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Sony has announced the FE 400mm F4.5 GM OSS and FE 600mm F6.3 GM OSS. The company claims that both are the lightest super-telephoto lenses in their class, promising superb sharpness in a compact package.

The two lenses have a lot in common, including using a lightweight construction. The 400mm weighs 994 g (2.2 lbs), with the 600mm coming in at only a single gram more. For comparison, Nikon’s 400mm F4.5 and 600mm F6.3 are both over 1000g. They are also especially light compared to Sony’s faster 400mm and 600mm lenses.

Each lens uses two of Sony’s linear motors, with one for each focus group. Sony says both lenses provide fast and precise autofocus, with the ability to maintain focus tracking at up to 120 fps or during 4K 120p recording.

The 400mm F4.5 and 600mm F6.3 are each compatible with teleconverters, providing even more reach when needed. They both feature an 11-blade aperture diaphragm and are compatible with 95mm filters.

The on-lens controls are consistent between each lens, too. They feature 4 focus hold buttons around the barrel and a customizable function ring. There’s a focus range limiter (full range and infinity to 7m) and full-time manual focus override. A switch enables three different stabilization modes: one for normal camera shake, one for panning and one designed to keep the viewfinder image more stable while tracking fast, erratically moving subjects.

The lenses are dust and moisture-resistant, with sealed seams and silicone rubber gaskets around the switches and buttons, plus a sealed lens mount ring. The front elements feature a fluorine coating to repel oil and water. The lenses include a removable tripod foot.

Sony

The main physical difference between the 400mm and 600mm, besides focal length and aperture range, is the optical design. The 400mm features 22 elements in 16 groups, while the 600mm comprises 24 elements in 17 groups. However, both utilize 3 Super ED elements and 1 ED element.

Both lenses also feature a design with only a single front lens element. Sony says this helps keep the overall weight down, and also shifts the weight towards the camera body for better balance when holding the setup and smoother panning. Naturally, Sony promises superb sharpness from both.

There’s also a $1000 price difference between the two. The FE 400mm F4.5 GM OSS is listed at $2700, while the FE 600mm F6.3 GM OSS is $3700. They are available for pre-order as of today, with initial orders expected to begin shipping in October.

Sample galleries

We expect one of the most common applications for both new lenses to be wildlife photography, so we’ve primarily built our sample galleries around this use case. Most of the photos you see in these galleries were shot at Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Bison Range in Montana, and at the Oregon Zoo.

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

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Fujifilm is refreshing two of its Instax products with second-generation models. The Pal 2 is a complete redesign of the company’s tiny, playful, digital-only camera, while the Link Wide 2 is a subtly updated version of its portable, smartphone-connected photo printer that uses the larger Instax Wide film. Both are designed to work in conjunction, with the Pal 2 capturing images that users can then print with the Link Wide 2.

The original Pal, launched in 2023, was a palm-sized camera that looked like an even more miniature Instax Mini. It offered no controls beyond a shutter button and had no display. Notably, it arrived roughly two years before Kodak’s viral Charmera keychain camera helped propel tiny digital cameras into the spotlight, and Fujifilm has acknowledged that the camera was divisive. “When we introduced the original Pal in 2024, some consumers weren’t sure what to make of it,” said Bing Liem, division president, Imaging Division, Fujifilm North America Corporation, in the press release for the launch.

In light of that, and citing customer feedback, Fujifilm took the Pal 2 in a different direction. The new version is still palm-sized, but it looks like a classic analog camera, sporting a long, rectangular shape instead of the bubbly Instax Mini-esque design. It now also sports an optical viewfinder, helping users frame their shots instead of relying on blind luck, and keeps the flash from the original for illuminating subjects.

Fujifilm

The Pal 2 features a one-inch LCD screen on the top, which lets you review your photos or adjust various settings and controls. That includes the ability to switch between the Pal 2’s five filter themes, with each offering a further six adjustments. It also lets you switch between Instax Mini, Square or Wide instant film and frameless formats before printing, so you can better visualize how your print will look.

Fujifilm has also added a new shooting mode, called Animation. The new mode captures 10 frames and turns them into a flipbook-style animation. There’s a switch on top of the camera that lets you quickly switch between single-photo and Animation mode.

Fujifilm

The Pal 2 uses a 10.7MP Type 1/3.06 (13.4 mm²) CMOS sensor. While that’s a fair bit bigger than the 4.9MP Type 1/5 (6.4 mm²) found in the original, it’s still quite small, even compared to what you’d find in a compact or phone. It features a 28mm equivalent lens with an F2.2 aperture, and objects as close as 8cm in front of it will be in focus. It offers a self-timer and exposure compensation from -2.0 to +2.0 EV. The camera weighs just 41g (1.4 oz).

As a digital-only camera, the Pal 2 doesn’t take film like most other Instax cameras. You can, however, print with the Instax Link series, Instax Mini LiPlay or Instax Mini Evo devices either from the Instax Pal app or directly from the camera. The camera features integrated storage that can hold up to 100 photos at a time, and it’s also compatible with microSD cards.

Fujifilm

Along with the new camera, Fujifilm also announced the Instax Link Wide 2. This is more of an incremental update than a complete refresh, and most of the original’s features are retained. In fact, the changes all come from the app. It adds a Photo Mixer feature that lets users select images from their camera roll and, by tapping the “Mix it” button, generate multiple collage-style layouts to choose from. Users can remix these up to five times, and then make custom edits before printing or sharing images online.

The app supports numerous frames, filters, emojis, color modes and text, along with 1600 in-app stickers to customize prints. Lastly, users can add QR codes to the Instax Wide photos to share links, locations, hidden messages or sound clips. As the name suggests, it uses Instax Wide instant film, which produces photos that are roughly 7.62 cm x 12.7 cm (3” x 5”).

The Instax Pal 2 will be available in late September in either white or black/silver for $170. That’s substantially more expensive than the Charmera, though that doesn’t offer Bluetooth connectivity and features a smaller 1.8MP Type 1/4 (9.7 mm²) sensor.

The Instax Link Wide 2 will also be available in late September for $180 and comes in two colors, Duo Beige or Duo Blue.

Fujifilm

Fujifilm Instax Pal 2

• $170 at B&H

Fujifilm

Fujifilm Instax Link Wide 2

• $180 at B&H

Almost every photographer has lost a lens cap at some point. They roll under car seats, disappear into the bottom of camera bags and, apparently, tumble into Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features.

A recent post by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory on the U.S. Geological Survey website and Instagram account details the record-breaking amount of trash Yellowstone National Park staff have removed from hydrothermal areas this year. Most notable for photographers: as of early September, the park’s Geology Program had recovered 54 camera lens caps from thermal areas. They were the most common item found beyond the usual plastic and paper trash.

The photos shared with the post appear to show other photography-related items as well, including at least one lens hood, several eyecups, a handful of instant photographs and plenty of binocular caps. The collection also included 47 hair ties, 42 pencils, 36 pairs of sunglasses, 20 hotel key cards and 17 pacifiers. All were recovered from hydrothermal features, not simply from the boardwalks.

Margery Price / National Park Service

It may be easy to dismiss a dropped lens cap as a minor annoyance, but Yellowstone’s thermal features are highly sensitive to foreign objects. The park’s Geology Program warns that debris can clog a feature’s water supply, alter runoff channels and introduce chemicals or sediment. Morning Glory Pool, for example, famously changed color during the 20th century after visitors repeatedly tossed trash into it.

The post is a useful reminder for photographers: When you remove a lens cap, put it securely in a pocket or camera bag. Better yet, if you know you will be moving quickly between shots, leave it in your car, cabin or campsite. And, whatever you do, don’t balance it on a handrail where it’s liable to get knocked or blown off into a sensitive area

If you absolutely must keep the cap handy, consider a cap keeper, a small tether that connects the cap to the lens barrel. It is not the most elegant accessory, and some attachment methods may not hold up to the gusty winds possible in places such as Yellowstone. Still, it is better than letting another piece of plastic become part of a sensitive landscape.

This year started out quite quiet for new cameras and almost as quiet for photography-related gear in general. We saw some lenses and a few cameras trickled out in the first half of the year, each of which told us something interesting about the market, but there have been fewer releases than in past years. Thankfully, this week marked a bit of a shift, and we suddenly had some actually new products to share. In case you missed some of it, here’s all we saw over the last seven days. 

OM System PEN

Richard Butler

Perhaps the standout launch this week was the OM System PEN, a compact, Micro Four Thirds camera built around a 20MP sensor that marks the first time in a decade that a Pen camera has been sold in North America. The camera is aimed at travel and everyday use, offering a compact build with retro styling at a very reasonable price.

OM System M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 III

OM System

Released alongside the PEN was an updated model of OM System’s standard zoom, the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 III (28-84mm equiv.). The new version is a small upgrade, but it finally offers weather sealing and lets you focus more closely. It is slightly larger than its predecessor, but it’s still quite small for what it is, fitting nicely on cameras like the new PEN. 

Laowa 180mm F4.5 1.5x Ultra Macro APO for X and F-mount

Laowa

While not a new lens, Laowa announced this week that the previously released 180mm F4.5 1.5x Ultra Macro APO is now available for Fujifilm X-mount and Nikon F-mount. It is the first autofocus Laowa lens available for X-mount, and offers a 270mm equiv. field of view on Fujifilm’s APS-C cameras. The price is also a pleasant feature: it costs just $499. 

Sony FE 8-14mm F3.5 Fisheye G

Dale Baskin

Sony released a lens this week that is a first in its lens lineup. The FE 8-14mm F3.5 Fisheye G is the company’s first standalone fisheye lens for E-mount, and it says it’s the most compact lens of this type. At 8mm, the lens provides a circular fisheye image, which will be very familiar to anyone who watched 90’s skateboarding or music videos, while zooming to 14mm results in an image that fills the frame. 

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

Sigma / Jack Redgate

Sigma announced two lenses this week, one of which was the 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG Contemporary, a kit lens upgrade for E and L-mounts that is remarkably compact. It weighs 385g (13.6oz), and is 88mm (3.5″) long at its shortest (it extends as you zoom). It is limited in on-lens controls, but Sigma says it’s dust and splash-resistant, and at $849, it’s relatively affordable, too. 

Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG Art

Sigma

For those looking for a more portrait-focused lens, the new Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG Art may be of interest. Like the above lens, it is available for E and L-mounts and is the company’s third F1.2 prime lens, joining 35mm and 50mm options. A lens of this type will have some bulk, but Sigma says it is the “smallest and lightest in its class,” and it weighs just 905g (31.9oz). It’s also significantly more affordable than the Canon and Nikon 85mm F1.2 lenses, coming in at $1599. You can see sample images from the lens here. 

Nine Nikon cinema lenses

Nikon

Not to be left out of the slew of announcements this week, Nikon announced it will be releasing a series of nine T1.9 cinema lenses. Details are still sparse on most of them, including availability, pricing and focal lengths, but it did say one of the nine lenses will be a 50mm. We’ll have to wait for more details, but it does appear Nikon is busy at least.

Fujifilm XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS WR

Abby Ferguson

Fujifilm released the XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS WR at the end of last week, but for the sake of thoroughness, we’re including it here. The $3200 super-telephoto prime lens rounds out its trio of such lenses, joining the XF 500mm F5.6 R LM OIS WR and XF 200mm F2 R LM OIS WR. It provides a 609mm equivalent focal length on X-mount cameras, and is relatively compact and lightweight for what it is. 

Apple iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Duo

Apple

Shifting gears away from lenses, this week marked the release of Apple’s latest iPhone lineup, which includes the iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max and Duo. The most notable update from a camera perspective is the variable aperture found on the main camera of the 18 Pro and Pro Max, which ranges from F1.48 to F4. It also finally unlocks manual control over some settings within the native camera app.  

The Duo is Apple’s long-awaited entry into the folding phone market, and while it doesn’t feature very advanced cameras, it does offer some camera tricks. 

Insta360 Luna Pro

Mykim Dang

Lastly, Insta360 announced the global release of its Luna Pro, a single-lens gimbal camera aimed at creators who want a portable, stabilized camera for social-ready video. It keeps the specs of the main camera found on the Luna Ultra, and comes in at $600, $170 less than its dual-lens sibling. You can see our hands-on footage here. 

Photographers usually discuss focal length in millimeters. But the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s newly unpacked reconnaissance camera is identified in inches: 24 of them, or roughly 610mm. According to the museum, an even longer 48-inch version followed. 

The camera was part of a cache of unused 1960s-era equipment supplied with the museum’s Lockheed A-12, the CIA’s Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft and the predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird. The video is nearly 20 minutes long and begins with substantial background on the A-12 (it is an aviation channel, after all) so photographers may want to jump to the 11:47 mark, where the museum gets into the cameras and how they were used. 

In the video, host Gordon Permann walks through some of the challenges of making a sharp photograph from about 80,000 feet while traveling at roughly 2500 mph. The ground would move hundreds of feet beneath the aircraft during an exposure, resulting in a blurred image. Making matters worse, neither the aircraft nor the terrain would necessarily be level. The solution was motion compensation: the camera itself would “skew,” or make a small movement as its aperture opened, counteracting image smear.

Another fascinating feature is simply how much film these systems used. Permann first shows the standard film canister used in reconnaissance aircraft from the 1950s through the 1990s, which he says held roughly 1200 feet of film. But the A-12 and SR-71 Blackbird needed still more film, so a larger canister was made. The museum has one of those, too, which Permann lifts in the video. He explains that the larger camera used a five-inch-wide film strip, with around 4.5 inches of usable image area. Each individual frame measured about six feet long.

Permann says the system could image more than 100,000 square miles in a single hour, capturing huge swathes of land or sea at once. He also recounts a Blackbird making a turn with its camera running and pointed out to sea. When the film was developed, analysts reportedly spotted a U.S. destroyer on the horizon, 94 miles away, and were able to identify the ship’s type despite the distance.

A separate, still-factory-wrapped camera in another crate is the real mystery: its 1953 date predates the A-12 project by six years, so it couldn’t have come from a Blackbird-family aircraft. The museum is seeking the public’s help to identify what airplane it may have been used on, so anyone with a theory can head to the video and share it in the comments.

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Laowa has announced that it is bringing its 180mm F4.5 1.5x Ultra Macro APO lens to Fujifilm X-mount and Nikon F-mount. The lens was originally released almost exactly one year ago for Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon EF, Canon RF, and L-mounts, and the new additions mean that most photographers, no matter their system, have access to an affordable macro lens, though not every mount offers autofocus. 

Laowa

The Fujifilm X-mount version, like the E, Z, and EF-mount iterations, is an autofocus lens and marks the first autofocus Laowa lens for X-mount cameras. The Canon RF, L-mount and Nikon F versions, though, are manual focus only. Complicating matters further, the autofocus versions of the lenses only have their full abilities from 1.5m (4.9′) to infinity. For subjects between 1.5m and the lens’ minimum focusing distance, 30cm (11.8″), you only get “limited autofocus assistance for focus stacking.”

On Fujifilm X-mount cameras, the lens offers a 270mm equivalent field of view. Optically, all mounts are the same, with an apochromatic design and 12 elements in 9 groups, which Laowa says results in excellent sharpness and reduced chromatic aberration. It features a nine-blade aperture diaphragm. 

Laowa

The exact weight depends on the mount, but the Fujifilm X version is the heaviest of the bunch, weighing 526.2g (1.2 lbs). All iterations are compatible with 62mm filters. 

Laowa’s 180mm F4.5 1.5x Ultra Macro APO for X and F-mounts is available for purchase today for $499. 

Laowa 180mm F4.5 1.5X Ultra Macro APO

• $499 at B&H Photo
• $499 at Laowa

Insta360 has announced the global launch of the Luna Pro, a compact, single-lens gimbal camera designed for vlogging and social-first video. The camera is Insta360’s second entry in the category after the dual-lens Luna Ultra, sharing the more expensive model’s Type 1 sensor, Leica-branded 20mm-equivalent F1.8 lens and 8K Dolby Vision video while omitting its dedicated telephoto camera. You can learn more about the camera in our full coverage.

A spec sheet is one thing, but we wanted to see how the Luna Pro holds up in the real world. To that end, we brought it into a dim listening bar, attached it for first-person rock-climbing footage and took it aboard a working lobster boat. The videos above and below look at stabilization on moving water, the effectiveness of the camera’s zoom, and its close-up shooting abilities with animals and other natural subjects.

The resulting footage offers a more practical look at how Insta360’s lower-priced Luna model handles unpredictable, active settings, and where the single-lens design may be enough for creators who do not need the Luna Ultra’s dedicated telephoto camera.

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Insta360 is continuing its challenge to DJI’s popular Osmo lineup with its second gimbal camera in just three months. The Luna Pro is a single-lens device designed to take on the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, targeting creators who want a more portable option for stabilized, social-ready video without the higher price tag of the dual-lens Insta360 Luna Ultra.

The Luna Pro shares the Luna Ultra’s headline Type 1 sensor and Leica-branded 20mm-equivalent F1.8 lens specifications, but lacks that model’s dedicated telephoto camera. The Luna Pro can record HDR video in Dolby Vision at 8K/30, as well as 4K/120 footage for slow motion. It features a dedicated low-light mode called PureVideo that uses AI to reduce noise and enhance brightness and detail, which works up to 4K60. The camera can also record 4K/30 vertical video using 6K oversampling for social-first sharing and can take up to 37MP still photos.

Insta360

Insta360 says the Luna Pro offers a 2x zoom mode that crops in on the center region of the sensor, which still provides a 4K window, plus 4x ‘HighRes Zoom,’ which Insta360 says uses AI to maintain detail and quality. It supports 10-bit I-Log, preserving more color, highlight and shadow detail for grading and supports ACES workflows. It also features in-camera Leica color profiles and other filters for those who are after more polished looks straight out of the camera.

As a gimbal camera, it offers 3-axis stabilization, promising smooth footage even when moving. It also offers multiple subject tracking modes, including single person, multi-person and pets. 

Insta360

Like its sibling, the Luna Pro features a detachable two-inch touchscreen that can be used as a remote control. Insta360 promises up to 4 hours of use, and it also supports fast charging. It includes 47GB of built-in storage, though it also accepts microSD cards up to 2TB for those who need more storage space. It weighs 215g for the black version, though the white comes in 3g heavier. The camera is also compatible with a range of accessories, including Insta360’s mics and its head tracker, which you can see in action in our hands-on footage.

The Luna Pro will be available globally beginning September 10 for $600, or $170 less than the dual-lens Luna Ultra. For U.S. customers, the Luna series has a clear advantage over DJI’s current Osmo Pocket models, which are not officially available in the country because DJI is affected by the FCC’s Covered List restrictions on newly introduced foreign-made camera equipment. For those in the U.S. who like the idea of a gimbal camera but find the Luna series a bit steep, the Osmo Pocket 3 remains available for $439 because it was released before DJI was added to the FCC’s Covered List.

Insta360

Insta360 Luna Pro

• $600 at Insta360

Apple has announced the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max at its annual fall keynote. Although the company started the event with AI features, the standout change in the new models’ camera system is the adjustable aperture.

Apple is pitching the new aperture system as a way to get more “creative control” while taking images and videos. Contrary to the rumors, the adjustable aperture is available on both sizes of the iPhone Pro. The company says it comprises six laser-cut blades, each thinner than a human hair.

Like the 17 Pro models, the 18 Pro and Pro Max feature a 48MP main camera with a 24mm equiv. lens. The ultrawide and telephoto cameras are also unchanged from their predecessors, both of which use 48MP Type 1/2.55 (23.5mm²) sensors.

Apple

The main camera is the only one that features the new adjustable aperture system, which can go from F1.48 to F4 (the 17 Pro’s main camera had a fixed F1.78 aperture), allowing for four adjustments. Apple is also finally adding “Pro Controls,” which allows users to manually control aperture, white balance and shutter speed, something people have been asking Apple to add for years. Additionally, its Photography Styles option now supports control over grain.

For video features, the camera supports 4K time-lapses, and you can now use cinematic mode (which adds fake background blur) at up to 4K/60.

Apple also touched on image authenticity, a hot-button topic in the age of AI. We’ve seen other phone manufacturers, like Google, implement C2PA content credentials in their cameras, letting you verify that a photograph hasn’t been altered since it was taken. Now, Apple is following suit, characteristically introducing its own system called Apple Reference Image.

Apple

The company says it’s made possible by a new sensor in the main camera that “can sign every pixel it sees.” Photos taken in the “Reference mode” will capture “signed sensor data that Private Cloud Compute develops into an unalterable reference image.” Oddly, the Apple Reference Image authenticity feature is not available in China, and won’t be available in the EU to start.

The company also says it’s adding support for the SynthID standard, which adds an invisible watermark to images created or edited using AI.

The iPhone 18 Pro features an A20 Pro system on a chip, which has a 6-core CPU with 2 “super” cores and 4 efficiency cores. It also features a 7-core GPU that Apple says is 40% faster than the previous generation. It should offer double the AI processing capacity as a result of double the neural cores. Apple also says it’s doubled the battery life, despite the battery being smaller. It supports faster wired charging, letting you charge it to 50% in 15 minutes.

Apple

Apple is offering the Pro in four color options this year, where it’s traditionally been three. It will be available in black, silver, “Glacier” blue, and “Burgundy.” Last year, some people were upset that there wasn’t a black option, so this will likely be a welcome addition to the lineup.

The iPhone 18 Pro will cost $1199 for the 256GB version, while the Pro Max comes in at $1299. Both the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max are $100 more than their predecessors.

I love watching adventure stories, especially when they pull back the curtain on the work required to tell them well. Salomon’s short documentary, The Women Who Took Over UTMB, does exactly that, following an all-women photo, video, and social team as they cover UTMB, one of trail running’s largest and most demanding events.

The team is there to document 23 Salomon athletes across five races and nearly 400 kilometers of mountain terrain over six days. They’re navigating unpredictable weather, road closures, long drives around the Mont Blanc massif, patchy connectivity, tight turnaround times, and the physical effort of carrying heavy camera kits to the places where the most compelling moments might unfold.

The film covers a lot, including the logistics of capturing an event like this. It is easy to see a dramatic mountain-running image or polished race recap and forget the chain of decisions behind it: where to position a photographer, how to get a camera operator ahead of an athlete, when to stop shooting and start transmitting and how to keep creating after little sleep. The crew has to make those calls constantly, while contending with rain, snow, exhaustion and a mid-race course adjustment.

I’ve helped a runner during a far less intense ultramarathon and got a small taste of just how grueling the experience can be, even without the pressure of covering it or the burden of camera gear. Calling this assignment demanding would be an understatement, and the team did a phenomenal job producing photo, video, and social coverage throughout the event.

The fact that the content team is made up entirely of women adds a welcome dimension in a space that has been male-dominated. The film touches on why this team was assembled in the first place and on some of their experiences as women in the field. It also highlights that these are simply experienced creatives doing incredibly difficult work at a very high level, supporting one another and finding the human stories within a massive endurance event.

For anyone interested in adventure, storytelling, sports photography, filmmaking, or the often-invisible labor behind major event coverage, it’s a compelling watch.

Earlier this week, Fujifilm announced the XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS R, a super telephoto prime lens for its APS-C X-mount system. We had the chance to test it out ahead of its launch, putting the compact, 609mm-equivalent lens to work photographing birds and other distant subjects.

Bird photography is not a genre I have spent any time with, but the lens made the process feel approachable (and I’m not determined to get the perfect bird photo). Its autofocus moved quickly from the 2.7m (8.9′) close-focusing distance out to infinity, which was helpful when I wanted to switch from a near subject to one in the distance. It isn’t entirely silent, but the autofocus is quiet enough that I didn’t worry about its sound disturbing the wildlife I was trying to photograph, especially at the distances I was shooting from with this focal length.

Abby Ferguson

The XF 400mm F4.5’s manual focus ring has a relatively long throw distance, so I wasn’t able to react quickly with subject changes while on manual focus. But that proved useful for fine adjustments. It has enough resistance to make precise changes easy, and its texture feels especially good under a fingertip. The clicked aperture ring has a deliberate, satisfying action, and it can be locked into place for operation through the camera’s dial.

The XF 400mm features a maximum aperture of F4.5, which gives it a slight advantage over the company’s XF 500mm F5.6 when light is limited. It gave me some flexibility when photographing birds, but I still had to rely on fairly high ISO settings while shooting in the woods at dawn or trying to freeze fast-moving subjects. Photographers who regularly work in very dim conditions may want more light-gathering ability, but F4.5 should be plenty practical for wildlife and action in brighter conditions. It also keeps the price and size much more reasonable than they otherwise would be.

Abby Ferguson

At 1245g (2.7 lb), this is still a substantial lens (as all super telephoto lenses are), but it is impressively manageable for its reach. I wouldn’t shoot one-handed with it, though I was comfortable carrying the camera and lens that way while walking around. Fujifilm says the lens is weighted toward the rear for better maneuverability when panning, and it felt well matched to the X-H2 I was using.

I didn’t have enough time with the XF 400mm F4.5 for a full technical evaluation, but I came away happy with the images it produced. More importantly, it made my first more deliberate attempt at bird photography mostly enjoyable (minus the biting flies I had to deal with on one trail).

Sample gallery

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

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

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

Lomography

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

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

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

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

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

Fujifilm

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

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

Fujifilm

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

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

Fujifilm

Fujifilm XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS WR

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

DJI

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

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

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

DJI

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

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

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

DJI

DJI Osmo 360 II

Zeiss has named KEH Camera its exclusive authorized repair and service center for photography lenses and equipment in the US and Canada, the two companies announced today. The Atlanta-based used-gear specialist will handle work on everything from postwar Zeiss Jena glass to current Otus ML optics.

KEH will handle both in-warranty and out-of-warranty work for those in the US and Canada. The KEH technicians are trained directly by Zeiss and will use genuine manufacturer parts along with Zeiss-approved calibration tools and procedures, according to the announcement. The companies specify that all repairs will meet Zeiss engineering standards. 

KEH

The most important detail of the announcement is the scope. Coverage extends to “decades-old legacy lenses,” with the companies specifically citing postwar Zeiss Jena optics, the 1960s Contarex system and large-format Zeiss lenses built for Linhof and Graflex, alongside current Batis and Otus ML lines. “Be they new or legacy ZEISS cameras and lenses, we are confident that KEH Camera has the skills necessary to provide value to our loyal optics owners,” said Tony Wisniewski, senior manager for Zeiss Photography Americas.

The coverage of older lenses represents a reversal of Zeiss’s long-stated position: its photography service pages state that legacy Hasselblad, Contax/Yashica, Rollei, Carl Zeiss Jena and Zeiss Ikon gear “can unfortunately no longer be repaired by Zeiss,” directing owners to independent workshops. Now, though, the companies have confirmed that even Yashica and Rollei optics can be serviced by KEH.

For gear that previously fell under Zeiss’s service policy, the new partnership replaces a rather roundabout arrangement. Until now, Zeiss instructed US photo lens owners needing warranty service to contact their dealer or the distributor in the country of purchase, rather than sending equipment to a dedicated Zeiss service center. Under the new agreement, users can initiate repairs through Zeiss’s online service portal, with KEH coordinating shipment. Customers can also drop off equipment at KEH’s retail location in Atlanta. 

KEH already serves as an authorized repair partner for Sony and Sigma, and says it is the only reseller in the camera industry with manufacturer-approved repair facilities. Its track record shows that repair is central to its business. KEH chairman and CEO Glenn Kaufman connected the Zeiss agreement to that mission, explaining that it’s “a natural extension of what KEH has always stood for: keeping great gear in circulation and out of landfills.”

Zeiss

Zeiss “decided to kind of hit pause on photo, to wait and see what happens” during the pandemic, Wisniewski told us last year, while continuing to sell the lenses it already made. That pause ran nearly six years, ending with two Otus ML lenses in 2025. This partnership to expand repair options for customers in North America suggests the company’s renewed investment extends past new products.

Disclosure: MPB, a competitor to KEH in the used-gear market, is a DPReview sponsor. This article was produced independently.

If you’ve ever held a small card of 24 colored squares up to your subject, you’ve used a piece of imaging history that just hit a milestone birthday. The ColorChecker (also called the Macbeth chart if you’ve been around a while) is turning 50, and Calibrite has marked the occasion with a virtual museum for the little chart that helps photographers keep colors accurate. 

The anniversary hub for the occasion includes a timeline from the founding of the Macbeth Artificial Daylight Company to today, along with fun facts about the card and some of its famous uses. It also breaks down the purpose behind each of the 24 patches and features a quiz to test your knowledge of each color. 

The small chart debuted in a 1976 paper, “A Color-Rendition Chart,” by C.S. McCamy, H. Marcus and J.G. Davidson, written while Macbeth was a division of Kollmorgen. The idea was simple but clever: each patch was locked to a spectral reflectance value instead of a printed ink mix, so the card could be measured, reproduced and trusted across different materials and lighting conditions. 

Calibrite

When photography went digital, the ColorChecker came along for the ride. Shoot a Raw file with one in the frame, then feed it into Adobe Lightroom or DxO PhotoLab, and you get a custom camera profile that pulls your colors closer to how the scene actually looked. The ColorChecker Digital SG, though, saw an expansion of color, jumping to 140 squares that include the original 24 colors, a 17-step grayscale for fine tonal control, and 14 dedicated skin-tone patches.

The card has changed hands a few times: Gretag, GretagMacbeth and X-Rite all owned it before Calibrite took over. It’s also changed in size. The original measured roughly 13 by 9 inches, with proportions that closely match a 35mm film frame, and it now comes in a range of sizes, including one barely bigger than a postage stamp for macro subjects. But the patch layout and spectral targets have stayed consistent enough that profiles built around the standard remain interchangeable. Fifty years on, and photographers still reach for this tool for the same reason they always did.

DxO has announced PhotoLab 10, the latest version of its subscription-free Raw editor. The new iteration of the app offers more advanced masking tools, a new color grading wheel, automatic sensor dust removal and direct connectivity to Affinity, all under the company’s perpetual license. 

Most of the updates revolve around masking changes. That includes the addition of Depth Masks, which it previously released as part of Nik Collection 9 earlier this year. DxO says the feature uses AI to build a detailed depth map from any Raw file, based on distance from the camera, even without embedded depth data. It allows photographers to independently target the foreground, midground or background for more precise editing. 

DxO

DxO is also expanding some of PhotoLab’s existing AI-based masking tools. The company says that the AI Masks tool can now identify every person in a scene and allows photographers to create a single mask for all people, combine only selected people into one mask or create individual masks for every person. For even more control, the tool even allows photographers to select individual features of people, such as eyes, hair and lips. 

Users can now also select individual features such as eyebrows, eyes (as a whole or breaking out the iris, pupil and whites), teeth, facial hair, face skin and lips from the list of selectable AI Mask categories. It should offer even more fine-tuned control while retouching portraits. The masking updates also include an expanded U Point toolkit, DxO’s approach to creating local adjustments based on the color and luminosity of a sampled point. Users now have access to a brush-based Control Brush and elliptical Control Points alongside the existing circular ones. 

DxO

PhotoLab 10 adds more than masking changes. DxO has brought over the color grading wheel introduced with Nik Collection 9, which puts shadows, midtones, highlights and global color on a single wheel. It’s tone-based grading, distinct from the hue-targeted color wheel that remains in the app. It also added an AI-powered sensor dust removal tool that automatically removes sensor spots on Raw files. Lastly, there is now a new export option for Affinity, Canva’s now-free professional image editing software, so photographers can send images directly to that platform for additional editing. 

PhotoLab 10 is available starting today for macOS and Windows. A new license costs $250, while upgrades from PhotoLab 8 or 9 are $130. A 30-day free trial is available on DxO’s site.

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Mistakes are part of life as a photographer or videographer. I’ve messed up too many times to count, forgetting to pack an extra battery, showing up to a shoot with a full memory card and botching my settings badly enough that the images were unusable.

Most of those just cost me lost photographs or some added stress. But sometimes a mistake leads somewhere better than the plan. While attending Sony’s Kando event, where Sony invited me along with fellow press and other image-makers, I asked six photographers and videographers about a mistake they’re glad they made. Here’s what they said.

These conversations happened on the fly at the event, so most of the creatives didn’t have the specific image handy. The photos below are from their portfolios, with the exception of Nancy Borowick and Jabin Botsford.

Sarina Soriano

Sarina Soriano (@sarinasoriano_)is a senior producer and director of photography (DP) for the San Francisco 49ers, where she’s a nine-time regional Emmy winner and was the first woman in the role, as well as one of the first Latina cinematographers in the NFL.

Her mistake was a setting she didn’t intend to be shooting at. “A mistake that I made that ended up actually turning out well was that I put a high shutter on one of my videos, but was able to really slow it down in DaVinci, and it looked absolutely epic,” she said.

Nate Luebbe

Nate Luebbe (@nateinthewild) is a landscape, wildlife and adventure photographer and a member of Sony’s Alpha Imaging Collective, with a portfolio built around grizzlies, northern lights and remote wilderness.

Luebbe’s mistake was accidentally using too slow a shutter speed for wildlife, which ended up being a visual tool that he likes utilizing. “Every now and then, a little bit of motion blur can tell a good story about an animal that’s moving fast,” he said.

He pointed to an image he took in Katmai National Park as an example of where the approach works: shooting the bears at the top of the falls in low light, he kept his shutter slow rather than pushing his ISO. “I ended up getting some motion on the water, but the bears were standing still. It looks kind of cool, and you can still see what’s going on. It added a little more depth to it.”

Nancy Borowick

Nancy Borowick

Nancy Borowick (@nancyborowick) is a documentary photographer, author and Sony Artisan of Imagery who has worked regularly with The New York Times since 2013 and whose work often centers on health and relationships.

Borowick’s mistake was a missing caption. Early in her career, she was photographing the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which she describes as “the most fun in the entire world,” she said. When prepping to send images to her editor, she realized one frame’s caption was incomplete. “I had asked the name of the dog, because we were at a dog show, but I never asked the name of the human, and I felt like that was important to have,” she said.

So she went looking online. “All the champion dogs have these Facebook pages, naturally,” she said, and the dog’s page led her to its owner, who, as it happened, was also named Nancy.

Two hours of messaging later, they were friends. That turned into permission to photograph the woman, her wife and their pack of golden retrievers at home, which has now become a long-term project called Part of the Pack, a series dedicated to photographing the relationship between dogs and those who breed, own and show them. “Caption information is so important, especially getting it right,” Borowick said, “but on occasion, mistakes lead to happy accidents and long-term projects.”

Jabin Botsford

Jabin Botsford is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist who spent 11 years on staff at The Washington Post covering politics, breaking news and, since 2014, Donald Trump.

Botsford’s mistake was a moment of missed focus. In 2020, he was in the Rose Garden for one of many Trump press conferences, this one running well past its expected length. “While the rest of my colleagues were just filing and hiding in the shade, I went around the side and shot all these photos with a 400mm,” he said. He noticed a fly circling the president and fired off a long burst. In one frame, his autofocus locked onto the fly rather than Trump, right when the insect flew in front of Trump’s open mouth. “It looked kind of like it was coming out of his mouth,” he said.

Dani Hamm

An example of Hamm’s high-key work, not the original frame that she mentioned.

Dani Hamm (@danigoinghamm) is an adventure, wildlife and nature photographer. Her portfolio is filled with stunning portraits of animals, from tiny birds to massive buffalo. 

When I asked about a mistake that turned out for the better, she instantly had an answer: “Overexposing an image and it ending up being a really cool high-key photo.” The blown-out background stripped away context and left just the animal, and she now creates high-key images on purpose.

Allison Anderson

Allison Anderson (@photoallison) is a travel and lifestyle photographer, videographer and Sony Alpha Ambassador who documents her solo trips all over the world.

Anderson’s mistake took a decade to pay off. Very early on in her photography path, she shot everything as JPEGs, mostly because she didn’t like how much space Raw files took up on cards and hard drives. Then she took a trip to Italy. “When I got home, I went to import all my photos, and I realized that somehow the camera had gotten set to shooting in Raw. And I was so annoyed because the file sizes were enormous,” she said.

She dumped them on a hard drive and forgot about them. “Ten years later, I went back, and I went through the hard drive again, and everything I’d shot at that time was mostly in JPEG except for this one trip that was all in Raw.” Because of that, she was able to edit the file, and one of those images is now printed large and hanging over her fireplace.

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I spend a lot of time thinking about my own photographic practice, but not nearly as much time doing anything about it. I have ideas for individual photos, for series I want to start or expand and concepts I would like to explore deeper. I’ve thought of different ways of printing and hanging my work, in case I ever get to show any of it. But when it comes to actually making the work, my follow-through is often lacking.

That tension was on my mind this week while attending Sony’s Kando event in Vermont, where Sony invited me, along with fellow press and other image-makers. One session in particular, Works in Progress, brought some of those thoughts into focus.

Works in Progress is modeled after National Geographic sessions, where photographers briefly present a single project they are currently working on in order to get feedback and find inspiration from each other. At Kando, individuals get seven minutes to share images or videos and a little bit about the body of work.

The session isn’t about gear at all; in fact, it was rare for someone to mention their setup and no technical details were mentioned. Instead, each presentation focused entirely on the ideas and images from a particular project they are passionate about and currently developing.

Abby Ferguson

That passion is my favorite part of the session: seeing people’s commitment to the work. Ira Block, a Sony Artisan of Imagery who co-chaired the session, summed it up well after the presentations: “Nothing is more inspiring than watching the inspiration of others.” There were remarkable photographs and videos throughout, but what stayed with me was watching people stand in front of a room and talk openly about the projects that matter to them. It made me look at my own work with a bit of renewed lens.

I could give a long list of reasons for pushing my own photography to the side. I have a full-time job and teach a college photography course. My husband and I just bought a house that needs a fair amount of work. My studio space is not really a studio at the moment, and it may not be for some time. It is expensive. I struggle to find the right venues, calls for art, and people to connect with. The list goes on.

Thankfully, I have been slightly more active with my art over the past month, and that feels like progress. I recently made time for a self-portrait that had been on my mind for months, and the process was deeply fulfilling. I also joined two friends to install a small exhibition at the campus gallery where we teach. Even better, the work I hung was from a series I have barely shown or discussed. 

Katie Tasch

Those were small steps toward finding my artistic voice again. They were a small flex of the creative muscles. And they also reminded me that I need to make something regularly, even if it is small.

I also need to remember the value of being around other creative people from time to time. I have written before about how joining local photography groups helped me find community in what can be a very solitary practice. This was a different kind of gathering, but it offered a similar reminder: making work can become isolating, especially when it keeps getting pushed behind work, responsibilities and everyday life. Being in a room with people who are actively wrestling with ideas, taking creative risks and sharing unfinished work can be an important kind of fuel.

That is what the Works in Progress session offered. Seeing what others were making and the care they were bringing to it gave me a burst of energy to return to my own work. It was a reminder to keep making photographs, even if I don’t yet know where a project is going, whether anyone will like it or whether it will ever see the light of day.

I know this session won’t be a magical kick in the pants that suddenly makes me create on a regular basis. But hearing that voice in my head more often can only help. And maybe my writing this can be that voice for someone else who also needs a gentle push to get out that camera or make some art. I hope it is.

I’m at Sony’s Kando event this week, where Sony invited DPReview to join press, photographers, filmmakers and educators from across its creative community. There’s no new gear being announced here, but the event is a chance to meet people doing genuinely interesting work across a wide range of genres. Below are five of them whose projects, approaches or images caught my attention.

Eli Reed

Calling Eli Reed a creative is like calling the ocean wet; it’s technically true, but wildly insufficient. He was the first Black photographer to join Magnum Photos, coming on in the early 1980s and becoming a full member in 1988. He was also a Pulitzer finalist for his photographs of life in a San Francisco public housing project, and he has taught photojournalism as a clinical professor at UT Austin since 2005.

The core of his work is photojournalism, ranging from Beirut, Haiti and Central America to a decades-long documentation of Black life in America. But he’s also spent years on film sets, photographing Tupac for “Poetic Justice” and stills for “A Beautiful Mind” and “8 Mile.”

Reed has been a Sony Artisan of Imagery since 2014, which is what brought him to Kando. I had the privilege of riding on a bus with him for an hour, listening to him tell stories from past projects and about the people he’s worked with. You can see his work on the Magnum website.

Wild Gina

I love the natural world but prefer tighter images of specific things in it over broad landscapes, so Gina Danza, who goes by Wild Gina, has an approach and a philosophy that resonate with me. Danza is a Sony Alpha Ambassador and Alpha Collective member who describes herself as an intimate landscape photographer and SciArtist, and her work centers on finding what she calls the “intimacy of nature.” In practice, that means a lot of macro and close-focus nature work.

During a panel discussion on this trip, she said she wants her work to feel like a fantasy, or like she’s a kid again. Her images are vibrant and playful, and I love the idea of seeing things with the eyes of a child, when everything still seems fresh. She also collaborates with scientists and shares a great deal of information about what she photographs, which, as someone who strives to be a lifelong learner, is very exciting to see.

Hannah’s Honeycomb

Speaking of macro and science, Hannah Alexander, who posts as Hannah’s Honeycomb, is doing remarkable work in the same close-focus space. She picked up a camera to share insight into beekeeping, and it grew from there. In 2021, she won a Sony Alpha Female+ grant to fund the Pollinator Project, documenting the lives and behavior of pollinator species through stills, video and high-speed slow motion.

An environmental educator by day, Alexander is deeply knowledgeable about all things insect- and plant-related, and she uses her photography to pass that knowledge along and build appreciation for the natural world at that scale. Her photographs of bees, insects and plants show them up close in a way we rarely get to see them. She’s also an ideal person to bring on a photo walk, since she can tell you where to find interesting macro subjects and what you’re looking at.

Criz Quinn

Heading in the opposite direction from macro is Criz Quinn, an aerial photographer and cinematographer who co-founded Aerial Media and serves as its lead photographer. She’s a licensed commercial drone pilot in both the US and EU, and she travels the world shooting aerial landscapes in some genuinely unreal places. She’s part of Sony’s Alpha Female community and won one of its micro-grants, and she’s also a molecular pathologist by training, which puts her in good company on this list.

Surrounded by photographers working with models and chasing wildlife, Quinn pointed out that she photographs “things that don’t move.” Though she’s underselling herself a bit: her subjects may be patient, but the light and the weather aren’t. If aerial work is your thing, she’s worth following on both YouTube and Instagram.

Becca Farsace

Lastly, switching gears again is Becca Farsace, who was The Verge’s senior video producer and the face of much of its camera coverage before going independent in 2024. She now runs her own YouTube channel, where, as she told me, she covers “anything with a battery in it.” That includes cameras and accessories, but also mobility aids, projectors and plenty more. Her videos are highly approachable and engaging, and an easy way to keep up with new tech or trends in the creator space.