Affinity has announced that the latest version of its free app is its “biggest photo editing update yet,” making the included Raw editor more powerful and easy to use.

In its press release, Canva, which owns Affinity, says it added “nine new color, sharpening, and detail adjustments” to the app’s Raw development process. It’s also added a Presets system, letting you easily save the changes you’ve made to one Raw file, then apply them across others that you’re editing. You can also use presets across various types of photos, including panoramas, focus stacks and more.

Mitchell Clark

The app can also attempt to deal with tricky corrections, such as getting the white balance right in scenes that have mixed lighting and attempting to reduce motion blur.

Canva has also added a variety of other tools to Affinity’s Raw editing panel. It gains spline-based hue and saturation curves and color-based adjustments, as well as new options for its object selection tool.

Finally, Affinity now has a “Studio” – basically a pre-configured arrangement of windows and tools – for editing astrophotography. It gives you easy access to tools to separate the stars from the background or to remove the background entirely, and to stretch the photo to “reveal faint detail while preserving important highlights.”

All of this is on top of all the things Affinity already does. Around a year ago, Canva folded Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher all into one app, promising that it would be “completely free, forever.” This has, so far, remained true, though you will need a subscription to use some of the app’s AI features. And while the tool can’t replace library management tools like Capture One or Lightroom, for someone who just needs to edit the occasional Raw and doesn’t want to pay for Photoshop to do so, it’s now more capable than ever.

The changes come as part of the 3.3 update to Affinity, which is free to download from Canva. Existing users will be prompted to update the next time they open the app.

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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 week, Apple announced its first foldable: the iPhone Duo. It’s launching into a mature market with lots of competition, though it adopts the still relatively rare passport form factor. This means it’s designed to be short and wide, rather than tall and thin, a decision with relatively fundamental implications on the aspect ratio of its interior screen.

While there are plenty of options to compare it with, we’re choosing some of the more established competitors: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 series (both the passport style phone and the boxier Ultra variant) and the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold. However, we will bring up some of the other foldables on the market at points where they’re relevant.

Cameras

One of the areas folding phones differ the most is in their camera layouts. Some opt for a three camera array, while others opt for two (usually, it’s the telephoto option that gets the axe). But different phones will make different compromises, so it’s up to you to decide what parts of the camera experience you value.

Comparing the options across the foldables from Apple, Samsung and Google to a standard slab phone – in this case the iPhone 18 Pro – a few things become clear. Both Apple and Samsung decided that there just wasn’t room in a passport-style phone for a three camera array (though, notably, Xiaomi managed it).

However, while the larger foldables offer telephoto cameras, they’re usually very compromised compared to what you’d typically get on a standard phone. Samsung’s “Ultra” foldable, the most expensive in this roundup, is also the only one that has what we’d consider to be a flagship-class main camera, though Motorola’s new Razr Fold has a comprable camera layout, albeit with an slightly worse ultrawide and substantially nicer telephoto.

Samsung

As for how the iPhone Duo compares: it’s very similar to the Z Fold 8, and Apple has made a different trade-off than Google, opting for a better ultra-wide with no telephoto rather than relatively poor versions of both. But like the rest of the phones, it’s pretty much no contest between it and the Z Fold 8 Ultra, or the iPhone 18 Pro it launched alongside.

Screens

Apple

Of course, the main reason to get a folding phone is that they come close to the pocketability of a standard phone, will unfurling to give you a large display that lets you run multiple apps at once, or view videos and photos on a much larger canvas. (But while the iPhone Fold is IMAX-shaped, we suspect Christopher Nolan still wouldn’t approve of watching movies on one.)

Your choice of form factor will largely dictate what kind of screen you get, with the passport-style phones offering slightly smaller displays with aspect ratios more suited to viewing content, but not quite as ideal for running apps side-by-side (though both the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 can). Meanwhile, the more traditional folding phones offer nearly square screens, which offer a multitasking experience that’s almost like having two standard phones next to each other.

Samsung

While you may need to compromise on cameras to get a folding phone, you’re not compromising on screen specs. All the phones in our roundup have incredibly bright displays – Apple and Samsung* offer 3000 nits peak brightness on bother inner and outer screens, while Google ratchets that up to 3600 – with variable refresh rates that go from 1 to 120Hz.

The one place Apple has thought different is in the finish of its inner display; it has a matte “nano-texture” coating, where its competitors have glossy displays. Apple says this does a better job of hiding the crease in the middle – though it’s barely noticeable on the Samsungs either, according to most reviewers – and makes it less prone to scratches. We’ll see what happens when JerryRigEverything does his durability tests on it, though.

Size and Weight

There’s no getting around it: the iPhone Duo is hefty, especially given its size. Despite Apple’s use of titanium in its construction – typically a material that offers incredible strength for its size – it winds up being substantially heavier than even the larger Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

To us, this comparison illustrates Samsung’s experience as the company that’s been making foldables the longest. Its models are substantially thinner and lighter than their Apple and Google counterparts, while having roughly similar battery capacities. Of course, Apple is known to let its devices be a bit heavier to give them a premium feel, but it’s up to you whether the feel in your hand is worth the heft in the pocket.

The rest of the experience

Each brand, will, of course, have its own take on what the foldable experience should be like. These range from macro-level decisions, like how the transition from folded to unfolded should work and how multitasking is handled, to smaller quality-of-life features like Google and Apple’s inclusion of camera features made to make kids smile as you’re taking their picture, and automatically capture group photos when you have your phone set up on a flat surface.

Google

While we won’t know the full scope of those usability differences until all the phones are available, there are a few things we can glean from what we know so far. While all the phones can be stood up on a table in the a-frame-like tent mode for watching video, the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s hinge design means it can’t be used half-unfolded (in a way that makes the phone sort of like a laptop). This is an ability the Ultra version, as well as the Pixel and iPhone, have.

While none of the selfie cameras on the inner screens will be great – they’re designed mostly for video calls – Apple goes the extra step of hiding its one under the display when it’s not in use, so you can get a truly full-screen experience when watching video, without the hole-punch you’ll get in the Galaxies and Pixel. Ironically, this was something Samsung used to do with its foldables, but has dropped in recent years.

The iPhone Duo and Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold both offer dust and water ingress protection that’s equivalent to a standard cell phone (which is important given their oh-so-complex hinges and display mechanisms), with an IP68 rating. The Samsung models fall a bit short on the dust protection, only boasting IP48.

If you want to see how the iPhone 18 Pro compares to its traditional smartphone competitors, check out our story below.

* – It’s also no secret that Samsung, innovator in the foldable space, provides the panel for Apple’s foldable; no wonder it has similar performance.

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. 

This week, Apple announced the iPhone 18 Pro, the latest entry in its lineup of high-end smartphones. As we’ve come to expect, the update includes several new camera features, and even some new hardware. So how does it stack up against the last few years of Pro phones from Apple?

Before we get to what’s changed, let’s quickly cover what stayed the same: the 48MP ultra-wide camera, which provides a 13mm equiv. field of view and uses a 1/2.55 (23.5mm²) sensor, is the same model on the iPhones 16, 17 and 18 Pro. Likewise, Apple hasn’t updated the selfie or telephoto cameras on the 18 Pro either; they’re the same ones from the iPhone 17 Pro (though they were upgrades from those of the 16 Pro).

It’s also worth stating up front that the camera layouts on the 18 Pro are the same whether you go with the standard or Max versions, leaving you free to decide whether you want a 6.3″ or 6.9″ display, without having to worry that you’re compromising your phone’s photographic abilities.

The main camera

Apple

So what has changed then? The major hardware change Apple made to the iPhone 18 Pro is the addition of an adjustable aperture to the main 24mm equiv. camera. Unlike the fixed aperture lenses that all previous iPhones have used, this allows you or the phone’s software to choose whether it wants to cut down on the amount of light hitting the sensor, or make adjustments to the depth of field without resorting to software tricks. And if you stop it down all the way, you can even get some sun stars.

The six-bladed aperture has four settings: F1.48, F1.8, F2.8 and F4. Notably, the brightest aperture is faster than the lenses used on the iPhone 17 and 16 Pro, which were fixed at F1.78. While I’m on record saying that an adjustable aperture probably won’t be a ground-breaking change (something I still generally believe), I caveated that statement with the assumption that the phone’s maximum aperture wouldn’t change. At the time, I thought the feature would make for a lens that goes from F1.78 to F4, or F6.1 to F13.7 equiv., letting you switch from a setting with enough depth of field to more than enough. But the difference should be a bit more noticeable now that you’re starting at F5.1 equiv.

Tucker Bowe

While Apple says the sensor behind the lens is new, details are light on what’s changed. It’s still the same size – Type 1/1.28 (71.5mm²) with 1.22µm pixels – as the one used by the 17 and 16 Pro, so it won’t gather any more light; the 50% improvement that Apple references in its presentation is entirely accounted for by the fact that the lens’s maximum aperture is half a stop faster.

Software

Apple

The rest of the camera improvements on the iPhone 18 Pro come from software, and many of the features are only available when using that upgraded main camera. The biggest finally comes from the the “Pro controls” mode, which lets you manually set parameters like white balance, aperture, shutter speed, and view a histogram. (Disappointingly, there’s no mention of manual focus control, for when the AF system doesn’t get things right. While this is theoretically something Apple could port to its older Pro phones, minus the aperture control, of course, its comparison page indicates that it has no intention of doing so.

Apple has also introduced a new “Reference” mode for the main camera, which it says bakes authenticity data into photos taken with the phone into the image on a pixel level. This appears to be an answer to Google Pixel’s inclusion of C2PA Content Credentials in its camera app, though its inclusion as a separate mode means you have to actively decide to use it.

The iPhone 18 Pro introduces Photographic Styles 3, an update to the system that gives you more control over what your phone’s photos look like, letting you adjust things like contrast and color at the point of capture. The system was majorly overhauled with the iPhone 16 Pro, giving you a lot more control and letting you change the style after-the-fact, rather than permanently baking it into the image. The version on the 18 Pro is a much more minor change, adding the ability to “customize texture and grain to soften skin details or achieve an artful film look.”

Finally, Apple is adding a “Smart focus tracking” mode, which will attempt to recognize and stick to a subject after you’ve tapped on it to focus. Again, this feels like something that could come to previous models, but Apple’s comparison tool says it won’t.

Video

Many of the iPhone 18 Pro’s video upgrades are the same as they are for stills: you get the benefits of the variable aperture, and the ability to manually control it and other parameters, along with the tracking autofocus.

Otherwise, the changes are relatively minor: you can now record at up to 4K/60 in the “Cinematic” video mode that adds simulated background blur, where the iPhone 17 and 16 Pro max out at 4K/30. More importantly, though, is that you no longer have to make the on whether to apply the effect or not when recording; you can apply it after the fact. The timelapse video feature is also upgraded to 4K, and Apple appears to have improved its noise reduction as it claims the 18 Pro has better low light video across the board, including on the selfie camera.

The rest

Apple

Of course, a phone isn’t just a camera, and Apple’s made some big changes under the hood that make the iPhone 18 Pro enticing even if you’re happy with your phone’s photos. You can read our launch coverage for the full story, but the top-level summary is that the chip is now substantially faster (especially when it comes to AI tasks, with twice the number of neural cores), and is kept cool thanks to a more advanced vapor chamber design, and some clever engineering choices. The battery life has also gotten a relatively impressive bump, and you can new refill it faster with 60W wired charging, where the 17 Pro topped out at 40W.

You will, however, pay for all these upgrades, in more ways than one. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max start at $100 more than their predecessors for the same spec, and, while they keep roughly the same dimensions as past Pros, are the heaviest ones yet, despite their aluminum, rather than stainless steel, frames. That metal is, however, once again in four colors: black, burgundy, silver and a light blue.

Earlier this year, we reported on a novel photography contest sponsored by Icelandair: a competition to identify the worst photographer it could find, offering a free trip to Iceland and $50,000 cash. The premise was that Iceland is so beautiful that even a terrible photographer could capture its stunning landscapes, and Icelandair wanted to prove it. 

It turns out the airline got a much bigger response than it anticipated, receiving 127,642 entries from 178 countries. That’s a lot of bad photographers, and to find the winner, the judges spent more than 2,000 hours screening what were, by all accounts, terrible photos. You can’t make this stuff up.

Fast forward to June, when we reported on the winner, 28-year-old Blanche Mortemard of Paris, France, who wowed the judges with her inept technical ability and lack of compositional skill.

Blanche Mortemard

But the story didn’t end there. Shortly thereafter, Blanche jetted off to Iceland, presumably on Icelandair, to put her – ahem – skills to the test, spending 10 days touring the island and shooting its landscapes with no filters, no retouching and no AI.

The results are in, and while Blanche isn’t likely to be named photographer of the year by any other organization on the planet, she got some nice shots – along with less-than-perfect photos. As for Iceland? It understood the assignment and came through, looking beautiful, even if obscured by body parts. 

Blanche Mortemard

Reflecting on her experience, it seems that even Blanche thinks Icelandair’s marketing department was onto something. “Iceland makes it almost impossible to take a bad photo, despite my total inability to straighten the camera or take one without my thumb in shot,” she said.

And with that, the saga of one of the most interesting photo contests to cross our desks in quite some time comes to a close. Well, almost.

Blanche Mortemard

Blanche Mortemard

Blanche Mortemard

Blanche Mortemard

If you find yourself inspired by Blanche’s photography – and we’re not making any judgments – and are near London, you can attend the Iceland by the World’s Worst Photographer exhibition in person at White Rabbit Studios in Shoreditch on September 11 (2 – 8pm) and 12 (1 – 9pm). What’s more, you can attend a moderated talk by the “artist” (and we think even Blanche would use that term loosely) on Saturday, September 12 at 5pm. Admission is, mercifully, free, but needs to be booked. And if London isn’t on your itinerary, Icelandair says it plans to take the exhibition to a handful of other cities in North America and Europe. Because why not?

And let’s admit it – we probably all wish it could have been us on that trip.

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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

It looks like Viltrox is gearing up to release a lot of lenses, including bringing several of its existing full-frame designs to L-mount. The news comes from the company’s press release about its attendance of the International Broadcasting Convention, or IBC, this week. While the show is typically focused on video, the company says it’ll be showing off several photographic tools there, too.

First are its L-mount lenses. Viltrox is bringing its autofocusing 14mm F4, 20mm F2.8, 40mm F2.5 and 50mm F2 lenses to the mount, which are all part of its “Air” series of relatively lightweight options that were originally launched for Sony E and Nikon Z mounts. Given that the company has only released two autofocusing lenses for the mount since it joined the L-mount Alliance in 2025, this looks like a relatively dramatic expansion of its offerings. What stands out more, though, is that these lenses aren’t all standard fare; sure a 50mm F2 isn’t that exotic, but there aren’t exactly a ton of affordable ultrawide autofocus lenses already on the market for those with L-mount cameras.

The company also says it’ll be introducing two new APS-C lenses, the 18mm (27mm equiv.) F1.2 Pro and 40mm (60mm equiv.) F1.2 Pro. These are also exciting options, as I wasn’t able to find any other lenses like them currently available for sale (assuming they’ll have autofocus). Of course, they’ll probably be quite large and heavy, but for those who want fast glass to pair with an APS-C camera, these could be options to watch out for. 

The company also promises to expand its flash lineup – which has, until now, consisted mainly of small, on-camera models – with a “new high-power” option. Whether that means a particularly bright version of what it’s made before, or a speedlight or standalone strobe to compete with companies like Godox, we’ll have to wait and see.

While Viltrox will be showing these lenses off at IBC, this doesn’t quite seem to be an official announcement yet. We don’t have release dates for the L-mount lenses, nor do we know if they’ll be the same price as the Sony and Nikon versions. Nor do we have much info on the APS-C lenses. But it’s clear that we should keep a close eye on Viltrox in the coming weeks.

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

September 9th is Sigma’s 65th anniversary of being in business and its CEO, Kazuto Yamaki, has published a letter marking the occasion. While it doesn’t contain any news, it’s well worth a read, as it’s illustrative of what makes the company different.

While Sigma is best known for its lenses, it’s also a company that hasn’t been afraid of trying something a little out there, be that chasing the long-standing dream of a full-frame Foveon camera, creating a radically simplified user interface for its BF camera or even growing rice. And indeed, it’s hard to imagine many other companies taking time in a letter celebrating an anniversary to call attention to the “stern feedback” they received after the times their products or services fell short.

Yamaki states in the letter that the company hopes to “contribute to the development of photographic and visual culture, social peace, and human happiness” in the future. You can read the full letter here, or take a trip down memory lane and read the letter Yamaki wrote for Sigma’s 60th anniversary in 2021, before checking out the company’s history page.

Today, Apple announced the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo, its first foldable, making it seem as if the standard line of iPhones, along with the ultra-thin iPhone Air were untouched. And while those phones haven’t been updated yet, something about them has changed: their prices.

When the iPhone 17 launched in September of last year, it started at $799 for a model with 256GB of storage. Now, that same model is $899. If you want to upgrade your storage to 512GB, it’ll bring the price up to $1099. Apple is no longer selling the 17 Pro that launched alongside it, as is tradition for when it updates a Pro model.

The iPhone Air, launched at the same time as the 17, has also received a $100 price bump, now starting at $1099 instead of $999. 

What’s more painful is what’s happened to the cheaper end of Apple’s lineup. The iPhone 17e, the company’s budget model which originally launched in March, has gone from $599, the same price as its predecessor, to $699. And the now two-year old iPhone 16 now sells for $799, which is the same price that it launched at in 2024.

This move isn’t necessarily a surprise from Apple. The company recently raised prices on many of its other devices like Macs, Apple TVs and more, likely due in part to rising storage and memory costs. However, it had seemed like the iPhone may have been spared, with the price increases coming with the next generation. And indeed, the iPhone 18 Pros announced today start at $100 more than their predecessor. However, it seems like that price increase isn’t just limited to the latest and greatest.