th place – Dedifferentiated liver endothelial cell, Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez

Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

10th place – A parasitoid wasp (𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑟𝑎 sp.) emerging from a butterfly chrysalis (𝑂𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠 sp.), Michael Parra Puentes

Michael Parra Puentes / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Michael Parra Puentes, Macrotipos, Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 3.7X (Objective Lens Magnification)

11th place – 20 day old sea urchin larva with blue fluorescent nuclei, Svenja Carolin Kling

Svenja Carolin Kling / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Svenja Carolin Kling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, La Jolla, California, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

12th place – A tardigrade molting and laying an egg in the old skin, Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas

Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas, CRBM-CNRS, Montpellier, Herault, France

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

13th place – Recrystallized estrogen, Sebastian Sparenga

Sebastian Sparenga / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Sebastian Sparenga, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Technique: Polarized Light

Magnification: 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

14th place – Pilobolus fungi on sheep dung, Mike Crutchley

Mike Crutchley / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Mike Crutchley, Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom

Technique: Image Stacking

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

15th place – Mouse trachea showing tiny hair-like cells that move mucus and nearby nerves (blue) associated with the muscles (yellow), Dr. Julien Resseguier

Dr. Julien Resseguier / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Julien Resseguier, University of Oslo, Department of Biosciences, Oslo, Viken, Norway

Technique: Confocal, Deconvolution, Fluorescence

Magnification: 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)

16th place – Embryonic Xenopus skin cells, showing cilia (green), centrioles (red), and cell membranes (white), Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin

Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Toulouse, France, France

Technique: Confocal, Fluorescence

Magnification: 63X (Objective Lens Magnification)

17th place – Lab-grown human intestinal tissue showing glowing, brick-like epithelial cell connections that form the intestine’s protective barrier, Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA

Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

18th place – 14-day-old mouse hippocampal neurons showing nuclei (green) and synaptic proteins (red), Bilal Akhtar

Bilal Akhtar / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Bilal Akhtar, Institute of Molecular Biology, Department of RNA Biology, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

19th place – Cross-section of a mouse eye showing retinal blood vessels and the optic nerve, Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman

Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman, University of Helsinki, Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, Helsinki, Finland, Helsinki, Uudenmaan lääni, Finland

Technique: Confocal

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

20th place – Large sea snail (abalone) shell, Justin Theodore Benttinen

Justin Theodore Benttinen / Nikon Small World

Photographer: Justin Theodore Benttinen, Benttinen Photography, Berkeley, California, USA

Technique: Image Stacking, Reflected Light

Magnification: 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Pixii, the French maker of digital rangefinder cameras, has entered judicial liquidation. Under French law, this is a formal wind-down process for the business, not a pause or restructuring. Leica Rumors reported the story based on official French business records. Whether you own a Pixii, have thought about buying one, or just follow the company’s products, here’s what you need to know.

What happened and when

Pixii

The trouble started well before this week’s headlines. On December 10, 2025, the Commercial Court of Besançon placed Pixii under redressement judiciaire, a court-supervised restructuring meant to give the company time to reorganize or find investors. In May 2026, the court extended that process to December 10, 2026.

However, on July 22, it converted the case to liquidation judiciaire, roughly similar to Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the US. It appointed a liquidator, SELARL Guigon Associés, and authorized Pixii to continue operating only until July 31, 2026. So while the story has only reached a wider audience this month, the liquidation itself is three months old.

About Pixii cameras

Pixii is an ambitious camera company that makes Leica M-mount digital rangefinders. We covered Pixii’s original concept back in 2018: a rangefinder camera with no rear screen or memory card slot that paired with a smartphone for reviewing and transferring images. While some aspects of the design were polarizing, the announcement generated a lot of excitement around the prospect of a new digital rangefinder. The first model, a 12MP APS-C camera, became available for order in 2020 with 4GB or 8GB of internal storage.

Pixii

In 2021, Pixii announced a second-generation APS-C model with a 26MP sensor, a display that projects settings into the optical viewfinder, USB-C support, and storage options up to 128GB. The Pixii Plus followed in late 2023 with a longer-base rangefinder, and in 2024, the company launched the Pixii Max, a 24MP full-frame version of the camera.

What owners and buyers need to know

This is where things get murky. As of the time of publication, Pixii’s website still lists cameras for sale, including the Pixii Max and Pixii Plus, even though the court only authorized the company to operate through July 31, so it’s unclear whether orders placed there would be fulfilled.

Pixii cameras are also still in stock at B&H Photo, with the 128GB Pixii Max listing for $4,499 and the 128GB Pixii Plus listing for $2,799. Other configurations are listed as “special order.” Buying from B&H means you’re dealing with a reputable retailer with a return policy, but Pixii’s warranty, repairs and firmware updates aren’t guaranteed.

Pixii

We’ve been unable to find an official statement from Pixii on warranty coverage, repairs or future support. If you have an open order, a deposit, or a camera with Pixii for repair or upgrade, we recommend that you contact the liquidator, SELARL Guigon Associés in Besançon, as soon as possible. French insolvency law sets deadlines for filing claims and reclaiming property.

What liquidation does – and doesn’t – mean

Liquidation isn’t always the final word on a brand. Under French law, a liquidator can sell a company’s assets, intellectual property or other business activities to a buyer, subject to court approval. No buyer has been announced, however, and there is no indication that a sale is imminent.

Pixii

What we don’t know

As far as we can determine, Pixii hasn’t issued any public statements, the liquidator hasn’t made any public comments about asset sales, and it’s unclear whether any repair infrastructure will remain intact.

We’ve reached out to Pixii for comment and will update this story if we learn more. If you’re a Pixii owner and receive any direct information from the company, let us know in the comments.

The iPhone Duo, Apple’s first folding phone, is set to come out in just a few days, but the reviews are out now. In aggregate, they paint a picture of a complicated phone that feels highly refined in some ways, and first-gen janky in others, especially when it comes to third-party apps.

While it may be a bit too late to get a pre-order in (at least, if you want the phone in a timely manner; at time of writing delivery dates are already pushed to next year), the reviews we’ve listed below tell the story of the Duo both for those curious about it as a tech object, and for anyone actually considering buying it.

The photographer’s perspective

Tyler Stalman does a great job of reviewing phones from the perspective of a working photographer and content creator, so his take on the Duo is one of the ones we were most anticipating.

Overall, his takeaway about the phone is that it’s better at productivity and media consumption than creation, though he does a good job of comparing it to the iPhone 18 Pro across a variety of scenarios, and at breaking down the roles of each of the phone’s four cameras. One of the most interesting takeaways from this review, at least for me, is that the Duo doesn’t make as good a teleprompter/camera combo as I thought it might, thanks to where the cameras are in relation to the front screen.

Hear from the tech enthusiasts

Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, has long been one of YouTube’s premier tech reviewers, and for good reason. His review of the Duo is both a visual treat and an in-depth look at Apple’s philosophy behind its foldable, how well it executes those ideas, and whether they’re good ideas in the first place.

Tech review veteran iJustine has also taken a look at the Duo, which does a good job of illustrating what it’s actually like to live with the phone.

What about a foldable fanatic?

There are few as dedicated to the foldable cause as Michael Fisher aka Mr. Mobile. His experience with testing basically every phone in this form factor means he’s well-equipped to discuss how it stacks up to the competition, and he does so in his trademark poetic style.

For what it’s worth, he calls the iPhone Duo’s cameras the best you can get in a foldable in the US. That’s despite the Z Fold 8 Ultra having unambiguously superior hardware, though, given his comparison between the Z Fold 8 and the Duo, he hasn’t had a great experience with Samsung’s processing.

The in-depth look

While The Verge has produced one of its trademark cinematic reviews for YouTube, anyone actually considering buying a Duo should read its written review, which goes in depth in a way that is really difficult in a video. We know our audience appreciates a thorough examination of a new device, and Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson deliver.

Full disclosure: I was predisposed to like this one: Allison is a DPReview alum, and I also worked with her during my two-year stint at The Verge, an outlet I still deeply respect for its commitment to examining the big picture beyond the specifics of any particular gadget.

The wrap-up

The impression I got from the countless reviews I’ve watched about the Duo is that it’s both exactly what we expected and a bit of a surprising release from Apple. The company is known for releasing products polished to a mirror finish, and while it seems the hardware and Apple app experience has received that treatment, there are still a lot of rough edges.

A lot of that comes down to software. Apple was very late in getting developers the tools they need to make their apps work for the Duo, so anyone buying one needs to be ready for what feels like a very beta user experience. There will probably be a lot of people who end up disappointed that their $2000-and-up displays their favorite apps as a small, floating rectangle in a sea of black on the inner display.

I suspect many major apps will be updated relatively quickly (though there will be stragglers), and the bugs with the OS will be ironed out. Once that’s happened, users will be left with the phone that the iPhone Duo appeared to be when it was announced: a first-generation foldable that, yes, has a lot of polish, but that’s still a fair bit heavier than the competition, and which asks you to give up quite a bit to be among the first iPhone users to adopt a new form factor.

That includes compromises to the cameras: the reviews mostly settled on them being fine, for a foldable, and many reviewers missed a telephoto option, though the experience of being able to easily use the phone’s main camera for selfies was near-universally lauded.

We’re hoping to get our hands on an iPhone Duo so we can bring you our own thoughts, but until then you can read some of our existing coverage below.

With festive, costume-filled events like Halloween approaching in various parts of the world, we’re opening this week’s question to celebrations of all kinds, wherever you live.

Your photo and story might feature a carnival procession, a cultural festival, a traditional family gathering, or even a portrait of a solitary individual in an extravagant costume (or perhaps a striking wearable showpiece). The more local and distinctive the scene, the better.

So, with that said…

What’s the most memorable costume, festival or celebration you’ve ever photographed?

This question is part of our Question of the week series, where every other week we ask our community what they think about a topic related to cameras and photography.

Drop a reply in the comments section below to share your story for this week’s topic. If you’ve got a photo to include with a great story, it may be selected for next week’s article showcasing the community’s submissions.

And stay tuned this Friday for a related mini-challenge kickoff!

Leica has announced a Formula One-branded special edition of the Q3 43. The special edition marks the start of a licensing partnership between the two brands. One that they say embodies their “shared values: precision, teamwork and
craftsmanship.”

The $9950 Q3 43 F1 edition will come with a carbon fiber version of the Q3-series wireless charging accessory grip, along with a soft release with carbon weave and a carbon fibre thumb rest, clipped into the hotshoe. The body features a “Microvelour” coating, to evoke the steering wheel of a Formula 1 car. The camera’s top plate and lens cap feature the current F1 logo.

Leica

The soft-touch shutter button and some of the camera’s shutter buttons have red accents to mimic the buttons on a modern F1 car’s steering wheel. The camera also comes with a rope-style camera strap with F1 branding.

In most other regards, the camera will behave like a standard Q3 43 (to which we gave our Gold award, when we reviewed it), but with the addition of an exclusive “Formula One” color mode. Leica says the F1 Look provides: “a rendering that complements the world of motorsport. Higher contrast and richer saturation capture the atmosphere of the racetrack and paddock in the final image.”

Leica

There are some cynics who might say that Formula One isn’t what it once was. And that, for all its shows of impressive engineering, has become an exclusive pursuit, entirely disconnected from the rest of automotive, and from its origins in which the skill of talented individuals overcame everything, delivering memorable moments seen the world over. But, if nothing else, it knows the power of branding.

Leica’s press release doesn’t reveal how many Q3 43 F1 Edition models will be made but, as ever with special editions, we look forward to seeing them come up for auction, above their original list prices, in a few years’ time.

Epson has announced the winners of its 17th Epson International Pano Awards, with two photographers from Spain taking its top awards. The 2026 competition drew 4,084 entries from 93 countries, an almost 20% increase over 2025. Of those entries, 2,122 competed in the Open division and 1,962 in the Amateur division.

The competition included award categories across both divisions; the Open division included Built Environment, Nature/Landscape and the new Aerial category, while the Amateur division included Nature/Landscape and Aerial. In addition to these categories, the competition presented awards in several specialty categories. The overall Open Photographer of the Year and Amateur Photographer of the Year titles went to the highest-scoring entrants in their respective divisions.

The new Aerial categories attracted 680 entries in their first year, a number that contest founder David Evans says reflects years of requests from the community. “In the 17-year history of The Epson Pano Awards, never has a request from entrants been stronger than the addition of a dedicated Aerial category,” Evans said.

Open Photographer of the Year

Photographer’s name: Daniel Viñé Garcia (Spain)
Awards: Open Photographer of the Year, Category Winner: Open Aerial, The RAW Planet Award

The Sleeping Giant

Daniel Viñé Garcia

Parinacota Volcano was one of the main photographic goals of my trip to Chile. Rising to more than 6,300 meters, its distinctive snow-covered cone has an almost perfect symmetry that immediately reminded me of volcanoes such as Mount Fuji. Beside it stands Pomerape, another giant reaching more than 6,200 meters, together forming one of the most impressive landscapes I encountered during the journey.

After allowing time for proper acclimatisation, I spent three days and three nights at around 4,500 metres above sea level, giving myself the best possible chance of photographing the area under ideal conditions.

This image was captured during the final moments of sunset. After one last burst of light, the landscape gradually took on magenta tones, wrapping the volcanoes and the high-altitude lakes in a particularly special atmosphere.

The original capture was a 360-degree aerial panorama made from 33 individual exposures. I later refined the framing from the full panorama to concentrate the final composition on the volcanoes, the light, and the shapes of the landscape.

Cathedral of Starlight

Daniel Viñé Garcia

After several days travelling along dirt roads through the Argentine Puna, we reached this remote part of the Andean Altiplano: a vast landscape of white pumice formations sculpted by the wind. The area is so immense, uniform and isolated that it is surprisingly easy to lose your sense of direction while exploring it.

While walking through the area, I found this particular spot, where the pumice formations and pale ground perfectly reflected the almost surreal character of the landscape. As I worked on the composition, I also noticed a shape in the terrain that reminded me of a large prehistoric bird, adding even more to the otherworldly feeling of the scene.

At around 3,100 metres above sea level, beneath a sky almost completely free from light pollution, the night sky was spectacular. I waited until late into the night, when the Galactic Centre had climbed higher above the horizon and the Milky Way formed a huge arc across the landscape.

When we finally started driving back to our accommodation in El Peñón, we came across the police: they were looking for us. The owner of our accommodation had become worried when we had not returned and thought we might have got lost or become stuck somewhere with the 4×4. We had told her we would be back late… although I suppose she had not imagined quite how late.

My Perfect Night

Daniel Viñé Garcia

During our expedition through the Argentine Puna, after several days travelling deeper into this remote part of the Andean Altiplano, we reached a salt flat in the province of Catamarca, more than 3,300 meters above sea level. Its small, colourful pools broke up the vast white expanse and gave the landscape an almost otherworldly appearance.

The nearest settlement, Antofalla, is a tiny community of only a few dozen people, located several hours from any other populated area. Electricity is supplied by a generator that is switched off during the night, leaving this part of the Puna in almost complete darkness.

The southern sky offered a particularly striking composition: at one end of the Milky Way arc was the bright Galactic Centre, while at the opposite end stretched the enormous Gum Nebula, one of the great structures of the southern sky. It is a view of the Milky Way very different from the one we are used to seeing from the Northern Hemisphere.

Amateur Photographer of the Year

Photographer’s name: Tomás Sánchez Ruiz (Spain)
Awards: Amateur Photographer of the Year, Category Winner: Amateur Nature/Landscape

Double Arch over Stokksnes

Tomás Sánchez Ruiz

On the night I took this photograph, the aurora forecast was not particularly promising. The skies were clear, but the chances of seeing the Northern Lights were low.

However, when I pulled back the curtain of our hotel room and saw a green glow in the sky, I knew this could be the night we had been waiting for. We quickly left the room and headed to Stokksnes.

When I arrived, I found a landscape I had never encountered on my previous visits: the black sand was completely covered in freshly fallen, untouched snow. I grabbed my camera and tripod and walked out into the snow, looking for a composition that would frame Vestrahorn beneath the spectacular aurora already dancing above its peaks.

And there I was, finally taking the photograph I had been waiting for, with a smile on my face. A smile that still appears whenever I remember that night.

Wonderful Reflections

Tomás Sánchez Ruiz

During my first trip to Iceland in 2015, I had the opportunity to visit the famous Vestrahorn mountains in the southeast of the island. Although I had already seen them in photographs, seeing them in person for the first time left a deep impression on me.

Over the past ten years, I have returned to Iceland several times, and I have visited Stokksnes and Vestrahorn on almost every trip. I have photographed them at sunrise, at sunset and, of course, at night, hoping to see the Northern Lights dancing above their peaks. I had never been lucky enough to see them there, at least not in the way I had dreamed of.

Until that January night. For more than two hours, the aurora danced above Vestrahorn. After so many years of waiting, this time I was there.

Westminster Abbey

Tomás Sánchez Ruiz

In December 2023, during a several-day trip to London, I had the opportunity to visit Westminster Abbey. Although I had visited the city before, I had never made what I considered an almost obligatory visit. I knew its interior would be impressive and that I would thoroughly enjoy it, but I had no idea that this architectural masterpiece contained another hidden gem: the Henry VII Chapel, also known as the Lady Chapel.

As soon as I entered the chapel and saw its enormous stained-glass windows, the spectacular ribs of the vaulted ceiling and the flags lining both sides of the room, I knew I had to get my camera out. I positioned myself as centrally as possible and began taking a series of overlapping photographs, covering the vaulted ceiling from one end to the other, with the intention of later stitching them together into a single panorama that would capture the grandeur of the entire space.

Curator’s Award

Photographer’s name: Max Terwindt (The Netherlands)
Award: Curator’s Award
Location: Antarctic Peninsula

Max Terwindt

Last January, on an evening down south at the Antarctic Peninsula, I was with a group of photographers divided over two sailing ships exploring the southern continent. It was my first time there and the whole experience was truly magical. We had a special license to fly our drones and this gave me the chance to capture unique shots of the best landscapes that Antarctica has to offer.

On this particular night the light was really amazing with some low clouds and vibrant golden light. The glaciers in Antarctica often have rectangular shaped structures as seen on my panorama. If you look well you can also spot our two sailing ships with the red sails up in the distance. As it never becomes dark in the Antarctic summer this whole night was such a spectacle.

The sunset slowly faded into the sunrise, so it went from golden hour to blue hour to golden hour again. Our ships were also surrounded by humpback whales and penguins which made this moment truly breathtaking. I remember I only slept for like an hour, but the lack of sleep was definitely worth it.

Category Winner: Open Nature/Landscape

Photographer’s name: Mikel Iraeta (Spain)
Award: Category Winner: Open Nature/Landscape
Location: Milford Sound, New Zealand

Mikel Iraeta

This is what I consider an almost impossible photo because you need some very specific conditions to pull it out. Milford Sound is a place where it rains (on average) 300 days a year. In fact, the day before I visited, the access road was closed due to snow avalanche danger. I ventured there without any expectations, with the sole intention of enjoying the place, aware of the improbability of the task. It is very difficult to have an entire clear night with no rain, no clouds, no moon, and for all of this to coincide at the end of September when it is possible to capture the double arc of the Milky Way. But I thought what if…

I don’t think I can put into words the luck and chain of coincidences that had to come together to capture this photo. I still remember feeling excited under the stars, aware of what I was witnessing. It is a unique photo, one that I have not seen anywhere else and that I think would be very difficult for anyone else to replicate.

It is also a very complex photo that requires a lot of work, both in terms of capturing and editing. The sky is composed of two separate tracked panoramas, each comprising eight panels, with each panel in turn consisting of a stack of four 45-second exposures. The first panorama is taken after sunset to capture the spiral arm containing the galactic core. The second contains both Magellanic Clouds, Gum, and the Orion Nebula, captured between 2 and 4 am. It is important to time the shots so that both panoramas are at approximately the same height above the horizon. Finally, the ground needs to be captured, for which the moving tides need to be considered. For this foreground I used a 14-panel 360º panorama, where each panel is created from a bracketing of three photographs, plus an additional photograph to include myself. The final image is therefore the result of combining 107 different photographs.

The final results is what I consider to be a pretty unique image that shows the dream team of the wide angle astrophotography. Everything you want to see on an astrolandscape night sky shot is there, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Category Winner: Open Built Environment

Photographer’s name: Xuecheng Liu (USA)
Award: Category Winner: Open Built Environment
Location: Times Square, New York, USA

Xuecheng Liu

Times Square is one of the most photographed places in the world, so my challenge was to find a perspective that could make such a familiar place feel unfamiliar again. From above, the dense architecture, streets, and illuminated billboards seem to radiate around the square.

I stitched together 25 frames to create an ultra-wide aerial panorama, revealing the scale and density of the skyscrapers surrounding Times Square. I wanted the panorama to immerse the viewer in the vast expanse of the city, with countless points of light resembling stars surrounding the centre of a galaxy.

Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year

Photographer’s name: Wutimet Bunyasirisith (Thailand)
Award: Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year
Location: Skagsanden Beach, Norway

Wutimet Bunyasirisith

This photograph came to life as the Northern Lights flared up and curved perfectly around the mountain. The display was so vastly immense that even my 12mm ultra-wide lens couldn’t capture the entire scene in a single frame. My only choice was to shoot a panorama. It wasn’t until I stitched the frames together that I realized the aurora had formed a flawless, complete arch framing the peak. Standing on the wet beach, the calm shore provided a mirror-like reflection of the entire celestial phenomenon.

The conditions that night were brutal—freezing cold, biting winds, and I had to wade into the icy seawater to get the shot. Given all the challenges faced in those harsh elements, bringing this vision to reality is something I am truly proud of.

Epson Digital Art Prize 2026

Photographer’s name: Preeti & Prashant Chacko (India)
Award: Epson Digital Art Prize 2026
Location: Solio Game Reserve, Kenya

Preeti & Prashant Chacko

Southern white rhinos are, in their normal state, surprisingly unthreatening – calm grazers who move around at a leisurely pace. One morning at Solio Game Reserve in Kenya we were photographing a group of eight rhinos with a few cattle egrets walking among them, a rare sighting in most other national parks. Something suddenly shifted and five of the rhinos broke into a run. We understood in that instant why a group of rhinos is called a crash.

Neither of us has ever played rugby, but from the point of view of the egrets this is how we imagine a forward pack must look, heads down and all that weight already committed. Thankfully the egrets took to the air and got out of the way with barely a moment to spare. Seeing these many rhinos together is already rare and seeing them run together at another species is rarer still. At Solio Game Reserve, where Kenya’s rhino population has been painstakingly rebuilt without any de-horning even an accidental moment of chaos feels like a miracle.

VR/360 Photographer of the Year

Photographer’s name: Marcio Esteves Cabral (Brazil)
Award: VR/360 Photographer of the Year
Location: Cenote El Edén, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Marcio Cabral

Cenote El Edén is known for its natural curtains of light. Deep inside the cavern lies a narrow chamber where sunlight cuts through the water, framing the scene.

Capturing this 360° panorama took a great deal of care. In such a tight space with clear water and a delicate clay floor, the greatest challenge was maneuvering and rotating the camera without letting the gear or fins brush against the rocks, which would instantly stir up sediment and ruin the shot. Positioning the flashes was key to revealing the cave’s textures and properly lighting the diver, avoiding a dark silhouette against the light. The model made all the difference by staying steady and motionless just inches above the bottom, without disturbing the silt.

Category Winner: Amateur Aerial

Photographer’s name: Xuejun Long (China)
Award: Category Winner: Amateur Aerial
Location: Lake Magadi, Kenya

Xuejun Long

In March 2024, I returned to Lake Magadi in Kenya, just in time for the quick transition from the rainy season to the dry season. As the freshwater evaporated, the proportion of the lake water increased, and chemical deposits on the lakebed were exposed, forming lots of interconnected patterns. These patterns usually only last a few days. With the arrival of the dry season, vast areas of the lake, only a few dozen centimeters deep, turned into dry riverbeds. I was lucky to catch this moment, and a flock of flamingos flew in, adding life and bringing a dreamy, magical scene from the sky.

Category Winner: Amateur Built Environment

Photographer’s name: Sebastián Cantos Navalon (Spain)
Award: Category Winner: Amateur Built Environment
Location: Valencia, Spain

Sebastián Cantos Navalon

This photograph was taken in 2026 at the Reina Sofía Palace of the Arts, in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. It’s a moment I’ll always remember, as it was the first time l’d ever been inside. Once inside the building, I found myself faced with a vast expanse of concrete, textures and lines, and was confronted with the challenge of creating what, for me, is an optical illusion. To achieve this, I used a wide-angle lens and created a composite image from eight shots, aiming for the curved lines of the staircase to guide the eye from the ground towards the sky.

The result is a double ‘S’-shaped spiral which, in my opinion, lends dynamism and depth to the image and creates a different perspective on this space. I believe the Reina Sofía Palace of the Arts is a magnificent place to practise and enjoy architectural photography; it offers endless possibilities for experimenting with composition and perspective.

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Last year, Insta360 announced that it was entering the drone market with its Antigravity brand and A1 drone, which comes equipped with a 360 camera. Now, the company is launching a new “Follow Me” bundle, which pairs the drone with a few new accessories aimed to make it even easier to film yourself. It also provides a substantially less expensive way to buy the drone, though there’s a big catch to anyone looking for a drone to use casually.

Like many other drones, including models from DJI, the A1 is able to track a recognized subject, following them without needing to be manually controlled. With the Follow Me bundle, Antigravity is introducing a watch you can wear to make tracking more reliable, even if the drone loses sight of you behind an obstacle, such as a row of trees.

Antigravity

The watch has a 1.7″ display, which you can use to watch a live view from the drone’s camera and to control things like recording, video mode and which subject the drone is tracking (though it’ll be best equipped to follow the person wearing the watch). According to the spec sheet, the drone has a maximum tracking speed of 10 meters per second (22.4mph).

The bundle also includes a new ring accessory, which the company says enables a “Drag-to-Fly” mode where you can “grab” the drone by pointing at it and pressing a button on the ring. You can then move your arm to control its position. Swing your arm over your head, and it’ll go from following you from behind to filming you from the front, or move your arm left to right to have the drone execute a pan. You can also do a twisting motion to have the drone fly away from you, showing more of the surroundings.

This is somewhat similar to how the drone works already worked in its “FreeMotion” mode when paired with the motion-sensitive remote that came in the standard bundle, but the ring will theoretically be a bit harder to notice in the actual footage. The A1 offers 8K 360 capture at up to 30p, recorded from two cameras with Type 1/1.28 (76mm²) sensors and F2.2 lenses.

Antigravity

Both the ring and the watch are IP67 rated, so you should be able to wear them even during sweaty or water-based activities.

The bundle also includes a new set of propeller guards that Insta360 says will fully enclose the blades for added safety, along with four extra propellers, a crossbody bag, a USB-C cable for charging the drone (though no charging brick) and the brand’s high-capacity battery. That latter inclusion is a critical one, for reasons we’ll cover in just a moment.

What the bundle doesn’t have are the “Vision Goggles” that came with the standard A1 bundle. Nor does it come with the motion controller. These let you fly the A1 from a first-person view, and look around your scene while doing so, thanks to the drone’s 360-degree camera. Of course, the standard bundle will still be available alongside the Follow Me one.

Antigravity

Not including the headset apparently means Antigravity can sell the drone for substantially less than it has previously. The “Standard bundle,” which until now has been the entry point for the A1, costs $1599 but the Follow Me bundle, which is available starting today, comes in at just $799. If you already own an A1 and want the watch and ring, the company is also making those available for $340 at retail, though it says it’s offering a 20% discount for “existing A1 users” (which, to me, seems to encompass everyone who would be interested in buying them).

The Antigravity press release says that the new bundle makes the drone a good option “for family outings and sporting activities, giving people an easy way to capture memories while staying in the moment.” While the price makes it seem like a reasonable pick for those scenarios, especially in the US where DJI’s models are harder to come by, the use of the high-capacity battery rather than Antigravity’s standard one means that the drone included in this bundle has a takeoff weight of 351g. Consequently, you’ll have to take some extra steps to fly it legally in the US and EU, which isn’t the case for the Standard bundle version of the A1, as it comes in right at the 249g limit with its non-extended battery.

The spec sheet for the Follow Me version of the A1 has some other differences compared to the one in the standard bundle, too, with substantially shorter flight time and max flight distance than even the version with the smaller battery, lower top speed, and less wind resistance. However, Antigravity says this is this is only the case with the full-coverage propeller guards installed; without them, it will perform the same.

All of this makes it hard to know what to make of this bundle. Had it included the standard battery, it’d be a much more straightforward story: a cheaper version of the drone that’s a bit better equipped to follow someone for vlogging style content and more casual shooting. But, at least to me, the people in that audience are the least likely to want to have to get a license to fly a drone, especially when the higher-end version doesn’t require that (at least, until you get into the even more expensive bundles that come with the high-capacity battery).

Still, the A1 is an interesting drone, and this offers a less expensive way to buy it for those who are interested and willing to go through some hurdles to fly it, be they registering the drone or buying one of the standard batteries to try and get it under that 249g weight limit.

Antigravity

Antigravity A1

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DxO has announced ViewPoint 6, the latest version of its software for correcting perspective, lens distortion and stretched subjects in photographs. The update adds direct Raw support to the standalone application, along with AI-assisted subject selection and a more flexible correction mesh for precise, local adjustments.

Raw support

ViewPoint 5 only worked with JPEG and TIFF files, meaning that photographers had to process Raw files in a separate program before bringing them into ViewPoint to adjust perspective and distortion. ViewPoint 6, however, can open Raw files directly, rendering them with DxO’s camera profile in its Wide Gamut working space.

While ViewPoint 6 is far from a full Raw editor, the added support allows photographers to make basic tonal and color adjustments before tackling geometry. That includes exposure compensation settings from -4 to +4 EV. It also offers white balance controls with temperature and tint sliders as well as a neutral-point eyedropper.

DxO says that all corrections are written to sidecar files that save as photographers work. That means the original is untouched, but users can reopen the file and come back to those adjustments. Photographers can export finished images as JPEG files or 8- or 16-bit TIFF files.

AI masking and refined local adjustments

DxO

The other major update is AI-assisted masking in ReShape Fusion, the tool DxO introduced in ViewPoint 5 for moving, scaling, rotating and correcting individual parts of a photograph. In version 6, photographers can draw a rectangle around a subject, and the software identifies the element inside and creates a mask following its outline.

ViewPoint then builds a correction mesh around that outline, concentrating control points where finer adjustments are needed rather than relying on a uniform grid. Users can subdivide or merge mesh regions and enable or disable individual control points.

DxO says that AI handles the selection, while the photographer still makes the geometric adjustments. It also emphasizes that the AI is non-generative: it selects existing subjects rather than inventing content or filling image borders.

DxO

The more precise local adjustments could make the tool more useful for correcting a leaning building without transforming the entire scene or adjusting a stretched face near the edge of a group photograph. DxO says users can also control how adjustments extend into neighboring areas, an important consideration when reshaping one subject that could then distort what surrounds it.

Price and availability

DxO ViewPoint 6 is available for macOS and Windows for $130, with upgrades from ViewPoint 5 priced at $85. A 30-day free trial is also available. The software runs as a standalone application, supports plugin workflows with Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Capture One, and integrates with PhotoLab 10.

If you’ve spent any time taking pictures of people, you’ll probably know the pain of photographing someone with an almost-perfect expression… only to realize that their eyes are closed. Adobe is looking to solve that problem, with a new feature for Lightroom for mobile that it calls “Open Eyes.” And, of course, it uses generative AI.

The way it works is relatively simple: if you open a photo that has someone with their eyes closed in it, there’ll be an option called “Open Eyes” in the Quick Actions menu. Tap it, and the app will use generative AI to composite in a new set of eyes for them that are, well, open. The company says that if you have other pictures of the person in your Lightroom library, it’ll use data from those to match their eye shape, color and size for an “even more accurate” result. The feature works on shots of individuals, as well as groups, and the company says it only targets “the area that needs adjustment,” without messing with the rest of the person’s face, letting you “save an otherwise great photo without losing what made the moment special.”

A before / after example created using the “Open Eyes” feature, provided by Adobe.

Of course, it’s not like this kind of thing was impossible to do before. Even well before the age of generative AI, Adobe Photoshop Elements had a similar feature, which worked by pulling an image of the person’s eyes from another picture you took. If you didn’t have one, or if the lighting didn’t match, or if the result looked odd because they were making a facial expression that would usually force someone’s eyes closed, you were out of luck.

You could also do this relatively easily in modern versions of Photoshop using the Generative Fill tool, though obviously that requires having a subscription to Photoshop and being willing to go through the few extra steps required. Adobe gives people using the free version of Lightroom mobile two uses of the Open Eyes feature before asking them to subscribe to an AI or Creative Cloud plan. Interestingly, when I tested the feature out, the UI implied it was using a third-party image generation model – Google’s Nano Banana – rather than Adobe’s own FireFly one.

I suspect many of our regular readers won’t be in love with the idea of this feature, as it’s the latest in a not-so-slow march of tech that makes us ask “so what really counts as a photo?” And indeed, it’s hard to imagine myself ever using this kind of feature; I’m not particularly interested in sharing moments that didn’t happen, and I think there’s something special about a laugh or a smile so intense you couldn’t possibly keep your eyes open during it. However, I suspect there will be many out there who will find this kind of feature useful, because they just need one more shot to round out a social post, or couldn’t get all the kids smiling with their eyes open at once. Phone makers have been playing around with similar features for a while, most of which typically rely more on combining multiple pictures than wholesale generation, but that step is starting to feel inevitable.

Adobe’s “Open Eyes” feature is now available in the Lightroom mobile app. Like the rest of the Quick Actions system, it doesn’t currently appear to be available on the desktop version of Lightroom.

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