Tamron has announced its second quarter financial results for 2026, reiterating its goal of releasing ten new own-branded lens models this year. While the promise isn’t new, the company bringing it back up to investors is a chance to measure its progress towards that goal.

By Tamron’s math, it has released six new models already this year. That decidedly doesn’t mean six new lenses, though: it means two versions of the 35-100mm F2.8 (one for E-mount, one for Z-mount), bringing the 17-70mm F2.8 from 2021 to Canon RF and Nikon Z mount, and releasing the new 12-20mm F2.8 for both Sony and Nikon.

Tamron

While Tamron hitting its goal of releasing 10 models this year theoretically means it has four more models to go, that’s unlikely to mean that we’ll see that many new optical designs. Indeed, the company can hit that goal without any new optical designs, as it still makes plenty of lenses that are currently only available on E-mount that it could bring to other platforms.

Still, it’s clear the company is becoming more ambitious with its releases. The chart in its financial statement says that from 2023 to 2025, its goal was six to seven models launched per year; before that, it was five new models.

Mitchell Clark

Part of the strategy to increase releases likely involves a shift away from only releasing new lenses on E-mount. When we interviewed the company at the CP+ trade show earlier this year, Kei Nagai, the section manager of Tamron’s Overseas Sales Department, told us the company was “moving toward simultaneous multi-mount launches.” He also said Tamron would “take a holistic view of the entire market and existing lineups to carefully determine which spec and mounts to prioritize.”

At the same time, the company’s future is more in question now than ever. Last week, Tamron announced that Sony had made an offer to acquire it, and said it had set up a special committee to evaluate that offer. If that deal goes through, it’s unclear how it would affect that strategy, or the company’s goals.

One thing is sure, though: with the promise of more releases and a potential resolution to the Sony story, the next few months are shaping up to be very interesting for Tamron.

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Editor’s note: We originally ran this story in conjunction with the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 . We’ve updated and republished it ahead of the solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 .

Essentially, it’s the ultimate photo challenge. On April 8th, photographers across the continental United States – and especially photographers within the band of totality stretching from Texas to Maine – will have no more than a few minutes to get the shot of a lifetime when the moon passes in front of the sun, and a large swath of North America will be treated to a total eclipse.

And if you ask anybody who knows anything about astronomy, it is a huge deal. Dr. Tyler Nordgren is such a man. He’s a professor of physics and astronomy, an award-winning photographer and a self-described Night Sky Ambassador. Here’s what he had to say about the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017:

“Half the people that are alive right now weren’t even alive the last time something like this was visible from the continental US. Secondly, there are 12 million people just living in the path of totality that are going to get the chance to see it, so it will be the most-viewed total solar eclipse probably in history. The most seen, most photographed, most shared, most tweeted – potentially the most people in total are going to be able to experience this in one form or another.”

But unless you’re a seasoned landscape photographer or astrophotographer, Dr. Nordgren thinks you might be better off not photographing it at all and just enjoying the view. He quotes Warren De la Rue, a pioneer of astrophotography and the first person to photograph a total eclipse. “He wrote in his journal afterward that if he ever got the chance to see another one, he hoped to be able to see it without any equipment at all.”

In short, “See your first eclipse, photograph your second.” But if you’re unconvinced, Dr. Nordgren does have some advice.

How to prepare to photograph the eclipse

Preparation is key. Time is of the essence. Of course, you’ll want a tripod and a cable release to lock everything down and minimize shake.

“If you really must photograph this, you’re going to want to practice a whole bunch of techniques in the weeks leading up so it’s as second nature as absolutely possible during those precious seconds.”

Protecting your eyesight and your gear is equally important. It’s only safe to point your eyes or your camera sensor directly at the sun during totality. Just seconds before or after, and you’re risking serious damage. He suggests a pair of solar eclipse glasses and a filter for your lens. Per NASA, your glasses should meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard.

Be sure to use both during partial phases of the eclipse – you risk damaging your eyesight, not to mention your camera, with just a pair of glasses and an unfiltered lens. Crucially, don’t forget to take off the filter during totality. You’ll be extremely disappointed with the results if you don’t.

For more details, MPB posted a useful article detailing some specific settings to dial in.

What lens to use to photograph the eclipse

What kind of lens should you use? Well, not surprisingly, it all depends on what you’re going for. If you want the sun as your main subject, you’ll obviously want a longer lens. “To really capture big detail in the corona and the object itself, you’ll want a lens with a focal length of around 500mm; between 400 and 600mm at least.”

But don’t forget that a total eclipse also presents a unique landscape photo opportunity. If you’d rather capture the eerie effect on the scene, a wider lens will produce excellent results too. It’s all a matter of personal preference.

No matter what kind of shot you’re going for, you can size things up ahead of time by photographing a full moon.

“Something to keep in mind is that during totality, the sun turns black and is surrounded by this ghostly corona, so the spectacle of the object itself is this black disk with this white glow around it. That black disk is the size of the full moon, so take whatever your camera equipment is, take whatever your lens is and go out and photograph the next full moon. See if whatever size dot that appears. If that’s interesting to you, then great – that’s the lens to use.”

Should you go to the path of the totality?

In a word: yes.

If you’re set on photographing the eclipse and have the safety and gear requirements nailed down, all that’s left to do is get yourself into the path of totality for the big moment. Easy enough, right? Well, unless you’re lucky enough to live there, or you started planning your eclipse vacation years ago, chances are only getting slimmer that you’ll be able to find accommodations. Your best bet is to find what you can within a reasonable driving distance and set out as early as possible.

Ideally, you also want to aim for somewhere that’s less likely to have cloud cover. Dr. Nordgren knows all too well what a cloudy eclipse view looks like.

“If you’re going to do the close-up photograph, you could be almost anywhere, provided you’ve got clear skies. But I’ve also seen some really spectacular photos of totality through wispy clouds that give this dramatic view as well… just as long as you’re within that path of totality and the cloud cover is not so total that you’re utterly blacked out. And I’ve had that happen.”

If you’re hoping to get a wider shot, then great news: this eclipse will cross much of the continental US. Provided you can get there, you can pretty much take your pick of landscapes. “What do you find compelling?”

Whether or not you can get to the path of totality, and whether or not you choose to photograph the event, you’ll still be treated to an amazing array of photos and videos from photographers across the US. And unless you’re dead set on photographing it, consider leaving the camera at home.

“If you haven’t seen a total solar eclipse, I encourage you, don’t waste your time photographing it. Chances are, somebody else will get a better photo. But if you are that kind of expert photographer, practice so that you can set your camera up and let it do its thing with as little input as possible.” In the very best-case scenario, you’ll get a couple of minutes.

“That is not a lot of time to see what I think is the most awe-inspiring, unnatural, natural experience in nature.”

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Last month, we saw the release of two new point-and-shoot film cameras, a Lomography half-frame camera and the Kodak EC35, both offering minimal features at wallet-friendly prices. Despite their simplicity, Kosmo Foto’s Stephen Dowling argues in a recent opinion piece that they’re a positive sign for the future of film photography.

Lomography’s Half-frame Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera (a mouthful of a name), came first. As it says on the tin, it produces half-frame images, doubling the photos you get from a single roll in a vertical format that plays well with social media. While it looks and functions like a disposable camera, it’s fully reusable. It comes preloaded with a roll, but once that’s exposed, you can rewind, remove it, and load any 35mm film you like. And even with that roll of film included, it only costs $30 with black and white and $35 with color.

Reto

The second camera, the EC35, comes from Kodak licensee Reto. Visually, it’s a bit of a step up, bringing back the sliding cover found on highly sought-after (and expensive) models like the Contax T3 and Olympus Mju-II. Functionally, it’s much the same as Lomography’s: fixed focus, fixed exposure, a plastic lens and a built-in flash. It’s available for $35, though it doesn’t come with a roll of film.

These aren’t the only affordable, basic compact film cameras we’ve seen in recent years, many of which look quite similar, even. That may leave some wondering why Lomography and Reto have thrown more hats into the ring. Dowling walks through what may have led each brand to these cameras, including their desire to reach young photographers drawn to retro aesthetics.

Lomography

Dowling also notes that while these cameras are clearly geared toward beginners and casual users, and don’t offer anything truly new, they’re still a good sign for film photography as a whole. After all, two well-established brands are confident enough in film demand to launch new cameras. I recently wrote about a similar trend on the film side, where slightly tweaked film stocks have been hitting the market with increasing frequency, which is another encouraging sign that manufacturers still see room for growth in film.

Dowling’s piece delves further into the nuances of these cameras and what may have led to their creation. If you’re interested in the state of film photography right now, especially how brands are thinking about new, younger shooters, it’s well worth a read over at Kosmo Foto.

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The Japanese Patent Office has declared one of Red’s key Raw video patents as invalid, following a challenge by Panasonic.

The court determined that many of the claims made in the patent, first filed in the US in 2008, would have been obvious to someone skilled in the subject area and familiar with existing developments.

The news, first reported by Thom Hogan, put Nikon’s video subsidiary in the position of trying to defend a patent that Nikon had previously argued was invalid.

The patent itself describes a high-resolution video camera that compresses its Raw data, and appears to correspond to the patent at the center of historic claims against Sony and Apple and the almost inevitable counter-suits from those companies. We reported on many of these challenges, as well as Nikon’s, over the years. 

Nikon famously resolved the dispute by buying the company. Some of Red’s cinema camera and Raw knowledge has subsequently been applied to recent Nikon models.

It’s difficult to know what the impact the rejection of this patent will be, given Canon, Panasonic, Sony and Blackmagic Design all now produce cameras with internal Raw video capture. One possibility the abolition of the license fees reportedly due to Red from users of Apple’s ProRes RAW codec. But given Red went from being privately held to being absorbed into Nikon, it’s difficult to get a sense for how significant these might be. And, of course, we shouldn’t assume even a minor cost reduction would necessarily get passed on to consumers.

Flashback, the company behind a digital camera built to replicate the disposable film camera experience, is advertising a “dream job” for a lucky content creator or photographer. The winner will spend up to six months in Hong Kong, fully paid, shooting content for the brand.

Flashback makes the One35 V2, a 13MP digital camera engineered to feel like a single-use film camera: it’s screenless, with a mechanical winding dial to advance frames, an optical viewfinder and a Xenon flash. Shots are capped at a 27-frame ‘roll’, after which images transfer to a companion app for ‘developing’ (with an optional 24-hour wait, a nod to dropping film at the lab).

Flashback

The company relocated its operations to Hong Kong to stay close to its Shenzhen production facility, so the city isn’t just a backdrop here; it’s central to the brand right now. The winner will be expected to produce photo and video content featuring the city.

Unlike most jobs, there’s no lengthy application process. The company simply asks for a one-minute video introducing yourself and explaining why you want the job, examples of content you’ve created and a link to your portfolio if you have one. Flashback hasn’t disclosed the compensation beyond describing the role as fully paid.

If that pitch sounds familiar, it should. Icelandair ran a similar campaign earlier this year, also built around a 60-second audition video, except it was hunting for the world’s worst photographer, on the theory that Iceland is beautiful enough to survive anyone’s bad photography skills. That one drew 127,642 entries from 178 countries, and the winner, Blanche Mortemard, walked away with a 10-day trip and $50,000.

If you shoot with any retro-inspired compact – Flashback’s or otherwise – love travel and want to get paid to document a city for six months, this could be your chance.

How to apply

Applications can be submitted through Flashback’s online form. The company hasn’t announced a deadline, so it’s probably better to apply sooner rather than later.

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Nikon has released firmware updates for two of its six-year-old DSLRs: the D6 and the D780, as discovered by Nikon Rumors. While the fixes included in them are relatively minor, it’s impressive to see last-generation models getting some love, and it speaks to how Nikon has become an exemplar of improving its cameras through software.

According to the release notes, firmware version 1.71 for the D6 fixes an issue where photos taken with older D-type lenses would “sometimes be underexposed,” as well as one where using the recall shooting feature to quickly change settings could limit your shutter speed if you were also using Auto FP High-Speed Sync. Firmware version 1.21 for the D780, meanwhile, solves an issue where the camera could underexpose images if you were zooming in while shooting a high-speed continuous burst. Both firmware updates are available to download via the company’s website.

Nikon also released a firmware update for a much newer camera, the Z50II, though its changelog makes the updates to the D6 and D780 look like complete overhauls in comparison; it basically just changes the names of some menu items in Chinese.

While all of these are minor updates, they’re illustrative of Nikon’s commitment to software updates. Ask a camera enthusiast about post-release software support, and you’ll probably hear about Fujifilm and Kaizen, but it’s worth realizing that other companies like Nikon and Panasonic have caught on. In recent years, the company has released software updates that substantially improve the capabilities of its cameras be that the addition of bird detection mode to the Z6III, a new film grain mode and support for its Imaging Cloud service to the Zf or the ability to use shutter angle in video on the Z8.

This isn’t to say that Nikon has done things perfectly. It’s easy to find complaints about how some features take longer to come to some cameras than others, when it seems like the models should be on par with each other. And  the company has, on occasion, broken things with its updates. (Its still-unfixed Content Credentials implementation for the Z6III and issues with updating cameras with third-party lenses – even licensed ones – attached come to mind.) And while these issues may stem from the practical realities of software engineering and how many resources Nikon can put into it, that doesn’t change the fact that those issues don’t make for a great user experience.

Still, it’s commendable that Nikon is continuing to support older cameras and improve its existing models. I’m sure most Nikon users would rather it continue along that path with the occasional misstep, rather than it not bother with updates at all. Now we just need that update it promised for the ZR.

Meet Gordon Pritchard

Home base: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Community member Gordon Pritchard preaches simplisticity quite like no one else we’ve spotlighted before. With only a single camera and a simple bag to carry it in case of rain, and by using a digital darkroom, he’s managed to capture some amazing shots of alien-looking landscapes and beautiful wildlife around the world, while developing a career as a commercial graphic artist.

“I’ve been involved in the arts for as long as I can remember, but my love of photography started in my mid-teens when, as a summer job, I did photo retouching at a commercial printshop. Sixty-two years later, I’m still at it.”

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

How did you get started as a photographer and commercial artist?

Gordon Pritchard

“When I worked as a commercial artist, I designed the ads and related materials that launched the IKEA brand in North America and did advertising for Peterbilt trucks and Bushnell optics. I also taught design, illustration and photography at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts school of art and design.”

Based on Gordon’s commercial artist work and related to the lead image in this article, Gordon has spent decades crafting his art, which sometimes merges his photography with other images. Many of the images he’s created are a combination of original photography, a mix of careful composites and various other techniques that give you a unique look that fits his vision for the mood of the scene.

“Starting in 1996, I was the quality in print manager at Creo, the largest graphic arts software and hardware manufacturer at that time. During that time, I was also involved in developing FM screening technology that enables magazines to reproduce images with photographic detail fidelity. The company was then acquired and is now operated by Kodak.”

What’s in Gordon’s bag

Gordon Pritchard

My favorite cameras(s): Nikon P950 and Sony SLT-A77 II

“Gear-wise, I like to keep things simple, so I use the all-in-one approach. My Nikon P950 with its built-in 24-2000mm equiv. range or my Sony SLT-A77 II with a Tamron 16-300mm zoom. It has become my favorite all-in-one. It has expanded my range of photo opportunities as well as my post-processing skills.”

My camera “bag”: “My camera bag is a light film grocery bag – the kind used for vegetables – just in case it rains. It’s very lightweight and fits in my pocket. Simplistic, but it works.”

My favorite accessories: “I always have a clear lens filter mounted to protect the front element – never had an image quality issue as a result. In my kit, I also have a +2 close-up lens (to allow for close-ups at distance), a polarizer filter (to deal with reflections or act as a mild ND filter), and a Neutral Density 8 (for blurring motion).”

“I might have a pocket multi-tool and lens wipe cloth with me. I keep a tripod in my car – just in case. Again, I try to keep things as simple as possible so as not to interfere with my photo taking.”

What do you like to shoot?

Gordon Pritchard

“I’m a retired commercial artist, so I’m drawn to any subject that appeals from an artistic or technical point of view, from micro to macro subjects. Currently, I’m focusing on the birds I see during my daily morning neighborhood walks. In the past, I did editorial photography for magazines, advertising, and personal pleasure. I’ve also taught photography part-time at the college level.”

“Because I can fine-tune the light, I use my bathroom as a studio for tabletop subjects like my toy and macro photography. Mostly, though, I photograph outdoors.”

Is photography art?

Gordon Pritchard

“I approach photography from an artist’s point of view – so I’m most interested in how light plays with the subject, tonal contrast, composition, and color rather than the subject itself. I played with those elements back in the old analog darkroom days, but the digital darkroom has totally expanded my ability to render images to interpret the subject rather than record it.”

“I was fortunate in that my work has taken me across North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. From a landscape photography point of view, I particularly love the alien-looking rock formations of the U.S. southwest as found in places like Valley of Fire, Nevada.”

Take a moment to visualize the scene

Gordon Pritchard

“I always try to visualize the final image before I take the shot. That might result in returning to a scene at a different time of day or even year. Have an idea in mind as to why you are taking the photo – what made you decide to aim the camera and take a shot? Are you interpreting the scene or recording it?”

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

You can check out Gordon’s other work on flickr.com.

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

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Adobe has rolled out updates across Lightroom Classic (15.5), Lightroom Desktop (9.5) and Lightroom Mobile (11.5), bringing long‑requested tools like Generative Expand and improved masking controls. The August releases aim to let photographers do more without leaving the Lightroom ecosystem.

Generative Expand and Render to DNG

On Lightroom Desktop and Mobile, the headline feature is Generative Expand, which Adobe first rolled out in Photoshop in mid-2023. The tool uses generative AI to extend a photo beyond its original borders, filling transparent areas created by perspective adjustments or making room for new aspect ratios without leaving blank edges. Generative Expand is still not available in Lightroom Classic, however.

Lightroom Classic 15.5 and Desktop 9.5 also introduce a Render to DNG command in the right‑click menu, which creates a new DNG file with your current edits baked in. It’s important to note that under the hood, it’s closer to a compressed TIFF, so you lose the ability to pull extra highlight or shadow detail from the original sensor data. The feature is mainly aimed at generative workflows and for flattening complex edit stacks. For example, you can refine a crop, render that version to DNG, then use Generative Expand to grow the frame around your new composition, all without sending the image out to Photoshop.

Smarter masking and catalog resilience

Both Lightroom Classic and Desktop also gain long-requested Feather and Edge sliders for AI masks. These sliders give photographers finer control over transition softness and edge precision when using Subject, Background or Object masks. Classic also adds in‑app lrcat‑data repair, allowing the software to detect and fix corruption in the catalog’s AI data store on startup. It’s an unglamorous but important safeguard when catalogs live on synced drives or tethered workflows run hard day after day.

Mobile gets serious AI and video tools

As mentioned, Lightroom Mobile’s August release brings Generative Expand to phones and tablets, but that’s not the only update. It also adds AI Denoise to iOS devices for cleaner high‑ISO files on Apple mobile devices. Plus, Adobe’s Animate feature, which turns a photo into a short video clip, now runs on Google’s Veo 3.1 Lite model, promising faster, more efficient photo‑to‑video clips.

On both iOS and Android devices, Adobe improved handling of masks with edge refinement created on the Desktop, so edits travel more reliably between devices. Mobile also gains natural‑language search, promising to make searching for images faster. On Android devices, justified grid and collapsible segments come to Gallery view, and both platforms pick up additional camera and lens profiles. Overall, these changes nudge the phone and tablet apps closer to full Lightroom clients rather than simple companions.

Quality‑of‑life upgrades for Classic

For Classic users, the August update also allows you to adjust the photo opacity when viewing cropped-out areas, for more precise cropping. Plus, Adobe has expanded GoPro, Laowa and Sigma lens support, improved Canon tether reliability via updated PTP support and added numerous other UI and performance fixes across both Classic and Desktop. Most of these are incremental changes, but the kind that can add up when you’re culling thousands of files or relying on Lightroom as the backbone of a studio catalog.

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Viltrox is making it easier for owners of Fujifilm cameras with silver bodies to accessories. The company has announced “the silver trio” of lenses: the AF 9mm F2.8 Air, AF 15mm F1.7 Air and AF 25mm F1.7 Air for X mount, which you can now get with a coat of silver, rather than black, paint.

Apart from the different coloring, the lenses are the same as the black versions that the company released throughout last year. However, those undeniably looked like many other Viltrox lenses, which themselves have similar styling to the lenses released by other third-party manufacturers. The silver versions might stand out just that bit more, and should better match the myriad cameras that Fujifilm makes in a similar finish. It’s easy to imagine these being mounted to an X-M5, or an X-T30 III.

Despite the “silver trio” name, these lenses join another two X-mount lenses that Viltrox was also producing in silver: the AF 35mm F1.7 Air and the AF 56mm F1.7 Air. 

Of course, there will be those who prefer the black versions, and some people will scoff at the idea that anyone cares about what color their lens or camera body is, and whether those things match. There will also be those that wish the emulation of Fujifilm’s style wasn’t just skin deep, and that the lenses would include things like aperture rings, which both drastically change the aesthetic, as well as the experience of using them.

But whether it makes sense to the function over form crowd, many photographers clearly care about the color and decoration of their gear, as evidenced by the fact that Fujifilm itself sometimes sees fit to create silver versions of its lenses to sit alongside the black ones, and the frequency with which companies like Leica produce equipment in new colors. It’s nice to see a company providing these options on some of its budget-oriented gear as well; the prices vary depending on which lens you’re looking at, but they all come in under the $250 mark.

The silver versions of the lenses are available now from Viltrox’s website, at the same prices of their black counterparts. Humorously, the versions of the lenses for Sony E and Nikon Z mount are still only available in black for the time being (though neither company is as prolific as Fujifilm when it comes to releasing silver cameras).

7Artisans is making its tiny, lightweight 40mm F2.5 lens available to more shooters. The $159 full-frame option launched for Sony E-mount earlier this year after its announcement at CP+, but is now available Nikon Z mount and L mount.

The lens is the same one we saw at the trade show in February. It has a clicking aperture ring, tiny function button, 46mm filter ring and a manual focus ring, as well as a switch to go between manual and auto focus modes. The latter is provided by a stepper motor, and the lens can focus as close as 0.4m (15.7″). Despite this list of features, which is about as complete as you could hope for a compact prime lens, it only comes in at around 90g (3.2oz).

Optically, the lens consists of 7 elements in 6 groups, with one aspheric lens and three high refractive index elements. It has a 9-bladed aperture. 

Zorta / 7artisans

When the lens was announced in February, options for small, lightweight lenses were relatively thin on the ground for Z and L mount users. However, there have since been a few new options released: Panasonic announced its compact 40mm F2, and Viltrox has come out with a tiny 26mm F2.8 pancake for E and Z. Both fit into the same role as a small, walkabout lens (though obviously the 26mm offers a very different focal length), though they are also a fair bit more expensive.

The Z and L mount versions of the 40mm F2.5 are now available through 7artisans’ website, though they haven’t made it to online retailers like Amazon or B&H at the time of writing.

Leica’s product manager for the SL series cameras, Gerrit Gissel describes them as the company’s “technology lighthouse:” the thing that acts as a guide for all the company’s other efforts.

We spoke to Gissel about the SL3-P, who it’s for, how it fits into the lineup, and the challenges of creating a product with more direct rivals than most of the company’s other offerings.

“We see there’s a big potential out there of photographers who just want to have the best technology available, and for us the SL system is the answer to that demand,” he says: “But there are more layers to that.” 

“There’s also an internal perspective where we use the SL system to develop new technologies to see how far we can push certain things, that we then later benefit from in other product lines. Especially in the Q series we see many similarities, but then also in other compact cameras. So the SL is the camera where we develop that, where we invest a lot in, then we can benefit from later on.”

The user interface is an example, he says: “I think we have a quite recent example for that with the SL3 generation. We have for the first time implemented our new user interface that now, last December, was also integrated into Q-Series because we got the feedback from our customers and we carefully listened to them that they liked it a lot. They think it’s very well thought through and also cameras like the Q series could benefit from that.”

Setting the SL3 series apart

We asked whether the company has to approach the SL series differently, given it has more direct competition than the Q or M cameras.

“Well of course we do lots of benchmarking. We know, especially in reviews etc, that we are compared with each other so, whether we want that or not, we will be compared.” says Gissel: “So that’s why we focus on finding our own our own position in that competition out there. We find our our own language, that I think we found quite well with the SL system: being user intuitive, user friendly, not overloaded with features, and just allowing the photographer or videographer to focus on his or her work. This is a bit like the credo that we are following. And of course every decision; feature versus added complexity, is discussed having this in mind.”

This focus on operability, as well as build quality, emerge as two of the things that can set the SL apart, beyond hardware specifications: 

“So the obvious thing is the operation. You will see that immediately once you’re touching the SL, and I think that makes your job so hard because you have to write about it, you can show some pictures, but to really understand that you have to have to touch the camera and feel it.”

But there’s another critical factor, he says:  “of course what is probably the thing we invest the most in is defining and refining our image quality. So if you see the results at the end, then you can understand what the Leica SL system is, compared to the other ones out there. So the way you create and the result in the end, neither thing is particularly visible when looking at a technical data sheet.”

Gissel’s comfort with the SL3-P not necessarily having every possible feature that its hardware would allow, seems in part to come from the confidence that Leica understands its customers well. “It always depends on whom you are designing for. When you try to please everyone, of course you have the tendency to bring all the features in there. I think we have a bit of a clearer mind to our customers. We know our customers maybe a bit better than others and that’s why we can design our solutions a bit more specific maybe and probably it’s easier for us to sometimes say ‘we don’t need that’ because we know that the majority of our customers would be more confused by that than it would be actually helpful.”

This understanding comes from two sources, he says. “one is the, let’s say, the old fashioned, but still very important, way: we just travel around, we visit our stores. I mean we have the big advantage that we have our own store network with people that are in daily interactions with our customers and our salespeople there, and sometimes also when we meet customers there they give us very valuable one-to-one feedback. So we try to do this as much as possible and this always brings value.”

“And then we have a more systematic approach. We have a database, we have a strong customer care department, and capture every feedback and feature request. Also some complaints. They are all tracked in that system, they are tagged to which system they apply so that we really systematically sometimes can say ‘okay this and this feature was asked for by so many people’ so we prioritised this over another one.”

Looking beyond existing customers

But what about the people who aren’t current customers, we asked. “We have one mechanism I didn’t already mention: we do customer research where we not only ask our own customers about their current thoughts and their future wishes but also try to get in touch with people who have cameras from other manufacturers,” he says: “but also even people who are not into photography yet or who are smartphone users that just have a certain tendency. We try to get in touch with these people too we then have professional support to do these surveys, and this is part of our of our work too.”

The importance of this comes through as we discuss our experiences of learning how the camera works: “I think getting this right is important” he says: “I think this camera is very attractive for people who haven’t considered a Leica to switch to us.”

Technology and tradition

The SL3-P came about as much through technology making it possible, as through customer feedback, he suggests. “The bigger portion [of SL buyers] is always the non-S, high resolution variant, so the SL2 and later the SL3. And we just saw that we could, compared to these two cameras, massively improve the autofocus capability. The SL3-P is a bit of a specialty in that customers didn’t know that we were thinking about bringing a third variant in one generation. So this is kind of a of a novelty, right? And that’s why here the decision also came from we saw what will be possible technology wise and we added that to the customer feedback.”

That possibility comes primarily from the fast, high-resolution sensor becoming available, he says. “It’s always the combination [of sensor and processor], so neither of both parts is powerful alone. But if we compare the main difference between SL-3, SL3-S, SL3-P, it is this time the sensor because they all share the same processor platform.”

But creating a new model entails a lot more than just simply changing which sensor sits in the camera, he says: “both in the hardware and software, many things have to be rethought.” 

“You think you would only swap the sensor, but in fact you have to re-think every component of the camera once again. ‘Does that still match?’ ‘Does that still make sense?’ And ‘is this, for the use case we intend this camera for, still the right fit?’

“I have a good example for that for the SL3-P in in a software solution that we came up during a running project.” he says: “So we knew if we integrate this sensor, we knew that we will get a more complex and powerful video setting possibilities. And we ended up with one hundred and fifty seven video options. We then decided we need a more intuitive, dynamic way to select these video settings because otherwise our consumers could be overloaded. And that’s why we came up with the new video setting selector, which was very well received by everyone who’s was testing it. But that was a result out of the decision to go for that new sensor.”

With all this in mind, we circled back to one of our original questions: what does Leica do to ensure the SL offers something distinctive in a crowded, competitive market?

“It consists of, I would, say two elements that if you hear them, at first not are really logic with each other,” says Gissel: “The first is keeping the the heritage of both Leica and what we have achieved with the SL system over the past ten years. So excellent haptics, superior image quality, of course, things like our very strong viewfinder, IP54 rating, so everything the system was known for.” he says: “And then on the other hand, innovation. I’ve learned from my colleagues who have been here much longer than me that innovating and reinventing is also part of the Leica DNA, so that’s why it’s maybe not a contradiciton to combine these two things with each other.”

For example: “the improvements we’ve made with the autofocus in the in the past years, they are just like a reinvention,” he says: “it’s such a big improvement we considered whether it should sit apart from the existing SL3 models.”

Many folks will surely think of their parents, a friend or perhaps a colleague when they think of someone who has inspired them. It’s that special person who has changed the course of your life in some dramatic way.

A key inspiration for me came from a bit further down the family tree. When I was in my single-digit years, just about our entire family would gather at my grandmother’s house for Christmas. It was my favorite time of the year (partly, of course, because of the presents, but my grandmother’s cheesecake was to die for).

My aunt always brought this huge Betamovie camcorder to film everything from the late afternoon dinner to the last present being opened by my grandmother (she always had the last one as a tribute to her being the anchor of the family). While the Betamovie was a camcorder, not a camera, it sparked my initial interest in photographing (and filming when necessary) my life. That very same aunt later would buy me my first camera – a Polaroid Sun 600 LMS.

Ever since then, I’ve looked up to my aunt as the one who helped me remember my life through photography, which I would otherwise have long forgotten much of.

So, with that said…

Who inspires your photography more than anyone else?

Drop a reply in the comments section below, and if you’ve got a photo to include from your mentioned forum sections, it may be selected for next week’s showcase article on this topic!