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Image: Leica

One hundred years ago today, Leica unveiled the Leica I – the first mass-produced 35mm camera. Leica has been hosting celebrations and releasing special editions all year, but today has announced a range of special edition cameras to mark the official 100th anniversary. Those include the M11-D, M11, D-Lux 8 and Sofort 2, along with a photobook commemorating 100 years of Leica.

Leica says that the M11-D included in the Centenary Set pays "homage to the original 1925 model in terms of both design and materials." The rangefinder uses the same internal components as the standard M11, including a 60-megapixel sensor, though the exterior is quite different. Most notably, it lacks a rear display. Leica also omitted the eyelets for a strap and the red Leica logo, in keeping with the original Leica I.

The anniversary edition of the M11-D does away with the rear display.

Image: Leica

The special edition of the M11-D features a solid brass top and base plate with a high-gloss black finish, mirroring the original model. The body uses a genuine leather covering. There are nickel-colored anodized controls made from aluminum with the same cross knurling as the Leica I. The conical collar around the shutter release and semi-circular shutter button also make reference to early Leica cameras. Finally, the camera features the "100" logo on the hot shoe cover and a white "Ernst Leitz Wetzlar" engraving on the conical collar.

The M11-D special edition also adds another milestone for Leica: one of the editions is Leica's millionth Leica M-camera. That camera will be engraved with the serial number #6000000, and will be displayed alongside the Leica I #126 from 1925 at Leitz Park’s Leica Welt.

The Leitz Anastigmat-M 50 F3.5 references back to the original fixed lens on the Leica I.

Image: Leica

The M11-D Centenary Set also includes two special lenses: the Leica Summilux-M 50 F1.4 ASPH. and the Leitz Anastigmat-M 50 F3.5. The Leitz Anastigmat 50 F3.5 was the original fixed lens found on the Leica I in 1925. Now, Leica has reimagined it, equipping it with an M mount. It keeps key characteristics of the original, though, including a retractable design. The modern lens is made from aluminum, though it features a nickel-colored finish.

The anniversary set also comes with the Leica Summilux-M 50 F1.4 ASPH. lens.

Image: Leica

Leica says the Summilux-M 50 F1.4 ASPH. lens balances "timeless design with cutting-edge optical performance." It offers a vintage-inspired design, including cross knurling on the aperture ring and a nickel-colored surface.

The M11-D Centenary Set comes with a glossy black case and other accessories.

Image: Leica

The M11-D Centenary Set also comes with special accessories. These include a glossy wooden box for storage and an SD card case. It also comes with a leather case and a leather carrying strap.

While the M11-D is the most dramatic of the special editions, Leica also announced three other anniversary editions. The D-Lux 8 also pays homage to the Leica I with nickel-colored accents and black leatherette covering with a texture similar to Leica M cameras. It features the conical collar around the shutter release button and cross knurling on the top controls. The Sofort 2 instant camera anniversary edition includes a nickel-colored lens cap and a glossy black finish with the "100" logo on the camera's top plate.

Leica also released special editions of the D-Lux 8 and Sofort 2 cameras.

Images: Leica

Leica has been releasing special edition M11 cameras throughout the year, each engraved with the name of the city where the celebration takes place, for a total of six cities. Today marks the release of the "Wetzlar Germany" edition, with "Wetzlar" engraved on the top plate. Only 100 are available, and they can only be purchased in Leica stores in Germany for €9500.

Finally, alongside the cameras, Leica has unveiled the 100 Leica Stories Book. It features 100 stories of personal moments, iconic photographs, technical achievements and behind-the-scenes looks.

The Leica M11-D 100 Years of Leica set won't be available until spring 2026 in select Leica stores. The other anniversary editions are available as of today. The Leica D-Lux 8 edition is priced at €1850 ($2166), while the Sofort 2 edition costs €495 ($580). The book is available in Germany as of today, and internationally on July 14 for €70 ($82).

Press release:

Leica is celebrating 100 years of the Leica I with exclusive special editions and marking another significant milestone in the company’s history by producing the millionth M-Camera.

Wetzlar, 26 June 2025. Exactly a century ago, Leica unveiled the Leica I at the Leipzig Spring Fair, thereby changing the world of photography forever. By introducing the first mass-produced 35 mm camera in 1925, the company established new benchmarks and profoundly influenced the way people documented their surroundings through photography. To commemorate the centenary of this technological milestone, Leica Camera AG is introducing a collection of exclusive special editions under the title “100 YEARS OF LEICA”.

These include the D-Lux 8, the SOFORT 2, 10x40 binoculars from the Trinovid series and a truly unique M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA set featuring two lenses. A very special distinction is being conferred upon the M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA set: one of the 100 M11-D Anniversary Edition models is more than a homage to the Leica I – as the millionth Leica M-Camera ever manufactured, it marks another significant milestone in the company’s history. This camera, designated with the serial number 6000000, stands as a testament to a hundred years of precision, innovation and craftsmanship. To properly honour this historic achievement, the M11-D #6000000 will be displayed alongside the first series-produced Leica camera, the Leica I #126 from 1925, at the Leitz Park’s Leica Welt.

The M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA Showcased in a Special Set

The Leica M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA impressively bridges past and present with dramatic impact, accompanied in a special set by two lenses that are both extraordinarily unique and historically significant: the Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH. and the Leitz Anastigmat-M 50 f/3.5 – a modern interpretation of Leica’s first camera lens from 1925, the Leitz Anastigmat 50 mm f/3.5. This M11-D anniversary edition honours the Leica I, paying homage to the original 1925 model in terms of both design and materials. Its top and base plates are crafted from solid brass and feature a high-gloss black finish. The eyelets for a carrying strap have been omitted, along with the red Leica logo, in keeping with the design of the Leica I. The nickel-coloured anodised controls – including the shutter release, on/off switch and exposure time setting wheel – are made from aluminium and incorporate the Leica I’s classic cross knurling. The conical collar encircling the shutter release, the semi-circular shutter release button and the genuine leather covering with its notably textured finish – reminiscent of early Leica cameras – all incorporate authentic design elements from the original model. Additional refined details, including the “100” logo on the hot shoe cover and the white “Ernst Leitz Wetzlar” engraving on the conical collar, complete the design of the M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA limited edition. The true proof of the camera’s limited edition status lies in the engraving on the accessory shoe. This follows the same style as the original Leica I serial numbers: no. 001 to no. 100, whereby the camera
bearing no. 000 holds the distinct honour of being designated serial number 6000000. The lenses accompanying the set bear the same edition number.

M11-D Centenary Set: the Leitz Anastigmat-M 50 f/3.5

When Leica unveiled the Leica I in 1925, it was equipped with the Leitz Anastigmat 50 mm f/3.5 lens, which was permanently affixed and lacked the interchangeability of the later M39 screw-mount lenses. This initial pairing of the Leica I and the Leitz Anastigmat was manufactured approximately 150 times before the Elmax lens succeeded the original lens. A hundred years after its brief yet significant appearance, the Leitz Anastigmat 50 mm f/3.5 is making a return, reimagined for modern times while preserving its historical essence. The contemporary iteration of this lens, now equipped with an M mount, preserves key characteristics of the original, including its retractable construction, ensuring optimal compactness just as it did a century ago. A distinctive aspect of this lens is its exterior, crafted from aluminium for the first time, allowing for an anodised nickel-coloured finish that echoes its origins from a century ago.

M11-D Centenary Set: the Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH.

With the Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH., the second lens in the set, Leica has seamlessly united heritage and innovation, balancing timeless design with cutting-edge optical performance. Delivering remarkable lens speed, outstanding image quality even with a wide aperture and an exceptionally soft bokeh, this M-Lens fully harnesses the capabilities of modern camera sensors, with a minimum focus distance of just 45 cm. Design elements like the classic cross knurling on the aperture adjustment ring, a nickel-coloured lens surface on aluminium base material and a grip milled from aluminium set the anniversary edition apart from the current series model.

M11-D Centenary Set: the Accessories

The anniversary set is further enhanced with carefully curated accessories, including a specially designed protector featuring a securely attached carrying strap, reminiscent of Leitz’s earliest leather accessories. Accompanying this is an SD card case. All these accessories are crafted from exquisite cognac-coloured leather. A strikingly elegant, glossy black wooden box, produced in Germany,completes the ensemble, underscoring this centenary set’s exclusivity and special sophistication.

The D-Lux 8 100 YEARS OF LEICA

Alongside the Leica M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA, three additional anniversary editions will be unveiled on 26 June 2025. One of these, the Leica D-Lux 8 100 YEARS OF LEICA, pays homage to the Leica I with its distinctive design language and nickel-coloured accents. It also features black leatherette covering, textured similarly to Leica M-Cameras, and incorporates a conical collar around the shutter release button as well as cross knurling on the camera’s top control elements. The compact camera’s minimalist aesthetic has also been refined by omitting the thumb rest, the model name engraving on the top plate and the signature red Leica logo. The “100” logo embellishes the hot shoe cover, serving as an additional stylish design accent.

The SOFORT 2 100 YEARS OF LEICA

The SOFORT 2 hybrid instant camera also features a distinctive anniversary design, incorporating exclusively elegant details. Available solely in black, the Leica SOFORT 2 100 YEARS OF LEICA showcases sophisticated details to celebrate the centenary, including a nickel-coloured lens cap, a sleek glossy black frame for the photo output and the distinguished “100” logo adorning the camera’s top plate.

The Trinovid 10x40 100 YEARS OF LEICA

The legendary Trinovid 10x40 binoculars are being reissued as a special edition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Leica I, with only 100 units available for purchase. With hand-polished black-anodised housing, premium and resilient leatherette covering, and nickel-coloured accents with cross knurling, it integrates harmoniously into the “100 YEARS OF LEICA” design concept. In place of the traditional red Leica logo, the “100” logo takes pride of place on the front of the lens barrel. A matching binocular bag and carrying strap round off this special set.

100 Leica Stories Book

The centenary of the Leica I is also being celebrated in literary form with the book 100 Leica Stories. Through 100 compelling stories, this book chronicles personal moments, iconic photographs, groundbreaking technical achievements and behind-the-scenes perspectives that weave together acentury of Leica’s history. This commemorative book showcases the Leica I’s enduring legacy and cult status – not only as a technical masterpiece, but also as witness to a whole century of history.

The Leica M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA set, including the Anastigmat-M 50 f/3.5 and Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH. lenses, will be available exclusively in select Leica Stores from spring 2026. The other anniversary editions can be purchased worldwide from Leica Stores, the Leica Online Store and authorised dealers starting on 26 June 2025:

• Leica D-Lux 8 100 YEARS OF LEICA
  RRP: €1,850.00 incl. VAT.
• Leica SOFORT 2 100 YEARS OF LEICA
  RRP: €495.00 incl. VAT
• Leica Trinovid 10x40 100 YEARS OF LEICA
  RRP: €2,750.00 incl. VAT.

Available in German and English from Leica Stores worldwide, the Leica Online Store, the LFI Online Store and authorised dealers. Sales will begin in Germany on 26 June 2025 and internationally on 14 July 2025:

• 100 Leica Stories Book
  RRP: €70.00 incl. VAT.

Summary: The anniversary event taking place in Wetzlar on 26 June 2025 will be a landmark celebration featuring four prominent product launches that pay homage to the Leica I. These significant special editions – the M11-D, D-Lux 8, SOFORT 2 and Trinovid 10x40 – will be unveiled as a tribute to this ground-breaking camera. Another highlight marking a major milestone in the company’s history will be the presentation of the millionth M-Camera, the M11-D 100 YEARS OF LEICA, alongside the historic Leica I #126, an iconic model whose introduction in 1925 shaped both photography and Leica’s enduring legacy. The anniversary book 100 Leica Stories tells the story of this trailblazing camera.

100 Years of Leica: Leica – Witness to a Century

Leica Camera AG is celebrating 100 years of the Leica I in 2025. It was presented to the public for the first time at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1925 and, as the first series-produced 35 mm camera, exceeded all expectations. Because with its compact and handy format, it opened up a whole new range of new photographic applications. All around the globe, under the motto “100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century”, Leica Camera AG will be celebrating this camera, which revolutionised the world of photography. At international events held by the Leica national organisations in metropolises such as Dubai, Milan, New York, Shanghai and Tokyo, cultural attractions and outstanding special edition products will be presented throughout the year. The anniversary week, taking place in Wetzlar, the company's headquarters, in June, marks the high point of the celebrations. On top of that, visitors can look forward to top-class exhibitions in the worldwide network of Leica Galleries with works by outstanding photographers.

Image: Insta360

Insta360 has announced its latest smartphone gimbal, the Flow 2. It shares many features with the Flow 2 Pro, which was released in January this year, yet comes at a more budget-friendly price. The company says the Flow 2 is a "more affordable, creator-friendly evolution" of the Flow smartphone gimbal.

Like Insta360's other smartphone gimbals, the Flow 2 functions as a tripod, selfie stick and gimbal with multi-person subject tracking. The subject tracking features are powered by Insta360's Deep Track 4.0, which "brings sweeping updates to subject identification (even when obstructed by obstacles)."

The Standard Bundle of the Flow 2 only supports tracking in the Insta360 app, and its Active Zoom Tracking only works with compatible iPhones. If you want tracking in any third-party app and full compatibility, even if you don't have an iPhone, you'll need to opt for the slightly more expensive Tracker Bundle. The accessory included in the Tracker Bundle enables tracking in apps like TikTok, Instagram, Zoom and more. It also adds a built-in spotlight, which the Standard bundle lacks.

The Flow 2 is a three-in-one device, with the ability to serve as a selfie stick, tripod and gimbal.

Image: Insta360

The gimbal supports NFC pairing, allowing users to skip the Bluetooth pairing process. Android users get an additional Quick Launch setting in the Insta360 app that automatically opens the phone's native camera app when they unfold the gimbal. It promises 10 hours of battery life, which is down slightly from the original Flow's 12 hours. As with the Flow 2 Pro, you can control the device with an Apple Watch or a second smartphone, unlocking remote use.

The Flow 2 is relatively lightweight and compact, weighing approximately 348g (12.3oz). The magnetic phone clamp adds another 25g (0.9oz). When folded, it's only 97.9x178.4x36.7mm (3.6x7x1.4"), making it easy to pack when traveling.

Image: Insta360

Within the Insta360 app is the company's "golden ratio composition tech" that can suggest shots for you. It will automatically perform barrel rolls, dolly zooms or 360°panoramas with a tap, making it easier for beginners to get more advanced-looking videos.

The Insta360 Flow 2 is available now for $110 for the Standard Bundle, while the AI Tracker Bundle costs $130.

The Mic Air is a tiny wireless mic that works with Insta360's lineup without any accessories, or with other devices with the option transmitter and receiver.

Image: Insta360

Insta360 also recently launched its first-ever mic, rounding out its options for content creators. The Insta360 Mic Air is a tiny device that works wirelessly without additional adapters when paired with Insta360's X5 and Ace Pro 2 (more models coming soon) and Flow series gimbals. It can work with non-Insta360 devices, but you'll need a transmitter and receiver for those.

The Insta36 Mic Air is available for only $49, making it a very affordable audio solution for those sticking to Insta360 products. The bundle with the transmitter and receiver costs $69, which is still significantly more affordable than the DJI Mic Mini, and slightly less expensive than the similar-looking SmallRig S 60 mic.

Buy now: Buy at Amazon Buy at Insta360

Press release:

Insta360 Unveils Flow 2: Affordable, All-in-One Smartphone Gimbal for Effortless Content Creation

We’re excited to officially launch Insta360 Flow 2!

A more affordable, creator-friendly evolution of the gimbal we’ve spent years refining. It’s built for anyone with a story to tell, be that playing with kids, group vlogs, video calls, or just a quiet solo trip.

With built-in 3-axis stabilization, NFC One-Tap Shooting, a sturdy selfie stick and tripod, Deep Track 4.0, Multi Person Tracking and Active Zoom Tracking, all with a 10-hour battery, Flow 2 keeps the best of what creators love, now at a price that makes it more accessible than ever.

“With Flow 2, we're taking everything we’ve learned from developing the Flow series, and making it easier for more people to create,” shares JK Liu, founder of Insta360. “It's designed to make smartphone shooting that much better, packed full of features, while remaining portable and accessible.”

A True All-in-One Companion

Folding up to fit snugly in your bag or pocket, Flow 2 comes complete with a built-in selfie stick, a sturdy metal tripod, and a 10-hour battery that can even charge your phone while you shoot.

Flow 2 features NFC One-Tap Shooting* for supported phones, letting you skip the Bluetooth pairing process and jump straight into the Insta360 app’s shooting page. Just tap your phone and you’re in!

For Android users, there's also an optional Quick Launch setting in the Insta360 app that automatically opens your native phone camera when you unfold the gimbal, too.

Smarter Tracking, Smoother Shots

At the heart of Flow 2 is our smartest tracking tech yet: Deep Track 4.0.

The latest rendition of our AI tracking brings sweeping updates to subject identification (even when obstructed by obstacles), and better support for tracking full groups. This works incredibly well if you're vlogging with friends, or filming a group dance or performance, ensuring nobody is left out of shot!

There's also the handy Pro Framing Grid, using Insta360's golden ratio tech to allow for 9 unique angles (simply tap the screen, Flow 2 will accomodate your subject), to ensure you get perfect framing for your environment.

Even better, you can control your Flow 2 remotely via Apple Watch or a second smartphone. It’s perfect for those moments when the whole family wants to be in the shot. No more awkwardly asking strangers for help!

As Max Richter, Co-founder and VP of Marketing, puts it: “Flow 2 is an exciting addition to our gimbal lineup. Its accessible pricing combined with plenty of exciting features really positions it as an everyday gimbal far ahead of the competition."

Vlog-Ready with the New Insta360 Mic Air

We’ve made vlogging easier with tools like the new Insta360 Mic Air for hands-free audio, letting you capture clearer voiceovers or commentary whether you're walking, cooking, or unboxing.

Combined with the new Teleprompter feature via the Insta360 app, you'll have perfect live cooking demos, product showcases, and more! Simply load your script and it’ll scroll while you record with your phone’s camera.

Flow 2 also includes the AI Tracker, which enables subject tracking in third-party apps that don’t natively support it, especially helpful for Android users, offering powerful tracking capabilities across more platforms. Better yet, it includes a built-in spotlight for natural shots even at night!

Once you're done filming, the AI Editing Suite can auto-trim and polish your footage for you as well!

Flow 2 vs. Flow 2 Pro: What’s the Difference?

Flow 2 and Flow 2 Pro share most of the same smart shooting features, but Flow 2 Pro adds some hardware and design upgrades for creators who want even more:

Feature Flow 2 Flow 2 Pro Deep Track 4.0 Yes Yes Pro Framing Grid Yes Yes NFC One-Tap Pairing Yes Yes AI Tracker (for 3rd-party apps) Yes Yes Built-in Spotlight Yes Yes Insta360 Mic Air Support Yes Yes Teleprompter Mode Yes Yes Selfie Mirror No Yes Tracking Ring Light No Yes Transparent Motor Design No Yes Apple DockKit Native Tracking No Yes 360 Infinite Pan Tracking No (limited tracking) Yes Free Tilt Mode No Yes

If you want the most advanced mobile gimbal out there, Flow 2 Pro is for you. If you want the best value in the game, Flow 2 hits that sweet spot.

Built for Real Life

We designed Flow 2 with a clear goal: pack in the powerful tools creators love, drop the friction, and make the price more accessible. From the first tap to the final edit, it’s designed to be smooth, powerful, and accessible.

For those looking for the most flexibility in how they approach smartphone filming, or require advanced shots like 360 Infinite Pan Tracking or tilt shots, Flow 2 Pro is not going anywhere, and may be your ideal pick for smarter shots on mobile.

Flow 2 is available now, starting from $109.99 for the Standard Bundle, or $129.99 for the AI Tracker Bundle. Both bundles are available via the Insta360 Official Store, Amazon, and global retailers.

*NFC pairing is supported on select phone models. Further compatibility details available at insta360.com.

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Product Photos: Richard Butler

The Fujifilm GFX100RF is a 100-megapixel medium format digital camera with a fixed 28mm equivalent F4 lens.

Key features

• 102MP Medium format (44 x 33 mm) BSI CMOS sensor
• 35mm (28mm equiv) F4 lens w/ leaf shutter
• 5.76M dot OLED EVF
• Weather sealed when using included filter ring and filter
• Subject recognition autofocus
• Aspect ratio dial
• 3.2" tilting rear touchscreen
• 4K video up to 30fps
• Built-in 4EV ND filter
• 14 film simulations

The GFX100RF has a recommended price of $4899. It comes in either black or black and silver, and includes a braided strap, filter ring, filter and a color-matched square lens hood.

Buy now:

Buy at Amazon.comBuy at AdoramaBuy at B&H Photo Index:

• What's new
• How it compares
• Body and handling
• Image Quality
• Autofocus
• In Use
• Conclusion
• Sample gallery
• Specifications
• Press Release

What's New Fixed lens medium format body

The GFX100RF occupies a new space in Fujifilm's lineup and comes with a new design. It's essentially the long-rumored 'medium format X100,' in that it takes the formula of classic styling, direct controls and a wideangle prime lens permanently mounted on the front.

Don't take the rangefinder implications of the letters 'RF' too seriously though: this is essentially the world's most ambitious compact camera, lacking not just a rangefinder but also the X100/X-Pro hybrid viewfinder that gives the appearance of a classic rangefinder camera. Instead, the RF's EVF is a relatively standard 5.76M dot affair located in the top left corner of the back of the camera.

While the body is nowhere near as large as the interchangeable lens GFX cameras, it still has a lot of presence. You'll never forget that you have it on you and would be hard-pressed to fit it into a pocket. That's especially true when it's fitted with the included square lens hood, which adds style points but has to be mounted on the adapter ring, adding a substantial amount of depth, substituting flair for flare.

Like the X100VI, the GFX100RF can be weather-sealed with an adapter ring and filter, though this too makes it bulkier. The hood can still be fitted to the adapter ring when the filter is installed.

The fixed lens

Fujifilm says it went with a 28mm equivalent lens to make the camera as compact as possible while also letting users shoot with (to a point) lower shutter speeds without the aid of IBIS or optical stabilization. That ability, which largely depends on how still your hands and subject are, will come in handy given the lens's relatively slow F4 (F3.2 equiv) aperture.

The lens has a minimum focus distance of 20cm (7.9") and can accept 49mm filters when fitted with its adapter ring. Its being fixed also allows for the provision of a leaf shutter, letting the GF to sync with flashes up to 1/2000 (technically, it can sync all the way up to 1/4000, but you risk cutting off some of the flashes' burst using such a brief exposure).

Aspect ratio dial

Looking at the back of the camera, the first thing that sticks out is the large dial above the screen. Its sole purpose is to let you apply various crops to your image, changing your JPEG's aspect ratio – and reducing how much of the sensor's area and resolution you're using.

There are nine options to choose from, and the camera gives you a few ways to preview your chosen aspect ratio. It can use black borders, a bounding box or raise the opacity of the portions of the image that will be cut off.

Amusingly, the label for the XPan-emulating 65:24 aspect ratio is a bit too wide for the window; you can see the labels for neighboring aspect ratios peeking through.

There's also a "C" setting that lets you control the aspect ratio via one of the camera's command dials or the menus. If you decide you're unhappy with the crop after the fact, you can use the in-camera Raw reprocessing feature to change the aspect ratio, assuming you've been shooting in Raw + JPEG, as the camera maintains the full sensor Raw file and saves the intended crop as metadata.

Crop zoom 28mm equiv. 35mm equiv. 50mm equiv. 63mm equiv. GFX100RF | F9 | ISO 80 | 1/125

Photos: Mitchell Clark

In addition to its choice of aspect ratio crops, the GFX100RF has a crop mode that punches in to give the impression of using a longer lens. You physically control the crop using a toggle switch situated under the power switch and front control dial.

As always, cropping reduces the area of the sensor being used, meaning a reduction in resolution and of total light capture. This has a consequent reduction in tonal quality if viewed at the same scale as full-sensor images. The table below indicates the equivalent focal length that each of the crops gives, both with reference to the camera's 44 x 33mm sensor, which is how the camera reports the 'focal lengths' of the crops, and in terms of their full-frame equivalents for reference.

In 44x33 terms In 'full-frame' terms Effective focal length Crop Equivalent focal length
(vs full-frame) Crop factor Pixel count
(4:3) 35mm 1.00x 28mm equiv. 0.79x 102 MP 45mm 1.29x 35mm equiv. 1.00x 62 MP 63mm 1.81x 50mm equiv. 1.42x 31 MP 80mm 2.28x 63mm equiv. 1.79x 20 MP

As you can see, hitting the lever once essentially turns the camera into a "full-frame" camera with a 35mm F4 equiv lens, before dropping down to nearer APS-C and Four Thirds image quality.

As with the aspect ratio crops, the zoom is only applied to the JPEG, leaving your Raw untouched. You also have the same preview options, as well as the ability to have your chosen crop fill the screen, but doing so won't give you any context to what's outside of your frame.

You can remove the crop using the in-camera Raw reprocessing feature, though you can't select a different crop in-camera: it's the crop you shot the image with or the full sensor, only.

How it compares

The fixed-lens camera market is small but has several strong competitors, especially if you're willing to spend this much money on one. Leica's Q3, with its high-resolution full-frame sensor and 28mm focal length, is the most obvious point of comparison, but Fujifilm's X100VI is also a potential competitor for those who prefer the 35mm field of view or want a substantially smaller, less expensive option.

We've also included the Hasselblad X2D, which has a similar sensor but with an interchangeable lens mount. The Fujifilm GFX 100 S II is perhaps a more direct competitor in both specs and price, but the Hasselblad's size and use of leaf shutter lenses prompted us to include it instead.

Fujifilm GFX100RF Leica Q3 Fujifilm X100VI Hasselblad X2D MSRP $4899 $6295 $1599 $8,199 Sensor 102MP medium format (Bayer) 60MP full-frame (Bayer) 40MP APS-C
(X-Trans) 100MP medium format (Bayer) Lens (full-frame equiv.) 28mm F3.1 28mm F1.7 35mm F3.1 Interchangeable - Hasselblad X mount Stabilization? No Optical IBIS / Optical IBIS Built-in ND? 4EV No 4EV No Weather sealing With included filter Yes With optional filter No Viewfinder res / mag 5.76M dot
0.84x equiv
OLED
electronic 5.76M dot
0.79x equiv
OLED
electronic 3.69M dot
0.66x equiv
OLED
electronic / optical 5.76M dot
1.00x equiv
OLED
electronic Video capture 4K/30p 8K/30p
4K/60p 6.2K/30p
4K/60p None Rear screen 3.2" tilting

3" tilting

3" tilting 3.6" tilting Storage formats 2x UHS-II SD,
external SSD 1x UHS-II SD 1x UHS-1 SD 1TB internal, CFexpress Type B Flash sync speed 1/4000 s 1/2000 s 1/4000 s up to 1/4000 s* Battery life
(CIPA) 820 shots 350 shots 420 shots 420 shots Dimensions 134 x 90 x 77mm 130 x 80 x 93mm 128 x 75 x 55 mm 149 x 106 x 75mm Weight 735g (25.9oz) 743g (26.2oz) 521g (18.4oz) 895g (31.6oz) *Flash sync speed is lens-dependent

The GFX100RF's sensor may appear to be in a class above many of its fixed-lens peers, and in good light, we'd expect its larger sensor to give it a proportionate image quality advantage.

But it's worth considering raw light-gathering ability if low-light shooting is a big concern for you. Wide-open, the Q3's much faster lens gives it a 1.7EV potential advantage despite its smaller sensor, and there are lenses substantially faster than F4 available for the X2D (though they do come at significant expense). Even the APS-C-equipped X100VI* can gather a bit more light per-whole-image than the GFX can in its 35mm crop mode.

While the difference in focal length is a deal-breaker for some photographers, those who like 35mm equiv may find that Fujifilm's smaller offering provides a more engaging shooting experience thanks to its standout hybrid viewfinder – the GFX100RF, meanwhile, has a good but otherwise standard EVF. It's also the only camera in this lineup without any form of stabilization, which further reduces its capability as light level drops, even if you take into account the reduced risk of shake from its leaf shutter.

*It's impossible to mention the X100VI without acknowledging that, over a year after its announcement, it's still extremely hard to get. Persistent stock issues mean you'll have to be patient or willing to pay a reseller a substantial premium over MSRP if you want one.

Body and Handling

The GFX100RF is relatively wide and boxy, though a small grip helps make it easier to hold. While it's undoubtedly large for a fixed-lens camera, it's not particularly heavy, making it easy to tote around all day.

From the top, the family resemblance to the X100VI is obvious. Though that top plate sits on an appreciably larger camera.

The GFX100RF is brimming with controls. There are two programmable command dials: a knurled barrel on the front and a conventional dial in the back, with the rear one being clickable to cycle through functions. There's also a dedicated exposure compensation dial and autofocus mode control.

Shutter speed and ISO control share a dial, with the latter requiring you to pull up on the bezel before rotating. The lens has an aperture ring, which includes an automatic setting and two opposed nubs that make it easy to turn.

On the left of this shot, top-to-bottom are the camera's power switch, the barrel-style front command dial and the 'digital teleconverter' toggle at the bottom. To the right is the front plate lever (designed to look like the self-time control on a film camera). This can be flicked in either direction to access two functions or held (for just a bit too long) in either direction to access two more.

Also fixed in function are the zoom toggle on the front and the aspect ratio dial; neither can be reconfigured. The lever on the front plate, however, is entirely customizable, and you can assign up to four functions to it, as it can differentiate between a flick and a pull and hold. The latter action takes around three seconds to activate. It also has a customizable button in the center.

The Q button, which by default brings up a customizable, on-screen control panel, is on the edge of the grip, which makes it difficult to press without adjusting your hand. This sort of placement makes a bit of sense on smaller cameras where there's nowhere else to put it, but it's baffling on a camera with so much room on the back. Also hard to hit while using the camera is the small, unlabeled button on the top plate right above the exposure compensation dial, which can be customized. As with many of Fujifilm's cameras, you can also have up to four settings that are controllable by swiping up, down, left or right on the touchscreen.

You can also use the touchscreen to position the autofocus point, though the camera has a dedicated joystick for that purpose.

The dual UHS-II SD card slots live on the right-hand side of the camera, while a door on the left opens up to reveal headphone and microphone sockets, the USB-C port, and a micro-HDMI port.

Display and EVF

The GFX100RF has a two-way tilting screen, which can help when you're trying to compose shots at waist level or above your head. The lack of side-to-side tilting does limit your options somewhat, though this was likely another concession to making the camera as compact as possible.

It's easy to wish that Fujifilm had gone with the hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder found on the X-100 and X-Pro series; it would enhance the rangefinder aesthetic and could make using the camera more engaging. One of the senior planners for GFX told us Fujifilm went with a 5.76M dot, 0.84x equiv. EVF instead because the more complicated hybrid viewfinder couldn't provide as much magnification and didn't really work when using the digital teleconverter feature – depending on how far you punch in, you'd be composing through some very small guidelines.

The EVF we did get is large, bright and easy to compose through. It's hard to complain about the experience it provides.

Battery

The GFX100RF uses the 16Wh NP-W235 battery, the same that powers cameras like the GFX 100 II or X-T5. It's rated to get 820 shots in its normal mode, which is a frankly stunning performance. We consider ratings – which rarely reflect the number of shots most people get but rather act as a standard benchmark to measure cameras against each other – of around 400 shots or more to be sufficient for a heavy weekend of shooting, and the GFX100RF almost doubles that figure.

Image Quality

Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes to see the effect of different lighting conditions.

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We'll get into the nerdy details in a second, but a top-level summary is that the GFX100RF has superb image quality that's downright incredible once you consider its size and weight. We've long been impressed with what this sensor can do, and Fujifilm's work on getting great JPEGs out of it is paying dividends now that it's in a camera aimed at more casual and spontaneous styles of photography.

Unsurprisingly, the GFX100RF's Raws capture noticeably more detail than the 61MP full-frame sensor used in the Q3, Leica's high-end large sensor compact, and substantially more than the Fujifilm X100VI's 40MP APS-C sensor. The camera's JPEG engine does a good job of preserving those details.

The lens can't match the $2700 dedicated Macro lens we used for the GFX100 but the JPEG processing does its best to make up for the difference.

Those trends continue in low-light, and looking at high-ISO Raws noise performance follows sensor size. The JPEG engine does a decent job of not blurring away details when applying noise reduction.

Dynamic Range

The GFX100RF has excellent dynamic range performance at its base ISO of 80; it adds very little read noise to the image, meaning there's little difference in images shot at the same exposure but different ISOs, and then brightened to match each other in post. Its files also provide plenty of room to raise shadows, which will help if you want to shoot at a lower exposure to protect highlights.

The PDAF banding we saw in our original DR tests for the GFX 100 doesn't appear in our tests for the GFX100RF: there are reports it was also fixed on the GFX 100 via software update.

Lens Performance

Our studio test scene isn't designed to test lenses, but it can still tell us something about some aspects of performance. The 28mm equiv lens on the GFX100RF has to be shot quite close-up, but it's still around 30x the focal length away from the chart, so it should be a reasonable representation of real-world performance. Our tests are shot at F5.6 to maintain a reasonable depth-of-field and across-frame-consistency, but the F4/F5.6 comparisons we've shot show little difference in corner performance (it's vignetting, rather than sharpness differences, that has more of an impact).

With all of that said, the lens performs well under these conditions. It's quite sharp in the center. It performs reasonably well out to the corners, where there's some light falloff visible in the Raws (which the JPEG engine does a good job of correcting). While the original GFX100, paired with Fujifilm's 120mm F4 macro, renders our scene more uniformly and sharply, that lens alone weighs more than an entire GFX100RF.

At F5.6, chromatic aberration also seems well-controlled compared to the X100VI's lens.

In our out-of-studio testing, we didn't find the lens to be a limiting factor to our image quality. While we certainly shot images that we felt could have been sharper given the conditions, it's the lack of stabilization that kept the sensor from living up to its full potential, not the lens.

Autofocus GFX100RF | 1/125 sec | F4 | ISO 3200

The GFX100RF uses the same autofocus system found in the rest of Fujifilm's X-Processor 5 cameras, complete with AI-derived detection for a variety of subjects: humans/eyes, animals, birds, cars, planes, bikes/motorcycles and trains.

You can use the touchscreen or the joystick to select a focus point, which can be anywhere from a pinpoint to a wide area. It also lets you store up to three zones with customizable widths and heights. When you're in AF-C mode, you get a medium-sized point that attempts to track your selected target as it or the camera moves. It also supports tap-to-track via the touchscreen.

The camera is usually good at respecting your chosen focus point, even when there's a subject it recognizes in the frame. However, we found that, on some occasions, it was more liable than other Fujifilm cameras to jump to a subject that was relatively far away from the selected focus point, which could force you to disengage subject detection for certain compositions.

Like the rest of Fujifilm's cameras in this generation, the GFX100RF's human subject detection mode is separate from the rest of its subject detection modes, where most other camera systems have humans listed as a subject. That means if you want to set a custom button to activate subject detection, you have to decide whether you want it to be for faces or one of the other modes, or devote two buttons to it.

Autofocus Performance

We found the autofocusing system to be generally reliable for the type of shooting the GFX100RF is suited for: street scenes, landscapes (both natural and urban), portraits and the like. While the lens isn't sluggish to focus, we also wouldn't try to use it to shoot a subject moving quickly through the focal plane.

As with Fujifilm's other cameras with its fifth-gen processor, the GFX100RF's tracking isn't as sticky as that of other brands; it can occasionally lose subjects or fail to lock on to them, especially if they're moving quickly. In most situations, though, it worked well enough for track-and-recompose shooting.

In Use

Despite its large-for-a-compact size, the GFX100RF isn't much of a burden to carry along. It's not like a Ricoh GR or Fujifilm X100 – a nearly pocketable camera that you'd take with you every day just in case you ran into something photogenic – but it's not so bulky that you'd hesitate to grab it if you're headed off to do something interesting.

While the front control dial is aesthetically pleasing, we did find it could be a bit hard to use, despite its aggressive knurling. Unlike traditional control dials, it's flush with the grip, which can make it a little difficult to find and to use smoothly. And if you miss it, there's a good chance you'll accidentally flick the fixed-purpose "digital teleconverter" toggle instead.

Whether you'll find that toggle useful mostly depends on how much you value image quality versus convenience. It's unavoidable that every time you punch in, you're throwing away more and more of the light-gathering ability and resolution that justify the camera's size and price – that's especially true if you use it in conjunction with the aspect ratio dial.

Aspect ratio 28mm equiv. 35mm equiv. 50mm equiv. 63mm equiv. 4:3 102MP
44x33mm 62MP
34x26mm 31MP
24x18mm 20MP
19x14mm

3:2

90MP
44x29mm 55MP
34x23mm 28MP
24x16mm 17MP
19x13mm 16:9 76MP
44x25mm 46MP
34x19mm 23MP
24x14mm 15MP
19x11mm

65:24

50MP
44x16mm 30MP
34x13mm 15MP
24x9mm 10MP
19x7mm 17:6 48MP
44x16mm 29MP
34x12mm 15MP
24x9mm 9MP
19x7mm 3:4 57MP
25x33mm 35MP
19x26mm 18MP
14x18mm 11MP
11x14mm 1:1 76MP
33x33mm 46MP
26x26mm 23MP
18x18mm 15MP
14x14mm 7:6 89MP
38x33mm 54MP
30x26mm 27MP
21x18mm 17MP
17x14mm 5:4 95MP
41x33mm 58MP
32x26mm 29MP
23x18mm 18MP
18x24mm

However, it's also unarguably convenient, and if you're in good light, even the cropped images will be spectacular. I took the camera on vacation with me as my main tool for documenting the trip and used the in-camera crop with abandon (with the knowledge that the camera was still saving the full image as a Raw). I found it was a very natural way to shoot, and I was happy with the image quality of the crops, though I rarely went past the second 50mm equiv. step, which uses an approximately APS-C-sized region of the sensor.

If you pixel-peep there's a fair amount of noise in this image, but I still find it perfectly acceptable at reasonable sizes and viewing distances.

GFX100RF | 1/80 sec | F5 | ISO 6400 | 50mm equiv. crop

There is an argument to be made that using the camera in this manner is wasting its potential. However, you could also say that you're using it for something other than pure image quality; the full capabilities of the sensor are there for when you want them or need them, but you can also use the massive resolution and light-gathering ability to add a bit of flexibility to a fixed-lens camera, in a way that doesn't work as well with a smaller sensor. Which side of that debate you land on will likely be a good indicator of whether you should even consider a GFX100RF.

The aspect ratio dial is also a similar story, in that you'll probably already have a good idea whether it's something you'd be interested in using or not. Playing around with aspect ratios isn't a creative muscle that I've personally built up, and I found myself struggling to find compositions that I thought would look better in, say, 16:9 or 1:1... or, at least, so much better that it was worth using less of the sensor for.

That's not for a lack of effort on Fujifilm's part, though. The experience has clearly been thought through, with the Raws letting you see the chosen crop in post-processing software, while still giving you access to the whole sensor's output, and the different preview modes for both forms of cropping giving you flexibility with how much information you want about what's outside your chosen frame. For those who do appreciate different aspect ratios, it's hard to imagine the GFX100RF's experience leaving them wanting.

Conclusion What we like What we don't

• Superb image quality
• Plenty of tactile controls
• Exceptionally compact for a medium format camera
• Relatively easy to carry around
• Built-in ND and included weather-sealing filter make it more versatile
• Incredible battery life
• Autofocus works well for street and considered photos

• No stabilization limits the extremely capable sensor
• So does the lens
• Familiar EVF gives an unremarkable experience
• Dedicated zoom and aspect ratio controls won't be useful if you want max IQ
• Stylish square lens hood adds substantial bulk

You don't get a camera/lens combo this much smaller than the similarly-specced one to the right without breaking a few eggs.

It may be tempting to see the GFX100RF as a super-sized and super-powered X100VI: a take-everywhere camera that's engaging to use and signals to others that you're someone who's Into Photography. And while it handily achieves that last point (even before you see the massive film format-emulating aspect ratio dial), it doesn't quite live up to the versatility of Fujifilm's smaller cameras.

Every camera has trade-offs, even pricey, premium ones aimed at buyers who expect a lot. The GFX100RF is no different, but it's in the odd position of having two identities: an image quality monster with a massive sensor, and a walkaround, everyday camera that aims to be as compact as possible. Fujifilm has clearly put in a lot of work to balance those competing personas, but with each concession, it narrowed the envelope within which the camera can perform at its best.

To be clear, in good light, the camera produces high-resolution images with incredible detail and tonal quality, the likes of which you simply couldn't get without a much larger kit. But in lower-light scenes, the lack of optical or in-body stabilization and the 28mm equiv. F4 lens make it harder to get the most out of the camera. And when you need to shoot at an odd angle, you may find yourself cursing the screen that only tilts up and down. Ironically, the decisions that make it so compelling to carry with you everywhere you go also make it less well-suited for the situations you may find yourself in when you get there.

Would an X-T5-style three-way tilting screen really have made the camera noticeably larger?

But while image quality may be the GFX100RF's raison d'être, it's also not designed to be a purely practical tool, the way many professional and prosumer cameras are. It's built to be played with, for you to take it everywhere and mess around with how you see the world through its viewfinder via the digital teleconverter and aspect ratio dial. Why else would those features get top billing with large, non-customizable, non-customizable controls?

Ultimately, whether the camera is for you or not will depend on how obsessive you are about image quality and how much you appreciate the things that make the GFX100RF special. Those concerned with maximum image quality in any situation and corner-to-corner sharpness above all may want to look elsewhere, but if you're willing to budge a bit on that, there's a lot to recommend it... provided, of course, that you can afford the asking price and appreciate the field(s) of view its fixed lens provides.

The limitations make it hard to award it a gold, but its combination of image quality, compactness and user experience comfortably earns it a silver.

Buy now:

Buy at Amazon.comBuy at AdoramaBuy at B&H Photo Compared to its peers

In terms of direct competiton, the GFX100RF pretty much stands alone; there aren't any other fixed-lens, medium format digital cameras out there. However, there are other large-sensor enthusiast compact cameras out there (albiet with sensors that aren't quite as large).

The Leica Q3 is the most directly comparable, with its high-resolution full-frame sensor and in-camera cropping feature (not to mention two choices of lens with the Q3 43). It has a substantially faster lens that more than makes up for the sensor's lower light-gathering ability, optical stabilization and a brand name that, for some, will make every time they use it feel special. The GFX100RF doesn't offer the back-to-fundamentals user interface that the Leica Q3 wowed us with; when it comes to menus and controls, the GFX100RF is like pretty much any other Fujifilm camera in that it offers a lot of options spread out through pages and pages of settings. The Leica is substantially pricier, coming in at around $1400 more.

If you're looking for maximum portability from a compact, Fujifilm's X100VI will be a much better fit. In return for dropping down to a much smaller sensor, you get in-body stabilization and a hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder that offers a very engaging shooting experience – assuming you can find one, or are willing to pay scalpers' markups.

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OM System's latest camera won't work with the FL-LM3, a flash loved by the company's users. There was some question about compatibility: charts on OM System's website said it wouldn't work with the recently-announced OM-5 II, but users wondered whether it was a mistake, since the flash was compatible with the OM-5, a camera that is physically very similar to its successor. (From the outside, the hotshoes look physically identical.) However, OM System has now confirmed the incompatability to DPReview, saying "the decision to not support it was the result of comprehensive considerations on the product's characteristics."

This will likely be a bit of a disapointment to long-time OM System and Olympus users. At DPReview we consider the FL-LM3 as one of the best pack-in flashes. It can tilt and swivel giving you lots of flexibility when bouncing it. That would already set it apart from most included flashes, but it also remains useful even when you buy a bigger flash, as it can be used to trigger other OM System flashes that support its RC system, such as the FL-700 and the FL-900 (both of which are compatbile with the OM-5 II on their own).

While the FL-LM3 hasn't come with OM System's cameras for a while now, it's sad to see that the company's latest cameras dropping support entirely for it, with little explaination as to why. But if you were considering whether to get the OM-5 II and are a big fan of the flash, at least the matter is settled now.

This spring, both Nikon and Canon made vague statements about price increases in the US because of tariffs. Nikon gave a date of June 23 for the increase, though it didn't provide any specifics. Canon simply said that it would be increasing prices, with no date or amount specified. The companies have now followed through on those statements, with increased pricing of some Nikon and Canon cameras and lenses as of June 23.

We looked at prices on Nikon and Canon websites, and compared those numbers to price tracking data on Amazon through CamelCamelCamel and Keepa, along with launch pricing information. Of course, pricing data from Amazon can be tricky. Despite that, the pricing history graphs generally show a clear price spike for some Canon and Nikon gear.

While the exact difference depends on each piece of gear, the average price increase for Nikon cameras and lenses is 10.05%. That aligns with the current 10% baseline tariff on all countries. Sigma also increased its prices by 10% on June 2. Not every piece of gear is impacted, at least at this point. That could change as stock currently in the US sells out, but it isn't clear if that will happen.

A screenshot of the Canon EOS R3 pricing history at Amazon via Keepa shows a steep price jump on June 23. The R3 is the most dramatic example of the pricing increases.

Canon's pricing changes range from $100 to $500. That equates to an average percentage increase of 9.7%. Again, that's closely in line with the base tariff rate. There are outliers, such as the R3, which jumped from $3999 to $5399 on Amazon and B&H. However, it was most often selling for $4999, a much less significant increase. Plus, the new price is still cheaper than the $5999 launch price.

Making matters more complicated is the fact that the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs is set to expire on July 9. Negotiations are ongoing, but the latest reports show that imports to the US could face tariffs of 24% from Japan, 37% from Thailand, 46% from Vietnam and 20% from Europe. The situation with China is slightly different, with the reciprocal tariffs delayed until August 12. After that deadline, tariffs could jump to 34%.

Companies haven't been willing to say whether prices could increase again if tariffs go up on July 9. Given that we are seeing price increases in the US consistent with the current 10% tariff rate, it seems feasible that we could see additional increases if new deals aren't made. Companies could absorb the 14 to 36% increase, but that seems unlikely given how high those percentages are. If you're looking to pick up a new camera, lens or accessory, now is probably a good time to do so.

Image: VSCO

Just last week, Adobe quietly launched a potentially powerful camera app for iPhone users. Now, another familiar name is entering the third-party iPhone camera app market. Visual Supply Co. (VSCO) has unveiled its Capture app, blending its film-like presets with greater camera control, as Bloomberg's Chris Welch reports.

Capture stands out from other camera apps because it will allow users to apply presets before even taking the photo. That means you can see how the photo will look before you tap the shutter and, in theory, will not need to do any editing. "Photographers increasingly are moving away from using overly complicated editing software and are using apps that make it easier to get that right moment with a desired aesthetic right at the point of capture," says Eric Wittman, VSCO's CEO, in a statement to Bloomberg.

VSCO says Capture will provide "precise editing controls" and 50 of its most popular presets, so that users "can edit a photo before it's shot, in real-time." Beyond presets, the app will offer an auto mode for quick snaps and casual users. Those wanting more control will appreciate the manual mode, allowing you to adjust shutter speed, exposure compensation and lighting effects like bloom and halation.

Image: VSCO

All of the presets and effects in Capture are non-destructive, preserving the original image in JPEG, HEIC, Raw and ProRaw formats. Once you take a photo, it will automatically sync to the main VSCO app. From there, you can edit and share to your VSCO profile.

VSCO initially launched as a camera app with film-like filters and basic editing tools. Since then, it has expanded to a community-based platform, while maintaining its expansive list of filters and editing tools. The app still offers a camera, but it isn't the primary focus. The Capture app will be a standalone offering, separate from the main VSCO app.

The Capture app won't require a paid subscription, but you will need a VSCO account. The app isn't available quite yet, but will begin to roll out to Ireland, Australia and New Zealand this week. A broader US release will come later this summer.

Image: Fujifilm

Adobe recently announced quite a few updates for Lightroom and Photoshop, including broader availability of its Remove Reflections feature, improved Enhance tools and more. Beyond editing tools, though, the company also added native tethered capture support for Fujifilm cameras in Lightroom Classic.

Previously, Lightroom Classic's tethered capture tool was limited to compatibility with Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras. Those using Fujifilm cameras had to rely on Fujifilm's plug-ins, though some have reported poor experiences with those, making them less than ideal. Luckily, with the Lightroom Classic 14.4 update, there is now native support, saving Fujifilm users from jumping through hoops to shoot tethered with Lightroom.

The updated tethered capture tool supports a wide range of Fujifilm bodies, including the X-T1 through X-T5, X-T30, X-H1, X-H2, X-H2S, X-S10, X-Pro2, X-Pro3 and the GFX cameras. Adobe also updated support for new Canon cameras, adding the EOS R1, EOS R5 Mark II and EOS R50 V to the list of compatible bodies.

To use the tethering tool, update your Lightroom Classic to 14.4 and disable any third-party tether plug-ins. You can find further information and support for Fujifilm cameras on Adobe's website.

This image combines 678 separate images taken by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth.

Image: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory was conceived nearly 30 years ago, and now we are finally seeing the first images captured by the world's largest camera. The Rubin Observatory teased a few photos ahead of the official reveal, which is available to watch now via live stream on YouTube.

Inside the observatory, along with a specially designed telescope, is the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera. It has a 3200-megapixel imaging surface and is made up of 189 individual sensors that are each larger than consumer-level medium-format sensors. The camera is larger than a car, producing an incredible amount of detail.

This image shows another small section of NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster. Visible are two prominent spiral galaxies (lower right), three merging galaxies (upper right), several groups of distant galaxies, many stars in the Milky Way galaxy and more.

Image: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The team shared the image above during the presentation, but pointed out that it is only 2% of the full image. That's because the massive camera produces more data than what the human eye can see, and would require 400 Ultra HD TVs to display the full image. It also offers a field of view 45 times the area of the moon.

To allow people to appreciate the captures fully, Rubin Observatory built a special viewer on its website that allows you to zoom in and scan around the image. You can even create a special URL for the specific section (and zoom level) you are looking at, making it easier to share what you find in the massive images with others. A video was also revealed, which offers a unique perspective of what LSST is capturing.

Within just 10 hours, the Rubin Observatory already revealed new discoveries, including 2104 asteroids. The team says that it will be able to discover millions of new asteroids within the first two years of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, compared to 20,000 asteroids discovered annually by all other ground and space-based observatories. You can see all of the asteroids in the short video below.

This is just the start of what we will see from LSST and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Later this year, it will kick off a decade-long survey, which the team is calling the "ultimate movie of the night sky." The Rubin Observatory will scan the sky repeatedly over the course of a decade, resulting in an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse of our Universe.

The survey will involve observations of about 40 billion stars, galaxies and other celestial objects. Each object will be checked hundreds of times, resulting in 60 petabytes of raw data, which the Rubin Observatory says is "more data than everything that's ever been written in any language in human history."

Before that begins, though, there's still construction to finish. During the presentation, they said that they will be completing construction over the next three to four months, making sure everything is ready for the big project to begin. It isn't clear if they will be sharing more images during that time, though.

The observatory is jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Located on a mountain in Chile, it is named after U.S. astronomer Vera C. Rubin, famous for her dark matter research.

We'll be sure to share more images once they are released, but for now, you can tune in to the YouTube live stream and check the Rubin Observatory's website to hear more about the project and goals for the observatory.

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The addition of 8.1K open gate shooting will allow us to complete the video section of our S1RII review, shortly.

Image: Panasonic

Panasonic has released firmware v1.2 for its Lumix S1RII high-res hybrid mirrorless camera, bringing the promised video enhancements along with a range of additional features. S1II and S1II users get several of these features in firmware v1.1 for their cameras.

S1RII additional features

The S1IIR gains 8.1K open gate recording capability, along with the ability to output a Raw data stream that can be encoded by BlackMagic or Atomos external recorders. At launch the camera downsampled its open gate output to 6.2K resolution. The new firmware allows the full sensor area output Panasonic said it would add.

It also gains the 'Urban Sports' subject recognition autofocus mode introduced on the S1II models, along with the ability to output 10-bit HEIF images, including HDR images using the HLG response curve. The update also includes an HLG View Assist mode for previewing the effect.

A significant suite of other feature tweaks and enhancements includes additions such as file transfer from internal cards to an SSD, UVC/UAC compatibility and the option to use the focus ring on some lenses as a control ring.

Upgrades for S1RII, S1II and S1EII

The update also includes a range of features that also come to the S1II and S1IIE, as part of their firmware v1.1.

These include an in-camera focus stacking mode, that combines images focused at different distances, to increase depth-of-field, and the abilitly to change the color of the AF focus frame.

Users of all three cameras will be able to install a paid upgrade to shoot ARRI LogC3

Users of all three cameras will also be able to install a paid upgrade enabling the shooting of footage using ARRI's LogC3 color and luminance response, allowing its use alongside ARRI cameras and using LUTs designed for those cameras.

The new firmware also adds seven extra aspect ratio guides and allows up to three to be shown at the same time, to help when composing for output in multiple aspect ratios. All three cameras also gain the ability to communicate via Wi-Fi or wired LAN (via a USB adapter) with Capture One software.

Firmware v1.2 for the Panasonic Lumix S1RII and firmware v1.1 for the Panasonic Lumix S1II and S1IIE will be available from June 24th on Panasonic's Global Customer Support website.

Press Release:

Panasonic Introduces Extensive New Firmware Updates for its LUMIX S Series Cameras: S1RII, S1II and S1IIE

Newark, N.J. (June 23, 2025) – Panasonic LUMIX has introduced a series of new firmware updates for its full-frame mirrorless LUMIX S1RII, S1II and S1IIE, aimed at improving the hybrid shooting experience and enhancing functionality.

Aligned with LUMIX’s ongoing commitment to supporting creators, the latest firmware updates will be available to download free of charge from the LUMIX Global Customer Support website on June 24, 2025.

LUMIX S1RII Firmware Version 1.2 Updates

• Advanced Recording Formats
  
  • 8.1K / 7.2K (3:2) Open Gate recording and RAW data video can be output via HDMI for external recording.
  • ARRI LogC3 will be available by using DMW-SFU3A Software Upgrade Key (sold separately), enabling the colors to match ARRI’s digital cinema cameras (*1).
  • Supports HEIF recording in 4:2:0 10-bit format.
• Improved Shooting Assistance Tools
  
  • Urban Sports recognition will be added to the existing human detection capabilities for eyes, faces, and bodies, accurately capturing dynamic movements like breakdancing, skateboarding, and parkour.
  • The frame aspect ratio options will be expanded from 10 to 17 and enable simultaneous display of up to three frames.
  • Focus stacking function introduces the ability to synthesize images taken at multiple focus positions to produce a single image with deep depth of field and sharpness throughout.
• Expanded Workflow Capabilities
  
  • Direct transfers from the CFexpress Type B or SD memory card to an external SSD can be made, giving more workflow options and greater flexibility.
  • Supports recording proxy files to the internal memory card during HDMI RAW video data output.
  • Supports data transfer via Wi-Fi and wired LAN (USB-LAN conversion) with Capture One.
  • Compatible with timecode synchronization via Bluetooth®.
  • Connectivity with UVC/UAC devices is supported.
  • Compatible with Bluetooth® connectivity with DJI's gimbals (*2).
  • HLG View Assist will be available for accurate gradation and exposure checks on the camera's monitor or viewfinder, as well as on external monitors that do not support HLG.
• Enhanced customization
  • he focus ring can be used as a control ring (*3), enabling for assigning key functions. Additionally, the focus rotation direction can be selected in MF mode.
  • The AF frame color can be chosen from 10 colors for better usability.

LUMIX S1II and LUMIX S1IIE Firmware Version 1.1 Updates

• ARRI LogC3 will be available by using DMW-SFU3A Software Upgrade Key (sold separately), enabling the colors to match ARRI’s digital cinema cameras (*1).
• The frame aspect ratio options will be expanded from 10 to 17 and enable simultaneous display of up to three frames.
• The AF frame color can be chosen from 10 colors for better usability.
• Focus stacking function introduces the ability to synthesize images taken at multiple focus positions to produce a single image with deep depth of field and sharpness throughout.
• Supports data transfer via Wi-Fi and wired LAN (USB-LAN conversion) with Capture One.

*1 ARRI LogC3 is a Log gamma developed by ARRI and used in ARRI digital cinema cameras. Please note: ALEXA 35 uses ARRI LogC4. DMW-SFU3A Software Upgrade Key (sold separately) is required. On the LUMIX S1II/S1IIE, ARRI LogC3 can be used for 10bit recording in video mode.
*2 Compatible models as of June 2025: RS 4 Mini
*3 Compatible lens models as of May 2025: S-E2460, S-X50, S-R24105, S-R2060

CapCut, the popular video editing app owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance, recently updated its terms and conditions, raising concerns among creators about what rights the company is claiming. Legal lingo is complicated and often confusing, though. To help break through the noise, we spoke to attorney Bert P. Krages, the author of The Photographer's Right, who confirms there are reasons to be wary.

First, though, let's establish what the concerns are. Some creators claim that the new terms give CapCut broad rights over your content. That includes the ability to use your content how and when they want, even altering it and profiting from it indefinitely. It also gives CapCut rights to use your voice, face and likeness, along with content you create for clients or brands using the platform. Creators usually have specific rights and usage agreements with those brands, so the waters get a bit muddy when the editing app has its own rights to use your work.

There's a lot to unpack in the terms, of course. The exact language says, in part, that you grant CapCut "an unconditional, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully transferable (including sub-licensable), perpetual, worldwide license to use, modify, adapt, reproduce, make derivative works of, display, publish, transmit, distribute and/or store your User Content." It also clarifies that royalty-free means "that you are granting us the right to use your User Content without the obligation to pay royalties to you or any third party."

"The clause pertaining to the licensing of a user's content to ByteDance, is very broad but is ambiguous"

That may sound nefarious, but it isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds. "The clause pertaining to the licensing of a user's content to ByteDance is very broad but is ambiguous regarding its scope," explains Krages. He says that clause could be limited to CapCut processing content within the app and nothing more. However, he says it could also "be construed to give Bytedance the right to use the content for its own purposes and sublicense it to other parties."

Krages explains that the language that gives the company the right to display your content seems a bit ominous. "It could give Bytedance the right to display content wherever it wishes and thus preclude users from limiting where the content is displayed," he says. "This raises the question of why does the company want the right to display content when the app is intended to edit videos?"

CapCut itself is meant for creating videos that will be shared elsewhere, with no community-facing gallery within the app. However, given that CapCut is owned by the same company that owns TikTok, it's reasonable that it needs the right to display content so it can share your content on TikTok, much like how Meta works with Instagram and Threads.

That's especially risky if you are using the app to create a private video for a client

The terms also say that you "further grant us and our affiliates, agents, services providers, partners and other connected third parties a royalty-free fully transferable (including sub-licensable), worldwide license to use your username, image and likeness to identify you as the source of any of your User Content, including for use in sponsored content." Krages says that this only makes sense if CapCut wants to display user content wherever it wants, no matter a user's wishes. That's especially risky if you are using the app to create a private video for a client, as it could be posted on TikTok without your knowledge or consent, for example.

"I personally would be wary about using the app"

Krages says that it's difficult to say if the agreement is a rights grab or merely there to protect ByteDance from claims associated with hosting content on its servers. That doesn't mean he thinks it's harmless, though. "Considering that merely hosting content for the purposes of using the app doesn't really require an express license, and further considering that the scope of the license gives Bytedance display rights, I personally would be wary about using the app," he warns.

The June Editors' photo challenge

The theme for our June Editors' photo challenge was 'Chasing Summer'. We asked you to share photos that evoke the spirit of summer fun and adventure.

DPReview photographers rose to the occasion as usual, and we were almost able to feel the heat coming off our screens. Here are our Editors' picks, presented in random order.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this photo challenge .If you want to participate in some other photo challenges, visit our Challenges page to see currently open or upcoming challenges or to vote in a recently closed challenge.

The secret oasis

Photographer: Giampier

Photographer's description: It was one of those July afternoons when the air is still and heavy, and the sun burns your skin. The city seemed to be slumbering under the oppressive heat. For three young friends, boredom was about to take over, until their parents brought them to a park that held a secret. At first, it was just a path like any other, lined by a wooden fence and topped by a pergola of climbing plants. But then, as if by magic, a thick, cool cloud began to descend from the pergola. It was a tunnel of mist. This photo captures the exact moment when shyness turned into pure joy. After a brief moment of hesitation, one of them darted off, and the others followed without a second thought. They are running not just to find relief from the heat, but to cross a portal into another world.

Equipment: Pentax KP + Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM | C

One more time?

Photographer: Martella Media

Photographer's description: My daughter was deathly afraid of the "swing swinger" at first. Then, after one ride, she kept asking, "One more time?" We bought an unlimited ride bracelet after that.

Equipment: Canon AE-1 Program + Canon FD 50mm F1.8

Sunset at city park

Photographer: Earl Goodson

Photographer's description: People enjoying an awesome sunset in Denver, Colorado, from benches and out on the water. City Park has multiple vantage points where you can see the downtown skyline, along with the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains just beyond.

Equipment: OM System OM-1 + Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH Power OIS

Jumping for joy!

Photographer: Denaljo

Photographer's description: My granddaughter and her friend at a water park. The water was cold enough that they would take breaks to run around and warm up! Life imitating art?

Equipment: Nikon D850 + Nikon AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm F4.5-5.6E ED VR

All chasing summer

Photographer: toupia

Photographer's description: A couple that will get divorced shortly after having a baby, an abused wife who was finally left alone with three children, a man who has sailed alone for years and years, and many other lonely people, including the nostalgic photographer, all spending a sunny afternoon in a small summer resort village in central Greece, all chasing the summer.

Equipment: Canon EOS M6 Mark II + Canon EF-M 32mm F1.4 STM

Summer love?

Photographer: softmarmotte

Photographer's description: Taken during the alpine mountain summer at a swimming lake with views over the distant glaciers. A typical scene of young people flirting and maybe falling in love. Savoie, France.

Equipment: OM System OM-1 + Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm F4.0 IS Pro

Morning stillness

Photographer: ElenaGreen

Photographer's description: Sometimes, timing is everything to capture the moment and essence. Waking up early is definitely rewarding. It was a low tide time of the day, and no wind at all, and the aluminum boat was shining like gold.

Equipment: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Chasing summer in...

Photographer: Jack Simpson

Photographer's description: Chasing summer in the summer of 1988 at the Oasis, a beach just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba. A couple of young lads take turns riding in and pushing a huge inner tube into the manmade beach.

Equipment: Pentax MX + Pentax SMC 85mm F1.8

Beach sprint

Photographer: LuMa

Photographer's description: A great afternoon with the kids, family and some wonderful beach fun. I was just lying around in the shallow waters and snapping away at my kids fooling around with their games. It's always more fun when the camera is waterproof.

Equipment: Olympus Stylus Tough TG-860

Ipanema beach vollyball

Photographer: poppyjk

Photographer's description: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilians know how to do summer. The Ipanema and adjacent Copacabana beaches may be the best examples. On the weekends, the city closes the frontage road to vehicles, so it is filled with skateboarders, rollerbladers, cyclists, runners, and walkers. In addition to the many volleyball courts, there are countless small groups on the packed beaches just passing a ball around, trying to keep it in the air. Several hours earlier, there were hundreds of swimmers in the water 75-80 meters offshore competing in a triathlon. The whole scene is a feast for the eyes and a light for the soul.

Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark III + Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Running down a dream

Photographer: Samantha Guillotte

Photographer's description: While studying abroad in Rome, my photography class walks around every day in hopes of capturing something. As we were walking, I captured this car driving down the lane, and it reminded me of my home, where driving with windows down to the beach and blasting 80s makes for the perfect summer.

Equipment: Nikon Z5

Summer innocence

Photographer: hanij

Photographer's description: Summer brings so many joys. Most beautiful of all is seeing my kids enjoying the long sunny days by the beach. Taken a few years ago at Tod's Point in Greenwich, Connecticut, this photo captures my two sons sharing their pure joy on a beautiful day.

Equipment: Apple iPhone XS

Photo: Mitchell Clark

This week kicked off with a few announcements, bringing new options for those searching for compact gear. Sigma released the 17-40mm F1.8 DC Art, a lightweight and fast standard zoom for APS-C. The lens raised some questions about the speed of the lens, and frustration for Nikon users left out of the party. On the same day, OM System unveiled the OM-5 II, a Micro Four Thirds camera with an IP53 dust and water resistance rating, resulting in division about how significant the updates are.

The entire DPReview team had a chance to sit down and chat about this week's releases and the community's discussion around both. Plus, we were able to talk about something fresh off the press: Adobe's potentially powerful camera app for iPhones. You can check out our thoughts on the new gear and Adobe's app in the video below.

Photo: Oleksii Karamanov / Tetra images via Getty Images

Smartphones have become quite capable, compact cameras that offer a lot of convenience. After all, most of us rarely go without our pocket-sized devices. While the cameras inside phones don't equal the quality possible from dedicated cameras in most circumstances, there are some easy tricks to help you maximize your phone camera's quality. Some of those tips are related to settings, but there are also more general things you can pay attention to to improve your results.

Keep your lenses clean

The first – and easiest – way to improve image quality from your phone is to keep the lenses clean. A smudge on a lens can have a surprisingly large impact on the final image. Having a soft, clean cloth (such as a microfiber lens cloth) on hand (or the hem of a cotton shirt) to wipe down your lens will help you get sharper, clearer results.

Don't forget about composition

Your phone's grid can help you with composition.

Image: Finn Hafemann / E+ via Getty Images

Paying attention to composition – the way individual elements are arranged in a frame – is critical no matter what camera you're using. It's easy to forget that when picking up your phone to take a photo, but remembering to do so will always help you produce stronger images.

There are plenty of rules and tricks related to composition, the most common of which is the rule of thirds. Most camera apps offer optional composition grids to help frame your images according to those principles, if you want a gentle reminder.

While compositional rules are helpful, they are not a surefire way to create an interesting image. The key is to consider where you want the viewer to look and how you can guide their eyes there with elements in the scene. Slowing down and looking around the entire frame, including the edges, is always a good idea to ensure you create a thoughtful composition.

Find good light

Good, bright light is helpful for making any photo better.

Image: Mitchell Clark

While smartphone companies keep adding new tricks to improve low-light capabilities, the small sensors inherent to smartphones are generally quite lacking in dark situations. Because of that, photos taken in brightly lit situations will always give you the best results from your phone.

If there isn't enough natural light, you can also add artificial light. Many phone-specific lighting tools, from companies like SmallRig, Neewer, Lume Cube and Godox, are available these days. These tools can make adding additional light easier and produce better results than your phone's built-in flash.

Use a tripod in dim conditions

There are lots of mini tripods available, such as this Peak Design option, which folds down flat.

Image: Abby Ferguson

A tripod can make all the difference if you're capturing photos in dim light. Alternatively, if you don't have a tripod on hand, look to your environment for stable surfaces to lean your phone against, such as a rock or light pole. The phone will compensate for the lower amounts of light by slowing the shutter speed, which makes it more likely you'll end up with blurry images. A sturdy surface stabilizes your phone during the exposure, so you are more likely to get sharp results even in low light.

Keep your subject's face towards the light

I got lucky with the light on this particular occasion, as it was shining perfectly on my dog's face.

Image: Abby Ferguson

Speaking of light, if you're taking portraits, one easy way to get better images is to ensure the sun isn't behind your subject. Backlighting is hard to work with, especially with phones. It also doesn't provide any flattering light on the person. Instead, when possible, turn your subject so they are facing the light, thus illuminating your subject so they are the star of the photo.

Add a lens Image: Sandmarc

Your phone's main camera offers the best quality, but you likely won't want that field of view for every photo. If you're looking to switch things up but need the higher quality of your main camera, opt for add-on lenses. These can unlock new capabilities like macro, ultra-wide, cinematic or telephoto views.

The key here is to get quality lenses, not bargain ones. Putting cheap glass (or plastic) in front of your camera will only reduce quality, which is the opposite of what you're after. Sandmarc, Moment, Beastgrip, PolarPro and SmallRig all make worthy options that will help you .

Use a telephoto lens for portraits

While we're on the topic of lenses, there's one type in particular that will help when creating portraits: a telephoto lens. Many phones have one built-in, or you can add one as mentioned above.

Telephoto lenses are often called portrait lenses for good reason. They typically result in distortion that is more pleasing to a person's face. They can also help you blur the background more naturally than using Portrait Mode, keeping the focus on your subject without an over-the-top processed look.

Final thoughts Photo: Abby Ferguson

Your phone is a camera you likely have with you all the time, so it makes sense to try to level up your smartphone photos. The most important thing to remember is that no amount of gear, accessories or settings can replace basic photography principles. Considering composition, lighting, color, etc., will help you get stronger images even with a basic phone. As with anything, practice and experimentation are crucial to improving.

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This week, OM System announced the OM-5 II, a small, lightweight Four Thirds camera aimed at people looking to take pictures of their adventures. It features a familiar 20MP sensor, but now includes USB C for charging and a "CP" button that gives you quick access to its various computational photography features.

Those multi-shot modes are one of OM System's biggest selling points, as its cameras can combine several exposures in-camera to achieve a variety of effects, such as focus stacking, a virtual ND filter or higher resolution. The gallery includes a few examples, with notes about which mode was used.

See the sample gallery

If you want to learn more about the OM-5 II, check out our first look video, which explains what it is, how it's different from the original OM-5 and discusses the general state of the Micro Four Thirds system.

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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Sigma 17-40mm F1.8 DC Art @ 28mm | F1.8 | 1/5000 sec | ISO 125

Photo: Richard Butler

Sigma's 17-40mm F1.8 DC | Art is a super-fast standard zoom for APS-C mirrorless cameras. It's a slightly wider, slightly longer, appreciably lighter update on the company's breakthrough 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM lens for DSLRs.

As with that lens, the 17-40mm can expand the operational envelope of APS-C cameras, giving a fast equivalent of something approaching a classic 24-70 lens (26-60mm equiv on most mounts, in this case). Or can be seen as a tube that comes with a series of relatively rapid primes stuffed inside.

Buy now:

Buy RF mount at AdoramaBuy E mount at B&H Photo

The nature of shooting a lens gallery – trying to keep ISOs down, lest noise reduction blur away the sharpness and detail capture performance we're trying to show – means we haven't been able to venture into the lower light where this lens can really shine. We've also not yet had time to shoot the kind of video project that it should lend itself to.

But we have had the chance to shoot it on both Fujifilm's 40MP X-T5 and a 26MP Sony, to see how both systems perform when focusing it, and we're glad to be able to report that it has none of the temperamental nature of its DSLR forerunner in that regard.

Sample gallery

As always, 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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Images: Adobe

Adobe has quietly revealed a potentially powerful new app for iPhones named Project Indigo. The news comes from the company's research website, which provides a lot of details on the reasoning behind the app and how it works. There's a lot going on here, but Project Indigo promises increased control and more natural computational photography features to unlock better quality from your smartphone's cameras. It's also (currently) completely free and doesn't require a login.

Much of the premise of the new app is based on computational photography, which can refer to multiple processes. But, in the realm of smartphone photography, Adobe points out that it generally means slight underexposure to reduce highlight clipping and combining multiple exposures taken in rapid succession to reduce noise in shadows.

Adobe says its app has a different process for computational photography than most apps and phones. First, it underexposes more dramatically to better retain highlight detail. It also combines more frames – up to 32 – per photo to reduce noise. Adobe says the result is that it needs less spatial denoising, a process that can produce smooth textures and reduce overall detail. You've likely noticed that odd smoothness in photos you've taken in dark conditions. According to the company, images taken with Indigo should have better highlights, less noise and more natural detail.

Another feature of the Project Indigo app is that even the Raw files benefit from computational photography. Typically, phones that offer Raw file formats don't do any processing, but Adobe is taking a different approach and using the same technique for Raw files as it does for JPEGs.

The app will take longer to process than you're used to.

Screenshot: Mitchell Clark

There is a bit of a downside, though. Adobe adds that because of the different process, it "may require slightly more patience after pressing the shutter button," but that you'll have a better picture once the processing is complete.

While the Project Indigo app is relying on computational photography, Adobe says it will provide a more natural look. One common complaint from some smartphone users is that photos from phones look overly processed. There's a distinct "smartphone look" that we've come to be familiar with.

The left image is an HEIC image converted to JPEG, taken with the default iOS camera app, and the right image is a SOOC JPEG taken with Project Indigo.

Photos: Mitchell Clark

The smartphone look is a result of a few different processes, but Adobe says instead of opting for "zero-process," which some apps promise, it simply aims to provide a look similar to SLR images. It says the look is similar to the Adaptive Color profile. Images taken with the app are then fully compatible with Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom. In fact, the app will allow you to easily launch the Lightroom mobile app for immediate editng, whether you are using JPEG or Raw files.

The app provides lots of pro controls, including more manual focus controls than most, including focus (with a picture-in-picture preview), shutter speed and ISO.

Screenshot: Mitchell Clark

Beyond computational photography, the Project Indigo app promises to be very feature-rich. There are two still photo modes: Photo and Night. Adobe also promises zero shutter lag, meaning the image is captured right when you press the shutter button. This works with both Raws and JPEGs. The app also offers a "multi-frame super-resolution mode," which Adobe says maintains image quality, even though you're cropping in on a center region of the sensor. There are also manual controls, giving you the ability to change shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, white balance and focus.

It also says that it is an "agile prototyping platform for technologies that may eventually be deployed in Adobe's flagship products." For example, there are buttons for Removing Reflections or applying AI denoising right in the camera app, saving you from opening Camera Raw or Lightroom.

Adobe makes it clear that this is an experimental camera app, so it could be very rough around the edges for now. We haven't had a chance to test it very thoroughly yet, so we don't know if it is all that Adobe promises.

For now, the app is only available for iPhone and is compatible with all Pro and Pro Max iPhones from series 12 on and all non-Pro iPhones from series 14. That said, Adobe warns that it will work best on newer iPhones since it requires "some pretty heavy computing." Adobe says it's working on an Android version as well.

Visitors at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, Canada, view the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 photo competition.

Photo: Dale Baskin

Where are you most likely to look at photos? For the majority of people, the answer is probably "on your phone." And that's OK. Our phones have allowed us to see more images than ever before, and we've arguably become a more visually oriented society.

The trade-off is that this digital flood has made the act of viewing photos a much more ephemeral experience. We swipe through countless pictures daily and hardly have time to process what's in one before moving on to the next.

This behavior frequently extends to any photo, whether looking at ads, our Instagram feed or the winning images in a major photo competition. We often feature the winners of such competitions here on DPReview because we love to share great photography. Yet, I'm constantly amazed to see how quickly some people zoom through the images before moving on.

I get it. We live in a fast-paced society, and that's how we roll. But what’s often lost in this digital rush is the profound and tangible experience of attending a real photo exhibit.

Posting impactful photos online is a great way to share them with the masses, but it's not the same as attending a live photo exhibit with the same images. (Above: DPReview's coverage of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 winners.)

I received a powerful reminder of this during a recent trip to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, Canada, which was hosting a touring exhibit of The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 competition sponsored by The Natural History Museum, London. Having written DPReview's article about this competition, I had already seen all 100 of the winning images in digital form.

Yet, when I entered the exhibit hall, I was immediately drawn in in a way I'd never felt while looking at the photos online. Seeing large, printed (and, in this case, backlit) photos is a fundamentally different experience. Even though I had seen these images dozens of times, the in-person experience was far more immersive, and it prompted me to reflect on what we're all missing. Beyond the obvious appeal of large prints, what do we gain as viewers when we experience photography in person?

"Even though I had seen these images dozens of times, the in-person experience was far more immersive.'

To start, an exhibit makes it easier to experience a story rather than just see a collection of photos. A well-choreographed theme or an arrangement of images creates a natural narrative flow, allowing you to step back and see a collection in its entirety or to wander back and forth between photos, finding connections that might be less obvious in the linear world of a digital slideshow.

An exhibit also gives you a rare gift in our noisy digital world: the space to focus. A contemplative atmosphere free of distractions allows you to immerse yourself in the experience.

Going to an exhibit is also a conscious decision to give yourself the gift of time. You're more likely to slow down and really think about the images. I might have spent a few minutes looking at this particular collection online; I spent two to three hours taking in the experience in person.

A photo exhibit can make it easy to step back and see an entire collection of photos to better understand how they relate or to revisit interesting photos and draw connections between them.

Photo: Dale Baskin

Finally, there's a powerful human element. At the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit, I found myself in spontaneous conversation with total strangers about many of the images. Despite looking at the same photos, we all noticed different things. Engaging with my fellow humans may have been the most powerful aspect of the in-person experience – a reminder that photography can be a catalyst for human connection.

Although I've focused on my recent experience at a major museum, some of the most rewarding exhibits are found in accessible public spaces. I’ve exhibited my own photography at places like the Washington State Capitol and the Washington State Convention Center, and I'm always surprised by how many people make a point to go to places like this to see the art.

If it's been a while since you've been to a real photo exhibit, I encourage you to rediscover the experience. If you've never been to one, please make the time. Step away from that infinite scroll and experience what happens when you stand before a real photo. The difference is worth it.

Image: Leica

For the past 100 years, Leica has made plenty of iconic 35mm film cameras. Now, it's selling film to go in them, with the announcement of Leica MonoPan 50, a black-and-white 35mm film.

Leica says its first film is super panchromatic. It is sensitive to all visible light sources as well as infrared light. Photographers can use yellow, orange, red, blue, green or infrared filters to alter the appearance of images, providing quite a bit of flexibility. It offers a film resolution of 280 line pairs per millimeter, meaning it should be able to capture high levels of detail. It also features ultra-fine grain.

Image: Leica

For film fans, that may all sound very familiar. While MonoPan 50 is made in Germany and bears the Leica name and red dot, it's very unlikely that the company has spun up its own film factory. The film shares an awful lot in common with Adox HR-50, which is also super panchromatic, provides the same film resolution and offers the same ultra-fine grain structure. Adox HR-50 is also made in Germany.

Even if it is a rebranded film, Leica could modify the emulsion to make it somewhat unique. That's a common practice, after all. For example, CineStill goes through the process of removing the remjet layer on Kodak Vision 3 500T film. MonoPan 50 could, however, simply be repacked film, which is also very common. Leica shared sample images, showing that the film provides a high-contrast, clean image with ultra-fine grain, consistent with Adox HR-50.

Image: Leica

Leica says MonoPan 50 won't be available until the end of August 2025, so we'll have to wait to see if there is anything unique about the film. Either way, it will come in four "distinctive packaging options" so photographers can collect their favorite design.

Leica MonoPan 50 will cost $10 per roll. For comparison, Adox HR-50 currently sells for $8 per roll.

Leica-provided samples: Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

From left to right: Travel Tripod (aluminum), Pro Lite, Pro, Pro Tall

Photos: Mitchell Clark

Peak Design is revisiting tripods in a big way, building on the success of its Travel Tripod from 2019. This time around, it's launching three new tripods in what it calls the Pro line. There's the Pro Lite, which is the smallest and most packable but also the shortest, the standard Pro and the Pro Tall, which has a whopping 197cm (6.5') max height.

They're heavier than the Travel Tripod and not as packable. However, the company says they're more stable and offer more features for video shooters, all while still being more compact and lightweight than more traditional pro-level tripods.

A redesigned head The Pro Tripod's ball head (left) vs the Travel Tripod's ball head (right).

If you've used Peak Design's Travel Tripod, the new Pro Ball head will seem familiar... yet different. By default, it accepts the same square plates the company uses for most of its photo products, though it's compatible with standard Arca plates, too.

However, the mounting and locking mechanism has been entirely reworked. Rather than having to slide in the plate then manually lock it in, the Pro tripods have a lever that you push to one side, which cocks a spring mechanism. You then push the plate down onto the head, and the lock clicks into place automatically, securing your camera to the tripod. There's no opportunity to forget and leave it unlocked (something I've unfortunately done several times with my Travel Tripod, though I've been lucky enough that it's never resulted in a dropped camera).

You can then use the lever to cinch your camera even tighter onto the tripod or to remove it it. Peak Design has also added a lock switch that will prevent you from pushing the lever to the release position.

The Pro Ball Head's automatic locking feature can be backed up by a lock switch.

One last bit about the lever: it's also where the bubble level lives. That may not seem like a big deal unless you're familiar with the Travel Tripod's level, which is essentially impossible to see when you have a camera mounted, drastically reducing its usefulness. That's not the case with the Pro tripods.

Another detail about this tripod: there's no shortage of "PD" branding.

The head also has a fluid panning mechanism, which you can lock and unlock with a sturdy-feeling knob, letting you swivel the camera side to side, without any vertical movement. This not only lets you get smoother pans when shooting video but also gives you a fair amount of adjustability, even when the center column isn't extended at all or when you have the ball head locked in the top-down shooting position*. Unlike the Travel Tripod, the ball head doesn't fully slot into with the legs in its lowest position, so you can still move it a bit without raising the center column.

* - Despite the improvements, tripods aren't really the best tool for this. However, I'm happy that this experience is at least a bit better than with the original Travel Tripod because sometimes, you have to do what you have to do if your job is reviewing gear.

New sticks From left to right, at their maximum heights: Travel Tripod (aluminium), Pro Lite, Pro, Pro Tall

The Pro Lite, Pro and Pro Tall all feature the same ball head but are set apart by their legs. However, they still share a common design that's seen several updates from the Travel Tripod: there are four sections instead of five, and the locks that keep them closed are a fair bit burlier, making them easier to open and close. The company says they've been "reengineered for smoother, faster, and stronger operation" and that they're also easier to take apart when you need to clean them.

The new, beefier levers are an example of how the Pro tripods don't carry over the portability-over-all ethos of the Travel Tripod.

The center hub has also been updated; the part is now machined rather than cast, and the legs can be locked into three positions instead of than two. The buttons to adjust the angle are flush with the rest of the leg unless you're in one of the locked positions; then, they pop up so you can press them and go to the next detent. Peak Design says this is to keep them from catching on anything.

As its name implies, the Lite is the smallest and lightest of the Pro tripods, with a maximum height of 162.5cm (64"). That makes it easier to pack, but also comes at the cost of a bit of carrying capacity; it can only handle a 1.7kg (35lb) load, while the Pro and the Pro Tall can take 18.1kg (40lb). Those tripods have max heights of 168.4cm (66.3") and 197.4cm (77.7"), respectively.

Original Travel Tripod (carbon fiber) Pro Lite Pro Pro Tall Min. height 14 cm (5.5”) 15.8cm (6.2") 15.9cm (6.3") 17.3cm (6.8") Max. height 152.4 cm (60") 162.5cm (64.0") 168.4cm (66.3") 197.4cm (77.7") Packed length 39.4 cm (15.5”) 48.8cm (19.2") 50.1cm (19.7") 58.1cm (22.9") Max. load 9.1 kg (20 lbs) 15.9kg (35lb) 18.1kg (40lb) 18.1kg (40lb) Weight 1.3 kg (2.8 lbs) 1.7kg (3.7lb) 1.9kg (4.2lb) 2.0kg (4.5lb)

The Pro tripods all have legs made of carbon fiber. Unlike with the Travel Tripod, there's currently no option to get a version made out of aluminum for less money, though in some ways, that makes sense: part of what sets the Pro line apart is its stability, and Peak Design says the carbon fiber Travel Tripod is 20% more stable than the aluminum version.

Like the Travel Tripod, the Pro tripods come with a hex key tool that can be used to mount the plate onto your camera and to completely disassemble the tripod if need be. However, it no longer lives on a clip attached to the tripod leg, where it can be knocked off and lost relatively easily; instead, it's stored in the center column alongside a folding phone mount that lets you put your phone onto the tripod.

Accessories

The Pro tripods are launching alongside three accessories: a leveling base that lets you use the legs with a different video head, gimbal, or other piece of grip that attaches via a standard 3/8"-16 thread, spiked feet* for when you're shooting on less stable ground and what Peak Design is calling the "Tilt Mod."

The Tilt Mod, with its detachable handle fully extended. You can also adjust the handle's angle as well.

The Tilt Mod is essentially another head that you can attach to the Pro tripod's existing head to add a lockable fluid tilting mechanism and an adjustable handle for better control. Combined with the ball head's built-in fluid panning, it gives you the ability to record smooth pitch and yaw movements that would be difficult or impossible to pull off with a standard ball head.

The Tilt Mod in its travel configuration.

The Tilt Mod is also quite compact when you're not using it. The handle screws onto the head and is collapsable, and it magnetically attaches to the side of the head, leaving you with a package that's not a ton bigger than a fast full-frame prime lens. It comes with a carrying case, which you'll probably want to keep on hand; the magnets do an okay job of keeping the handle on the head, but it would be relatively easy to accidentally knock it off.

While the leveling base, spiked feet, and Tilt Mod are sold separately, Peak Design has also upgraded the carrying sleeve that comes with the tripods to add more padding, weatherproof fabric and adjustability to the carrying strap.

* - there are two versions of the spiked feet: one for the Pro Lite, and one for the Pro/Pro Tall

Impressions

Peak Design loaned us a pre-production set of the Pro Tripods, which I was eager to try since I've been a heavy Travel Tripod user for years. After shooting a few videos using them, I'm pretty impressed; the Travel Tripod has never been all that great for video if you want to go beyond a static shot (and if that's all you're doing, it's pretty overkill).

The Pro Tripods change that, especially if you have the Tilt Mod; the fluid system is wonderfully smooth, and relatively adjustable, though it's not the most granular one I've ever felt on this class of tripod. I couldn't always get it to provide as much resistance as I wanted without completely locking it, but for most uses it should be totally fine.

Related: Read Gear Patrol's interview with Jimmy Chin, who worked with Peak Design on the Pro Tripod

However, it's worth noting that a Tripod and Tilt mod is a very expensive package. We'll cover how much in a moment, but you can get some really nice tripods for the same amount of money (though we're talking Manfrotto, not Sachtler). Would they fit in a backpack or a standard rolling suitcase? Probably not, and, like with the Travel Tripod, that's one of the ways Peak Design is setting itself apart from the crowd. The Pro tripods aren't as small as the Travel, sure, but I took a trip while testing them and was still happy to throw the Lite in a carry-on in the off-chance I ran into something worth filming or photographing.

Peak Design is really good at making things seem cool

They're also just sleek products; Peak Design is really good at making things seem cool, and the Pro tripods are no exception. All the controls feel solid and well-considered, and the spring-locking mechanism solves a real problem I've had with the Travel Tripod. (It can also be used to launch one of the tripod plates in the air if there's no camera attached to it to weigh it down, so that's a lot of fun.)

As for whether all that makes a product "Pro" or worth the asking price, that'll depend a lot on you. I personally don't think I'll be able to justify putting down that kind of money for it, especially given that I already own a Travel Tripod, but I suspect there'll be a lot of people who will. But speaking of price, let's get to that, shall we?

Pricing and Availability

The tripods will be available at retail sometime in November 2025. The Pro Lite will retail for $799, with the Pro and Pro Tall going for $899 and $999, respectively. The tilting head will cost $149, with the leveling base coming in at $129, and the spiked feet costing $49.

As usual, Peak Design is also launching a Kickstarter campaign for the tripods on June 17th. As it did with its roller bag, US-based backers have a choice: they can go for the standard option, which offers a 23% discount on the Lite and a 27% discount on the Pro and Pro Tall models, but those won't ship until much later; the company estimates around February 2026.

However, there's also an "Early Bird" option, which knocks it down to a 9% discount, but with the upside that you'll get your tripod much sooner; the company estimates fulfilling those orders by October. While backing a Kickstarter always comes with risks, Peak Design has a good track record of delivering; this will be its 15th campaign using the crowdfunding platform.

Buy on KickStarter

Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Press Release:

Peak Design Collaborates with Jimmy Chin to Establish New Benchmark in Tripod Design

Engineered without compromise, the Pro Tripod offers unrivaled functionality and portability

San Francisco, CA (June 17, 2025) –Peak Design, a global leader in camera accessories and everyday carry, has once again disrupted the tripod market with its latest category-defining release: The Pro Tripod. Engineered from the ground up to elegantly support the workflow of pioneering adventure photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin, the Pro Tripod sets a new standard in professional-grade portability, strength and thoughtfully designed functionality for users across the creative spectrum.

Peak Design first revolutionized the tripod category in 2019 with the award-winning Travel Tripod–a reexamination of traditional leg and center column architecture that delivered unprecedented spatial efficiency. Pro Tripod’s foundation is rooted in this transformative design but built with intentional upgrades to deliver an entirely improved user experience across its three available sizes (Pro Lite / Pro / Pro Tall). Featuring a fully CNC machined hub, flanged center column, and increased leg diameter and length, Pro Tripod achieves twice the stability (40lb capacity vs. 20lb) and up to a 30% greater deployment height (197.4cm on the Pro Tall model) as its groundbreaking predecessor. Yet similar to the Travel Tripod, the Pro Tripod maintains a backpack friendly weight and size, making it the most portable pro tripod on the market.

Among the most notable refinements to Peak Design’s meticulously redesigned Pro Ball Head is the addition of fluid panning. Combined with Tilt Mod–a brilliantly designed, packable accessory that converts the Pro Ball Head into a fluid pan and tilt head (sold separately)–users can instantly capture pro-level video and eliminate the need to carry a dedicated video tripod or secondary video head. In addition to panning, Pro Ball head supports 15 degrees of adjustment when Pro Tripod’s center column is fully stowed and features a new ARCA compatible quick-lock for a satisfyingly secure, and effortless camera connection. No other ball head on the market comes close to delivering this level of functionality and intuitive control.

Behind Pro Tripod is an invaluable design partnership between Peak Design and renowned adventure-photographer and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Jimmy Chin. Chin’s desire to test countless Pro Tripod prototypes in the world’s harshest climates played an instrumental role in influencing each feature incorporated into the Pro Tripod.

“Peak Design has been an important part of the gear I use to support my shoots over the years,” noted Chin. “Collaborating on the Pro Tripod only enhanced my interest in their design ethos, and I’m incredibly excited to help bring to life a tool that will further the creative workflows of countless photographers and filmmakers.”.

Speaking to the partnership, Peak Design Founder & CEO, Peter Dering commented, “Jimmy made no bones about what he desired in an expedition-quality tripod.” He continued, “We knew if we could fulfill Jimmy’s wish list we’d land on a tripod that meets the needs of almost every photographer and videographer on the planet. The Pro Tripod marks a huge milestone for Peak Design and we couldn’t be more proud.”

At an MSRP of $799.95 for Pro Tripod Lite, $899.95 for Pro Tripod, and $999.95 for Pro Tripod Tall, Peak Design offers exceptional value within the premium tripod category. However, upon its June 17th launch on Kickstarter, customers have a limited-time opportunity to pre-purchase Pro Tripod up to a 27% discount off the final MSRP.

Winners of the California Academy of Sciences' BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition

June 15 was Nature Photography Day, and in celebration of that, the winners of the annual California Academy of Sciences' BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition were announced. The contest drew over 8,000 submissions from nearly 60 countries, capturing the stunning beauty of the natural world.

Now in its 12th year, the BigPicture photography competition aims to "inspire awe and conservation through powerful imagery." The contest has seven categories: Photo Story; Aquatic Life; Art of Nature; Winged Life; Terrestrial Wildlife; Human/Nature; and Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora. A winner was selected for each category, along with six finalists and an overall Grand Prize winner. There will also be a People's Choice Award winner, with voting beginning on July 1 and ending on July 31.

The jury for this year's competition included renowned wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas, editor Sophie Stafford and award-winning nature and conservation photographers and filmmakers Fernando Faciole, Britta Jaschinski, Anthony Ochieng Onyango, Peter Mather and Aishwarya Sridhar.

You can see all of incredible the winning and finalist images at the BigPicture website. The annual BigPicture exhibit will open on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California. Additionally, the California Academy of Sciences and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) are working together to present a traveling exhibit on 2D panels that can be displayed in science centers, libraries, museums and other spaces.

Grand Prize Winner

Photographer: Donglin Zhou

Title: Leap of Faith

Award: Grand Prize Winner

Photo location: Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar

Caption: Lemurs are remarkably lithe creatures. With long tails providing balance and powerful, slender limbs outfitted with opposable thumbs and toes, they move with ease through the craggy limestone spires of western Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park. Still, leaping over a 30-meter (100-foot) ravine with a baby clinging to your back seems like a daring choice.

To capture this scene, photographer Zhou Donglin had to do some mountaineering of her own. Setting out before sunrise, Donglin spent an hour scrambling to the top of a rocky peak, praying that the elusive brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus) would show. After a day of disappointingly distant sightings, Donglin finally found some luck as a small troop descended through a forest of stone, glowing gold in the late evening light.

In November, when this photo was taken, animals and plants in Tsingy de Bemaraha are nearing the end of a long dry season. After months of minimal rainfall, brown lemurs shift their diets from various fruits to the watery leaves of low-growing plants. This change comes at a vulnerable time for female lemurs, mere weeks after they’ve given birth. With their babies still nursing and unable to travel on their own, the mothers must strike out in search of sufficient water and nutrients—even if that quest requires a bold leap or two along the way.

Aquatic Life Winner

Photographer: Kat Zhou

Title: My Octopus Mother

Award: Aquatic Life Winner

Photo location: West Palm Beach, Florida, United States

Caption: Octopuses may be known for their ability to change color and shape, but their reproductive strategies are equally versatile. Some of the world’s 300 or so octopus species are monogamous, others polyamorous. Some mate beak to beak, sucker to sucker, while others prefer to keep their distance. Male blanket octopuses, for instance, load up a modified arm with sperm, then detach and pass it off to a female.

Once they’ve mated, the females of some species deposit hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs that hatch into larvae and drift on ocean currents for weeks or months before metamorphosing into juveniles. The Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) pictured here, however, broods just a few hundred large eggs. Once she lays her eggs, the female stops eating and guards her growing offspring day and night. Her babies will emerge as fully developed, miniature versions of their parents, ready to change color, squirt ink, hunt for food, and live as small but full-fledged octopuses in the shallow seas around the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Their mother, in contrast, having exhausted herself to ensure her offspring’s survival, will die shortly after they hatch.

Photographer Kat Zhou was diving off the coast of Florida when friends alerted her to this female octopus and her eggs tucked into a pipe of some sort, perhaps a remnant of a shipwreck. Zhou returned four times, trying to capture the mother’s determination to protect her young when they’re most vulnerable. She hopes her work inspires empathy for marine life, including an animal whose behaviors differ wildly from our own but whose maternal instincts are entirely familiar.

Aquatic Life Finalist

Photographer: Georgina Steytler

Title: Puddle Jumper

Award: Aquatic Life Finalist

Photo location: Goode Beach, Australia

Caption: No fish are graceful on land. But amphibious mudskippers do their best. Using their flexible front fins, mudskippers wrench themselves across intertidal mudflats, over rocks, and even up the trunks of mangrove trees. To survive on land, mudskippers have skin and mouths lined with mucus that allows them to absorb oxygen from the air, along with a unique gill chamber that can be filled with seawater—like a reverse scuba tank. Together, these adaptations allow mudskippers to spend most of their lives on land.

It’ll take more than bouncing between land and water, however, for this male blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus caeruleomaculatus) to impress potential mates. Erecting his sail-like, iridescent dorsal fin, the mudskipper wriggles his stout tail and launches himself into the air before falling back to Earth with an unceremonious plop. Females are typically wooed by the highest jumper, a sign that a would-be mate will be strong enough to defend the muddy burrow where she will eventually deposit her eggs.

To capture this moment, photographer Georgina Steytler spent hours in the mud over the course of several days. She took thousands of photos before getting this mudskipper perfectly midflight. But Steytler says the effort was well worth it to highlight "how remarkable these little fish are—a true cross between aquatic and terrestrial life."

Art of Nature Winner

Photographer: Sandra Bartocha

Title: Unwavering Energy

Award: Art of Nature Winner

Photo location: Rügen, Germany

Caption: When wind blows across the ocean’s surface, it forms a wave. A single wave can travel thousands of kilometers before breaking on land; for example, some waves generated off the coast of New Zealand roll all the way to the West Coast of North America, taking up to two weeks to reach their final destination. And while small waves can move as slowly as 8 kilometers (5 miles) per hour, tsunamis in the middle of the Pacific Ocean reach speeds of 965 kilometers (600 miles) per hour.

As they move across the planet, waves transport nutrients, plankton, and other building blocks of marine life. They also carry larger animals, including baby sea turtles, who use waves to orient themselves perpendicular to the shore as they push out to sea after hatching on beaches. People, too, use waves to navigate. Some Pacific Islanders are reviving a traditional practice called wave piloting, in which navigators chart a course in part by feeling the waves beneath their boat.

Waves also impact life on land, tossing sediment onto shore that eventually becomes beaches and dunes where shorebirds and other wildlife find refuge. In Germany, where photographer Sandra Bartocha made this long-exposure image at sunrise, waves deposit up to 4 meters (13 feet) of sand per year in some locations and erode more than 2 meters (nearly 8 feet) per year in others. Whether waves give or take, their impact on the world’s oceans is, shall we say, unwavering.

Art of Nature Finalist

Photographer: Ellen Woods

Title: Cosmic Chlorophyll

Award: Art of Nature Finalist

Photo location: Sea Isle City, New Jersey, United States

Caption: A small jetty rock nestled in the sand and shell fragments amid the ocean's surf is exposed with ultraviolet light to create a celestial scene. The rock's red fluorescence is caused by chlorophyllic Green algae (Green alga), and while this ethereal image is incredible to behold, it also allows us to spotlight the often overlooked marine algae, which actually plays a vital role in coastal ecosystems. As primary producers, they form the foundation of the food web, directly feeding herbivores and indirectly supporting higher trophic levels (e.g., secondary consumers). Algal mats also provide microhabitats for small invertebrates, offering shelter from predators and protection from desiccation during low tide.

Human/Nature Winner

Photographer: Ami Vitale

Title: Rhino Rebound

Award: Human/Nature Winner

Photo location: Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

Caption: In January 2024, officials from the Kenya Wildlife Service undertook a massive mission: translocating 21 black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis) to a region where they hadn’t lived for half a century. Black rhinos can weigh as much as a small sedan and are known to gore people, which makes moving them a daunting task. But when Kenya’s 16 existing rhino sanctuaries became too crowded, officials had little choice.

That black rhinos are suffering from overcrowding is one sign of an improbable success. Kenya’s black rhino population plummeted from 20,000 individuals in the 1970s to fewer than 300 by the 1980s, mirroring the species’ plight across central and eastern Africa as poachers killed the animals for their horns. Today, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists black rhinos as critically endangered, but government intervention in Kenya has led to a modest rebound. Thanks to anti-poaching enforcement and large-scale sanctuaries, Kenya is almost halfway to reaching its goal of harboring 2,000 wild rhinos.

Yet moving such powerful animals can be dangerous for both rhinos and their human caretakers. Photographer Ami Vitale was documenting the translocation of this female from the OI Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya to the Loisaba Conservancy in the north when the rhino reacted poorly to anesthesia and stopped breathing. Veterinarians and handlers initiated a special resuscitation for large animals and administered drugs to reverse the effects of the anesthetic, saving the animal’s life. Vitale says this image—captured the moment the rhino recovered—speaks to the danger that people are willing to face to bring back an imperiled species.

Human/Nature Finalist

Photographer: Ringo Chiu

Title: Escape From The Hell Of Fire

Award: Human/Nature Finalist

Photo location: Cherry Valley, California, United States

Caption: A Deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) scampers to safety as flames flare behind it. This image was taken at the Apple Fire, a wildfire that ignited in northwest Palm Springs in August 2020, and paints a vivid picture of nature’s vulnerability in the face of disaster. The stark contrast between this creature’s desperate escape and the raging wildfire makes this tiny mouse a symbol of survival against overwhelming odds. The photographer hopes viewers take away the fragility of wildlife in wildfires, as well as the urgency of addressing environmental challenges, especially as extreme heat and fires become more frequent.

Landscapes, Waterscapes, & Flora Winner

Photographer: Marcin Giba

Title: Icy Stare

Award: Landscapes, Waterscapes, & Flora Winner

Photo location: Rybnik, Poland

Caption: Not long ago, it would have been nearly impossible for photographer Marcin Giba to take this image of a fissure on a foot-marked frozen lake in the southern Polish city of Rybnik—and it could become impossible again. Rybnik is one of Poland’s largest producers of coal, and with that abundance has come rampant consumption. Until recently, most homes and residential buildings burned coal for heat, cloaking the city in a thick layer of pollution and giving it the unenviable title of the "smog capital of Poland." In 2010 alone, Rybnik experienced 130 days where the pollution was both hazardous and visible to the naked eye. Needless to say, such smoggy conditions aren’t conducive to the kind of drone-based photography that Giba uses in his work.

Fed up with the government’s inaction, a group of residents created Polish Smog Alert, an advocacy organization pushing for legislation to suppress the smog. Since their formation a decade ago, the group has helped enact policies that have replaced nearly 10,000 coal boilers across the city. As a result, Rybnik experienced just 16 smog days in 2023.

Even so, more will have to be done in Rybnik and elsewhere to ensure Giba’s icy eye doesn’t wink out of existence for good. With climate change, Rybnik has experienced 11 years of above-average winter temperatures, leading to scarcer snowfall and fewer frozen lakes each year. "The kind of winter I remember from my childhood—cold and white—is becoming increasingly rare," Giba says. "I feel that I’m documenting a vanishing beauty."

Landscapes, Waterscapes, & Flora Finalist

Photographer: Ellen Woods

Title: Early Bloomer

Award: Landscapes, Waterscapes, & Flora Finalist

Photo location: Middleton, Connecticut, United States

Caption: Winters in the northeastern United States are long, cold, and often snowy, so the first signs of spring are a welcome sight. Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is often one of the earliest plants to emerge, thanks to a unique characteristic: It creates its own microclimate, warming itself to about 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit) even when the surrounding air is below freezing.

Skunk cabbage accomplishes this through a process known as thermogenesis, or the ability to metabolically generate heat. This trait allows the plant to melt the snow around it and bloom far earlier than the competition. Across much of eastern North America, from Tennessee through Nova Scotia, skunk cabbage emerges before the vernal equinox in mid-March, pushing out of the snow and frozen mud like some primordial progenitor of the warmer weather to come.

As its name suggests, skunk cabbage flowers give off a musky odor that attracts carrion-eating flies and gnats. Bees and other insects also visit to take advantage of its warmth. Then they fly off, carrying pollen to another plant to fertilize its spadix, a fleshy spike covered in small, petal-less flowers. Come summer when other flowering flora are busy competing for pollinators’ attention, skunk cabbage has already parted with its pollen and replaced its early blooming flowers with a bouquet of showy leaves.

Despite these remarkable adaptations, skunk cabbage tends to be underappreciated—which is precisely what drew Ellen Woods to this specimen near her home in Connecticut. Woods hopes her photograph not only calls attention to the region’s overlooked flora but also highlights the cold tolerance of a native species in a region where snowfall is becoming increasingly unreliable.

Terrestrial Wildlife Winner

Photographer: Amit Eshel

Title: Part of the Pack

Award: Terrestrial Wildlife Winner

Photo location:

Caption: Reaching Ellesmere Island, in Canada’s far north, is an adventure of its own. It took six domestic flights for Israeli photographer Amit Eshel to get within striking distance, and then days of traveling by dogsled and snowmobile to make it to the northern part of the island. Eshel undertook the journey in hopes of spotting Ellesmere’s wolves, which have no known history of being hunted and are unafraid of the few human visitors they encounter. Yet only about 200 Arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos) live on Ellesmere, which is roughly the size of Great Britain, and during Eshel’s first visit in April 2022, he and his Inuit guides searched for two weeks without finding them.

He tried again in 2024. This time, 12 days into the expedition, his group was moving across a frozen fjord in -35 degrees Celsius (-31 Fahrenheit) temperatures when they spotted a single wolf through binoculars. Eight more soon appeared, and the pack moved slowly toward Eshel. "I laid down holding my camera with a wide lens and they came over for a very close look," he says. "At times they were so close they almost touched me, and I could smell their breath."

Eshel says he hopes the resulting composition imparts a sense of what it felt like to briefly be part of the pack. He also hopes it illustrates the playfulness of these oft-feared predators—particularly in a place where human persecution hasn’t compromised their natural curiosity.

Terrestrial Wildlife Finalist

Photographer: Sitaram Raul

Title: Nightclub

Award: Terrestrial Wildlife Finalist

Photo location: Badlapur, India

Caption: A colorful shot of an Indian red scorpion (Hottentotta tamulus) resting on a log with sporing fungi. The fantastical colors are the various fungi spores—which emit their own unique color—lit by a camera flash, while the scorpion is illuminated by ultraviolet light, making for an artfully executed image.

Winged Life Winner

Photographer: Dvir Barkay

Title: Tiny Tent Makers

Award: Winged Life Winner

Photo location: Near La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Caption: Bats are not ordinarily known for their cuteness. Then again, the Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) is no ordinary bat. One of the smallest fruit-eating bats in the world, it’s roughly the size of a golf ball and the weight of a quarter. Even with its wings outstretched, the diminutive species only reaches around 10 centimeters (4 inches). But it’s not only the bat’s stature that’s unique. It’s also one of the few species that makes tents in which to roost.

After finding a suitably large Heliconia leaf 2 meters (6 feet) or so off the ground, the bats work as a team, biting from the edges toward the midrib until the foliage falls in on itself, forming a simple tent that resembles an upside-down V. Groups of four to six bats will nestle together in these verdant shelters to rest until nightfall, when they venture out to find their preferred food: figs. Though they only stay in any given tent for a night or two, they leave their mark in the form of seed-packed feces that can sprout into new trees. Indeed, Honduran white bats don’t just build their own shelters—they also help shape the forests they inhabit.

Winged Life Finalist

Photographer: Minghui Yuan

Title: Moth Magic

Award: Winged Life Finalist

Photo location: Xishuangbanna, China

Caption: There’s no more vulnerable time for a moth than the weeks—sometimes years—it spends as a chrysalis. But it helps if you suspend yourself in a cage-like cocoon made of spines. As caterpillars, Cyana spp moths are covered in serrated, hair-like bristles called setae to deter would-be predators. When it comes time to metamorphose, Cyana caterpillars work with what they have, using their own setae to weave a protective fort. Where two setae meet, the intersection is wrapped tightly with sticky silk from glands near the caterpillar’s mouth.

The structure is flexible yet sturdy enough to retain its shape when prodded; one researcher describes the feeling as that of a fine mesh sieve. Once secured inside, the caterpillars use their silk to hoist themselves to the middle of the cage to begin their transformation.

No one knows exactly how Cyana caterpillars build their spiky cells. While the caterpillars are remarkably flexible and have powerful front legs and jaws, it’s still difficult to imagine how they could construct such an intricate shelter. Researchers have discovered, however, how they pull off their last trick: escaping from their seemingly sealed cages. Each end of the oblong cage is left unwoven, creating a one-way gate like the traffic spikes at the exits of parking garages. By orienting themselves along the center axis, the caterpillars ensure that when they emerge as a moth, all they have to do is push through the cage and fly away, leaving behind an intact chrysalis suspended in midair.

Photo Story: In My Backyard

Photographer: Takuya Ishiguro

Title: The World of Familiar Insects

Award: Photo Story: In My Backyard Winner

Photo location: Various Locations, Japan

Caption: It’s an undeniable fact that insects live close to humans at all times, but sometimes they are so small we may not even notice them. And even when we do notice them, they’re often met with disgust and derision. In this series taken in the photographer's native Japan, we’re given an unexpected look into the lives of bugs, wherein the photographer uses his own customized lens to capture unique, up-close images of diversely colorful and impressive species. In this image, we’re shown the unexpected beauty of a Common housefly (family Muscidae) as it shines like a jewel while covered in morning dew. Unfortunately, it won’t be able to fly off until the dew drops evaporate and it completely dries off, making it the perfect portrait specimen.