Flashback, the company behind the disposable-inspired One35 digital camera, has announced its next offering, the One75. The new digicam takes on the half-frame format and brings a more premium aesthetic.

Flashback says the One75 is inspired by classic half-frame film cameras, and, like those, it produces vertical photos. The company says it takes 13MP photos, though it doesn’t specify a sensor size or sensor resolution. It also didn’t specify the lens’s focal length, though the sample photos suggest a fairly wide-angle view. Unlike its vertical frame competitor, the Fujifilm X half, the One75 can capture Raw photos (in DNG format), though you’ll have to plug it into a computer to access them, rather than using the Flashback app, which can access the JPEGs.

Flashback

There are other film-inspired features, too. The camera supports up to 27 photos at a time (like a small roll of film), with a frame counter on the OLED display and a mechanical winder for advancing the “roll.” Users then need to transfer images to the app or a computer using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or USB-C. That transfer triggers a reset on the camera, like putting in a new roll.

Photographers can choose to wait 24 hours to view the photos (using Film Camera Mode) or use Digicam Mode to see photos instantly in the Flashback app. The camera also offers a double exposure mode and eight built-in film types for different looks, which can be changed on-camera.

Flashback

The One75 isn’t technically screen-free, as it features an OLED display on the top of the camera for adjusting settings. However, it lacks a display for viewing photos. Users will need to use the free companion app or transfer the files to a computer to see them. There is a portrait-oriented optical viewfinder for composing images.

Instead of a full plastic build like the One35 and many other film-inspired digicams, the One75 features aluminum top and bottom plates and brass controls. It also offers a tripod mount and self-timer, giving photographers more flexibility with how they use the camera. In addition, the lens features a 25mm threaded mount, making it compatible with filters and add-on lenses. It also includes a xenon flash.

Flashback

The Flashback One75 is available for pre-order now for $179 (no, that’s not a typo, it doesn’t cost $175), with the company stating that pre-orders will arrive before Christmas. It comes in Brushed Aluminum (silver and black) or Noir (all black).

The Micro Four Thirds standards group recently posted a warning on its site saying that it can’t guarantee that products made by companies not in the group will work as expected. The message, a link to which is prominently displayed in the site’s top navigation bar, doesn’t name any specific brands or products, but comes at an interesting time for the Micro Four Thirds system.

The official statement says that “the Four Thirds Office does NOT guarantee that products manufactured or sold by non-member companies comply with the Micro Four Thirds System standard or are compatible with individual devices.” It also tells users to check specific compatibility information with the manufacturer or seller of whatever gear you’re trying to buy.

Micro Four Thirds

When we first saw the warning at DPReview, we thought it might be related to the recent GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS. That camera has a Micro Four Thirds mount, but without any electrical contacts, so most of the lenses for the system from OM System and Panasonic won’t work, since they require those contacts to control aperture and focus.

That’s something potential buyers of the camera should be aware of, and it’s probably the most prominent instance of a product that uses the mount but that’s incompatible with many other products in the system. However, it also seems unlikely that the warning is referring to the ILS: while GoPro wasn’t a member of the group when that camera launched, it has since joined, and the warning explicitly calls out products from non-member companies.

So why was it issued? Honestly, there’s no clear answer. We’re not aware of any major scandals in the Micro Four Thirds world recently, though there have been rumors swirling around Insta360 using the mount for the cameras it’s currently working on. As of the time of writing, it isn’t listed among the supporting companies on the Micro Four Thirds website.

There’s also, as was pointed out several times in a Reddit thread, the case of SG-image, a budget lens company which is also not part of the Micro Four Thirds group. It has released one lens for the system that, according to several reports, doesn’t work at all with older cameras, and has some limitations on several newer models too. However, that lens has been out for a few months, so it would be a bit odd for the group to issue a warning about it only now.

Of course, it’s also possible that it’s just a general message, issued as a standard bit of housekeeping as an increasing number of companies release gear with Micro Four Thirds-shaped mounts without official support. As always, it’s worth reading a variety of reviews before spending your money on a product, especially if you’re going a bit off the beaten path.

The Astrophotography Prize has announced the winners of its 2026 edition of the competition. Astrophotographer Evan McKay took home the Photographer of the Year prize, while Alpha Zhang earned a unanimous Gold rating from all five judges in the Remote Imaging category.

The contest, which is independent and astrophotographer-run, is still in its early years, with this year marking the fourth edition. It drew approximately 500 entries from 22 countries. The competition offers four categories: Aurora, Deep Space, Astro Landscape and Remote Imaging.

The Astrophotography Prize hosts public, live judging for each category. The judging panel provides constructive feedback on entries, allowing the public to hear the rationale behind the decisions and gain insight into the technical and artistic qualities of exceptional astrophotography. The judging panel also made written feedback available to entrants to help them continue to improve their work.

Below you’ll find a selection of the 2026 winners, along with captions provided by entrants and statements from the judging panel. You can see all of the winning images and learn more about the Astrophotography Prize at the competition website. You can also rewatch the judging panels on the competition’s YouTube channel.

Photographer of the Year

Evan McKay

Photographer: Evan McKay

Awards: 2026 Photographer of the Year, Astro Landscape Category Winner

Entrant statement: This is a multilayer 24-panel mosaic taken from Cathedral Cove before and during a moonrise. I timed it in such a way that I was able to finish capturing the sky just before the moon started to rise.

Exposure: Full color sky: F2, 15 sec, ISO 1600 | Duoband: F2, 120 sec, ISO 1600

Total integration time: 15 hours

Equipment: Nikon Z6a, Sigma 40mm F1.4 DG HSM , Optolong L-Para

Location: Cathedral Cove, New Zealand

Judges’ statement: McKay’s winning image was praised for its exceptional detail and depth, drawing viewers into the scene. Judges highlighted its balanced composition and strong sense of atmosphere and place, describing it as beautifully executed and deserving of the award.

Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Evan McKay

Photographer: Evan McKay

Award: Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: This is a multilayer 2-panel mosaic in full color and duoband data of the Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS with Orion above Mount Taranaki. All was shot with a 135mm lens on location.

Exposure: Full colour sky: F1.8, 30 sec, ISO 1600 | Duoband data: F1.8, 60 sec, ISO 1600

Total integration time: 1.5 hours

Equipment: Nikon Z6a, Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM IF ART, Optolong L-Para

Location: Mount Taranaki, New Zealand

Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Matteo Strassera

Photographer: Matteo Strassera

Award: Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: Panorama of the Milky Way captured in Rub’ al-Khali desert, in the UAE. A solitary figure is framed between two elements, the cosmos and the dunes, both immutable but in constant evolution.

Exposure: Land: 6 x 120 sec + manual bracketing for light; Sky: 8 frames x 360 sec + bracketing for light pollution

Total integration time: 360 seconds each frame, total around 42 minutes

Equipment: Canon R5, Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG HSM Art

Location: Rub’ al-Khali, United Arab Emirates

Gateway Award

Brian Puhl

Photographer: Brian Puhl

Awards: Gateway Award, Deep Space Category Finalist

Entrant statement: LDN 1251, the Rotten Fish Nebula. A dark nebula of rich brown dust in Cepheus. A little over 19 hours of LRGB from my North Carolina back yard.

Exposure:  232 x 300 seconds

Total integration time: 19 hours, 20 minutes

Equipment: Esprit 150, QHY-268M, Antlia LRGB

Location: North Carolina

Judges’ statement: The 2026 Gateway Award was presented to Brian Puhl of the United States for his image of LDN 1251, commonly known as the Rotten Fish Nebula.

Sponsored by Nebula Nest, the award provides a year of free hosting at its remote observatory in rural Victoria, Australia, under Bortle 1 skies. The award is valued at $2150 and is selected from the ten highest-scoring Deep Space images.

Deep Space Category Winner

Marzena Rogozińska

Photographer: Marzena Rogozińska

Award: Deep Space Category Winner

Entrant statement: The Chameleon Dark Clouds in the constellation Chamaeleon, captured from Namibia. The image reveals intricate streams of interstellar dust illuminated by delicate blue reflection nebulae.

Exposure: 300 x 180 seconds

Total integration time: About 15 hours

Equipment: ZWO Asi 2600MC Pro, Takahashi Epsilon 130d, UV/IR Cut filter

Location: Hakos, Namibia (during the expedition in may 2025)

Judges’ statement: Rogozińska’s image stood out for its dynamic treatment of interstellar dust. Judges described the structures as appearing almost alive and turbulent, like a tornado, and praised the image’s detail, processing and composition. The panel found the result both beautiful and exciting, and considered it thoroughly deserving of recognition.

Deep Space Category Top 5 Finalist

Dan Bartlett

Photographer: Dan Bartlett

Award: Deep Space Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: Fifteen Consecutive Nights, Star-aligned sequence of Comet 13P/Olbers Surrounding Perihelion, June 26 – July 10, 2024. The first comet to show the extreme variability of its blue ion tail by solar winds.

Exposure: 440 x 60 seconds, 46 x 45 seconds

Total integration time: 7 hours 54 minutes 30 seconds

Equipment: asi6200mcPro, RASA11

Location: June Lake, California USA

Aurora Category Winner

Jason Perry

Photographer: Jason Perry

Award: Aurora Category Winner

Entrant statement: The Aurora Borealis dances above the mountains of Å in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, its vibrant green light reflected across the calm waters below.

Exposure: A single exposure at 6 seconds

Total integration time: 6 seconds

Equipment: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S

Location: Å, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Judges’ statement: Perry’s image impressed the judges with its technical quality and depth. The foreground detail was particularly notable, with the image remaining pin-sharp from front to back, an impressive achievement for a single-exposure photograph. The judges considered it a beautifully executed image.

Aurora Category Top 5 Finalist

Kavan Chay

Photographer: Kavan Chay

Award: Aurora Category Top 5

Entrant statement: This Aurora Australis display was so expansive, it needed a 12 frame panorama to capture the full display, with another 6 to capture the lighthouse in the foreground.

Exposure: 12 at 5 seconds + 6 at 30 seconds(sky/foreground)

Total integration time: 0.016 hours

Equipment: Nikon Z7a, Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S

Location: Waipapa Point, New Zealand

Remote Imaging Category Winner

Alpha Zhang

Photographer: Alpha Zhang

Award: Remote Imaging Category Winner

Entrant statement: Galileo’s Finger Through a Faint Hα Veil. A near-threshold Hα veil rather than a bright red sea: dust sets the direction, Ha builds the depth, and distant galaxies still thread through the field.

Exposure: 74 exposures

Total integration time: 14 hours

Equipment: ToupTek SkyEye 62AM, SkyRover 180APO Pro, Sky-Watcher EQ8-Rh

Location: SiChuan China

Judges’ statement: Zhang’s image received a unanimous Gold rating from all five judges, a rare result in the competition. Judges praised its natural presentation, framing and sense of movement, describing it as exceptionally
well presented and close to flawless.

Remote Imaging Category Top 5 Finalist

Kevin Morefield

Photographer: Kevin Morefield

Award: Remote Imaging Category Top 5 Finalist

Entrant statement: As this complex is in the distant LMC, it is really a collection of many objects. I wanted to highlight the similarity with the Rosette. Massive young stars carving out the central cavity.

Exposure: Red: 32 x 300 sec | Green: 33 x 300 sec | Blue: 33 x 300 sec | Hydrogen-alpha: 50 x 900 sec | Sulfur II: 50 x 900 sec | Oxygen III: 49 x 900 sec

Total integration time: 45 Hours 25 minutes

Equipment: QHY600M, Planewave DR350, Chroma SHORGB

Location: El Sauce Observatory

Updated October 19, 2026

$1000 might sound like a lot of money for a camera, but it’s probably the least we’d recommend spending if you want to go beyond phone photography, especially as photography equipment is steadily getting more expensive. The picks on this list will give you more control than a phone and offer a more satisfying photographic experience.

At this price point, your options for a new camera will be entry-level interchangeable lens cameras or larger-sensor compact cameras with built-in lenses. Compacts offer more control than a phone and a greater zoom range, but likely won’t offer a huge jump in image quality compared to the latest flagship phones (despite their typically larger sensors).

Meanwhile, an interchangeable lens camera won’t be as easy to carry around and comes with the added expense of lenses. However, they can make you feel even more involved in the photographic process, and the flexibility of swappable lenses will let you learn and grow into different types of photography as you develop your passion. They also feature much larger sensors than phones and the majority of compacts.

It’s worth noting that camera makers sometimes assume that beginners will stick with the basic ‘kit’ zoom that comes with the camera, so it’s worth checking whether a good selection of lenses is available (at a price you’re willing to spend) before deciding which brand’s system to buy into.

Our recommendations:

• Best camera under $1000: Nikon Z50II
• The best value for money: OM System PEN
• Best compact camera under $1000: Canon G7X III
• Best camera for content creators under $1000: Fujifilm X-M5

Best camera under $1000: Nikon Z50II

It earns its place at the top of this list by offering most of what you’ll need for stills and videography, and having a relatively easy-to-use and reliable AF system with automatic subject detection. Nikon has made a few fast APS-C zooms for Z-mount, and allowed a select few third-party options, so you won’t be stuck with a mediocre kit zoom, though other systems do offer a bit more choice.

The other options

Canon’s EOS R10 is a close competitor to the Z50II, offering much the same functionality. We also appreciate its inclusion of an AF joystick, but its biggest advantage over the Nikon is the wider selection of compelling APS-C zooms available for RF mount (even if they come from Sigma and Tamron, rather than Canon itself). However, its AF is ever so slightly less reliable than the Z50II’s, and it costs $100 more, so we feel the Nikon still deserves the top spot.

If you genuinely only have $1000 to spend on a camera and lens, and aren’t willing to buy used, your best bet is the Sony a6100. It’s quite elderly at this point (though it was relatively advanced when it released, compared to its peers), and the kit zoom that comes with it is quite poor. But if every last penny counts, it’s one of the few option that gets you a camera you can actually shoot with for under $1000.

The best value for money: OM System PEN

Richard Butler

It offers a list of features that you won’t find on the other cameras in this buying guide: in-body image stabilization, multi-shot computational modes and rated weather sealing (even if its IPX1 rating is relatively modest), all wrapped in an attractive rangefinder-styled body. You’d have to pay substantially more to get these features in a camera with a larger sensor, but the PEN offers it at a reasonable price point, and in a system with plenty of good lenses to choose from. Its autofocus isn’t as easy to use as our top pick, and it’s substantially less capable at video, but it’s unmatched when it comes to features (and maybe even fun) per dollar.

Best compact camera under $1000: Canon G7X III

The Canon PowerShot G7X III is the last in what used to be a popular style: the pocketable enthusiast photographers’ compact, with a relatively large Type 1 20MP sensor and bright zoom lens. Canon has added features to make it more vlogging-friendly, but the clicking control wheel gives a satisfying, hands-on shooting experience.

A note on availability: the PowerShot G7X III has been difficult to get for a while, despite Canon’s continued promises about ramping up production. Getting your hands on one for anything near its original MSRP may require some patience.

Best camera for content creation: Fujifilm X-M5

It’s aimed at creators taking pictures and video for the web, with a suite of vlogging features that let you shoot video that’s ready to upload as soon as you transfer it to your phone. It also has a dial for easily switching between ‘Film Simulations,’ Fujifilm’s much-loved color modes, and the full suite of stills features from larger, more expensive models – minus a viewfinder. Its support for X-mount lenses also gives you access to the most complete range of APS-C lenses, no matter what journey you’re on.

What if I only vlog?

If you plan to shoot more videos than photos, it’s worth considering the Canon PowerShot V1. It’s a compact camera built for vlogging with its integrated 16-50mm equiv. F2.8-4.5 lens, large (for a compact) Type 1.4 (18.4 x 12.3mm) sensor, complete with optical image stabilization and an ND filter. While we don’t think it offers an especially enjoyable photography experience , features like a built-in fan for cooling, headphone and microphone ports, very usable stabilization and the ability to shoot 4K60p with a 1.4x crop make it a quite powerful video camera for its size.

If you only care about vlogging, and want an even more pocketable option, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 comes in under $1000 and can’t be beat when it comes to stabilization thanks to its built-in gimbal. That, and the ability to sync with DJI’s wireless microphones, earn it the top spot in our dedicated vlogging buying guide.

Why you should trust us

This buying guide is based on cameras used and tested by DPReview’s editorial team. We don’t select a camera until we’ve used it enough to be confident in recommending it, usually after our extensive review process. The selections are purely a reflection of which cameras we believe to be best: there are no financial incentives for us to select one model or brand over another.