Photo News

Image: FX

Shogun, the FX show set in feudal era Japan, has broken the record for the most Emmys won by a show in a single year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show won 18 awards, including the one for 'Outstanding Cinematography For A Series (One Hour).'

The cinematography nod is particularly interesting, especially for cinematography and camera nerds. Even if you've only watched the trailer, it's clear that Shogun has a distinct visual style. The show is shot on anamorphic lenses with lots of character; in many shots, the frame is filled with aberrations, the background has a strong swirling look (fans of vintage lenses will be familiar with the effect), and the edges of the frame are blurry or even downright vignetted.

The show uses a lot of shallow depth of field and interesting bokeh.

Image: FX

Thankfully, the show's creators have gone into a lot of detail about the how and (perhaps more importantly) why of the aesthetic decisions that impressed the Television Academy. FX's website even has a page dedicated to the show's cinematography, which mainly focuses on the choices made around lighting a show set before the advent of electricity.

American Cinematographer provides a deeper look into the technical aspects of how they shot the show. According to the feature, the cinematographers relied heavily on the Sony Venice and FX3, outfitted with several varieties of Hawk anamorphic lenses. The article also goes into even more lensing and lighting choices and contains a plethora of interesting details. For example, the show was apparently shot at 6K but cropped to 4K to meet FX's delivery standards while maintaining a 2.0:1 aspect ratio.

The American Society of Cinematographers also had Sam McCurdy, who shot five episodes of the show, on its interview series. During the conversation, he talks about the lightning and grip setups (complete with diagrams), 'butchering' light bulbs to get a convincing simulation of firelight, and how the story informed the show's aesthetic, down to which aperture was used for certain shots.

Shogun's look has its detractors, with some commenters going as far as saying it made them think something was wrong with their TVs. But even those who didn't like it would likely agree that it's great to live in a time when we can get such an in-depth look at the creative process behind such a critically acclaimed show. Television hasn't always gotten the behind-the-scenes treatment that movies have, but fans of the medium or even people looking to get a job in the industry now have great resources available from the people out there making it.

Image: Halide

It's now even easier to replace your iPhone's default camera app with Halide, a third-party option that offers advanced camera features, such as manual shutter speed and ISO control, histograms and even a mode that claims to strip away almost all of Apple's AI image processing. Halide's 2.16 update, out today, lets you add it as a control on your lock screen, which means you can use it to take pictures without unlocking your phone.

Previously, Apple's default camera app was the only one you could use without entering your passcode or using biometric authentication such as FaceID or TouchID. That gave it a speed advantage over third-party options.

Apple used to add an extra step if you wanted to use a third-party camera app

Halide and apps like it could provide lock screen widgets that live under the clock, but unlike the shortcuts at the bottom of the screen, those would only work after you'd unlocked your phone. The tiny bit of extra time and friction could be the difference between getting the shot and missing it, and that's the problem Halide's latest update lets you sidestep.

The one catch is that you'll have to update to the brand-new iOS 18 to get this functionality. Once you're running the latest OS and have downloaded the new Halide update, you can long-press on your lock screen, then press the 'Customize' button. From there, tap your lock screen again, then tap the remove button on whichever shortcut you'd like to replace with Halide. (Camera and Flashlight are the default shortcuts.) It should now be a blank '+' button that you can tap to bring up the Controls selector, which you can use to select Halide from the Capture section.

Selecting Halide from the Capture section will let you launch it straight from the lock screen.

After doing this, you'll be able to jump straight to Halide from the lock screen without having to authenticate with your passcode or biometrics (though you'll still have to unlock your phone if you want to do anything else with it). You can also still access the default camera app from the lock screen by swiping left from the right edge of the screen.

If Halide isn't your preferred camera app, fear not; other developers should also be able to implement this feature, providing they update their apps for iOS 18.

While the lock screen shortcut is the fastest way to access the camera on Apple's current phones, that will change with the upcoming iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, which include a dedicated 'Camera Control' that will launch the camera. While Apple has said that you'll be able to use the button's touch sensitivity in third-party apps to adjust various settings, it's currently unclear whether you'll be able to launch those apps with it as well. If Apple only allows you to launch its app with the control, it would put the stock app back on top, at least in terms of how fast you can open it.

You can download Halide via the App Store. It costs $19.99 a year, or $2.99 a month, and is also available as a $59.99 one-time purchase.

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.

The APS-C chip in the Samsung NX1 was the largest BSI CMOS sensor we'd then seen. It would be another four years before one was used again, in the Fujifilm X-T3.

Photo: DPReview.com

Ten years ago today, in 2014, Samsung announced its flagship mirrorless camera, the NX1. Built around Samsung's own 28MP APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor, the NX1 arrived with a level of performance not previously seen in a mirrorless camera.

The NX1 featured a hybrid autofocus system with phase-detect AF points across 90% of the frame, 15fps burst shooting (along with an AF system that could keep up), 4K video and impressive wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. And, at a body-only price of $1499, it arrived at a competitive price for its class.

When I was assigned to lead the review of the NX1, Samsung was barely on my radar as a camera manufacturer. Of course, I knew Samsung manufactured cameras, but like many serious photographers, I had never used one. To be blunt, I was blown away by what the NX1 could do, and it turned out to be the most capable mirrorless camera I had experienced to date.

I had used quite a few mirrorless cameras before the NX1, but the NX1 reset my expectations for what a mirrorless camera could do, and it felt like the first one that had the potential to replace a high-performance DSLR. The biggest compliment I could give it was that after using it for a short time, I stopped thinking about the fact that it was a mirrorless camera and just got on with the business of taking photos. I was so impressed that I picked the NX1 as my 2014 Gear of the Year.

You wouldn't mistake the NX1's 2.76M-dot OLED viewfinder for an optical viewfinder. Still, the implementation was good enough that after a short time, I stopped noticing it and focused on taking photos, a task for which the EVF was exceptionally well-designed.

Photo: Dale Baskin

The NX1 built a reputation for pushing the limits of mirrorless technology, and over the years, it acquired an almost mythical status in camera lore. Even now, I hear people speculate about what the camera industry might look like today if Samsung had remained in the business.

To be clear, many modern mirrorless cameras can run rings around the NX1 thanks to technologies like AI-based autofocus, stacked sensors, and video tools like Log gamma and internal ProRes or Raw recording. However, the NX1 was ahead of the curve, and it took several more years for those other advancements to come to fruition.

"The NX1 built a reputation for pushing the limits of mirrorless technology, and over the years, it acquired an almost mythical status in camera lore."

How far ahead of the curve was it? Far enough that many people didn't even have computers capable of playing the H.265 video files the camera produced. The NX1 was the first time I can remember listing the same feature – the H.265 (HEVC) video codec – as both a pro and a con in the conclusion: pro because the codec was more advanced than the H.264 codec in everyday use at the time, pointing the way to the future, and con because many users had to run the NX1's video files through third-party software to convert it to a format that they could open on their computers.

The NX1 was by no means perfect. In our review, I called out the over-sensitive touch screen and some awkwardly located buttons, but these weren't significant shortcomings.

One factor that impressed us was Samsung's commitment to improving the camera through firmware updates. It provided several updates in the months after launch, some of which added significant features or performance improvements, particularly for video.

I was so impressed by the NX1 that I picked it as my 2014 Gear of the Year. Unfortunately, Samsung exited the camera market a few months later.

In fact, a firmware update was responsible for delaying our review of the NX1 by a couple of months. About three days before our first review was set to publish, Samsung sent us a new firmware update that was only days from public release. It changed and improved the camera so much that it rendered much of our review obsolete. As a result, I had to retest almost every major feature on the camera, a task that took several weeks, and I essentially wrote an entirely new review, which is the version you read on DPReview.

Despite the fact that Samsung exited the dedicated camera market years ago, I have to admit that I still sometimes wonder how the industry might be different today if Samsung had stayed the course, creating competitive products that pushed the limits of what technology could do in a mirrorless camera. Of course, we'll never know, but it's certainly fun to speculate.

DPReview Editors' Choice photo challenge: top picks

For our most recent Editors' Choice photo challenge, themed 'The Dog Days of Summer', we asked readers to share pictures showing how they embraced summer's hot, sweltering days. After submissions closed last week, our editors spent several days carefully reviewing all the entries and collectively selected our favorites.

With over 300 entries to choose from, our task was challenging, and we were reminded of how much talent exists within our DPReview community. Numerous photos could have made the cut – many more than we can present here – but we had to whittle it down to a manageable number.

On that note, we present our top 20 picks from this Editors' Choice photo challenge. And if we didn't get to feature your photo this time around, watch for our next photo challenge!

Sunset smile

Photographer: luka3rd

Description: My daughter enjoying the last sun rays on one of the summer evenings. It was taken in the village of Nea Skioni in Greece during our vacation in June of this year.

Equipment: Canon EOS R6 Mark II and Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM

I think someone's watching...

Photographer: Orangutaan

Description: Friends pose for a shot during a much needed hot summer dip in the Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC), with Bowen Island in the distance.

Equipment: Canon AE-1 Program and Canon FD 50mm F1.4

A parade for the love of clay

Photographer: mikolaj_szary

Description: For years, I have been traveling during the Summer to Bolesławiec, a Polish city in Lower Silesia, where clay has been made for centuries. I go there whenever there is the annual ceramic festival, which takes place for several days. The most picturesque part of those days is a procession of people getting painted with clay, who are dressed in unique costumes. Everyone takes part in this parade. Creativity counts. I took this photo during this year's parade on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Equipment: Canon EOS 50D and Canon EF 24-70mm F4L IS USM

High altitude hiking

Photographer: NZ Scott

Description: On the Mestia-Ushguli Trail, Georgia.

Equipment: Sony RX100 VII

Dog days of summer

Photographer: TimJoeBill

Description: I saw this dog enjoying the view from a camper van on the coast in Highland, Scotland, on a rare warm and sultry August day.

Equipment: Leica SL2-S and Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH

Untitled

Photographer: Battery_Kinzie

Description: Taken on Lake Zürich, in Strandbad Tiefenbrunnen. It was a boiling hot day. This photo was taken at 20:16, and it was still warm enough that a cooling dip in (or dive into) the lake was an attractive proposition.

Equipment: Sony a6000

Ladies in Castelluccio

Photographer: Andrea Beneventi

Description: The traditional flowering of lentils in Castelluccio di Norcia.

Equipment: Canon EOS 700D

Dock jump sunset

Photographer: owenleve

Description: Oliver Dock jumping at sunset. Donner Lake. Truckee, California. Enjoying the dog days of summer. Taken standing chest-deep in the lake.

Equipment: Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 14-30mm F4.5

Chillin' in the middle of the river

Photographer: Dondog

Description: Happy day in Chesterfield Gorge, Massachusetts.

Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark III and Canon EF 40mm F2.8 STM

Untitled

Photographer: Ab S

Description: Mietze enjoying sun warmth (like only a cat can).

Equipment: Sony RX10 IV

Fishing at sunrise

Photographer: kodakrome

Description: Fishing at sunrise on a warm August morning. Garden City Beach, South Carolina.

Equipment: Canon EOS R8 and Canon RF 600mm F11 IS STM

Fair winner

Photographer: JeffryzPhoto

Description: Summer means county or state fairs, this being the San Diego County Fair. A girl proudly takes home her prize.

Equipment: Fujifilm X-T4 and Fujifilm XF 16mm F1.4 R WR

Launch into summer

Photographer: Orangutaan

Description: A friend poses for a shot during a much needed hot summer dip in the Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC), with Bowen Island in the distance.

Equipment: Canon AE-1 Program and Canon FD 50mm F1.4

The trampoline

Photographer: mcxxrr

Description: Taken in Rhodes. Loved all that was happening on the stairs and the boy discussing the far boat with the girl.

Equipment: OM System OM-D E-M1 Mark ii and Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-100m F4 IS Pro

Admiring the sunset

Photographer: CanmorePat

Description: A Rocky Mountain goat admires the sunset in his home in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia.

Equipment: Sony a6600 and Sony 18-35mm F3.5-5.6 OSS

The joys of summer

Photographer: Albert kings

Description: My daughter celebrating the little but most memorable things.

Equipment: Apple iPhone X

Where'd it go?

Photographer: ULprof

Description: In a late afternoon golf tournament my son was playing in, I snapped this picture of all the kids looking off into the sunset as they desperately tried to track where their golf balls went.

Equipment: Sony a7R IV and Sony 70-200mm F2.8 G SSM II

4th of July pool time!

Photographer: AlexeyV

Description: lol party for 4th of July, my son showing off his jumping skills.

Equipment: Fujifilm X100VI

The golden wings of summer glow

Photographer: Ritam Melgunov

Description: The egret flying up in the sunset glow. Captured at the end of August specifically for the Challenge. Surroundings of Gatchina, Leningrad region, Russia. My poem: How nice ‘tis to be a bird! A waft — and you are awing! A bird has no debt or deed, He can simply fly and sing— How nice ‘tis to be a bird! O freedom! O breadth! O flight! No bond, no care, no curb— Just soar to the happy height!— A bird speaks no hurting word Nor lies — a bird lives a dream— How nice ‘tis to be a bird! Oh, yes! I would fly with him!

Equipment: Canon EOS R7

Find your beach

Photographer: rshoub

Description: We were late getting off to the beach, but that didn't stop our granddaughter from getting a head start. Here she is on a blanket of sun coming through the skylight onto the floor of our Rhode Island summer rental cottage.

Equipment: Sony RX10

Images: SmallRig, Godox, Lexar

It's been a busy week here at DPReview – we've shot several videos for the YouTube channel ( so stay tuned for those) and published our review of the Canon EOS R5 II. We're not the only ones, though; accessory makers have been putting out a lot of gear over the past few days, including some stainless steel SD cards, a new flash unit, and a YouTuber-inspired tripod.

Before we get to that, though, let's look at what deals are out there.

Deal of the Week: High-end, smaller sensors, low prices

Canon's EOS R7 is currently $200 off its list price, selling for $1,299. When we reviewed it last year, we called it "one of the most well-rounded, versatile, and capable APS-C mirrorless cameras for the money" but only gave it a Silver award because of the lack of great lens options for APS-C Canons. Since then, though, Sigma has announced two great, fast zooms for RF-S, along with a series of primes, which could all serve as excellent companions to the EOS R7.

Buy now:

Buy at B&H PhotoBuy at AdoramaBuy w/ RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM at Amazon.com

The Silver award-winning Panasonic G9 II is also on sale at $250 off retail for fans of the Micro Four Thirds system who want to shoot some video.

Buy now:

$1797 at Amazon.com$1898 at Adorama$1898 at B&H Photo

Now let's check out some accessories.

This SD card is metal

Don't let the 'Gold' branding fool you; it's actually just stainless steel.

Image: Lexar

This week, Lexar announced that it'll make SD cards with a stainless steel casing instead of a plastic one. Dubbed the 'Armor' series, the cards are IP68-certified as water and dustproof (though that's far from unique among SD cards) and bend-resistant.

The company says its Armor cards are 'ideal for outdoor filming,' though you'll want to make sure any camera you put them in can stand up to the same rigors. According to Petapixel, the cards will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities, but so far, there's no word on how much they'll cost or when they'll be available.

The fastest tripod in the West Image: SmallRig

Camera accessory maker SmallRig has teamed up with YouTuber Gene Nagata, AKA Potato Jet, to create the Tribex Hydraulic Carbon Fiber Tripod, which may just be one of the quickest-deploying camera supports out there.

The tripod's biggest selling point is its clutch system; squeeze a single pistol-grip-shaped handle, and the legs extend down to the ground. This not only allows for rapid deployment but quick leveling as well; if you're in too much of a hurry to use the ball head, you can squeeze the clutch and move the tripod so the varying heights of the legs are keeping it level. The company says it's tested for 20,000 leg extensions.

The Tribex isn't just a one-trick pony, though. Its list of features also includes an adjustable counterbalance, fluid head, the ability to mount the camera upside down for super low shots and 1/4-20 accessory mounting points.

However, none of that comes in an especially light or cheap package. The tripod retails at $799 and weighs 3.8kg (8.4lb). Its counterbalance system can support a payload of up to 6kg (13.2lb), and it has a maximum height of 168cm (66").

$799 at B&H $799 at SmallRig New phone, new case Image: SmallRig

Speaking of SmallRig, the company also announced a new product that's meant for people who plan to shoot a lot with a new iPhone 16. The FilMov Lightweight Photography Case Kit acts as both a case for your phone, as well as a mounting point for accessories and filters. The kit, which will retail for $35, also comes with a detachable handle for better ergonomics while shooting landscape video.

The case includes a cutout for the new 'Camera Control' button (Apple's first-party cases have what is essentially a passthrough button, which may be better for the swiping controls), and is available for the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.

$29.90 at SmallRig A double flash Image: Godox

Godox has announced the AD200Pro II, an update to one of its pocket flashes. It now features a color display for when you're navigating menus and also has a colored group indicator light that can let you know at a glance which group the flash is in.

The AD200Pro II comes with two heads: a bare bulb (capable of guide number 60) and a standard speedlight Fresnel (capable of guide number 52). The company says the new heads have improved heat dissipation and thus shouldn't overheat, even during a long shoot. Both heads also include a bi-color modeling light.

The flash has recycle times ranging from 0.01 seconds to 1.8 seconds and can be used in first-curtain sync, second-curtain sync, and high-speed sync modes. Its battery will last for up to 500 full-power flashes, according to Godox.

The AD200Pro II will retail for $349.

$349 at B&H $349 at Amazon Mic'd up Image: Sony

Finally, Sony has announced a new premium lavalier microphone, the ECM-L1. It's made out of machined brass and can connect to a wide range of devices - including many cameras - using a 3.5mm jack. It also includes a locking ring for connecting it to a traditional mic pack.

The ECM-L1 comes with a metal windscreen as well as a fur-styled one and will retail for $279.

$279 at B&H $279 at Amazon Atomos in the Cloud Image: Atomos

Atomos has announced that its Ninja and Shogun video monitors/recorders will soon be able to automatically upload footage to Dropbox or Frame.io. The added functionality will come via a free software update, and should make it more convenient to get footage off the devices.

The company says that, for a limited time, its Ninja Ultra and Shogun Ultra will be $150 and $200 off, respectively.

Ninja Ultra $649 on Amazon $649 on B&H Shogun Ultra $999 on Amazon $999 on B&H

Winners of the 2024 Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards

This week, Royal Observatory Greenwich announced the winners of its Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are 11 categories, ranging from photos of skyscapes, the moon, galaxies, and more.

According to the observatory, there were over 3,500 entries for this year's competition.

Starting today, the winning images and runner-ups will be on display at a gallery in the National Maritime Museum. If you don't happen to live in Greenwich, you can also view the runners-up for each category on the museum's website.

Overall Winner: Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse by Ryan Imperio

Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, shot by Ryan Imperio in Odessa, Texas, was crowned the overall winner of the contest, as well as the winner of the 'Our Sun' category. According to a press release from the Observatory, Imperio said 'The images selected each year are absolutely astonishing and I am both thrilled and honoured to have my photo among them. I had hoped my image would be shared in some way but never expected to be selected as a winner, let alone Overall Winner!’

About the image: This is a sequence of continuously captured images showing the progression of Baily’s beads at third contact during the 2023 annular eclipse. Baily’s beads are formed when sunlight shines through the valleys and craters of the Moon’s surface, breaking the eclipse’s well-known ring pattern, and are only visible when the Moon either enters or exits an eclipse. These are a challenge to capture due to their brevity and the precise timing needed.

Equipment used: Nikon D810 camera, iOptron SkyGuider Pro mount, Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens

600 mm F8, ISO 640, multiple 1/1,000-second exposures

Skyscapes Winner: Tasman Gems by Tom Rae

About the image: This photograph shows the rugged peaks of the Tasman Valley reaching up to the impressive features of the southern hemisphere summer night sky. It includes the hydrogen clouds of the Gum Nebula (central red region) and various other regions of active star formation stretched throughout the fainter arms of the Milky Way. This part of the night sky that tends to be less photographed, due to the faintness of the Milky Way band.

Equipment used: Nikon Z 6 astro-modified and Nikon Z7 cameras, iOptron SkyGuider Pro mount, Sigma 40 mm F1.4 Art and Sigma 28 mm F1.4 Art lens

Sky: ISO 1,600, 40 mm F1.8, 31 x 30-second exposures; 
Foreground: ISO 100, 28 mm F10-14, 9 x 4-second exposures

Our Moon Winner: Shadow peaks of Sinus Iridum by Gábor Balázs

About the image: This photograph shows Sinus Iridum, also known as the ‘Bay of Rainbows,’ a 260-kilometre diameter bay bordered by several smaller craters. The photographer used a monochrome camera with a filter to capture the area. The crater visible in the upper right corner, Pythagoras, is particularly noteworthy and is almost visible from the side due to the libration, the wavering of the Moon as viewed from Earth.

Equipment used: Heyde-Zeiss refractor telescope, ZWO green filter, ZWO ASI178MM-pro camera

4,500 mm, F15

Aurorae Winner: Queenstown Aurora by Larryn Rae

About the image: The Aurora Australis captured above the mountains in Queenstown. It is a 19-image panorama capturing all the fast-moving beams that lit up the sky in February 2023. The photographer used an astro-modified camera to capture all the pink hues of the aurora which makes for an incredibly dynamic final image.

Equipment used: Canon EOS R5 H-alpha modified camera, 35 mm panorama

F2.8 ISO 3,200, Sky: 8 second-exposure, Foreground: 30-second exposure

The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer Winner: SH2-308: Dolphin Head Nebula by Xin Feng and Miao Gong

About the image: SH2-308 (the Dolphin Head Nebula) is at a low angle and can only be shot for five hours a day. This image comprises a total of ten days of shooting and post-processing with PixInsight. The main body of the nebula and the background stellar wind are both prominent.

Equipment used: Takahashi TOA-130NS telescope, Sky-Watcher EQ8 mount, ZWO ASI6200MM-Cool camera

1,000 mm F7.7, Gain 100, 144 x 600-second H-alpha exposures, 140 x 600-second OIII exposures

Young Winner: NGC 1499, A Dusty California, by Daniele Borsari (age 14)

About the image: This image features a deep integration on the California Nebula, NGC 1499, an emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus. It’s located at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth and it’s visible thanks to the ionization of gases by the blue giant star ξ Persei (Menkib).

Equipment used: ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, Samyang 135 mm F2.0 lens, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount

135 mm F2.8, 263 × 300-second exposures, 228 × 180-second exposures (33 hours 19 minutes total exposure)

Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation Winner: Anatomy of a Habitable Planet by Sergio Díaz Ruiz

About the image: This seemingly alien world is actually our endangered planet, Earth, as a distant civilisation might study it. This image was created by mixing the 16 bands monitored by the GOES-18 weather satellite to encode land masses, oceans and atmospheric features as different colours.

Equipment used: Original data from GOES-18 ABI (Bands 1 to 16 (0.47 to 13.3 microns)) from 18 February 2024 and Suomi-NPP VIIRS (0.5 to 0.9 microns) from 2012–2020

Stars & Nebulae Winner: SNR G107.5-5.2, Unexpected Discovery (The Nereides Nebula in Cassiopeia) by Marcel Drechsler, Bray Falls, Yann Sainty, Nicolas Martino, and Richard Galli

About the image: This impressive photograph is the result of 3,559 frames, 260 hours of exposure time and telescopes on three continents. The team worked to explore and photograph a previously unknown gigantic supernova remnant (SNR) in the centre of the famous constellation Cassiopeia. The international team of amateur astronomers is under the scientific leadership of Professor Robert Fesen (USA). The fact that amateurs have made such a discovery is a testament to how important their role has become in today’s astronomy.

Equipment used: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 telescope, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro and Paramount MyT GEM mounts, QHYCCD QHY600PH-M, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro and ZWO ASI6200MM Pro cameras

530 mm and 382 mm F3.6 and F5, 258 hours 32 minutes total exposure with 60-second, 180-second, 300-second and 600-second subframes

Planets, Comets & Asteroids Winner: On Approach by Tom Williams

About the image: This false-colour composite shows the phases of Venus on approach to inferior conjunction, which is when Venus and the Earth appear close on the same side of the Sun. Using ultra-violet and infrared filters, the intricate cloud structure within the upper atmosphere of the planet is revealed. Despite Venus’s rotation period being many months long, the atmosphere is far from stationary, circling the planet in around four days. This makes UV imaging of Venus particularly interesting as the planet is much more dynamic than it otherwise would be if viewed in the visible spectrum.

Equipment used: Sky-Watcher 400P (16") GoTo Dobsonian Reflector telescope, Baader Bessel (U)BVRI and RG610 filters, ZWO ASI462MM camera

5,000 mm F12.3, multiple 15-millisecond exposures

People & Space Winner: High-Tech Silhouette by Tom Williams

About the image: This H-alpha image of the Sun features the silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the eastern solar limb. Crossing the field-of-view in just 0.2 seconds, ISS transits of the Sun are particularly rare for any one location on Earth. The Sun was active and a prominence right next to the station’s transit location can be seen.

Equipment used: Sky-Watcher Evostar 120 telescope, Daystar Quark Chromosphere filter, Sky-Watcher EQ3 Pro mount, Player One Apollo-M Max (IMX432) camera

4,300 mm F35, ISS: 19 x 0.70-millisecond exposures; Sun: 7,500 x 12-millisecond exposures

Galaxies Winner: Echoes of the Past by Bence Tóth and Péter Feltóti

About the image: This picture shows the galaxy NGC 5128 and its surrounding tidal wave system as well as a visualization of the relativistic jet, powerful jets of radiation and particles travelling close to the speed of light. This interesting target can only be shot from the southern hemisphere, so the photographers travelled to Namibia to capture the image.

Equipment used: Custom-built 200/800 Newton astrograph telescope, Astronomik Deep-Sky LRGB filters, Antlia V-Pro LRGB filters and Antlia 3 nm H-alpha bandpass filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro and Sky-Watcher EQ6 mounts, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera

800 mm F4, 16.2-hour L, 5.3-hour R, G and B, and 5.6-hour H-alpha exposures

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Image: Leica

Leica has announced the M11-D, a camera in the M11 family that omits a rear display, opting to put an ISO dial in its place. The company says the lack of a display will help users focus on "the elementary aspects of pictorial design such as composition, aperture, shutter speed and ISO."

Underneath the display-less back plate, though, the M11-D is still a modern digital camera. It has a 60MP sensor, with enough cache to shoot five full-resolution images per second, 256GB of internal storage, and the ability to use UHS-II SD cards up to 2TB in size. The camera also includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that you can use to connect it to a smartphone, and USB-C for data transfer and charging.

Image: Leica

The M-11D also includes Leica's 'Content Credentials' system, which will let people verify whether the images taken with it have been edited and, if so, what changes have been made.

This isn't the first time Leica has produced a digital camera without a screen and marketed it as a purer photography experience. There was a similar model in the M-10 family as well. Like its predecessor, the M11-D also eschews the iconic red Leica badge on the camera's face, instead opting for what looks like a black flathead screw. Instead, the Leica name is engraved on the top plate.

The M11-D is available for preorder, at a list price of $9,395. That's a $400 price premium over the regular M11, which includes a display for navigating menus and reviewing your shots. However, the M11 only includes 64GB of onboard storage, so the upcharge isn't just for the screen delete.

Buy now:

Buy $9,395 at B&H PhotoBuy $9,395 at Adorama

Press Release:

The New Camera in the Leica M-System Combines an Analogue Photography Experience with a Digital Workflow

Like no other, the Leica M-System is a synonym for legendary quality “Made in Germany”. Since the introduction of the Leica rangefinder system in 1954, the world’s best photographers have appreciated Leica M-Cameras and Lenses for their unique image quality and the intuitive handling, for their masterful manufacture and their value preservation. Up to the present day, the Leica M has remained true to its iconic design and the focus on the essential without compromise. Of course, the same applies to the latest camera in the M11 family: the Leica M11-D. By doing without a display on the back, photography with the Leica M11-D focuses on the elementary aspects of pictorial design such as composition, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. In place of the display, there is a big ISO dial on the back of the camera. When it comes to functionality, however, the new M11-D does not sacrifice anything. With distinct customisability, modern connectivity and hardware-based authenticity technology, which was first introduced into the camera market with the M11-P as Leica Content Credentials, the M11-D proves to be a perfect combination of classic range-finder photography and state-of-the-art camera technology. With its clean lines, the matt black painted surfaces and the absence of the red Leica logo, the new M11-D also stands for maximum understatement in the timeless Leica product design.

The M11-D enables images with a resolution of either 60, 36 or 18 MP. With a cache of 3 GB, continuous shooting of up to 5 pictures per second with 60 MP is possible. The internal memory with 256 GB provides ample space for the images. In addition, the powerful battery makes sure that the M11-D is always ready at the crucial moment. The new member of the particularly compact full-frame system lies comfortably in the hand. With just 540 grams (incl. battery), it undercuts its predecessor by 120 grams.

The M11-D is extremely convenient to use and as an M-Camera, it also opens up the world of the unsurpassed M-Lenses and provides access to all M fixed focal lengths made since 1954. In combination with the full-frame sensor with Triple Resolution Technology, which has been exclusively designed for the Leica M11 family, as well as an ISO range from native ISO 64 to ISO 50,000, the Leica M11-D achieves brilliant image results with excellent noise performance even in low light.

Although the Leica M11-D transfers the analogue experience to the digital world, it does not confine itself to that. Each photographer decides for themselves at what time the digital workflow is to be integrated into the work with the M11-D. The new M-Camera offers seamless connectivity via Bluetooth or direct cable connection. As a certified “Made for iPhone® and iPad®” product, it provides a particularly fast and comfortable connection to iOS devices.

Further settings can be made with the Leica FOTOS app on the smartphone. Thus, the connection with the app enables an easy photo transfer, remote control and geotagging. In addition, pictures can be checked and assessed in the Leica FOTOS app on iOS or Android devices independently from the camera. Adjustments such as the white balance and the choice between the file formats DNG and JPEG can also be made in the app. Once saved in the Leica FOTOS app, the M11-D adopts the settings permanently. In this way, the new M-Camera can be customised to the desired requirements.

Thanks to the hardware-based Leica Content Credentials technology, the new M11-D helps to protect the authenticity of digital images. The technology is based on the framework described by the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) and the open technical standard of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). Thus, the authenticity of the pictures taken with the M11-D can be checked at any time with a freely available tool or at https://contentcredentials.org/verify.

Alongside the new M11-D, two matching high-quality leather accessories are available. One is a black protector, specifically designed for the M11-D with a cutout for the mechanical ISO dial on the camera's back. The other is a carrying strap available in black and cognac, crafted from a single piece of leather, suitable for all M-Series cameras.

The Leica M11-D will be available globally at all Leica Stores, the Leica Online Store and authorised dealers starting now. The retail price will be €9,350.00 including VAT.

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content. 93%Overall scoreJump to conclusion Product photos: Richard Butler

Canon's EOS R5 II is the company's latest high-end, full-frame mirrorless camera, which now gains a Stacked CMOS sensor and many of the autofocus features of the company's new flagship R1 model.

Key specifications:

• 45MP Stacked CMOS sensor
• Eye-controlled AF subject selection
• Up to 30fps continuous shooting with blackout free viewfinder
• In-body stabilization rated at up to 8.5EV correction, coordinated with lens
• Pre-burst capture (up to 0.5 sec in stills, 3 or 5 sec in video)
• 8K Raw video capture up to 60p
• Canon C-Log2 profile
• Waveforms and false color display
• AF trained by machine learning for specific sports
• AI-enhanced post-shot noise reduction or upscaling
• Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
• 1x CFexpress Type B, 1x UHS-II SD

The Canon EOS R5 II is available, at a recommended sales price of $4299. This is a $400 increase over the original model (though less expensive in real terms if you account for inflation). A kit with the RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM has a suggested price of $5399.

There will also be a choice of three accessory grips, covered later in the article.

Buy now:

$5399 at Amazon.com$4299 at B&H Photo$4299 at Adorama Index:

• What's new
• What's new for video
• How it compares
• Body & handling
• Autofocus
• Image quality
• Video
• Sample gallery
• Video recording limits
• Specifications
• Press Release

What's new

The biggest change in the EOS R5 II is the move to a Stacked CMOS sensor. As we've seen before, this allows the camera to read out its sensor much, much faster than conventional BSI or FSI chips. This speed allows the camera to capture 8K video at up to 60p and bursts of stills at up to 30fps.

If 30fps is too much for the shooting you do, the camera can be customized to shoot at 20, 15, 10 or 5fps instead. We found the readout rate in stills mode to be 6.3ms (∼1/160 sec) and that it appears to read out in 16-line chunks. This is a fair bit slower than the likes of the Z8 (∼1/270).

The EOS R5 II's sensor uses Canon's Dual Pixel AF design, with two photodiodes for each pixel location, meaning almost the entire sensor can be used for phase-detection autofocus. But it does not have the cross-type arrangement used in the EOS R1. It also omits the original R5's Dual Pixel RAW option, but we suspect very few people found a good use for this.

Eye-control AF

The EOS R5 II gets the same updated version of Eye-control AF that appears in the R1. Like the first modern version in the EOS R3, this lets you select a subject to focus on by looking in its direction: as soon as you half-press the shutter button or hit AF-On to initiate focusing, the camera will pick the subject nearest to where it thinks you're looking.

The latest version has sensors with a wider field of view, to get a better view of the eye as a whole, and revised algorithms that should work better when the eye is further from the viewfinder. This should be particularly useful for people wearing glasses and is supported with an eyeglasses detection mode, to avoid it getting confused by the additional lens and distance between the sensors and the photographer's eye.

'Digic Accelerator' co-processor

The EOS R5 II has the same 'Digic Accelerator' co-processor used in the R1. The way Canon talks about it is directly comparable to the way Sony describes its 'AI processing unit': a dedicated processor focused on crunching its way through the complex algorithms generated by AI mechanisms, which means the main processor can stay focused on things like distance measurement and communicating with the lens, rather than trying to do everything at once.

Canon says this processor helps run more complex exposure and white balance algorithms, too, boosting the camera's fundamental functions, as well as powering some of its novel features.

Our of camera JPEG

1/125 sec | F2.8 | ISO 51200

JPEG reprocessed with "Neural Network" noise reduction

1/125 sec | F2.8 | ISO 51200

Pre-capture

As with the R1, the R5 II can be set to capture up to 1/2 a second of action before you fully depress the shutter, so long as you have the button half-pressed beforehand. It can also pre-capture 3 or 5 seconds of video.

Action Priority modes

One of the biggest features the R5 II shares with the R1 is its slate of Action Priority AF modes. These are based on machine learning trained on how different sports look: how active players' bodies are positioned and what the ball looks like at key moments. The camera is able to follow the ball and work out which player to prioritize. For instance, Canon says the Football/Soccer mode has been trained to recognize the following actions occurring: "Shoot, header, short pass, long pass, dribble, clear, place kick, save by keeper, throw in, sliding tackle".

At launch, the EOS R5 II will have AF modes for Football ('Soccer' on cameras with US firmware), Basketball and Volleyball. Canon did not say whether it plans to add other sports, via firmware, later, but implied it would be possible.

Pre-registered person priority

In addition to the generic subject types the camera has been trained to recognize, it's also possible to register up to ten sets of ten people in the camera's memory. If engaged, the camera will try to give priority to those individuals if it identifies them in a scene.

This could be used to ensure you get photos of specific players at a sporting event or, for instance, during wedding shoots, where you can set the camera to prioritize the betrothed, rather than risking the camera getting distracted by other members of the wedding party that happen to get closer to your AF point.

You can even create a priority rank of the people you've identified so that the camera knows to focus on the bride ahead of the groom, ahead of the maid of honor, and so forth. Despite giving the camera only a single image of each subject, it proved pretty good at recognizing the people we asked it to prioritize.

AI-derived noise reduction or upscaling

Original image

1/2000 sec | F2.8 | ISO 640

Up-scaled version

1/2000 sec | F2.8 | ISO 640

Like the R1, the R5 II gains two post-shot options to reprocess your files using the full power of its AI-derived algorithms. It's not got the processing power or battery life to apply these as you shoot, so you'll need to select which images to process, after the fact. Even with a dedicated 'accelerator' chip, both processes take several seconds to apply to each file.

The first option is to up-res the images to twice their original resolution (four times the pixel count). This uses machine learning to anticipate what might occur between the captured pixels, to boost the apparent resolution. Somewhat unexpectedly, this process is conducted on JPEG or HEIF images only, rather than the Raw data.

The other option is to apply complex "neural network" noise reduction to files. This again is based on machine learning and attempts to distinguish between noise and detail to give a clean but detailed image. The option can be applied to Raw files but Canon says that the JPEGs that are then created cannot then be up-sized.

Blur/Out-of-Focus detection

The other post-capture cleverness the EOS R5 II acquires is its ability to check how in-focus the chosen subject is. It's based on the camera's subject recognition system, so works best with human faces.

A metadata tag identifying the most precisely focused images is added to the file and can be used to filter your images, either in playback mode on the camera or in Canon's Digital Photo Pro software, when you get back to your computer. There are significant restrictions to when the system works: you need to be using an electronic shutter mode and have subject detection turned on. It also only works for JPEG images: the feature will operate if you have the camera set to Raw + JPEG but you can only check the results or filter your images if the Raw file has been deleted.

The R5 II may not be able to shoot quite as fast as the EOS R1, but any amount of 30fps shooting is likely to make you appreciate the ability to home in on the most focused shots.

Anti-flicker

As with the EOS R3, there are options both to sync the camera's shooting to match the brightest point in the brightness cycle of lights that flicker at 100 or 120Hz in response to 50 or 60Hz electricity, and there's also a High Frequency Anti-Flicker mode that assesses the flicker rate of fast-flickering light sources such as LEDs, and chooses a fractional shutter speed at a harmonic frequency, to minimize visible banding.

Using these modes reduces the camera's maximum shooting speed considerably, as it can only shoot at specific moments in the flicker cycle of the lighting. For 100/120Hz flicker, Canon quotes figures of 12-15fps in e-shutter mode, 8.6fps in electronic first curtain mode and 4.8fps when in mechanical mode.

The EOS R5 II still has a mechanical shutter when needed, though: allowing flash sync at higher speeds, for instance. This can be used with continuous shooting at up to 12 fps.

What's new for video The EOS R5 II gains a full-sized HDMI socket, over which it can output a Raw video stream

The Stacked sensor underpins many of the leaps forward in the EOS R5 II's video capabilities, but in addition to the newfound speed, Canon has worked to enhance the camera's usability as a video camera, borrowing features from its Cinema EOS line (at last).

So, in addition to the camera's 8K and internal Raw capabilities, the R5 II also becomes the first camera in the main EOS line to gain waveforms, a false color display and zebras and to make it easier to optimize exposure. It also has a tally lamp, to let a person in front of the camera know when it's recording.

The camera can also capture high quality footage (8K Raw or 4K compressed) to its CFexpress card while recording lower resolution and more heavily subsampled and compressed proxy footage to the SD card.

Raw video

The EOS R5 II can capture either 8K Raw footage at up to 60p or 'SRAW' 4K video at up to 60p. Both options use the 1.89:1 aspect ratio DCI format. Canon hasn't given details on how the 4K Raw is generated (downscaling or sub-sampling). The camera uses Canon's compressed 'Raw Light' format for the 50 and 60p footage, to keep file sizes manageable.

Both DaVinci Resolve and Adobe's Premiere appear to support Canon's Raw and Raw Light formats natively, while Apple's Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer require the installation of a plugin from Canon.

Resolution
(Aspect ratio) Frame rates Crop 8K Raw 8192 x 4320
(1.89:1)

• 59.94 / 50
• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98 / 24

1.0x (Full width) 4K SRaw

4096 x 2160
(1.89:1)

• 59.94 / 50
• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98 / 24

1.0x (Full width)

Raw video allows a slightly greater degree of lightness adjustment (often incorrectly described as "ISO" or "Exposure" adjustment), and white balance correction than compressed and gamma-encoded footage. It's not anything like as big a difference as Raw vs. JPEG in stills, though, as 10-bit Log files can fully encode the sensor output and are designed for tonal edits in a way that JPEGs aren't, and the Raw footage is typically 12-bit.

Raw shooting also gives much more control over noise reduction and sharpening, which are typically applied to some degree in gamma-encoded files, giving more freedom but adding an extra step to the workflow.

Compressed video

The R5 II's compressed video options are more extensive, giving the choice of 8K or 4K derived from 8K at up to 30p. Both of these options are available in the 1.89:1 DCI aspect ratio or in the 16:9 UHD shape, which crops the edges of the footage in a little.

The R5 II can also shoot sub-sampled DCI or UHD 4K at up to 120p, while maintaining the same angle-of-view. We measured the DCI 8K as having a rolling shutter figure of 12.6ms (∼1/80 sec), which suggests the main reason to shoot the less detailed sub-sampled footage will be to access those faster frame rates or to avoid any heat concerns, rather than because of any need to lower rolling shutter.

Beyond this there are DCI and UHD 4K options taken from an approximately APS-C part of the sensor. There are also options to capture 2048 x 1080 full-width or edge-cropped Full HD footage at up to 240p, with APS-C versions of each available at up to 120p.

The EOS R5 II gains the ability to capture C-Log2 footage, as well as C-Log3. C-Log3 is a more expansive version of the original C-Log profile, but C-Log2 is a curve designed to encode an even wider dynamic range.

Resolution
(Aspect ratio) Frame rates Crops DCI 8K

8192 x 4320
(1.89:1)

• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98 / 24

1.0x (Full width) UHD 8K 7680 x 4320
(16:9)

• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98

1.05x (Horizontally cropped) DCI 4K Fine 4096 x 2160
(1.89:1)

• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98 / 24

1.0x (Full width) DCI 4K

• 119.88 / 100

1.0x (Subsampled)

• 59.94 / 50
• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98 / 24

1.0x (Subsampled) or
1.61x UHD 4K Fine 3840 x 2160
(16:9)

• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98

1.05x (Horizontally cropped) UHD 4K

• 119.88 / 100

1.05x (Subsampled)

• 59.94 / 50
• 29.97 / 25
• 23.98

1.05x (Subsampled) or
1.70x

The EOS R5 II is the first camera outside the Cinema EOS range to be able to capture C-Log2, which makes it much easier to use in a workflow alongside those cameras.

Also aiding cross-compatibility is the adoption of the XF-AVC S and XF-HEVC S formats, which are the same as used on Canon's Cinema EOS and pro camcorder lines. Both options allow 10-bit 4:2:2 capture, but with the H.264-based XF-AVC S format dropping to 8-bit if you select 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling, whereas the H-265-based XF-HEVC S files give you a choice of 8 or 10-bit for 4:2:0 capture.

The EOS R5 II can shoot 4K derived from 8K at up to 30p.

The EOS R5 II continues to be able to record HDR PQ footage for display on HDR displays. Interestingly, the HDR PQ option can be combined with the HDR Video mode that simultaneously captures normally and unexposed footage to add additional highlights to the end result (at up to 8K/30 or 4K/60).

Dual Shooting

There's also an option to capture UHD 8K (7620 x 4230px) JPEGS to one card while the camera is capturing Full HD video at up to 30p on the other. This feature requires the more powerful LP-E6P battery and, naturally, means that your shutter speed choices will apply to both the video footage and still images, but the camera can grab stills at up to 7.5fps depending on whether you're capturing 30p or 25p video.

Choice of accessory grips

The EOS R5 II can be paired with the $350 BG-R20 battery grip that can also be used with the original R5, R6 and R6 II, but it can also be used with two additional accessory grips that are exclusively designed to work with it. The first is a BG-R20EP battery grip that includes an Ethernet port, giving 2.5 Base-T connections, costing $500.

The CF-R20RP accessory grip adds both a fan and an Ethernet port to the camera, but doesn't duplicate the controls. Image: Canon

The third option is the CF-R20EP Ethernet and fan grip, priced at $400. Unlike the other two grips, this doesn't have duplicate controls for portrait shooting, it's just a fan designed to pull cool air through and lower the temperature of the camera when shooting video. This can extend the shooting duration for all but the most demanding video modes and helps maintain the shooting duration in warmer conditions. It also includes an Ethernet port for fast cabled network connection.

As with the original EOS R5, Canon has published details of how long it expects the R5 II to be able to continue recording video before it overheats. We've published these in full on a separate page so that videographers can check whether the camera meets their needs and whether they'll need the fan grip, but without having to add another large table to the middle of the review.

How it compares

The Canon EOS R5 II is explicitly both a successor to the EOS R5 but also the de facto continuation of the EOS 5D series, a series of cameras for enthusiast and pro photographers and video shooters. As ever, the most directly comparable competitor comes from Nikon, whose Z8 aims to do much the same thing, just as the D800 series of DSLRs did beforehand.

There are no other like-for-like competitors to these two cameras: Sony offers the a7R V for photographers wanting high-resolution stills, but with nothing like the speed or video capability of the Canon and Nikon cameras, or the a1, which offers both speed and some video capabilities but at a price that pushes it very heavily towards the Pro end of the audience. It's a pretty old camera at this point, so can be bought well below its list price, but don't let that hide the fact that its primary intent was to compete with the Z9 and R3/R1s of this world. We're including it here more for interest, than direct competition.

Canon EOS R5 II Nikon Z8 Sony a1 Canon EOS R5 MSRP at launch $4299 $3999 $6500 $3899 Pixel count 45MP 45MP 50MP 45MP Sensor type Stacked CMOS (Dual Pixel) Stacked CMOS Stacked CMOS FSI CMOS (Dual Pixel) Shutter type Mech / Electronic Electronic only Mech / Electronic Mech / Electronic Max frame rate E: 30fps
M: 12fps E: 20fps (30fps JPEG) E: 30 fps
M: 10 fps E: 20fps
M: 12fps Flash sync speed M: 1/250*
E: 1/160
E: 1/200
(1/250 with less power) M: 1/400*
E: 1/200 M: 1/250* Max video res / rate 8K/60 8K/60 8K/30 8K/30 Video formats

Canon Raw
Canon Raw Light
XF HEVC S
XF AVS S

N-Raw
ProRes Raw
ProRes 422
H.265
H.264 XAVC HS
XAVC S
XAVC S-I Canon Raw
Canon Raw Light
H.265 MP4
H.264 MP4 Viewfinder 5.76M dots
0.76x 3.69M dots
0.8x 9.44M dots
0.9x 5.76M dots
0.76x Rear LCD 3.2" 2.1M dot Fully-articulated 3.2" 2.1M dot Two way tilting 3.0" 1.44M dot
Tilting 3.2" 2.1M dot Fully-articulated Waveforms,
Corrected Log preview,
False color Yes/Yes/Yes Yes/Yes/No No/Yes/No No/Yes/No Stills battery life
EVF / LCD 250 / 540 330/340 430/530 220/320 Video battery life (LCD)
Cont. / Actual – / – 85min / – 150min / 95min 120min / – Dimensions 139 x 101 x 94mm 144 x 119 x 83mm 129 x 97 x 70mm 138 x 98 x 88mm Weight 746g 910g 737g 738g

The upgrades to the EOS R5 II bring the camera at least into line with those of the Nikon Z8, with faster Raw shooting, 8K/60 Raw for those that can handle the file size and adding the level of video support tools that was seeming somewhat lacking in the existing camera.

What this table can't really capture is the fine detail such as Registered Person Recognition mode and the activity-specific autofocus behavior algorithms. How well these work may, at least for the kinds of photographers who shoot the relevant types of subject, define the margin by which the EOS R5 II turns out to have overhauled the Nikon in the eternal game of leapfrog the two companies are locked in.

Body and handling Other than the power switch moving, Canon hasn't changed much of the R5 II's control layout. Note the large rubber hood that protects the new multi-function hot shoe.

The R5 II's body is extremely similar to that of its predecessor: similar enough that it's BG-R20 battery grip can be used with the existing model. The only major external change is that, like the EOS R6 II, the power On/Off switch on the top left-hand corner is now a stills/video switch, and the power control is now around the rear command dial on the top plate.

This change will no doubt infuriate upgraders who've become used to the handling of the existing R5, but after a couple of days of accidentally flicking to photo mode, rather than finding the power switch, it soon enough becomes second nature.

This is no bad thing, as we really liked the way the original R5 handled: it's a pretty large camera but its grip is very well shaped and proportioned, and the controls were all well placed and comfortable to use for extended periods.

New menu section The menu options that customize the control of the camera (including whether Eye Control is active), now gain their own menu tab

The EOS R5 II bears witness to that rarest of things: a change to Canon's menu layout. In addition to the familiar menu sections, there's now an olive green tab containing all the control customization options from the menu, so they can all be easily located. This includes control customization for shooting and playback mode.

Viewfinder

The EOS R5 II still uses a 5.76M dot OLED panel and still maintains the 0.76x magnification but the optics have been significantly redesigned to allow the implementation of Eye-control AF. This makes the viewfinder appear larger as you look at the camera, but in practice, it's the same size when you're using it.

What doesn't come across from the spec is that the new OLED panel can go much brighter than the one in the original R5 (though not as bright as the one in the R1), allowing the inclusion of the 'Optical Viewfinder Simulation' mode seen on the EOS R3. It cannot accurately preview HDR PQ shooting, though. There is also 1mm increase in the eyepoint, to 25mm, which means you can see the entire viewfinder panel from a tiny bit further away from the finder.

The rear screen remains the same 3.2", 2.1M dot, fully articulated unit.

Multi-function hotshoe

The EOS R5 gains the multi-function hot shoe from the EOS R3. This has a row of contacts that can be used to feed a digital audio signal into the camera, allowing the use of the DM-E1D digital stereo mic; the contacts can also provide power to the ST-10 radio flash trigger or to provide a wired data connection to an Android smartphone using the AD-P1 adapter.

The shoe itself is sealed, but if you want to maintain a water-resistant seal with a weather-resistant flash, you'll need to use the AD-E1 adapter.

As before, the EOS R5 II has one CFexpress Type B card slot and one UHS-II SD slot. This means you're always likely to have a card that'll work with the camera, but also means there's a longer list of video modes that can't be saved to the smaller, slower card.

Battery

The EOS R5 II takes a new battery but, as is normal for Canon, it's also able to accept existing LP-E6N or E6NH (though not the original E6). The LP-E6P is able to provide more sustained power than previous versions, which is needed for a couple of functions, including Pre-burst shooting, HDMI Raw output, Dual Shooting (simultaneous stills + video) and use with high-powered devices mounted in the multi-function hotshoe. These functions and the camera's highest performance may not be available with older batteries.

The higher res, brighter viewfinder results in a CIPA rating of 250 shots per charge (up about 15% compared with the original R5), while the rating when using the LCD is up 70% at 540. As always, we find the CIPA testing methodology is much more demanding than most people's real-world usage, and they become less and less meaningful the more burst shooting you do. These aren't bad numbers, all things considered.

The camera can be charged over USB but to power the camera using USB you'll need the new PD-E2 power adapter or a high-powered USB PD power source. We don't have specs for the PD-E2 yet, so can't confirm which Power Delivery modes are required to power the camera.

Autofocus

Photo: Richard Butler

The EOS R5 II essentially has the same AF system and setup as the EOS R1, which is designed for the challenges of sideline shooting at the highest level. Despite this, it's not overly complex. Or, at least, need not be.

At its heart, it's quite straightforward: there are 8 different AF area modes ranging from a tiny spot to selecting the entire scene, which lets the camera choose where to focus. These include three customizable focus zones, where you can edit the shape and size of the focus region. Pressing the 'Info' button engages tracking, meaning that the AF point will move to follow whatever you were pointing at when you initiated focus.

There are also versions of the Spot, Single Point and Expanded areas with a padlock symbol, which do not allow around-the-frame tracking. This means you can quickly switch between tracking and non-tracking versions of the same AF area without disengaging tracking overall. As with all Canon's high-end models, there's a menu option to limit which AF areas are available, just to the ones you regularly use, to speed up selection.

Subject recognition

Separate from this are the camera's subject recognition modes, which allow it to detect people, animals or vehicles. There's also an 'Auto' setting that attempts to look for all three.

We mainly used the people mode and found it to be highly effective. The system is guided by your selected AF point, so if you decide you want to focus on a subject on the right of the frame, you can place an AF point to the right and be sure the camera will prioritize that person. And, while the system will follow subjects near to the AF point, not just those directly under it, it's selective enough that we generally found we could leave the people detection mode on, even when capturing other subjects. We wouldn't necessarily recommend the same approach with the Auto mode, though, as there are so many more potential targets for it to select.

Blur/OOF

The camera's Blur/Out of Focus mode is a genuinely clever feature, letting you very quickly narrow your images down to the best-focused shots. There are a few quirks around its use, though.

The fact it only works in electronic shutter mode is reasonable enough, as these are the modes that shoot fastest and are likely to benefit from you being able to filter to just the sharpest focused images. However, the fact that you can't check images if you've shot Raw or Raw+JPEG (unless you offload or delete the Raw image), adds an extra step to think about: it's easy to look back at your images and wonder why the camera hasn't made a sharpness assessment: the answer being that playback mode shows the Raw image and the focus tag lives in the JPEG.

Eye Control

Canon promises improvements to the Eye Control system, but we had a very similar experience to those we had with the EOS R3: at its best it can be a truly intuitive means of selecting a subject to focus on but, to varying degrees, we didn't all find it to operate at its best. For instance I sometimes found the Eye Control target would operate slightly to the left or right of where I was looking, and I'd need to re-calibrate the system to get it to work again. The fact I found it more reliable when wearing glasses than with contact lenses, which makes me suspect I don't always position my eye in precisely the same position, relative to the viewfinder, which is causing the offset problems.

Eye Control made it possible to select which of the many detected subjects the camera would focus on. It seemed to be improved, compared with the EOS R3, particularly when wearing glasses, but not to the extent that I felt I could depend on it for my shooting.

Overall we found Eye Control works much better as a means of selecting between recognized subjects, rather than for selecting points within a scene to focus on. It's difficult for us to know how well the system will work for different individuals and their shooting needs, but we suspect it'll be useful for some and indispensable to others.

Read about our experience of shooting bike racing with the EOS R5 II

Performance

We subjected the EOS R5 II to our standard AF tests, as well as putting it through its paces at a rather more challenging sporting event.

As you'd expect of a modern camera, it aced the simple straight-on test, as it has no problem assessing and predicting distance and driving the focus to the correct point.

What impressed us is the tenacity of the subject tracking modes. A lot of modern cameras can continue to track the subject as it turns the corners, but even some of the best take a beat to come to terms with the change in approach speed as it does so. Without subject recognition, the camera did extremely well, but with subject recognition on, its hit-rate was very high.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

We set the R5 II to its maximum 30fps speed and found it did a really good job of staying consistently focused. Though it does appear to be focusing on the subject's cap, rather than their pupil.

Blur/Out of Focus assessment

The camera's Blur/Out of Focus assessment considered all but one of the images we shot to meet its lowest threshold and all but five to hit its Standard level of acceptable blur. 156 of the 168 images met its highest bar.

Total images in run Low threshold Std threshold High threshold 168 167 163 156

However, in practice, we found that even setting the camera to its most stringent, High threshold ended up selecting some images with motion blur in them, which significantly undermines the usefulness of the function.

This image was rated to the highest standard by the camera, and this one exceeded the Standard threshold, neither of which we'd consider acceptible for use at full resolution.

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.

Image ComparisonThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

The EOS R5 II is essentially indistinguishable from its predecessor in terms of detail. It can't quite match the resolving power of Sony's 61MP a7R V, but it's consistent with it most direct peer: the Nikon Z8.

The similarities persist as the light levels drop: at moderate ISOs it's consistent both with its predecessor and its peers and perhaps a touch noisier at very high ISOs. Not enough that you're ever likely to notice.

The slightly darker rendering relative to the original EOS R5 makes the comparison a little difficult but the color response of the JPEGs looks very similar. The slightly sandier pink patch at the top left, compared with the Nikon and Sony, is likely to play a part in Canon's rendering of some skin tones being so well-liked.

The default sharpening is well-judged: pulling out a good level of detail but without any sign of over-shoot at high-contrast edges. Color aliasing seems well controlled too, if you compare the finest text with the Nikon.

JPEG noise reduction seems to strike a good balance between detail retention and noise suppression, with subtle detail in similar colored subjects looking natural. It continues to do pretty well even at very high ISO settings, maintaining detail and color, despite how noisy the underlying data is.

Dynamic range

As we've seen with other Stacked CMOS sensors, there's a slight increase in electronic noise, which clips dynamic range a little earlier (at the lowest ISO setting where dynamic range is most critical). This is still more pronounced in electronic shutter mode on the EOS R5 II, so we'd suggest using one of the mechanical modes when you're knowingly shooting high DR scenes, but for many types of shooting, the increased speed is likely to make this trade-off worthwhile.

Exposure latitude | ISO Invariance

AI upscaling

Whereas its Sony and Nikon rivals offer multi-shot pixel shift options to boost their output resolution, the Canon EOS R5 II uses AI-trained algorithms to interpolate higher-resolution images from Raw files, on a file-by-file basis.

This has the disadvantage that it doesn't truly capture any additional detail, but also means you don't need to shoot on a tripod and any benefits aren't undermined by moving subjects.

We've added an upscaled version of the standard test scene JPEG to our comparison tool, so you can see how it compares with the results of a pixel-shift mode. We found we got better results by reprocessing the original Raw with less sharpening and less noise reduction before upsampling. Though there's probably a happy middle-ground between the default and minimal setting shown below.

Real-world image, default settings Real-world image, sharpening and NR reduced Studio scene image, default settings Studio screen settings, sharpening and NR reduced

We hope to compare these results to other popular software in the coming months.

Video

The EOS R5 II's core video specs are similar to those of its predecessor: it can shoot 8K at up to 60p in Raw, or 8K/30 in processed and compressed form. It can deliver DCI or UHD 4K at up to 120p but tops out at 30p if you want oversampled footage derived from 8K capture. But, while those specs are similar to the existing model, it exhibits less rolling shutter, thanks to its Stacked CMOS sensor.

Its impressive specs have to be tempered by the fact that it's extremely difficult to process so much data in a relatively small camera body without heat becoming an issue. All the R5 II's most impressive video modes 8K/60 Raw, 8K/30 compressed and the HQ 4K/30-from-8K are best suited to capturing a series of short takes, rather than recording extended performances.

The times quoted by Canon are perhaps a little conservative, but if you are a keen filmmaker, or expect to shoot outside a temperature-controlled environment, the added dependability and shorter recovery times brought by adding the optional fan grip.

The EOS R5 also adds significant improvements for the video shooter, compared to the Mark 1. Not only does the stacked sensor bring lower levels of rolling shutter, but the camera also gains Canon Log 2, which captures a wider dynamic range than the Log or Log 3 options in the existing camera. Not only does it encode a wider dynamic range but it also means you can use a range of LUTs designed for the Cinema EOS range, making it easy to make the most of.

The R5 II also gains four-channel audio input (via the connections in the hotshoe) and offers a waveform display, which makes it much easier to set and assess exposure when shooting Log.

Video performance Image ComparisonThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

The EOS R5 II's detail levels are a match for its predecessor. And, as you'd expect, there's an appreciable detail benefit to using the camera's 'HQ' modes that derive 4K from 8K capture. That said, there's no further loss of quality if you use the camera's sub-sampled 4K/60 and 4K/120 modes.

Video modes Sampling pattern Rolling Shutter rate

DCI 8K 24/30

UHD 8K 24/30

DCI 4K (HQ) 24/30

UHD 4K (HQ) 24/30

Full-width, all pixels 12.8ms

DCI 4K (Std) 24/30/60/120

UHD 4K (Std) 24/30/60/120

Full-width, sub-sampled 7.2ms

This is no real surprise as the rolling shutter rates for all the sub-sampled 4K modes are the same. Interestingly, while the 8K/60 Raw and (subsampled) 4K/60 SRaw exhibit the same rolling shutter rates as many of the compressed video modes, the 30p and slower versions use a slower readout rate.

Video modes Rolling Shutter rate Raw (8K) 60 Full-width, all pixels 12.8ms Raw (8K) 24/30 17.3ms SRaw (4K) 60 Full-width, sub-sampled 12.8ms SRaw (4K) 24/30 17.3ms

We've asked Canon for clarity about this, and what benefits it brings, and will update the review if we get an answer.

Conclusion Pros Cons

• Excellent image quality in a range of circumstances
• Very fast autofocus with very effective subject tracking
• Action Priority mode to help capture specific sports
• Eye Control can be a rapid and intuitive way to select a subject
• Packed with features to suit a wide range of photography
• Good video support tools, including waveform display
• Choice of Raw or Canon Log 2 workflows
• Optional fan grip available if you need longer recording times or faster recovery
• Blur/Out-of-focus system helps you home-in on your best shots
• New menu arrangement easier to make sense of
• In-camera upscaling and de-noising options could be useful

• Slight reduction in dynamic range may impact images with extreme processing
• Not all users will find Eye Control reliable
• Temperature limits require considered shooting in most ambitious video modes
• Waveform display is quite small and can't be moved
• No way to quickly access Auto ISO minimum shutter speed
• Blur/Out-of-focus detection only works for JPEGs with detected subjects in e-shutter mode and isnt great at recognizing sharp images.
  

The EOS R5 II is improved in almost every respect, relative to the original camera. It can shoot faster, gains a more capable autofocus system, better video tools and, most notably, Canon's Eye Control AF system. Almost regardless of what kinds of photography you enjoy, the EOS R5 II will have offer some degree of benefit over the existing model.

The result is a camera that can do pretty much anything you ask of it. Action, landscapes, video, you name it. Along with the Nikon Z8, it's among the most broadly capable cameras we've ever seen, and priced consistently with the historic EOS 5D series. We found it comfortable in the hand, with well-positioned controls and an interface that was pretty quick to familiarize ourselves with (though it would be good to have a quick way of adjusting Auto ISO minimum shutter speed).

For subjects the EOS R5 II has been trained to recognize, it does a great job.

Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8 @ 63mm | F2.8 | 1/400 sec | ISO 100

In fact our main concern wasn't anything the camera couldn't do, but that it does so much that it's impossible to put ourselves in the shoes of the vast range of photographers that might opt to buy one. We tried to shoot some action but weren't able to find the time to also shoot landscapes, wildlife, events or shoot as much video as we'd have liked. The EOS R5 II simply does too many things well to get a complete picture of its capabilities.

So, although we were very impressed by the Action Priority mode when shooting Basketball before the launch, we haven't had a further opportunity to put it through its paces. If Basketball or Soccer/Football photography are important to you, we think it could be a decisive benefit, but we'd suggest renting a camera to form your own impressions.

Perspective corrected in Adobe Camera Raw

Canon RF 24-70mm @70mm | F5.6 | /1250 sec | ISO 100
Photo: Richard Butler

If you don't own a recent camera, the EOS R5 II is very easy to recommend: it does a vast range of things and does most of them extremely well: it's not necessarily head-and-shoulders better than the Nikon Z8, but if you have any Canon lenses worth sticking with, it's a really impressive all-rounder.

It's a more complex story if you're thinking about upgrading from the already very good EOS R5. If you shoot video, there are definite benefits. If your photography involves capturing action, the Mark II's more sophisticated autofocus system and better burst shooting might well make it worth upgrading. But if neither of these things are central to what you need, it's a more difficult call.

Scoring

Scoring is relative only to the other cameras in the same category. Click here to learn about what these numbers mean.

Canon EOS R5 Mark IICategory: Semi-professional Full Frame CameraBuild qualityErgonomics & handlingFeaturesMetering & focus accuracyImage quality (raw)Image quality (jpeg)Low light / high ISO performanceViewfinder / screen ratingOpticsPerformanceMovie / video modeConnectivityValuePoorExcellentConclusionThe EOS R5 II, to varying degrees, improves over its predecessor in almost every respect: it's faster, smarter and a little bit more capable. It's all-round strength comes at a very slight cost in terms of base ISO dynamic range, and it can't compete with the endurance of a dedicated video camera, but it's hard to imagine what photo or video need it won't support you in.Good forA wide range of photography, from landscape to sports, short-clip videographyNot so good forLightweight travel shooting, recording extended performances93%Overall scoreRegularScoreCompareWidget({"mainElementId":"scoringWidget","mainProduct":"canon_eosr5ii","scoringSchema":{"id":"SLRs","variables":[{"id":"BuildQuality"},{"id":"ErgonomicsAndHandling"},{"id":"Features"},{"id":"MeteringAndFocusAccuracy"},{"id":"QualityRaw"},{"id":"QualityJpeg"},{"id":"LowLightHighISO"},{"id":"ViewfinderScreenRating"},{"id":"Optics"},{"id":"Performance"},{"id":"Movie"},{"id":"Connectivity"},{"id":"Value"}],"categories":[{"id":"EntryLevel","label":"Entry Level Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Entry Level"},{"id":"MidRange","label":"Mid Range Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Mid Level"},{"id":"EntryLevelFullFrame","label":"Entry Level Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Entry Level Full Frame"},{"id":"MidRangeFullFrame","label":"Mid Range Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Mid Range Full Frame"},{"id":"SemiProfessional","label":"Semi-professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Semi-professional"},{"id":"SemiProfessionalFullFrame","label":"Semi-professional Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Semi-professional Full Frame"},{"id":"Professional","label":" Professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Professional"},{"id":"LargeSensorCompactEntry","label":"Entry Level Large Sensor Compact Camera","shortLabel":"Entry Level Large Sensor Compact"},{"id":"LargeSensorCompactEnthusiast","label":"Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact Camera","shortLabel":"Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact"},{"id":"VideoCamera","label":"Video Camera","shortLabel":"Video Camera"}]},"helpText":"Choose one or more cameras from the drop-down menu, then roll your mouse over the names to see how their scores compare to the camera on review."}) Compared with its peers

The Canon EOS R5 II's most significant competition comes from the Canon EOS R5. The R5 II is, to varying degrees, a better camera in every regard and we think it makes sense to choose the new model over the existing one, almost regardless of what kinds you plan to shoot with it. For many people it'll be worth a significant premium over the EOS R5. However, if don't shoot fast moving subjects or video, it's less clear whether it's worth upgrading, and it may come down to whether Eye Control AF works for you.

The EOS R5 II goes toe-to-toe with Nikon's Z8. They both shoot fast and have very good AF systems, the Canon can shoot Raw stills faster while the Nikon has the slightly better video specs, with details like oversampled 4K/60 straight from the camera. The R5 II's Action Priority AF system and Eye Control could set the two cameras apart, if you shoot the sports it's been trained for, and the Eye Control system works reliably for you. Overall, though, the differences between the bodies won't be as significant as the impact of lenses, for most people. If you have any RF or Z-mount lenses, or have a preference for the specific lenses each brand offers, that probably matters more than the cameras.

Sony doesn't really offer a like-for-like competitor to the EOS R5 II. The pro-focused a1 is significantly more expensive, while the a7R V doesn't come anywhere near the speed of the EOS R5 II. The Sony a7R V has a higher pixel count sensor (and a high res mode if your subjects and workflow lend themselves to combining multiple Raws after the fact). For landscape work, the Sony is a serious contender, but it doesn't have the breadth of capabilities of the Canon.

Buy now:

$5399 at Amazon.com$4299 at B&H Photo$4299 at Adorama Sample gallery

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

Review samples Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab. Pre-production sample gallery Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

As part of DPReview.com's twenty fifth anniversary, we're looking back at significant launches from that time. And today we're looking at one of the most significant: the arrival, sixteen years ago today, of the world's first Mirrorless camera.

In early August 2008, Panasonic and Olympus had announced their plans to develop "significantly lighter and more compact interchangeable lens type digital camera systems," based on a variant of the Four Thirds system, but with a shorter flangeback distance. Or, as we called it: a mirrorless format and lens mount.

At first there were only diagrams showing that the lens mount would be smaller, not demonstrating how the new system would bring lenses closer to the sensor, so I had to quickly rough something up in Illustrator and then watch as it was used by countless other sites to show what had really changed.

Just over a month later, my colleague Lars and I found ourselves invited to Germany just before the Photokina trade show opened, to get our hands on the first example of this new technology: Panasonic's DMC-G1.

What was perhaps so striking about it is how familiar it felt: Panasonic had essentially made a miniature Canon Rebel, with a very similar form-factor and control layout. The only thing that seemed radical about the camera was the use of an electronic viewfinder on an interchangeable lens camera. And the fact it was appreciably smaller and lighter.

The original G1 was conventional to the point of being forgettable, which could be because Panasonic didn't want it to seem in any way different from a DSLR, other than being smaller. But, one way or another, this is the camera to which most modern ILCs owe a debt.

Freed from any direct connection between sensor size, mirror size and viewfinder size, the G1's finder delivered a vast 0.7x magnification figure in full-frame terms, compared with 0.51x on the rival Canon EOS 1000D / Rebel XS. Admittedly, it used the rather off-putting field sequential technology that (rather slowly) flashed up the red, then green, then blue parts of the preview, leaving strange rainbow artifacts in your vision if you looked around the scene too fast, but it offered some taste of things to come.

And, considering it was an entirely contrast-detection AF system, the G1 was impressively competitive against its DSLR peer group, at least in terms of AF-S.

Interestingly, given what the move to mirrorless has subsequently brought us, and considering it was a direct contemporary of the Canon EOS 5D II and Nikon D90, the G1 had no video capabilities.

The G1's decidedly conventional approach means it risks being somewhat overlooked historically. Once the Photokina show began, there appeared to be much more buzz around Olympus's Micro Four Thirds camera, despite it being made of wood.

Panasonic had working G1s on its stand at Photokina 2008, yet Olympus was getting similar amounts of attention for its PEN mockup.

But it's understandable that, rather than drawing attention to what was different, Panasonic would want to make a camera that looked, felt and behaved as much like the established options as possible. But, whether it was apparent or not, the G1 represented the first domino that started a cascade out across the industry.

Image: Nikon

Nikon has announced four look-up tables, or LUTs, that will 'apply the essence of RED’s color science' to N-Log footage shot with its mirrorless cameras, such as the Nikon Z8 or Z6.

Nikon says the LUTs will make it possible to 'achieve a look comparable to video shot on RED cinema cameras when working with N-Log footage.'

The pack includes a 'low contrast monochrome' LUT called Achromic and three versions a LUT called Film Bias. Nikon says the regular Film Bias LUT has 'warm colors and a satisfying level of contrast,' while the bleach bypass version has 'shallow tones and high contrast.' Film Bias Offset is meant to have 'deeply warm nostalgic colors.' You can view sample N-Log footage that we shot and applied the LUTs to below.

The LUTs are available as a free download from Nikon's website.

In theory, the LUTs – which are also available for Red cameras – could make it easier for editors to cut footage together from Red cameras and Nikon ones, provided they want to use the looks the LUTs create. However, Nikon's press release conspicuously does not say that N-Log footage graded with the LUTs will look the same as Red footage graded with the equivalent LUTs, only that they'll have a 'comparable' look. It is possible there'll be some differences.

This announcement is still significant, though, as it marks the first time the two companies' products have crossed over since Nikon purchased Red earlier this year.

Press release:

Nikon releases FOUR new LUTs for N-log created with RED

MELVILLE, NY (September 12, 2024) Nikon is pleased to announce the release of four types of Creative LUTs and one type of Technical LUT created with RED, all available free of charge. These LUTs can be utilized when grading video footage recorded in N-Log with Nikon mirrorless cameras* and for confirming a close-to-finished look while shooting on location by installing them on external monitors.

The Creative LUTs have all been created under the close supervision of RED Digital Cinema, Inc., a subsidiary of Nikon that is renowned for excellence in its manufacturing of professional digital cinema cameras. The line-up consists of ACHROMIC, FILM BIAS, FILM BIAS BLEACH BYPASS, and FILM BIAS OFFSET. These LUTs enable users to apply the essence of RED’s color science to Nikon mirrorless camera video workflows, making it possible to achieve a look comparable to video shot on RED cinema cameras when working with N-Log footage.

Creative LUTs:

• ACHROMIC – Low contrast monochrome
  
  • Achromic gives footage a low-contrast monochrome look while still maintaining the detail of the textures. It creates a soft and refined atmosphere and gives a classical feel.
• FILM BIAS – Warm colors and a satisfying level of contrast
  
  • Film Bias produces a film-like warmth and texture onto N-Log footage with balanced colors and a subtle contrast, as well as rendering skin tone very naturally. It can give a sophisticated feel to footage.
• FILM BIAS BLEACH BYPASS – Shallow tones and high contrast
  
  • Film Bias Bleach Bypass, inspired by the bleach bypass film processing technique, has a very specific high-contrast and desaturated look to it. It reproduces footage with a harsh and faded feel.
• FILM BIAS OFFSET – Deeply warm nostalgic colors
  
  • Film Bias Offset offers a film-like warmth and softness by applying a unique combination of color correction and contrast adjustment.

These LUTs are now available to download free of charge and can be found at www.nikonusa.com/redluts.

*Cameras compatible with N-Log recordings are supported

Image: Canon

Canon has announced its new RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens, a light and compact mid-range zoom with a constant F2.8 aperture. According to Canon, the lens is designed for both photo and video use and should appeal to photographers, videographers, and vloggers.

Optically, the lens is built around 15 elements in 12 groups, including two UD (ultra-low dispersion) and two aspherical elements. Its image stabilization system features a newly designed IS unit that allows for a lighter, smaller lens. Canon says it can deliver 7.5 stops of stabilization at the center and 7.0 stops at the corners when mounted on a camera with in-body image stabilization, and 5.5 stops on cameras without.

Another innovation can be found in the lens' autofocus system, which uses a new lead screw-type STM motor with a magnetic sensor to read the motor's rotational speed. According to Canon, this allows it to increase the rotational speed of the motor while maintaining high speed and precision. It also features "incredibly minimal" focus breathing for video work.

Although not an L lens, Canon claims the RF 28-70mm F2.8 has weather-resistant construction equivalent to an L-series lens.

In its press materials, Canon refers to the RF 28-70mm F2.8 as its "new standard zoom lens" and that its combination of fast aperture and lightweight design could make it a good everyday or travel lens. Canon suggests it could also fill a niche as a 'step-up' lens for newer photographers who want to go beyond the kit lens that came with their camera but want something smaller or less expensive than the RF 24-70mm F2.8 or a faster aperture than the RF 24-105mm F4.

The Canon RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM has a suggested retail price of $1099 and is expected to ship this month.

Buy now:

$1099 at B&H Photo$1099 at Adorama$1099 at Canon

Press release:

Canon's latest releases: Versatility with RF28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens and portable printing with Selphy QX20 printer

MELVILLE, NY, September 12, 2024 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, has announced the launch of two new products designed to enhance the creative possibilities for photographers, content creators, and everyday users through easily intuitive advanced features and flexibility: the RF28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens and SELPHY QX20 compact photo printer.

The RF28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens is Canon’s new standard zoom lens, primarily for full-frame camera users, offering a widely-adjustable focal range from 28mm to 70mm with a constant F2.8 aperture. It excels in capturing a diverse range of images, from portraits and events to landscapes and low-light scenes. The lens features optical image stabilization, which offers up to 5.5 stops with IOS and 7.5 stops with IBIS + OIS, enhancing image stability. Its lightweight design and high performance make it perfect for everyday use, traveling on the go and for capturing moments through photos and videos.

The SELPHY QX20 is Canon’s newest wireless compact photo printer, offering high-quality printing in a portable design. Ideal for smartphone(1) users. It supports square-size format and Canon's new card-size format paper, catering to various creative needs including memory keeping, scrapbooking and crafting. The built-in battery and durable seal paper (for prints that may last up to 100 years(2)) make it a top choice for preserving special moments. Its borderless printing feature and dedicated app(3) simplify the process, allowing users to create personalized prints effortlessly.

The RF28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens is compact and ready to take anywhere, offering a versatile tool that can easily transition from capturing videos of your life to storytelling landscapes. Meanwhile, with the SELPHY QX20 printer, Canon is pushing the boundaries of what a compact photo printer can do. The integration of card-size and square-format printing options, alongside the durability of seal paper, not only meets but redefines user expectations for on-the- go photo printing.

Pricing and Availability

The Canon RF28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens is available and scheduled to ship in September 2024, at estimated retail price of $1,099.00(4). The SELPHY QX20 is available and scheduled to ship inOctober 2024, at estimated retail price of $149.994 . For additional information, please visit usa.canon.com.

(1) Print from your compatible mobile device, download Canon's SELPHY Photo Layout application, available for free on the App Store and at Google Play. Compatible with iOS versions 17, 16, iPad OS 17, 16. Android™ smartphone and tablet versions 14,13,12,11.

(2) Canon cannot guarantee the longevity of prints; results may vary depending on printed image, display/storage conditions, and environmental factors.

(3) Available for free on the App Store and at Google Play. Compatible with iOS® versions 17, 16, iPadOS® 14, Android smartphone and tablet versions 14,13,12,11.

(4) Specifications, pricing and availability are subject to change without notice. Actual price is set by individual dealers and may vary.

Canon EOS RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM specifications Principal specificationsLens typeZoom lensMax Format size35mm FFFocal length28–70 mmImage stabilizationYesCIPA Image stabilization rating5.5 stop(s)Lens mountCanon RFApertureMaximum apertureF2.8Minimum apertureF22Aperture ringYesNumber of diaphragm blades9OpticsElements15Groups12Special elements / coatings2 UD elements, 2 aspheric elementsFocusMinimum focus0.27 m (10.63″)Maximum magnification0.24×PhysicalWeight495 g (1.09 lb)Diameter77 mm (3.03″)Length92 mm (3.62″)SealingYesFilter thread67 mmHood suppliedNoTripod collarNo

Buy now:

$1099 at B&H Photo$1099 at Adorama$1099 at Canon

Image: Canon

Canon has announced the Selphy QX20, a new entry in its lineup of portable printers. Like its predecessor, it can print pictures onto square 6.86cm x 6.86cm (2.7") paper, but the new generation adds the ability to print 5.3cm x 8.6cm (2.1" x 3.4") 'card size' images. It also gains the ability print without boarders on three sides.

Currently, the square paper sells for $14.99 for a 20-pack. 20 pieces of the card size paper will cost the same, but it'll also be available in a 60-pack for $40.99. The Selphy QX20 can connect to Android and iOS devices over Wi-Fi, using Canon's Selphy Photo Layout app.

Image: Canon

Charging the QX20 should be a much nicer experience compared to the QX10. While the old model featured a micro USB plug and took around 120 minutes to charge, Canon says the QX20 can charge in around 80 minutes via the near-universal USB-C. It will print slightly faster as well; according to the company it'll take around 40 seconds per page, versus 43 seconds for the old model.

One downgrade from the previous model is that, in the US, the QX20 will only come in two colors: grey and white. The QX10 was available in four: black, white, pink, and green. International buyers for the QX20 will also have the option to get it in red, but that's still one fewer color than the QX10.

The Selphy QX20 will be available in October and will retail for $149.99.

Buy now:

$149 at Canon$149 at B&H Photo

iPhone 16 and 16 Pro Q&A

This week, Apple announced its new lineup of iPhones with the 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max. The phones feature a smattering of new camera tech, along with a new button to control it all.

When we asked on Instagram if people had any questions about the new phones, there was a flood of responses. Thankfully, Gear Patrol's Tucker Bowe was on the scene in Cupertino, and has been able to gather some hands-on impressions, which should help us provide some answers.

Does the camera button actually improve the photo taking experience?

With the new iPhones, Apple introduced its 'Camera Control' button, which you can press to launch the camera. Once in the camera app, you can press the button to change a picture, and swipe across it to adjust parameters like zoom, which lens you're using, photographic style, and more. The button also features haptic feedback, and Apple says Pro phone users will be able to half press it to lock exposure and focus in the future, similar to how the shutter button on most dedicated cameras work.

With that said, we'll have to do further testing further to determine whether it actually makes much of a difference it'll make in the real world. In theory it should, but we'll see.

Aside from battery is there any difference between the 16 Pro and the 16 Pro Max?

Last year, the 5x pentaprism lens was exclusive to the larger of the pro phones. This year, however, Apple has brought it down to the regular Pro as well, which means the cameras on them appear to be identical.

Obviously, the Pro Max has a larger body and screen, but from a photography perspective there's no pressing reason to go with the Max if you prefer a smaller phone.

Do the new iPhones feel a lot bigger in the hands? Can you feel the difference from the 15 Pro Max?

The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max feature larger screens than their predecessors, which comes with larger and heavier bodies.

Tucker, who has handled the phones, said: To be honest, all iPhones are pretty big these days. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are basically the exact same size as their iPhone 15 counterparts. But both Pros do slightly bigger screens than last year's models. It's not a night-and-day difference, but when you hold an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro (or 15 Pro Max and 16 Pro Max) side by side, you can definitely see the difference.

Does it have manual camera controls?

In short, no, not really. You can manually control "depth" (i.e., F-stop) using the Camera Control button, but if you want to adjust shutter speed and ISO you'll need to download a third-party app. The camera app does include a few new tricks, though, such as the ability to adjust the playback speed of slow-motion footage.

Has the macro lens' focusing improved?

Apple has upgraded the sensor for the iPhone 16 Pro's ultrawide camera, which is the one used for macro. However, the company didn't mention any improved autofocus performance with the resolution.

The focusing should be much improved on the regular iPhone 16 versus the 15, as the ultrawide camera now supports autofocus, in addition to having a faster aperture. The camera also appears to have a larger sensor, though we'll likely need to get a bit more information before we can confirm its actual size.

Finally...

iPhone 16 Pro versus Pixel 9 Pro?

Stay tuned...

Image: MiNT Camera

MiNT Camera, a company specializing in instant cameras and accessories, has announced that it is accepting pre-orders for its new film camera, the Rollei 35AF. The company announced its plans to develop a film camera two years ago, with regular progress updates on its blog. It recently announced that it would begin accepting pre-orders on September 10.

Update: The company has announced that pre-orders will close on September 12, 2024, at 3:00 am GMT.

The Rollei 35AF is based on the classic Rollei 35 series of compact film cameras, first introduced at Photokina in 1966. At its introduction, it was the smallest 35mm film camera available, and over two million were made.

The Rollei 35AF is built around a fixed 35mm F2.8 lens with a 5-element design, an aperture range of F2.8-16, and a close focusing distance of 70cm (28"). Original Rollei 35 models typically had 40mm F2.8 or F3.5 Zeiss lenses. As its name implies, the Rollei 35AF also includes autofocus (using LiDAR), as opposed to manual (zone) focus on the originals.

Writing about the lens in a blog post, MiNT Camera described the philosophy behind the design, saying, "What we tried to achieve with this lens is to recreate a slightly nostalgic 1980-90s feel. It's a combination of balancing the contrast, sharpness, and color rendition to evoke that classic aesthetic, while still delivering modern performance."

Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab. Images: MiNT Camera

It also addressed its reasons for not using the original Rollei 35 lens design, stating, "The back focus is too long, it wasn't designed for autofocus, and the closest focusing distance is too long."

The camera includes an optical viewfinder with 0.5x magnification and 90% coverage, an OLED display for the film counter, film speed selection and a battery indicator. It has both manual and auto-exposure modes, with auto modes supporting ±2 stops of exposure compensation. Shutter speed ranges from 1/500 sec to 60 sec, and the camera has a 10-second timer.

Other features include a film speed selector, which the company says doubles as a control for exposure compensation, a DX code reader with an ISO range of 25-3200, manual film advance and rewind, and a flash rated for a range of 3.5m (11.5ft.) at F2.8. It includes a tripod mount. The camera uses a CR2 lithium battery.

Price and availability

The Rollei 35AF is available in either chrome or black and includes a two-year warranty. The chrome model costs $799, and the black model costs $828. According to the company, deliveries are expected to start later this year, and orders will be fulfilled chronologically according to the waitlist.

If the experience of owning and shooting a Rollei 35 is high on your list, you might also consider buying an original on the used market, though depending on what model you're looking at and the condition, it might cost as much (or more) than the modern version.

Pre-order now:

Chrome: $799 Black: $828

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

The XCD 20-35mm F3.2-4.5 E is Hasselblad's first ultra-wide zoom lens, providing a 16-27mm equivalent field of view in full-frame terms. Hasselblad suggests it's a great lens for cityscapes and landscapes, so we did just that, taking the lens on a walking tour of the US capital, Washington, DC, as well as a few landscapes in the high desert of central Oregon.

One note about processing: Our standard protocol for lens galleries is to process all photos from Raw files using Capture One Pro. However, Capture One is unable to process the Raw files from the 100MP Hasselblad X2D camera we used. As a result, this gallery was processed with Adobe Camera Raw.

View our Hasselblad XCD 20-35mm F3.2-4.5 E sample gallery

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

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Image: Hasselblad

Hasselblad has announced the XCD 20-35mm F3.2-4.5 E, equivalent to 16-27mm in full-frame terms. It's the company's first ultra-wide zoom lens, and Hasselblad says it should deliver the same level of image quality as its XCD prime lenses.

Formally branded the XCD 3,2-4,5/20-35E, it's also the first lens in the company's new XCD E series. According to Hasselblad, 'E' stands for Excellence and represents the top level of optical performance in the XCD series.

The new lens has the widest field of view and the largest aperture in Hasselblad's medium format system. Optically, the internally focusing lens is comprised of 16 elements in 12 groups, and includes three aspherical elements. It has a minimum focus distance of 0.32m (13") and maintains its widest f3.2 aperture all the way to 24mm.

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

The lens is housed in an all-metal ring with a matching metal lens hood and features a focus and control (aperture) ring. Its leaf shutter supports flash sync speeds of up to 1/2000 sec., and autofocus is driven by a stepper motor for quiet movement. Physically, the lens is 117mm (4.6") long with a diameter of 81mm (3.2") and weighs 805g (1.8lbs). It has a 77m filter thread.

The XCD 3,2-4,5/20-35E has a suggested retail price of $5,929 in the US and €6,729 in Europe.

Hasselblad XCD 20-35mm F3.2-4.5 E specifications Principal specificationsLens typeZoom lensMax Format sizeMedium Format (645)Focal length20–35 mmImage stabilizationNoLens mountHasselblad XApertureMaximum apertureF3.2–4.5Minimum apertureF32Aperture ringNoOpticsElements16Groups12Special elements / coatings3 aspherical elementsFocusMinimum focus0.32 m (12.6″)Maximum magnification0.16×Full time manualUnknownFocus methodInternalDistance scaleNoDoF scaleNoPhysicalWeight805 g (1.77 lb)Diameter81 mm (3.19″)Length117 mm (4.61″)MaterialsMetalZoom methodRotary (internal)Filter thread77 mmHood suppliedYesTripod collarNo

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Image: Nikon

Nikon has announced the Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4, a fast, normal prime lens for Z-mount cameras that covers the classic 50mm focal length.

The new lens is a virtual twin to the Nikkor Z 35mm F1.4 prime that Nikon announced just three months ago in June. The two lenses share the exact same dimensions, at 87mm (3.4") long by 75mm (3") diameter, and the new lens weighs in at 420g (14.8oz.), just 1% heavier than its 35mm sibling.

Notably, the new lens is slightly less expensive than Nikon's own 50mm F1.8 S prime, which is part of Nikon's premium 'S' series of lenses. It was suggested to us that the non-S lens prioritizes character over clinical sharpness.

The Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 mounted on a Nikon Z6 III

Image: Nikon

Optically, the lens comprises 10 elements in 7 groups, including one aspherical element, and has a 9-bladed aperture. This makes it optically simpler than the F1.8 S lens and it lacks that Nano Crystal Coatings of the premium model. It has a minimum focus distance of 0.37m (14.5") and a maximum magnification ratio of 0.17x.

Other features include a manual focus ring and a customizable control ring, which the 'S' model lacks. According to Nikon, the lens should be well-suited to video work thanks to a smooth, twin STM motors, suppressed focus breathing and the clickless control ring. Nikon describes the lens as designed to be drip and dust-resistant.

The Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 has a suggested retail price of $499 and will be available beginning in late September.

Buy now:

Buy at B&H PhotoBuy at Adorama

Press release:

The Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 is Nikon's Latest Affordable and Fast Prime Lens for the Nikon Z System

Classically Captivating Focal Length and Large f/1.4 Aperture is the Simple Formula for Breathtaking Creativity

MELVILLE, NY (September 10, 2024) Today, Nikon Inc. announced the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4, a lightweight prime lens with a wide and bright f/1.4 aperture. This affordable lens is compact enough to take anywhere, while offering a versatile and classic focal length that’s ideal for portraits, landscapes, street snaps, travel, still life and more.

“The NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 is a modern take on a classic lens design, giving creators the benefits of the latest imaging technology and optical innovations at a very appealing price,” said Fumiko Kawabata, Sr. Vice President, Nikon Inc. “With the recently released NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4, photographers and videographers now have access to a great pair of fast, affordable primes that will help them to take their creativity further."

The large f/1.4 aperture of this lens affords users the ability to create images and video with three-dimensional emphasis and naturally soft backgrounds that draw the viewers’ attention to a subject.

The NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 lens features a compact, comfortable and lightweight design, measuring approximately 2.9 in x 3.4 in (74.5 × 86.5 mm) and weighing only 14.8 oz (420 g). The lens is engineered with a premium feel and superb handling, featuring a dedicated focus ring and customizable control ring.

Additional Features of the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4

• Close minimum focus distance lets users get as near as 14.5 in (0.37 m) from the subject, which is great for flowers, still life and food photography.
• Nine-blade diaphragm helps to create a natural, circular bokeh for a pleasing out of focus area.
• Focus breathing is effectively suppressed to minimize the shift of the angle of view when adjusting the focus.
• Near Silent operation for video production, with a click-less control ring and near silent lens drive thanks to the use of STM motors.
• Weather Sealed and designed with careful consideration for dust- and drip-resistant performance*.

Price and Availability

The new NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4 will be available in late September 2024 for a suggested retail price of $499.95** For more information about the latest Nikon products, including the extensive lineup of NIKKOR Z lenses and the entire range of Z series cameras, please visit Nikonusa.com.

Specifications, equipment, and release dates are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer.

*Thorough dust and moisture-resistance is not guaranteed in all situations.

**SRP (Suggested Retail Price) listed only as a suggestion. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time.

Buy now:

Buy at B&H PhotoBuy at Adorama Nikon Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 specifications Principal specificationsLens typePrime lensMax Format size35mm FFFocal length50 mmImage stabilizationNoLens mountNikon ZApertureMaximum apertureF1.4Minimum apertureF16Aperture ringNoNumber of diaphragm blades9Aperture notesRounded diaphragm openingOpticsElements10Groups7Special elements / coatings1 Aspherical ElementFocusMinimum focus0.37 m (14.57″)Maximum magnification0.17×AutofocusYesMotor typeStepper motorFocus methodInternalDistance scaleNoDoF scaleNoPhysicalWeight420 g (0.93 lb)Diameter75 mm (2.95″)Length87 mm (3.43″)Filter thread62 mmHood suppliedYesTripod collarNo

Image: Apple

Apple has announced the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, which include a dedicated 'Camera Control' button, the A18 Pro system-on-a-chip, and larger displays. The 16 Pro has a 16cm (6.3in) screen, and the Pro Max's screen is 17.5cm (6.9in).

The company says the 16 Pro includes a new '48MP Fusion Camera' with a 'second generation quad-pixel sensor.' According to Apple, it has a two-times faster readout than the previous version, allowing for 'no shutter lag.' The Pro Max's 5x lens has also come to the regular iPhone 16 Pro, replacing the 3x camera that was on the previous generation.

The iPhone 16 Pro's main camera has a faster sensor readout, according to Apple.

Image: Apple

The 16 Pro's ultra wide camera now also has a 48MP sensor, up from 12MP on the previous generation, and the company has updated its 'Photo Styles' feature, offering more control over color. You're also able to change the style after capturing the image; they used to be baked-in.

Video has also received an update: you can now shoot 4K video at 120 frames-per-second when using the main camera. 120fps will also be available while shooting with the ProRes and Log features when recording to external storage. Apple has added a new interface to the Photos app that allows you to change the playback speed of high frame rate footage.

You can adjust the playback speed of 120fps footage on-device.

Image: Apple

The company says the 16 Pro includes four 'studio-quality' microphones, that will provide a lower noise floor for videos shot on the iPhone. They can also capture 'spatial audio,' which you can mix using the phone. According to Apple, you'll have the option to to focus the sound on the subject in the frame, isolate subjects' voices, and more.

Apple also announced the 15.5cm (6.1in) iPhone 16 and 17cm (6.7in) iPhone 16 Plus. The phones get the 'Camera Control' button, as well as the 'Action' button that was exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro in the previous generation. The phones also feature a new A18 processor, which the company says has a 30% faster CPU and 40% faster GPU than the chip found in the regular iPhone 15.

The iPhone 16's camera bump is smaller than the previous generation's.

Image: Apple

Earlier in the presentation, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the phones "the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities."

The company says the 'Camera Control' button allows you to control various features in the camera app. Pressing it will open the camera, and pressing it again will take a picture. You can also press and hold it while in the app to take a video. The button is touch sensitive, letting you slide your finger across it to change zoom level, depth of field, and more.

Lightly double-tapping the Camera Control will let you choose which variable to adjust.

Image: Apple

The button also has haptic feedback, which the company says "emulates the feel of a DSLR camera shutter." Later this year, on the Pro models, it will have a 'two-stage' action that will lock focus and exposure, similar to a half-press of the shutter button on most dedicated cameras.

Apple says the button will also provide 'instant access' to Apple Intelligence features. According to the company, pressing and holding the 'Camera Control' will bring up an interface that lets you perform a search using 'Visual Intelligence.' You can point it at an object, and the phone will bring up information about what's in frame. It can also be connected to third parties, getting information about what the camera is pointed at from services like ChatGPT.

The iPhone 16's ultrawide camera has been upgraded, and now includes autofocus. The company says it can capture '2.6x' more light, thanks to a wider aperture. It also now allows users to capture 'Macro' photos using the ultra wide camera, a feature that was previously limited to the Pro models. The main camera appears to be very similar to the previous model, though now features an anti-reflective lens coating.

The iPhone 15's ultrawide camera had a F2.4 lens.

Image: Apple

The iPhone 16's new design also features what appears to be a smaller camera bump than the previous generation, as the wide and ultrawide cameras are in line vertically, rather than being at a diagonal. Apple says the phone can now capture spatial videos and photos, using both cameras. While spatial video was available on the iPhone 15 Pro, the company says spatial photos are 'a first' for iPhone.

The regular 16 gains the updated photographic styles announced with the 16 Pro.

Apple's updated photographic styles.

Image: Apple

The iPhone 16 will start at $799 for a model with 128GB of storage, and $899 for the Plus model, also with 128GB of storage. The 16 Pro will start at $999 for a 128GB model, and $1,199 for a 256GB version.

iPhone 16 Pro press release Apple debuts iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max

Powered by the A18 Pro chip and built for Apple Intelligence, the Pro lineup introduces larger display sizes, Camera Control, innovative pro camera features, and a huge leap in battery life

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA – Apple today introduced iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, featuring Apple Intelligence, larger display sizes, new creative capabilities with innovative pro camera features, stunning graphics for immersive gaming, and more — all powered by the A18 Pro chip. With Apple Intelligence, powerful Apple-built generative models come to iPhone in the easy-to-use personal intelligence system that understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant while protecting user privacy. Camera Control unlocks a fast, intuitive way to tap into visual intelligence and easily interact with the advanced camera system. Featuring a new 48MP Fusion camera with a faster quad-pixel sensor that enables 4K120 fps video recording in Dolby Vision, these new Pro models achieve the highest resolution and frame-rate combination ever available on iPhone. Additional advancements include a new 48MP Ultra Wide camera for higher-resolution photography, including macro; a 5x Telephoto camera on both Pro models; and studio-quality mics to record more true-to-life audio. The durable titanium design is strong yet lightweight, with larger display sizes, the thinnest borders on any Apple product, and a huge leap in battery life — with iPhone 16 Pro Max offering the best battery life on iPhone ever.

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in four stunning finishes: black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and desert titanium. Pre-orders begin Friday, September 13, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

“Powered by the faster, more efficient A18 Pro chip and built for Apple Intelligence, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are the most advanced iPhone models we’ve ever made,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers who are looking for the best possible iPhone will be able to take advantage of this huge step forward, whether they’re applying edits to a photo without lifting a finger, rewriting meeting notes for a more professional tone, or using the advanced camera system to capture their next masterpiece in 4K120 fps in Dolby Vision — all while enjoying extraordinary battery life.”

Built for Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16 lineup harnesses the power of Apple silicon and Apple-built generative models to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. Apple Intelligence maintains the privacy and security of user data with Private Cloud Compute. This groundbreaking approach provides the ability to flex and scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers — an extraordinary step forward for privacy in artificial intelligence. Apple Intelligence will be available as a free software update, with the first set of features rolling out next month in U.S. English for most regions around the world.

With systemwide Writing Tools, users can adjust notes or emails to be more friendly, more concise, or add a more professional tone to their writing; check for grammar, word choice, and sentence structure; and summarize selected text to make it more digestible. In the Notes and Phone apps, users can also record, transcribe, and summarize audio. When a recording is initiated while on a call in the Phone app, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, Apple Intelligence generates a summary to recall key points.

Apple Intelligence helps users prioritize with summarized notifications, along with Priority Messages in Mail, a feature that understands the content of emails and surfaces time-sensitive messages. Across a user’s inbox, summaries convey the most important information of each email instead of previewing the first few lines.

Siri becomes more deeply integrated into the system experience and gets a brand-new design with an elegant glowing light that wraps around the edge of the screen when active. With richer language-understanding capabilities, communicating with Siri is more natural and flexible. Siri follows along when users stumble over their words, and maintains context from one request to the next. Users can type to Siri at any time, and switch fluidly between text and voice as they accelerate everyday tasks. Siri also now has extensive product knowledge to answer thousands of questions about features on iPhone and other Apple devices.

Additional Apple Intelligence features will roll out later this year and in the months following, including Image Playground, which allows users to create playful images in moments. Emoji will be taken to an entirely new level with the ability to create original Genmoji by simply typing a description, or by selecting a photo of a friend or family member. Siri will be able to draw on a user’s personal context to deliver intelligence that is tailored to them. It will also gain onscreen awareness to understand and take action with users’ content, as well as take hundreds of new actions in and across Apple and third-party apps. And while using iOS 18 features like Siri and Writing Tools, users will be able to easily access ChatGPT from OpenAI.

An Incredibly Light and Durable Design with Larger Displays

The new Pro lineup features the thinnest borders of any Apple product and introduces larger display sizes: 6.3 inches on iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inches on iPhone 16 Pro Max — the largest iPhone display ever.1 The stunning Super Retina XDR displays with Always-On and ProMotion technologies help users accomplish more. Both models offer industry-leading durability with a strong, lightweight titanium design, as well as the latest-generation Ceramic Shield, which has an advanced formulation that is 2x tougher than glass on any other smartphone. The new mechanical architecture improves heat dissipation and efficiency for up to 20 percent better sustained performance. Along with the new internal design and advanced power management of iOS 18, larger batteries are optimized to offer a huge leap in battery life.

Introducing Camera Control

Camera Control — a result of thoughtful hardware and software integration — makes the pro camera system more versatile with an innovative new way to quickly launch the camera, take a photo, and start video recording. It has a tactile switch that powers the click experience, a high-precision force sensor that enables the light press gesture, and a capacitive sensor that allows for touch interactions. A new camera preview helps users frame the shot and adjust other control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a stunning photo or video by sliding their finger on the Camera Control. Later this fall, Camera Control will be updated with a two-stage shutter to automatically lock focus and exposure on a subject with a light press, letting users reframe the shot without losing focus. Additionally, developers will be able to bring Camera Control to third-party apps such as Kino, which will offer users the ability to adjust white balance and set focus points, including at various levels of depth in their scene.

Later this year, Camera Control will unlock visual intelligence to help users learn about objects and places faster than ever before. Users can click and hold Camera Control to pull up the hours or ratings for a restaurant they pass, add an event from a flyer to their calendar, quickly identify a dog by breed, and more. Camera Control will also serve as a gateway into third-party tools with specific domain expertise, like when users want to search on Google to find where they can buy an item, or to benefit from ChatGPT’s problem-solving skills. Users are in control of when third-party tools are used and what information is shared.

New Pro Creativity Across Photo, Video, and Audio

With iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, the world’s favorite camera gets even more powerful. Powered by A18 Pro, the upgraded camera system introduces a new 48MP Fusion camera with a faster, more efficient quad-pixel sensor and Apple Camera Interface, unlocking 4K120 fps video recording in Dolby Vision — the highest resolution and frame-rate combination ever available on iPhone, and a smartphone first. The quad-pixel sensor can read data 2x faster, enabling zero shutter lag for 48MP ProRAW or HEIF photos. A new 48MP Ultra Wide camera also features a quad-pixel sensor with autofocus, so users can take higher-resolution 48MP ProRAW and HEIF images when capturing uniquely framed, wider-angle shots or getting close to their subjects with macro photography. The powerful 5x Telephoto camera now comes on both iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, allowing users to catch the action from farther away, no matter which model they choose. iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max now take spatial photos in addition to videos to help users relive memories with remarkable depth on Apple Vision Pro.

Users can capture 4K120 fps in Slo-mo or Video mode, and adjust the playback speed after capture in the Photos app, including a quarter-speed playback, a new half-speed option for a dreamy effect, and a fifth-speed option that corresponds to 24 fps. When coupled with the new image signal processor (ISP) of A18 Pro, users can do frame-by-frame cinema-quality color grading for 4K120 fps in Dolby Vision. Users can also capture 4K120 fps ProRes and Log directly to an external storage device for efficient pro workflows.

Both Pro models feature four new studio-quality mics that preserve true-to-life recorded sounds, and video can now be captured in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system. The iPhone 16 Pro lineup also introduces creative new ways to edit video sound with Audio Mix — allowing users to adjust their sound after capture to focus on the voice of the person on camera, make it sound like the video was recorded inside a professional studio, or position vocal tracks in the front and environmental noises in surround sound. With wind noise reduction, powerful machine learning (ML) algorithms reduce unwanted noise for better audio quality.

Next-generation Photographic Styles help users express their creativity and customize their photos by locally adjusting color, highlights, and shadows in real time. Styles also have a deeper understanding of skin undertones, so users can personalize how they appear in photos. Unlike filters, which often use a one-size-fits-all approach by adding a color to an entire scene, adjustments are applied to specific colors of a selected style. A wider set of styles offers more creative options for editing a photo’s aesthetic, and styles can be further personalized with an easy-to-use new control pad and intensity slider for simultaneous adjustments across tone and color. These adjustments can be rendered during live preview, applied after a photo is taken, or even reversed later.

Apple Intelligence takes the pro camera system to a new level. Coming later, Siri will be able to complete in-app requests and take action across apps, like pulling up a specific shot from a user’s Photos library and then applying an edit to the image in Darkroom. Siri can also help users fully utilize the wide range of photo and editing capabilities, such as asking how to adjust the blur in the background of a photo.

Industry-Leading Performance and Power Efficiency

The new A18 Pro chip is designed with industry-leading compute power to propel Apple Intelligence, ushering in a new era of pro performance. Built with second-generation 3-nanometer technology and featuring a new architecture with smaller, faster transistors, A18 Pro delivers unprecedented efficiency. The new 16-core Neural Engine is faster and more efficient than the previous generation, powering remarkable on-device performance for Apple Intelligence. A 17 percent increase in total system memory bandwidth — the highest ever in iPhone — enables faster experiences when using Writing Tools and Image Playground, and helps deliver astounding graphics. The bandwidth increase also benefits the 6-core GPU, which is up to 20 percent faster than the previous generation, driving graphics rendering for Apple Intelligence and stunning visuals for gaming. Hardware-accelerated ray tracing gets up to 2x faster for even more realistic light sources and reflections, and Game Mode in iOS 18 unlocks more consistent frame rates while making AirPods, game controllers, and other wireless accessories incredibly responsive. A new 6-core CPU is the fastest in a smartphone, with two performance cores and four efficiency cores that can run the same workload as the previous generation 15 percent faster while using 20 percent less power. Next-generation ML accelerators are optimized for Apple Intelligence, and save power by handling high-efficiency, high-throughput, and low-latency computations on the CPU without engaging the Neural Engine.

A18 Pro enables Always-On and ProMotion technologies for an exceptional viewing experience on iPhone, as well as faster USB 3 speeds and ProRes video recording. A new ISP and video encoder process 2x the amount of data for faster video encoding and pro workflows.

Expanded Safety and Communication Capabilities

The iPhone 16 Pro lineup features innovative ways to stay connected and provides enhanced safety capabilities for peace of mind. Powered by the same groundbreaking technology as Emergency SOS via satellite, users are able to connect to the nearest satellite to send and receive texts, emoji, and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS while outside cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.2 Messages via satellite in iOS 18 are end-to-end encrypted. Also new with iOS 18, Emergency SOS Live Video allows users to share a live video feed or photos with participating emergency dispatchers during an emergency call.3 Later this fall, Roadside Assistance via satellite — which connects users to a roadside assistance provider if they have car trouble while off the grid — expands beyond the U.S. to the U.K.

Better for the Environment

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are designed with the environment in mind. As part of Apple 2030, the company’s ambitious goal to be carbon neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade, Apple is prioritizing renewable electricity in manufacturing, and investing in wind and solar projects around the world to address the electricity used to charge all Apple products, including the iPhone 16 lineup. Today, all Apple facilities run on 100 percent renewable electricity — including the data centers that power Apple Intelligence.

To achieve Apple 2030, the company is also designing products with recycled and renewable materials. iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max feature more than 25 percent recycled content overall, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in the internal structural frame and 80 percent or more recycled steel across multiple components. The battery is made with 100 percent recycled cobalt and — in a first for iPhone — over 95 percent recycled lithium.4 The iPhone 16 Pro lineup also meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, and is free of mercury and PVC. The packaging is entirely fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of removing plastic from its packaging by next year.

Pricing and Availability

• iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and desert titanium, in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 (U.S.) or $41.62 (U.S.) per month, and iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 (U.S.) or $49.95 (U.S.) per month.5
• Apple offers great ways to save and upgrade to the latest iPhone. Customers can get $180 (U.S.) to $650 (U.S.) in credit when they trade in iPhone 12 or higher, or up to $1,000 (U.S.) in credits to put toward an iPhone 16 Pro with a carrier offer. Customers can take advantage of these offers by visiting the Apple Store online or an Apple Store location. For carrier offer eligibility requirements and more details, see apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/carrier-offers. To see what their device is worth and for trade-in terms and conditions, customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in.
• Customers in more than 58 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the U.K., and the U.S., will be able to pre-order iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max beginning at 5 a.m. PDT this Friday, September 13, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.
• iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in Macao, Vietnam, and 19 other countries and regions beginning Friday, September 27.
• iOS 18 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 16.
• Apple Intelligence will be available as a free software update. The first set of Apple Intelligence features will be available in beta next month as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come. It will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with device and Siri language set to U.S. English. Additional languages and platforms are coming over the course of the next year. Later this year, Apple Intelligence will add support for localized English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. In the coming year, Apple Intelligence will expand to more languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
• In addition to an iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max Clear Case, available for $49 (U.S.), a Silicone Case with MagSafe will be available for $49 (U.S.) in black, denim, fuchsia, lake green, plum, star fruit, stone gray, and ultramarine. Apple cases for the iPhone 16 lineup work seamlessly with Camera Control, featuring a sapphire crystal coupled to a conductive layer that communicates finger movements to the Camera Control. FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe will be available for $59 (U.S.) in black, blackberry, dark green, and deep blue.
• A new MagSafe Charger enables faster wireless charging up to 25W, is Qi2 certified, and is available in a 1-meter length for $39 (U.S.) or a 2-meter length for $49 (U.S.).
• AppleCare+ for iPhone provides unparalleled service and support. This includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage, battery service coverage, and 24/7 support from the people who know iPhone best.
• iCloud+ plans start at 50GB for $0.99 (U.S.) per month and offer up to 12TB for $59.99 (U.S.) per month, providing additional storage to keep files, photos, videos, and more safe in the cloud, accessible across devices, and easy to share with others. iCloud+ also gives access to premium features, including Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domains, and HomeKit Secure Video support.
• Customers who purchase iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will receive three free months of Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple Fitness+ with a new subscription.

1. The display has rounded corners that follow a beautiful curved design, and these corners are within a standard rectangle. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 6.27 inches (iPhone 16 Pro) or 6.85 inches (iPhone 16 Pro Max) diagonally. Actual viewable area is less.

2. Apple’s satellite features are included for free for two years starting at the time of activation of a new iPhone 14 or later. For Emergency SOS via satellite availability, visit support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426. Messages via satellite will be available in the U.S. and Canada in iOS 18. SMS availability will depend on carrier. Carrier fees may apply. Users should check with their carrier for details. Roadside Assistance via satellite is currently available in the U.S. with AAA and Verizon Roadside Assistance, and is launching in the U.K. with Green Flag this fall. Participating roadside assistance providers may charge for services, and iPhone users who are not members can take advantage of their roadside assistance services on a pay-per-use basis. Apple’s satellite services were designed for use in open spaces with a clear line of sight to the sky. Performance may be impacted by obstructions such as trees or surrounding buildings.

3. Emergency SOS Live Video will be available in the U.S. in iOS 18.

4. All cobalt and lithium references are on a mass balance allocation.

5. 128GB storage capacity is available on iPhone 16 Pro.

iPhone 16 press release Apple introduces iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus

Built for Apple Intelligence with the all-new A18 chip, both models feature Camera Control, powerful upgrades to the advanced camera system, the Action button to quickly access useful features, and a big boost in battery life

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA – Apple today announced iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, built for Apple Intelligence, the easy-to-use personal intelligence system that understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant while protecting user privacy. The iPhone 16 lineup also introduces Camera Control, which brings new ways to capture memories, and will help users quickly access visual intelligence to learn about objects or places around them faster than ever before. The powerful camera system features a 48MP Fusion camera with a 2x Telephoto option, giving users two cameras in one, while a new Ultra Wide camera enables macro photography. Next-generation Photographic Styles help users personalize their images, and spatial photo and video capture allows users to relive life’s precious memories with remarkable depth on Apple Vision Pro. The new A18 chip delivers a huge leap in performance and efficiency, enabling demanding AAA games, as well as a big boost in battery life.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in five bold colors: black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine. Pre-orders begin Friday, September 13, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

“iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus mark the beginning of a new era for iPhone with Apple Intelligence delivering powerful, personal, and private experiences to our users,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing. “With new ways to discover the world around you and capture memories using Camera Control; a 48MP Fusion camera that gives you two optical-quality cameras in one; a big boost in battery life; and powerful, efficient performance thanks to the A18 chip, this is the perfect time for customers to upgrade or make the switch to iPhone.”

Built for Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16 lineup harnesses the power of Apple silicon and Apple-built generative models to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. Apple Intelligence maintains the privacy and security of user data with Private Cloud Compute. This groundbreaking approach provides the ability to flex and scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers — an extraordinary step forward for privacy in artificial intelligence. Apple Intelligence will be available as a free software update, with the first set of features rolling out next month in U.S. English for most regions around the world.

Apple Intelligence unlocks new ways for users to enhance their writing. With systemwide Writing Tools built into iOS 18, users can rewrite, proofread, and summarize text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps. In the Notes and Phone apps, users can also record, transcribe, and summarize audio. When a recording is initiated while on a call in the Phone app, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, Apple Intelligence generates a summary to recall key points.

Apple Intelligence helps users prioritize with summarized notifications, along with Priority Messages in Mail, a feature that understands the content of emails and surfaces time-sensitive messages. Across a user’s inbox, summaries convey the most important information of each email instead of previewing the first few lines.

Siri becomes more deeply integrated into the system experience and gets a brand-new design with an elegant glowing light that wraps around the edge of the screen when active. With richer language-understanding capabilities, communicating with Siri is more natural and flexible. Siri follows along when users stumble over their words, and maintains context from one request to the next. Users can type to Siri at any time, and switch fluidly between text and voice as they accelerate everyday tasks. Siri also now has extensive product knowledge to answer thousands of questions about features on iPhone and other Apple devices.

Additional Apple Intelligence features will roll out later this year and in the months following, including Image Playground, which allows users to create playful images in moments. Emoji will be taken to an entirely new level with the ability to create original Genmoji by simply typing a description, or by selecting a photo of a friend or family member. Siri will be able to draw on a user’s personal context to deliver intelligence that is tailored to them. It will also gain onscreen awareness to understand and take action with users’ content, as well as take hundreds of new actions in and across Apple and third-party apps. And while using iOS 18 features like Siri and Writing Tools, users will also be able to easily access ChatGPT from OpenAI.

A Beautiful New Design with Industry-Leading Durability

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are beautiful and built to last. iPhone holds its value longer than any other smartphone thanks to its industry-leading durability, including the strong back glass, a water- and dust-resistant design, regular software updates, and the latest-generation Ceramic Shield with an advanced formulation that is 50 percent tougher than the first generation and 2x tougher than glass on any other smartphone.1 The internal design of iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus has been reengineered to allow for an even larger battery and to better dissipate heat, while making battery service easier. With the new internal design and advanced power management of iOS 18, the batteries are optimized to offer a big boost in battery life. Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes, the Super Retina XDR display with OLED technology and the Dynamic Island offers an exceptional viewing experience.2

The Action button comes to iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, allowing users to easily access a variety of functions with just a press. Users can quickly open the camera, flashlight, or controls; switch between Ring and Silent; recognize music with Shazam; activate Voice Memos, Focus, Translate, and accessibility features like Magnifier; or use Shortcuts for more options. The Action button can also access in-app functionality, like helping a user unlock and lock their car with FordPass.3

Introducing Camera Control

Camera Control — a result of thoughtful hardware and software integration — elevates the camera experience on the iPhone 16 lineup. It is packed with innovation, including a tactile switch that powers the click experience, a high-precision force sensor that enables the light press gesture, and a capacitive sensor that allows for touch interactions. Camera Control can quickly launch the camera, take a photo, and start video recording so users don’t miss the moment. A new camera preview helps users frame the shot and adjust other control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a stunning photo or video by sliding their finger on the Camera Control. Additionally, developers will be able to bring Camera Control to third-party apps such as Snapchat.

Later this year, Camera Control will unlock visual intelligence to help users learn about objects and places faster than ever before. Users can click and hold Camera Control to pull up the hours or ratings for a restaurant they pass, add an event from a flyer to their calendar, quickly identify a dog by breed, and more. Camera Control will also serve as a gateway into third-party tools with specific domain expertise, like when users want to search on Google to find where they can buy an item, or to benefit from ChatGPT’s problem-solving skills. Users are in control of when third-party tools are used and what information is shared.

New Camera Experiences

The powerful new camera system helps users capture both everyday moments and cherished memories like never before. The 48MP Fusion camera enables a 2x optical-quality Telephoto option, which is like having two cameras in one, so users can get closer to the subject to easily frame a photo. In addition to wider-angle shots, the new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with autofocus enables macro photography. The Ultra Wide camera also gathers up to 2.6x more light for higher image quality. Additionally, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus now take spatial photos and videos to help users relive memories with remarkable depth on Apple Vision Pro.

Next-generation Photographic Styles help users express their creativity and customize their photos by locally adjusting color, highlights, and shadows in real time. Styles also have a deeper understanding of skin undertones, so users can personalize how they appear in photos. Unlike filters, which often use a one-size-fits-all approach by adding a color to an entire scene, adjustments are applied to specific colors of a selected style. A wider set of styles offers more creative options for editing a photo’s aesthetic, and styles can be rendered during live preview, applied after a photo is taken, or even reversed later.

Video can now be captured in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system. Both iPhone models introduce creative new ways to edit video sound with Audio Mix — allowing users to adjust their sound after capture to focus on the voice of the person on camera, make it sound like the video was recorded inside a professional studio, or position vocal tracks in the front and environmental noises in surround sound. With wind noise reduction, powerful machine learning (ML) algorithms reduce unwanted noise for better audio quality.

Powered by Apple Intelligence, users can search for specific photos in the Photos app using natural language, and search for specific moments in video clips. Additionally, the new Clean Up tool can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo without altering the subject.

A18: Next-Level Performance and Mobile Gaming

A18 delivers a huge leap in performance and power efficiency, and is built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology to further accelerate Apple Intelligence. An upgraded 16-core Neural Engine is optimized for large generative models and runs ML models up to 2x faster than the A16 Bionic chip.

The 6-core CPU is 30 percent faster than the A16 Bionic chip and faster than all the competition. It is also more power efficient and can run the same workload with 30 percent less power than A16 Bionic. The 5-core GPU is up to 40 percent faster and 35 percent more efficient than A16 Bionic to power stunning graphics performance for Apple Intelligence, and puts a powerful gaming device in users’ pockets. Now with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, games on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus more accurately represent the behavior of light with up to 5x higher frame rates than with software-based ray tracing. Both models support the AAA games previously only available on iPhone 15 Pro, as well as new titles like Honor of Kings: World with an ultra graphics mode optimized for the iPhone 16 lineup, coming next year. Game Mode in iOS 18 delivers more consistent frame rates while making AirPods, game controllers, and other wireless accessories incredibly responsive. The efficiency of A18 and the device’s rearchitected internal design deliver up to 30 percent higher sustained performance for gaming while ensuring Apple Intelligence runs efficiently on iPhone.

Expanded Communication and Safety Capabilities

The iPhone 16 lineup features innovative ways to stay connected and provides enhanced safety capabilities for peace of mind. Powered by the same groundbreaking technology as Emergency SOS via satellite, users are able to connect to the nearest satellite to send and receive texts, emoji, and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.4 Messages via satellite in iOS 18 are end-to-end encrypted. Also new with iOS 18, Emergency SOS Live Video allows users to share a live video feed or photos with participating emergency dispatchers during an emergency call.5 Later this fall, Roadside Assistance via satellite — which connects users to a roadside assistance provider if they have car trouble while off the grid — expands beyond the U.S. to the U.K.

Better for the Environment

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are designed with the environment in mind. As part of Apple 2030, the company’s ambitious goal to be carbon neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade, Apple is prioritizing renewable electricity in manufacturing, and investing in wind and solar projects around the world to address the electricity used to charge all Apple products, including the iPhone 16 lineup. Today, all Apple facilities run on 100 percent renewable electricity — including the data centers that power Apple Intelligence.

To achieve Apple 2030, the company is also designing products with recycled and renewable materials. iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus feature more than 30 percent recycled content overall, including 85 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure and 80 percent or more recycled steel across multiple components. The battery is made with 100 percent recycled cobalt and — in a first for iPhone — over 95 percent recycled lithium.6 The iPhone 16 lineup meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, and is free of mercury and PVC. The packaging is entirely fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of removing plastic from its packaging by next year.

Pricing and Availability

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in ultramarine, teal, pink, white, and black in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities. iPhone 16 starts at $799 (U.S.) or $33.29 (U.S.) per month, and iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899 (U.S.) or $37.45 (U.S.) per month.

Apple offers great ways to save and upgrade to the latest iPhone. Customers can get $180 (U.S.) to $650 (U.S.) in credit when they trade in iPhone 12 or higher, or up to $1,000 (U.S.) in credits to put toward an iPhone 16 Pro with a carrier offer. Customers can take advantage of these offers by visiting the Apple Store online or an Apple Store location. For carrier offer eligibility requirements and more details, see apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/carrier-offers. To see what their device is worth and for trade-in terms and conditions, customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in.

Customers in more than 58 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the U.K., and the U.S., will be able to pre-order iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus beginning at 5 a.m. PDT this Friday, September 13, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in Macao, Vietnam, and 19 other countries and regions beginning Friday, September 27.

iOS 18 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 16.

Apple Intelligence will be available as a free software update. The first set of Apple Intelligence features will be available in beta next month as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come. It will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with device and Siri language set to U.S. English. Additional languages and platforms are coming over the course of the next year. Later this year, Apple Intelligence will add support for localized English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. In the coming year, Apple Intelligence will expand to more languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish.

In addition to an iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Clear Case, available for $49 (U.S.), a Silicone Case with MagSafe will be available for $49 (U.S.) in black, denim, fuchsia, lake green, plum, star fruit, stone gray, and ultramarine. Apple cases for the iPhone 16 lineup work seamlessly with Camera Control, featuring a sapphire crystal coupled to a conductive layer that communicates finger movements to the Camera Control. FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe will be available for $59 (U.S.) in black, blackberry, dark green, and deep blue.

A new MagSafe Charger enables faster wireless charging up to 25W, is Qi2 certified, and is available in a 1-meter length for $39 (U.S.) or a 2-meter length for $49 (U.S.).

AppleCare+ for iPhone provides unparalleled service and support. This includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage, battery service coverage, and 24/7 support from the people who know iPhone best.

iCloud+ plans start at 50GB for $0.99 (U.S.) per month and offer up to 12TB for $59.99 (U.S.) per month, providing additional storage to keep files, photos, videos, and more safe in the cloud, accessible across devices, and easy to share with others. iCloud+ also gives access to premium features, including Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domains, and HomeKit Secure Video support.

Customers who purchase iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will receive three free months of Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple Fitness+ with a new subscription.

1. iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are splash-, water-, and dust-resistant. They were tested under controlled laboratory conditions and have a rating of IP68 under IEC standard 60529 (maximum depth of 6 meters for up to 30 minutes). Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions. Resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage is not covered under warranty.

2. The display has rounded corners that follow a beautiful curved design, and these corners are within a standard rectangle. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 6.12 inches (iPhone 16) or 6.69 inches (iPhone 16 Plus) diagonally. The actual viewable area is smaller.

3. Vehicle Control on FordPass with the Action button and Control Center will be available this fall in 56 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Thailand, the U.K., the U.S., and Vietnam. Some features may not be available for all countries and regions, or all areas.

4. Apple’s satellite features are included for free for two years starting at the time of activation of a new iPhone 14 or later. For Emergency SOS via satellite availability, visit support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426. Messages via satellite will be available in the U.S. and Canada in iOS 18. SMS availability will depend on carrier. Carrier fees may apply. Users should check with their carrier for details. Roadside Assistance via satellite is currently available in the U.S. with AAA and Verizon Roadside Assistance, and is launching in the U.K. with Green Flag this fall. Participating roadside assistance providers may charge for services, and iPhone users who are not members can take advantage of their roadside assistance services on a pay-per-use basis. Apple’s satellite services were designed for use in open spaces with a clear line of sight to the sky. Performance may be impacted by obstructions such as trees or surrounding buildings.

5. Emergency SOS Live Video will be available in the U.S. in iOS 18.

6. All cobalt and lithium references are on a mass balance allocation.

When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Image: Canon

Canon has announced the EOS C80, a dedicated cinema camera in a mirrorless-style body. It's built around a 26MP full-frame stacked CMOS sensor and uses the RF lens mount. According to Canon, the C80's internals closely resemble the Cinema EOS C400, its newest professional cinema camera, including an almost identical sensor, though it lacks some features found on the C400.

The C80 replaces the EOS C70, a camera that proved very popular with independent video producers and small production houses but which used a smaller Super 35mm sensor and included an EF-to-RF 0.71x optical adapter that essentially worked as a speed booster.

The EOS C80's stacked CMOS sensor can capture video up to 6K resolution and features a triple-base ISO design, with bases at ISO 800, 3200, and 12,800. Dual gain systems work by switching between two different readout paths with different levels of capacitance, giving a tradeoff between a mode that can accommodate a large signal (higher peak dynamic range) and one with less tolerance for light but lower readout noise, better suited to shooting in low light. The implication is that Canon has a third readout option that takes this trade-off further. We've contacted Canon for further technical details and will follow up as we learn more.

Image: Canon

In addition to triple-base ISO, the updated sensor supports the newest version of Canon's dual-pixel autofocus, Dual Pixel AF II. It significantly enlarges the area of the sensor that can be used for autofocus and includes the same AF zones found on the Cinema EOS C400. The new system supports people and animal tracking, and the faster readout speed of the sensor allows the AF system to be quicker and more responsive.

The AF system also introduces a new feature intended to make it easier to rack between subjects. If the AF system is tracking a person, using the manual focus ring on the lens will take over focus control; when the AF system detects that it's close to focusing on a different subject, it will identify and take over focus tracking on that new subject once the focus ring is released.

Other new features include 12G-SDI terminals to allow for output of uncompressed video signals, Canon's multi-function shoe, a new lightweight handle accessory for attaching multi-function accessories, a third 1/4"-20 tripod thread on the base of the camera and another on top, and an ethernet terminal. Connections include full-sized HDMI-out, two mini XLR audio inputs, a 3.5mm microphone jack, 4-channel audio support, and a Time Code terminal. There are 13 custom buttons.

Image: Canon

The camera includes the same ND filter system as the EOS C400, with five settings ranging from ND2 to ND10, and there's a helpful tape measure hook on the top of the camera for planning focus and focus pulls.

The C80 supports three sets of video codecs, notably, the same ones found on the Cinema EOS C400 and the recently announced EOS R1 and EOS R5 II. This common use of codecs across all EOS models, including mirrorless and cinema products, suggests Canon is trying to better align video capabilities across the entire EOS line.

The C80 can capture up to 6K/30p video using the width of its sensor or up to 4K/60p using a Super 35mm crop when using Canon's Cinema RAW LT ('light') codec. It doesn't support Canon's higher bit rate Cinema RAW formats, HQ and ST, which require write speeds beyond the ability of the C80's dual-SD (UHS-II) memory cards.

Image: Canon

The camera also supports compressed codecs, including Canon's XF-AVC, XF-HEVC S, and XF-AVC S codecs, all of which support video capture up to 4K/60p (downsampled from 6K) in 4:2:2 10-bit color, using either All-I or Long-GOP formats. There's also slow motion support for frame rates up to 4K/120p and 2K/180p, with autofocus support up to 120p. The camera includes both C-Log2 and C-Log3 gamma curves and supports proxy files.

In addition to standard video, the EOS C80 provides anamorphic lens support with 2.0x, 1.8x and 1.3x de-squeeze. A new vertical interface is available when shooting vertical video.

The C80 also supports two new batteries: the BP-A30N, which ships with the camera and provides up to 170 minutes of continuous recording, and the BP-A60N, which Canon says will provide up to 335 minutes of continuous recording. According to Canon, the previous non-N versions of these batteries will continue to work without any feature limitations but will provide shorter operating times.

Price and availability

The Canon EOS C80 has a suggested retail price of $5499. It will be available in November 2024.

Canon Introduces the EOS C80 6K Full-Frame Cinema Camera

New EOS C80 RF-Mount Camera Features a 6K Full-Frame, Back-Illuminated Stacked CMOS
Sensor, Triple-Base ISO, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II and 12G-SDI

MELVILLE, N.Y., September 9, 2024 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is pleased to announce the new EOS C80 cinema camera, with a native RF-mount and full-frame, back- illuminated stacked CMOS sensor, designed for filmmakers that require a full-featured camera in a compact body.

6K Full-Frame Back-Illuminated Stacked CMOS Sensor

The Canon EOS C80 camera features a 6K full-frame, back-illuminated CMOS sensor, with triple-base ISO, allowing the camera to deliver stunning imagery in a wide range of lighting conditions. The base ISOs of 800, 3200, and 12,800 maximize the full dynamic range of the camera. The EOS C80 camera also features Canon’s latest Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus, Dual Pixel AF II. The back-illuminated stacked sensor’s positioning offers superb light-capturing efficiency, which widens the area of the sensor that can be used for autofocusing. The sensor also empowers fast readout speed, as well as amazing 4K image quality from 6K oversampling.

12-G SDI and a Variety of Interfaces

In addition to moving to a full-frame sensor, the EOS C80 camera has also stepped up from its predecessor by adding 12G-SDI output, which enables uncompressed transfer of your video signal with a secure cable connection. The camera’s design includes a variety of other interfaces including HDMI, mini-XLR audio inputs, time code, built-in Wi-Fi® connectivity, and Ethernet. This internet connectivity enables the camera to be controlled remotely via our IP-based XC Protocol using Canon’s Remote Camera Control Application (available for free on the Canon USA Website), or our Multi-Camera Control App for iPhone (available for free on the App Store).

Compact Design

The compact and lightweight EOS C80 camera is suitable on a drone, gimbal, tripod, or in any configuration where compact size and light weight are important. The camera is ergonomically designed with a new, lightweight handle assembly. The Multi-function Shoe is located just above the LCD screen and the joystick controller provides easy control and menu navigation.

Recording Options

The EOS C80 camera can record up to 6K 30P in Cinema RAW Light. Other recording options include our standard XF-AVC codec which can record in 10-bit 4:2:2 with oversampling from the 6K sensor, creating rich detail and smooth imagery without the need for cropping the image from the sensor.Furthermore, autofocus is enabled when recording in slow or fast motion at up to 4K 120P. Additionally, the EOS C80 camera has two more recording codecs, XF-AVC S and XF-HEVC S. These formats were first introduced with the EOS C400 camera and feature an easy-to-manage naming system and folder structure, while recording in the familiar MP4 format and preserving metadata.

Pricing and Availability

The Canon Cinema EOS C80 Full-Frame camera is scheduled to be available in November 2024 for an estimated retail price of $5,499.00. For more information, please visit www.usa.canon.com.

PriceMSRP5,499Body typeBody typeSLR-style mirrorlessSensorMax resolution6008 x 3170Effective pixels19 megapixelsSensor photo detectors27 megapixelsSensor sizeFull frame (36 x 24 mm)Sensor typeStacked CMOSColor spaceRec.709, BT.709 wide DR, HLG, PQImageBoosted ISO (minimum)1600Boosted ISO (maximum)102400White balance presets2Image stabilizationDigital onlyFile format

• N/A

Optics & FocusAutofocus

• Phase Detect
• Tracking
• Continuous
• Face Detection

Lens mountCanon RFScreen / viewfinderScreen size3.5″Screen dots2,760,000Touch screenYesLive viewYesViewfinder typeNonePhotography featuresExposure modes

• Manual, Auto Iris, Auto ISO/Gain

Built-in flashNoExternal flashNoMetering modes

• Center-weighted
• Spot

Exposure compensation±2 (at 1/4 EV steps)Videography featuresFormatXF-AVC, H.264, H.265MicrophoneMonoStorageStorage typesDual SD card slots (UHS-II/V90)ConnectivityUSB USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 GBit/sec)HDMIYes (Full-size)Microphone portYesHeadphone portYesWirelessBuilt-InWireless notes802.11a/b/g/n/acRemote controlYesPhysicalBatteryBattery PackBattery descriptionBP-A30N (included), BP-A60N, BP-A60, BP-A30Weight (inc. batteries)1310 g (2.89 lb / 46.21 oz)Dimensions160 x 138 x 116 mm (6.3 x 5.43 x 4.57″)Other featuresOrientation sensorYesTimelapse recordingYes

Images: Dua Lipa, Three Legged Thing, Bandai Namco

It's the weekend, so that means we're once again rounding up all the little accessories and gadgets that we heard about throughout the week. But first, let's see what's on sale this week...

Full Frame Gold

The Sony a7R V.

Photo: Richard Butler

The Sony a7RV, which has earned both a place on our best high-end cameras buyers guide and a gold award, is currently on sale for $500 off MSRP. It features a stabilized 61MP sensor, as well as Sony's excellent autofocus system.

Buy now:

Buy at B&H PhotoBuy at Amazon.comBuy at Adorama

The Nikon Z5.

Photo: Dan Bracaglia

For those looking to spend a little less, the DPReview Gold-winning Nikon Z5 is also $400 off MSRP, which makes it just under $1,000 body only. It features a 24MP sensor, and while its autofocus and video are far from class-leading, its ergonomics and battery life help make up for those downsides - especially at this price.

Buy now: $996 at Amazon $996 at B&H $1,696 with 24-200 lens at Amazon You get a SmallRig, and YOU get a SmallRig

The EOS R5 II is going into its cage, and it's feeling just fine.

Image: SmallRig

SmallRig has come out with a few new kits this week. The company has started selling versions of its 'HawkLock' quick-release cage and 'Black Mamba' ergonomic cage for the Canon EOS R5 Mark II now that the camera is starting to make its way to consumers. The company is also releasing a traditional basic cage for the EOS R5 II.

HawkLock cage kit for EOS R5 II: $128 at SmallRig Black Mamba cage kit for EOS R5 II: $145 at SmallRig

The company has also released 'Colorful Editions' for the HawkLock cages for the Sony FX3 / FX30 and A7R V / A7 IV / A7S III. Similar to its last color event, it's only selling a limited number of each, though there are fewer colors to choose from; you can only get the cages in red or orange this time around. They also come at a $5 price premium over their black counterparts.

Image: SmallRig

On the other end of the photography/videography spectrum, SmallRig has also released a new kit for people serious about shooting video with their phones. Its 'All-In-One Mobile Video Kit' is a collaboration with YouTuber and filmmaker Brandon Li. It includes a cage, which you can attach to your phone using Apple's Magsafe or a more traditional clamp, as well as a pair of handles, a 67mm filter plate, and a USB hub.

The handles have a few tricks beyond just giving you a place to grip your phone. One includes an m.2 SSD enclosure, which can be used for external ProRes recording on the iPhone 15 Pro. It also has an integrated Bluetooth remote, which acts as a wireless shutter and zoom control for Android phones and iPhones.

SmallRig is offering several different bundles of the video kit, and you can buy several of the components separately.

Buy now: $240 at SmallRig An always-with you card reader Image: Anker

If your phone is less of your main camera and more of an accessory to your photography, Anker's latest MagSafe offering may be for you. It's a puck that adds an SD and TF card reader to the back of your phone, so you can offload pictures from a dedicated camera to share on social media or upload to the cloud.

The MagGo USB-C Adapter has an integrated USB-C cable, which plugs into your phone to enable data transfer. It also has a USB-C port on the side, which allows it to also act as a pass-through charger if you connect it to a power adapter or battery bank. According to Anker it can output up to 42.5W, and supports data speeds up to 312MB/s (though the iPhone 15's USB-C port is limited to much slower USB 2.0 speeds).

Of course, you can also connect the MagGo's cable to a computer, which will let it act as a USB-C hub and card reader dongle.

Buy now: $35 at Amazon The Desk Arm

This could be an incredibly easy way to mount a camera and ring light to your desk.

Image: Three Legged Thing

Three Legged Thing has announced a series of accessories called the 'Camera Desk Mount System.' At its heart is an extending pole that you can clamp to a table or desk with a ball head and 1/4"-20 thread on top. Also available is an accessory arm that clamps to the pole and that can be purchased in straight or articulating varieties.

The company is marketing the system towards content creators making videos for TikTok, Reels, and Twitch, but it could also be handy for photographers who often find themselves needing to get top-down shots of their desk (or for people who want a place to mount their extra-fancy webcam). It can hold items up to 1kg (2.2lbs).

The upright mount costs $35 on its own, and you can get a kit with a single accessory arm for $50 or the articulating arm for $60. You can also get the arms a la carte for $23 and $30, respectively.

Buy now: $35 at B&H Tiny Nikons Image: Bandai Namco

This next pick isn't an accessory for your camera but rather a camera-shaped accessory for your desk, keychain, or bookshelf. Nikon has partnered with Bandai Namco to create miniature versions of the Nikon F, Z Fc, SP, and Z9, which will be sold through capsule vending machines known as gashapons.

Each plastic figurine comes with a specific 'lens,' though they are removable, so you might be able to mix and match them if you had multiple models. According to The Verge, they're only available in Japan. Those of us elsewhere will have to be happy just knowing these exist in the world.

Radical optimism about film Image: Dua Lipa

The final piece of gear doesn't come from a camera retailer but from a pop star's merch shop. Dua Lipa, the artist behind hits like 'New Rules' and 'Don't Start Now,' is now selling a 'reusable 35mm underwater camera' on her merch store (via Kosmo Foto). It has a 28mm F9 'focus free' lens, according to the very colorful box.

The camera's branded with the name of her latest album 'Radical Optimism,' and includes a lanyard and waterproof shell that'll work down to 3m (approx. 10ft). However, the package doesn't include any film, which is a bit of a bummer given its $40 price tag - you can currently get a 27-shot waterproof disposable for around $13, which is unfortunately cheaper than most rolls of color ISO 800 film these days. It's also worth noting that Fujifilm and Kodak's one-time-use waterproofs are rated to go over twice as deep as Dua's.

However, it's probably worth looking at this camera with some... optimism, for lack of a better word. If a Dua Lipa fan sees it, buys it, and has fun with it, that's one more person keeping film alive. How's that for Future Nostalgia?