2024 was an exciting year for cameras. Whether you were hoping for top-of-the-line flagship bodies, well-provisioned enthusiast models, retro rangefinders or even compact cameras, chances are pretty good you saw something you liked this year. Now it's time to find out what you think of the Class of 2024.
Our editorial team has had its say already with the 2024 DPReview Awards, but which of this year's new cameras was your favorite? This is your chance to let us and the industry know. If you think we missed something, please leave a comment to let us know.
Polls are now open; see below.
Voting occurs in three categories (cameras, prime and zoom lenses), running through December 21.
Once the vote has closed, we'll run a fourth and final poll drawn from the first three winners to determine the Readers' Choice Product of the Year. Look out for that poll early in 2025.
Voting is easy - pick your top 3 products by dragging and dropping to rank them in order of priority. Products are listed alphabetically.
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Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.
Poll Rules:
This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It's not sponsored, promoted, or paid for in any way, and DPReview doesn't care how you vote. Our readers' polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.
Prime lenses aren't what they used to be. Today's lenses are bigger and more costly than their SLR-era ancestors, with advanced aspheric optics and exotic lens elements. This year's class of lenses includes primes at classic focal lengths like 35 and 50mm lenses, lenses for APS-C cameras, a healthy selection of third-party options, and more lenses intended for 'hybrid' stills and video use.
We have included lenses that were introduced in previous years if they were made available in new lens mount options in 2024. In these cases, we have specified the lens mount announced this year in parenthesis.
Our editorial team has had its say already in our 2024 DPReview Awards, but which of this year's new prime lenses was your favorite? This is your chance to let us and the industry know.
Polls are now open, see below.
Voting occurs in three categories (cameras, prime and zoom lenses), running through December 21.
Once the vote has closed, we'll run a fourth and final poll drawn from the first three winners to determine the Readers' Choice Product of the Year. Look out for that poll early in 2025.
Voting is easy - pick your top 3 products by dragging and dropping to rank them in order of priority. Products are listed alphabetically.
Poll widget
This widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content.
Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.
Poll Rules:
This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It's not sponsored, promoted, or paid for in any way, and DPReview doesn't care how you vote. Our readers' polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.
Zoom lenses continue to evolve, with manufacturers continuously pushing the limits of what's possible. In 2024, we saw a diverse collection of zooms that include second-generation designs, versatile lenses for travel, and more third-party options.
We have included lenses that were introduced in previous years if they were made available in new lens mount options in 2024. In these cases, we have specified the lens mount announced this year in parenthesis.
Our editorial team has had its say already in our 2024 DPReview Awards, but which of this year's new zoom lenses was your favorite? This is your chance to let us and the industry know.
Polls are now open; see below.
Voting occurs in three categories (cameras, prime and zoom lenses), running through December 21.
Once the vote has closed, we'll run a fourth and final poll drawn from the first three winners to determine the Readers' Choice Product of the Year. Look out for that poll early in 2025.
Voting is easy - pick your top 3 products by dragging and dropping to rank them in order of priority.
Poll widget
This widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content.
Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.
Poll Rules:
This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It's not sponsored, promoted, or paid for in any way, and DPReview doesn't care how you vote. Our readers' polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.
Canon has announced a new 'Cropping Guide' firmware update, which aims to make framing portraits easy and consistent. The feature costs $120 per camera and is available on the EOS R50, R10 and R7.
According to Canon's website, the function includes four guides with built-in borders for standard print sizes. The guides are designed to work whether you're shooting in landscape or portrait and to let you frame both headshots and full-body portraits.
The framing guides are clearly meant for professionals shooting high-throughput portraits; think school photos, sports events, or corporate events where everyone in the company has their picture taken. Driving this point home, Canon's press release mentions that it'll show the feature off at the School Photographers Association of California trade show early next year.
The feature lets you choose between four guidelines, with some offering lines for different-sized heads like you'd find in a school, and others leaving room for pieces of equipments like balls and rackets.
Image: Canon
There is one caveat for anyone looking to add the function to their camera: you have to send your camera to a service center to activate it. That could be a problem if you only have a single camera body, though that's likely not the case for most working photographers. Also, a lot of mass portraiture work happens in cycles; schools and sports leagues all tend to have pictures taken at the same time of year. Canon also sells versions of the EOS R50, R10 and R7 with the feature pre-installed at a $120 markup from the normal models' MSRPs.
Still, it's hard to ignore that Panasonic and Sony sell similar features delivered via an immediate firmware download. There are some other differences, too: Canon's framing guide is only available on its APS-C cameras, while Panasonic and Sony limit their versions to more expensive full-frame cameras like the Lumix S5 II, a7 IV and a9 III.
Panasonic's solution, called Lumix Volume Photography, also goes further than just including frame guides; it also integrates with Opticon scanners, letting you bake a student's information into the photo file for easier sorting. However, it also costs $199, versus Canon's $120 and Sony's $150.
Panasonic's firmware upgrade for volume photographers includes a suite of features meant to make their jobs easier.
Image: Panasonic
There will be people who balk at any mention of paying for new features, and you could argue that it's a slippery slope leading to cameras riddled with microtransactions or subscriptions. Ricoh started selling an $80 software graduated ND filter feature for some of its cameras earlier this year, but surely we don't want that to become the new normal.
On the other hand, this specific function is something that most people buying these cameras will never want or use, so why should they pay for the development work that went into it or have to navigate around it in their menu system? Let the professionals who will almost immediately make the money back in time saved fund it instead of baking it into the price of the camera.
However Canon's regular customers feel about paid functions, the company will likely only pay attention to how the pros respond. As we saw with Sony's a1 II, pricing for professional products is based on how much the market will bear rather than the types of value calculations hobbyists make. If you're a professional who shoots portraits, we'd love to hear from you in the comments. Would you or your company pay for this feature, and would its availability be a big factor in you choosing which camera to buy?
Press Release:
Canon Launches New Cropping Guide for Select EOS Cameras, Empowering Customers to Capture Beautifully Optimized Photos
MELVILLE, NY, December 9, 2024 – Canon Inc., the parent company of Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announced today a new Cropping Guide feature that will be available via a firmware update for the Canon EOS R50, EOS R10 and EOS R7 camera models that allows users to more easily frame their subjects through the use of four tailored on-screen guides. The new feature will be available December 9th from Canon USA for the price of $120 USD. For customers who have previously purchased one of the camera models compatible with the feature, they can send their device to a Canon Service Center and it will be returned with the Cropping Guide feature installed. For those new customers interested in the above mentioned models, the option to purchase them pre-loaded with the feature (for an additional cost) will be available via Canon Direct and other dealers starting December 9th.
The new Cropping Guide feature provides on-screen guidelines that help shooters position subjects with precision, helping to ensure consistent and professional results while saving time on editing. It allows for Canon users to position the frame at the time of capture so that post-production and editing can be kept at a minimum. Lastly, the Cropping Guides can be applied to horizontal or vertical framing scenarios, allowing for a wide range of shooting situations.
Canon will showcase its new offering to visitors to the School Photographers Association of California (SPAC) trade show from January 21-25 in Las Vegas, NV at the South Point Hotel and Casino at Booth #715. This new feature is specifically designed for school photography, sports events, or any scenario in which subjects need to maintain a consistent position.
Availability
Cropping Guide will be available December 9th. For additional information about the software, a list of compatible cameras and how to access the Cropping Guide, please visit here.
DxO released support for the latest camera and lens gear from Fujifilm, Leica, Panasonic, Sony, and more (957 new camera and lens combinations):
Support arrives for the latest gear from Fujifilm, Leica, Panasonic, Sony, and more
With this update, DxO offers modules for 99,163 camera and lens combinations
DxO is delighted to announce that it has released support for 957 new camera and lens combinations, comprising newly released equipment from some of the industry’s biggest manufacturers.
On December’s list is the widely anticipated X-M5, the new creator-oriented camera from Fujifilm. At the other end of the spectrum is the M11-D, Leica’s 60-megapixel M-mount rangefinder camera that has no rear display.
Recently released cameras from Panasonic and Sony complete the selection of cameras, while the lens line-up includes glass from Laowa, Tamron, and Viltrox.
Available from today, these DxO Optics Modules can be found in the following DxO software:
The previously reportedTTArtisan 35mm f/1.8 II autofocus lens is now officially announced. With 179g weight and smaller size, the new lens features 7 groups of 10 elements, including 2 high-refractive elements and 2 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements. The optimized structure reduces size while maintaining image quality. The Fuji X mount version is available now for $125 (Sony E and Nikon Z are coming soon):
The previously reported Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.7 lens will be officially announced on December 18th. The new lens will be part of the Viltrox Air series together with the 56mm f/1.7, 20mm f/2.8, and 40mm f/2.5 lenses:
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There's a lot of gloom surrounding cameras and photography, in the past year or so. The devastating impact of smartphones on mass-market cameras seems to be being followed by a wave of AI-generated images that threaten to wash photography away as a creative form, if you believe those prognosticators with half-empty glasses. And yet it's hard to think of a year in which I've found it so difficult to choose a piece of gear to call out, because so many of them have been so good.
Having chosen Nikon's Z8 last year, the obvious decision this time round would be Canon's EOS R5 II: a camera that's almost unbelievably good at almost anything you might ask of it. The Nikon's Z6III's performance comes with a small footnote, but overall it's also sensationally capable and costs over 40% less.
On the lens side of things, Sony has made a usefully small full-frame F2.8 zoom and Sigma has developed what is essentially a full-frame version of its 18-35mm F1.8, creating the world's first AF F1.8 zoom for full-frame in the process. Then there's Fujifilm: not content with updating probably the best kit lens on the market (albeit with a loss of speed and reach at the long end counteracting the gain of width at the other), it's also replaced its premium standard zoom with a much smaller, lighter optic.
The Fujifilm 16-50mm F2.8 R LM WR II would probably be my choice in any other year. Its lightweight re-imagining meant it was small enough for me to take on a five-day hike across North Wales, and helped me assemble one of the best galleries I think I've ever shot.
"It's just exciting to see anyone introduce an enthusiast compact"
And yet instead of any of these worthy winners, I'm going to choose a camera whose merits come with some appreciable caveats and that I'll spend much of this article appearing to criticize.
Let's get this straight out of the gate: in many respects the Leica D-Lux8 is refresh of a seven year old camera. And its price tag of $1599 lands somewhere between fanciful and absurd.
And yet, in an age when second-hand Panasonic LX3s often attract 40% of their original price on eBay, despite their wonky skin tones, outdated performance and 2008-vintage batteries, it's just exciting to see anyone introduce an enthusiast compact.
The D-Lux8 has a pleasantly photo-focused interface, with shutter speed, aperture and exposure comp dominating the controls. Yet it doesn't quite manage to feel like a zoomable X100.
Photo: Richard Butler
And while the D-Lux8 shares the bulk of its hardware with the LX100 II, it gains one of the most photo-focused user interfaces I've had the good fortune to use in the seventeen years I've been writing about cameras.
It also gains a much less distracting viewfinder, which I also appreciate, and its AF tracking, while not coming close to the standards of modern mirrorless cameras, is also improved.
There's a nagging doubt whenever I've used a recent D-Lux or LX100 of why it doesn't feel even more special, given its dial layout and aperture ring suggests it should feel like a smaller X100, but with a zoom. Personally I think the added lag of waiting for the motor-driven zoom to respond helps to distance your input from the camera's reaction. Or it could just be that the photos don't look as good, thanks to its less sharp lens, deeper minimum depth-of-field and absence of Film Simulation fairy dust.
The D-Lux8's image quality isn't always up to the standard of, say, the Fujifilm X100 series, but its portability means you get photos in situations in which you might not have otherwise brought a camera. But, unlike a phone, makes you feel that you played a part in getting the photo.
Photo: Richard Butler
But the 8's new interface is delightfully shutter speed and aperture focused. There aren't many custom buttons and you don't need a great many: it's a good-looking little camera that focuses your attention on taking photos. And that's something I've really missed.
Maybe there's still time for another blossoming of enthusiast compacts, now they're starting to find an audience, retrospectively. Or maybe I just need to accept that my own preferences don't match those of the wider market.
But even if the D-Lux8 doesn't herald a new Spring for the serious compact, it's not a bad note for the category to go out on. Price aside, it's a lovely little camera.
The previously reported Brightin Star 50mm f/0.95 II manual focus full-frame lens for E/Z/L/RF with glow-in-the-dark focusing and aperture scales was officially announced in China today (check Amazon and Brightin Star website for listings):
In a new interview, Sigma’s CEO Kazuto Yamaki confirmed that the company is working on a new and unique telephoto lens “that has never existed before”. Here is the video (watch at the 27:12 mark):
Here is the full recap of the interview from SonyAddict:
Kazuto Yamaki met frequently with the architect to work on Sigma’s new building
All the furniture came from Arper of Italy because of the tie-in with Ichiro Iwasaki who helped to design all of Sigma’s cameras and lenses
The building has a Scandinavian feel, but that is in line with modern Japanese design
Sigma had a factory in the center of Tokyo that was later moved to the outskirts of Tokyo and as Tokyo grew there wasn’t space for them so they moved to Aizu
The cleanest water tends to be in the mountains and it is necessary for premium optical manufacturing
Made in Japan is important to Kazuto Yamaki because they like to achieve for two reasons. The first is the top quality they can and in Aizu some of the employees are third generation which helps achieve the top quality. The second is that Sigma is still privately owned so even though profit is important they feel they have to take care of their employees. So sigma is about the balance between profits and the employees.
The company was founded in 1961 but moved to Aizu in 1967 when Kazuto Yamaki was born.
Kazuto Yamaki’s family home was on top of the Sigma factory so he grew up in the factory so his life was always with Sigma.
When Kazuto Yamaki was 7 or so they had about 100 employees and his father wanted him to take over the business and told him always to study hard to help take care of the employees and be the best CEO he could be.
Kazuto Yamaki’s father always wished that Sigma would be an innovative company
Sigma has been working hard under Kazuto Yamaki’s leadership for 12 years because he wants to make the best products that he can be proud of. His long-term goal is to make Sigma the most loved and respected brand in the industry.
Picking your camera based on the lenses you want can be very logical because Sigma believes lenses are an important asset that can be used for a long time.
Sigma regularly has product branding meetings to figure out what should be made that Kazuto Yamaki attends.
Normally Kazuto Yamaki gives a lot of ideas based on his discussions with people in the world, but sometimes he comes up with ideas of his own.
Sigma engineers are passionate about photography so they also ask Kazuto Yamaki to design lenses.
Kazuto Yamaki thinks the most innovative thing they made under his leadership is the first 35mm f1.4 Art lens, 75mm f/1.4, and probably the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom lens.
AI may change photography significantly but it is hard to tell
Each photographer has his own style so it is hard for AI to replace
Kazuto Yamaki tries to take his photography seriously as much as possible, especially when he goes abroad.
Kazuto Yamaki likes the design and one of his goals is to make the most beautiful products he can
One of the products that excites Kazuto Yamaki the most is a telephoto lens that has never existed before and will make wildlife and sports photographers happy.
The 10.3MP sensor added to the product page of its industrial equipment and semiconductor business unit is 27.4 x 15.3mm, making it a 1.34x crop, relative to a full-frame stills camera, but in a roughly 16:9 aspect ratio.
Its 4288 x 2398 pixel count is clearly designed for delivering 4K footage. We'd usually expect Canon to have already offered it in a camera, if it planned to, before offering it to external users.
Canon sold a 4K/60 Super35 'GS' global shutter version of its EOS C700 camera, back in 2017, though available specs suggest its sensor was slightly smaller, so presumably wasn't the same as the one now being offered to external companies. Notably, Canon claimed its dynamic range was one stop lower than the progressive scan Super35 chip in the regular C700 model. There's still a chance this new chip will underpin a successor to the C700 GS.
An image of Canon semiconductor's LI7080SA sensor: a progressive scan Super35 sensor that closely resembles its global shutter cousin.
Image: Canon
At present, we're not aware of any other consumer camera maker using Canon sensors. Specialist industrial / security camera makers such as Illunis have used its sensors to make high-speed and high-resolution cameras for applications such as aerial photography and machine vision applications, but we've not seen its 120MP or 250MP APS-H chips in consumer cameras, including those from Canon itself.
Canon's semiconductor business also offers a "full-frame" global shutter sensor. Again this has a roughly 16:9 aspect ratio and proposed uses include microscopy, factory automation and traffic surveillance. This sensor has been available since early 2023.
Canon announced a new 10.3MP Super35mm 4K GS CMOS sensor (LI5070SA) with a global shutter designed for cinema applications (4K60fps, maximum frame rate is 12bit 60fps). Additional information can be found here and here:
The ThinkTank Retrospective 30 V2 is not a new product by any means, but it's new to me. Earlier this year, I went looking for a camera bag to replace the one I had since high school and landed on the Retrospective 30; the largest option in ThinkTank's well-known lineup of canvas shoulder camera bags.
While anyone can make a messenger bag with a few dividers and call it a day, it feels like this bag was really designed and refined by and for photographers. All its velcro flaps can be covered or tucked away to silence them if you don't want to draw attention to yourself while shooting on the street or at an event like a wedding. The top can be zippered closed for maximum protection or left open to let you quickly access gear, and it has what I think is just the right ratio of open space to built-in organization.
Some of the velcro patches have covers to keep you from ruining a quiet moment by ripping them open.
Photo: Mitchell Clark
There are also subtle touches that I've found really useful: one of the front pockets has a bright red fabric loop that I clip my keys to so I always know where they are, the water bottle pocket can be cinched tight when you're not using it and there are plenty of places to hook carabiners onto if I need to hang additional gear on the outside of the bag.
I also just like how it looks. The olive green fabric matches the antique-looking metal hardware well.
My favorite thing about this bag, though, is that it's monstrous. It's the station wagon – nay, Honda Odyssey – of messenger-style camera bags. I've used it to carry two camera bodies, a few lenses, a 14-inch MacBook Pro, an iPad, and a bunch of other bits and bobs like a notebook, an army of SD cards, a Clif bar or two, power adapters and rain jacket. Is that a sign of overpacking? Perhaps, but it's part of the job; I'm frequently testing out one camera for a review and using another to shoot a sample gallery of some variety.
It may look like there are three lensed cameras in here – a Nikon Z8, Canon EOS R7 and Panasonic S9 – but there are actually four; a Fujifilm X-M5 is hiding out in a compartment under the Z8's grip.
Photo: Mitchell Clark
Even when my camera load isn't as heavy, I've found the Retrospective 30 useful as a commuter. I live in Spokane, Washington, but travel to DPReview's offices in Seattle relatively frequently. Because I keep my entire photographic life in it – my SD cards, various cables, white balance cards and rolling shutter tester – I can just pick it up and go without having to run around making sure everything I'll need for the next week is packed.
I took a bit of a chance buying this bag: DPReview was sending me to Japan as a freelancer to cover what ended up being the Panasonic S9 announcement, and I knew the Lowepro bag I'd gotten with my first camera in high school was on its very last legs. I hoped to turn reviewing cameras into my full-time job, but I wasn't 100% sure I was cut out for it.
Me, very tired, returning home from Japan.
Photo: Mitchell Clark
If it turned out I wasn't, the 30 would be way larger than I'd ever need; my personal camera consists of a Fujifilm X-T3 and two lenses, which would get absolutely swallowed by this bag. But if I did end up at DPReview, I worried that a smaller bag might not be able to carry all the gear I assumed I'd be carting around.
I was also concerned about the price at the time: at $240, it's far from the spendiest bag out there, but I still didn't feel great telling my wife that I wanted to spend that much on anything when I'd been largely unemployed for the last year – I'd quit my job as a news writer at The Verge in April 2023 to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I spent some time working at a ski shop after I got back and did various odd jobs, but it'd been a long time since I'd meaningfully contributed to our household's budget.
But I went for it anyway; the prospect of going on a press trip and juggling cameras in a backpack that's not at all designed for them seemed like a nightmare. And obviously, it worked out: I'm working at DPReview now, and am reminded pretty much every day that it was a good idea to get something with this much capacity.
Despite its carrying capacity, the Retrospective 30 is a reasonable size to carry around on a photo walk.
Photo: Mitchell Clark
Of course, I have a few nitpicks. No bag is perfect, which is why the market for them is nearly infinite. I haven't figured out a graceful way to attach a tripod to it, even one as small as the Peak Design Travel model, the main zipper can be a bit hard to start closing if it's all the way open, and I needed a tutorial video to figure out how to use the included rain cover. I'd rather the bag's top flap was made out of waterproof material, though the canvas alone has been enough to protect my gear through short walks in light rain – phew!
The bag can also rub a bit uncomfortably on my hip when it's fully loaded, but I suspect that's more of a limitation with the messenger bag form factor as a whole. Realistically, if you're carrying over 7kg (15+lbs) of gear, you should be doing it on your back, not slung over one shoulder.
Despite my complaints, I still love this bag, and I suspect I'll continue using it for years to come. The same's true for the job, by the way – and if I'm lucky enough for that to happen, I'll have the Retrospective 30 as a reminder of where it all began.
Capture the Atlas has announced the winners of its 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year awards in the seventh edition of its annual photo contest.
This year was an exciting year for aurora photography – both the aurora borealis and the aurora australis – as we close in on the solar maximum of the current solar cycle. Throughout 2024, increased solar activity has resulted in aurora being visible further away from the poles than in recent years, which can be seen among the winners.
This year, the competition awarded 25 photos from photographers representing 15 nationalities. We've picked our ten favorite images from the set to share here.
Want to be ready to photograph the aurora if it suddenly becomes visible in your area? Read our article on how to photograph the northern lights to learn how.
Carpe Diem: Adrian Cormier
Photographer: Adrian Cormier
Location: Crater Lake National Park, USA
Caption: May 10, 2024, began like any other new moon cycle for me. I was shooting at one of my favorite spots along the Sonoma coastline. Around 2:30 a.m., I was surprised to feel my phone buzz with a notification, as my location had sporadic cell coverage. The alert was one I never expected—and will never forget! A fellow Sony Alpha photographer, who was in Nepal at the time, messaged me: “Get as far north as you can by sunset, it’s going down tonight!” A historic geomagnetic storm, possibly peaking at G5, was predicted.
I immediately drove home to grab my Atlas pack full of cold weather gear. My gut told me to head to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Shortly into the drive, I learned the CLNP Rim Road was completely closed due to 7 feet of recent snowfall. Fortunately, I was prepared for deep snow conditions and pressed on.
Confident and armed with snowshoes, I settled on a spot along the South Rim, east of the Crater Lake Lodge, which was closed due to the extreme snow levels. My image, “Carpe Diem,” reflects the magnificent display of geomagnetic energy that weekend, set against the iconic and unforgettable alpine landscape.
Copyright Adrian Cormier
Looking North: Lynsey Schroeder
Photographer: Lynsey Schroeder
Location: Arizona, USA
Caption: It’s not every day that the Northern Lights make it as far south as Southern Arizona! I’ve been captivated by the aurora ever since I first saw it in Iceland in 2018, so when I heard there was a chance to witness it here, I didn’t hesitate to grab my gear and head into the desert with a couple of friends.
My expectations were low, but the show completely exceeded them! As soon as we stepped out of the car, we could clearly see a pink glow on the horizon, occasionally pulsing with shimmering pillars as the night went on. I achieved a photography goal I never imagined I’d accomplish: capturing the aurora shining over the beautiful saguaros of the Sonoran Desert.
Copyright Lynsey Schroeder
In the Rays of the Solar Wind: Sergey Korolev
Photographer: Sergey Korolev
Location: Rybachy Peninsula, Russia
Caption: After a melt, we had a flash freeze with extremely cold temperatures and a clear blue sky. I was driving by a ditch on the side of a road that had been filled with water and had to stop and look (as we photographers do, can’t pass a ditch without investigating). This is what I found. Great textures and patterns, tones and flow, with lovely graphic lines creating a dynamic, abstract designs. I love this type of work – it’s so much fun, yet challenging to find just the right composition.
Copyright Sergey Korolev
Magic of the North: Josh Beames
Photographer: Josh Beames
Location: Iceland
Caption: I’ve dreamed of capturing this shot for years, and this year, everything aligned perfectly! During my annual Iceland workshop, our group witnessed the sheer power of nature as Iceland’s most recent active volcano erupted just days before.
After spending hours shooting and soaking in the incredible scene, we started to wrap up and head back to the car. Then, to our amazement, the Northern Lights began dancing across the sky! I quickly launched the drone, sending it on a mission to capture this wild spectacle.
Navigating through the wind, heat, and low visibility surrounding the volcano, I managed to capture a vertical panorama just as the volcanic smoke and ash shifted to the side. Moments later, the dreaded battery warning sounded, and I began the tense journey back. By this point, the wind had really picked up, and I honestly thought the drone was a goner… but with only 1% battery left, it somehow limped back to safety!
Copyright Josh Beames
Devil's Lights: Forest Barkdoll-Weil
Photographer: Forest Barkdoll-Weil
Location: Wyoming, USA
Caption: May 10, 2024: Aurora forecasts promised an incredible display, so I drove to Devils Tower, Wyoming, to witness the event. The solar storm delivered, reaching a historic KP9, with auroras visible worldwide. As the vibrant lights danced overhead, my father was undergoing emergency surgery two thousand miles away in Maine. It was a surreal night—awed by the celestial beauty above, yet grappling with worry for my dad.
The aurora offered a strange sense of comfort amidst the turmoil, grounding me in the moment as I captured this incredible phenomenon. My father, a photographer for over 50 years and the person who introduced me to this art, thankfully survived surgery and recovered after several days in the ICU. Although he missed this display, six months later, on October 10, we shared an even stronger solar storm together as a family—a memory I’ll always treasure.
Copyright Forest Barkdoll-Weil
Coronal Mass Eruption: Matt Haynie
Photographer: Matt Haynie
Location: California, USA
Caption: After finally capturing the elusive Northern Lights in mid-latitudes on May 10th, 2024, I was hooked. I realized there was more to predicting the aurora’s appearance than just relying on the KP forecast, so I learned how to read the charts that determine when the lights can reach mid-latitudes.
This photo is from the sixth time I’ve had the opportunity to capture them since that unforgettable night. Lassen Volcanic National Park, in Northern California, was the best option, as smoke and clouds threatened to obscure views in most nearby locations. I stayed on top of a ridge until 3 a.m., enduring frigid winds that cut through my layers, but witnessing two significant substorms made all the discomfort worthwhile.
Copyright Matt Haynie
Paddling Under the Aurora: Herry Himanshu
Photographer: Herry Himanshu
Location: Banff National Park, Canada
Caption: I live in Saskatchewan, Canada, so I’ve seen and captured the aurora hundreds of times before, but that night in Banff National Park, Alberta, was unlike any other.
As luck would have it, I was in Banff for a wedding that weekend when massive CMEs were predicted to hit Earth directly. As soon as it got dark, the aurora came out swinging, with vivid hues of reds, pinks, and purples dancing across the sky.
I had three camera setups running timelapses in different directions, but even that wasn’t enough. One brave friend took a standup paddleboard out on the lake and modeled for us beneath the insane light show. She was the perfect complement to the aurora and the mountainous landscape.
We were all in pure disbelief at the colors and patterns unfolding above us. Those shared moments of joy are what I’ll remember forever. I stayed up all night, driving hundreds of kilometers through Banff to iconic spots, capturing some of my best photos and timelapses ever.
Copyright Herry Himanshu
Cosmic Explosion: Uroš Fink
Photographer: Uroš Fink
Location: Istria, Croatia
Caption: On the night of the Perseid meteor shower, I was treated to a “multi-course menu” of the night sky. I captured the Milky Way arch with Orion, the Aurora (a first for me), the Zodiacal light, and the Perseid meteors. As if that wasn’t enough, the sky gifted me with one of the most stunning greenish airglows I’ve ever seen. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the close conjunction of Jupiter and Mars, right along the path of the Zodiacal light.
In the center of the panorama is the Cap Marlera lighthouse, built in 1880 at the southeastern tip of the Istrian Peninsula. The rugged coastline, at the entrance to Kvarner, attracts fish and dolphins. This area is also home to the Mediterranean bear, though I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting one.
Meteors rained down throughout the night, and I captured 75 of them using three cameras. I used the RegiStar software to seamlessly insert the meteors to the panorama in the exactly same spots as they appeared in the sky this night. It was an extraordinary, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime event, and I’m grateful and happy to have been part of it.
Copyright Uroš Fink
Aurora Australis: Marc Adamus
Photographer: Marc Adamus
Location: Patagonia Fjords, Chile
Caption: I’m not sure if an aurora had ever been recorded in Patagonia before, but we got incredibly lucky on the night of May 10, 2024, when a G5 storm hit. We were camped on an iceberg beach, deep in the wilderness of the Patagonia Fjords, when the incredible display unfolded.
Copyright Marc Adamus
28° Aurora: Efrén Yanes
Photographer: Efrén Yanes
Location: Tenerife, Spain
Caption: The night of May 10th was one of the most unforgettable moments since I became a photographer. I went to Teide National Park in Tenerife with the intention of capturing a circumpolar shot with the endemic tajines in bloom. After setting up my camera and finding the perfect composition, I hit the shutter. To my surprise, the camera screen showed a strange red color on the horizon. It wasn’t light pollution, but something I had never seen before.
Suddenly, I remembered hearing about a recent large-magnitude solar storm and the possibility of Northern Lights at lower latitudes. My heart raced as I scrolled through social media and saw others sharing photos of the Aurora from the Iberian Peninsula. I realized I was witnessing this extraordinary event from the Canary Islands. It was a magical experience that happened entirely by chance, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been a part of it.
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Sample gallery
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When Nikon announced its Nikkor 50mm F1.4 lens earlier this year, the company implied that it and its 35mm sibling prioritized character over absolute sharpness, unlike Nikon's 'S' series lenses.
To get a sense of what that means, we've shot a sample gallery with it, including a few series of images that illustrate its vignetting and longitudinal chromatic aberration performance at different apertures.
This isn't a lens review by any means, but it's clear that wide open, the 50mm F1.4 has a lot of vignetting and longitudinal chromatic aberration. Whether that's a good or a bad thing likely depends on whether you view those as character or flaws. However, its price is less subjective: the 50mm F1.4 retails for $496, around $130 less than Nikon's slower 50mm F1.8 S model.
If you want to see how it compares to Nikon's 50mm F1.4 from the DSLR age, we've done a comparison article, which you can read here.
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