Upon its release in 2025, the Nikon Z5 II ($1,849) immediately became one of PetaPixel’s go-to recommendations for an entry-level full-frame camera. It is surprisingly full-featured and capable, which led to a price increase over the original Z5. Now we have the Z5 IIC ($1,399), a more affordable, smaller version of the Z5 II with nice looks but a glaring omission: no electronic viewfinder.
Nikon has announced the Z5 IIC, a simplified version of the Z5 II that removes the EVF, reduces the quality of the rear LCD, drops the dual card slots, and cuts out the AF joystick in exchange for $450 in savings. For many, that might be enough of a discount to pick one up.
Japanese street photographer Shin Noguchi's images have been shown in exhibits worldwide and featured in many renowned publications. He has been part of Leica's 70th-anniversary M-System campaign and its recent 100th-anniversary celebrations. Now Noguchi's striking work has found another home, and it's an unusual one: playing cards.
Today at Snapdragon Summit, Microsoft unveiled its next-generation Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch, both powered by the Snapdragon X2 Plus processor.
Everything feels like a blessing when you make the dreams in your head a reality. This is certainly true for former elite tennis player turned photographer, Mathieu Forget.
Xiaomi has officially launched the very first phones powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chips, less than a day after the chips were unveiled. The Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max promise plenty of compelling camera features for photographers.
Kron Technologies has announced the Chronos Q12, a high-speed camera designed to capture up to 2.5K resolution at extremely fast frame rates for situations where the company says capturing the right moment with the right level of detail is critical.
Apple's new Watch Series 12 isn't a huge upgrade, but there are nice features. But there are two new features that gave us pause, and Marques Brownlee agrees in a video published today: Siri Recap and Live Rewind both feel icky.
"This generation of Apple Watch is listening to you all the time. This is a privacy nightmare," Brownlee says. We agree.
No one asked for this, and I don't think anyone actually wants it either. Neither feature is out yet, and maybe Apple might reconsider it after feedback. We hope so, because even if someone opts-in to use it, everyone else that it records hasn't necessarily consented. That's not okay.
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) already made its stance known when the White House banned several news outlets from access, so it should come as no surprise that it is in support of the current solidarity from other news organizations.
When the White House prevented CNN from fulfilling its scheduled television-pool assignment, the other networks appropriately refused to replace it. Still photographers also delayed distributing their images in solidarity. The National Press Photographers Association applauds these actions and encourages news organizations to continue standing together. The government should not be permitted to exclude a disfavored outlet and simply replace it with another.
The full statement can be read here.
Evoto already announced the major updates coming to its software earlier today, but the company seems to be making a statement about its commitment to photographers and is putting its AI-generated gaff from January fully behind it. As part of that, its leveraging Peter Hurley, Lindsay Adler, and Mark Wallace with the tagline, "Your standard. Our standard."
KEH just surprised dropped a two-day Flash Sale where select camera bodies are up to 10% off. It includes 140 cameras across all the major brands with conditions of Like New Minus (LN-), Excellent, and Very Good (Like New and New Grades are not included). Stock is limited and based on previous Flash Sales, KEH expects the top models to sell out quickly. This sale is available for just two days: September 17-18.
"Pre-owned inventory is extremely limited and will sell out quickly. Based on previous flash sales, we expect high site traffic and rapid sell-out on top models -- especially in the first few hours," KEH says.
Check out the KEH Flash Sale here and use offer code ML10 to get the discount at checkout.
B&H has announced that the BILD Expo, it's wildly successful free photo exhibition that only happens once every two years, is returning to the Javits Center in New York City on May 25 and 26, 2027.
Join thousands of photographers, content creators, filmmakers, and visual storytellers at B&H’s free celebration of creativity. Learn from the best at 150+ expert-led presentations and workshops. Connect with 300+ of the industry’s leading brands. Get hands-on with the latest cameras, gear, technology, and creative tools--with something for everyone from working professionals to those just getting started.
Along with the CP+ Show in Japan, BILD is one of the most important gatherings for photographers on the planet. The announcement is, for now, just a save the date. Additional information as well as a speaker list is expected to come in January.
Ricoh has announced that the limited GR IV 30th Anniversary Edition will be made available on October 21.
The camera is limited to just 6,000 units worldwide. It will feature a shutter release button and rear buttons finished in a paint color inspired by the GR1, as well as a special “GN-3 (30th)” ring cap with a diamond cut finish. The result is... subtle.
The camera also features a special power-off graphic that appears when the camera is turned off and comes with exclusive accessories: a genuine leather finger strap engraved with “30th ANNIVERSARY,” a metal hot shoe cover engraved with the 30th anniversary logo, and 16 different special pin badges. While the company will likely make units available via lottery in Japan (a common practice), it didn't actually specify how it would be handling distribution of the limited edition kit.
Apple's new iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 all released today, bringing refined style, new features, and a bunch more Apple Intelligence, or AI. The new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max arrive later this week with iOS 27 preinstalled and Apple's newest Macs, slated to arrive later this month, will ship with macOS 27 too.
The iPhone Duo may not have Apple's flashiest cameras, but it does have the iPhone lineup's biggest screen. It also has a 1.4:1 aspect ratio, which is awful close to the 1.43:1 aspect ratio of IMAX film. Mark Praschan wondered on X if the Duo's screen might advance the adoption of the 1.43:1 aspect ratio for video content. IMAX clapped back: "love this for them... still not watching movies on a phone."
Well, given that the nearest IMAX theater is hours away from me and the closest one that shows IMAX 70mm film is three states away... I am still not watching IMAX, either.
OWC, a leader in high-performance storage, memory cards, and software, has acquired OpenDrives, a storage management software company. OpenDrives is trusted by many media production companies and studios worldwide, including CNN, HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, FOX Sports, NFL Network, NBC Sports, Disney, and more.
"OWC has always been about removing the barriers between people and their creative work. Bringing OpenDrives into OWC allows us to take that mission further by connecting the high-performance storage and workflow solutions our customers rely on with powerful software-defined data management services, giving customers a more seamless way to capture, create, collaborate, and access their content wherever their work takes them," says Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing (OWC).
"I’m also excited to welcome OpenDrives’ employees to OWC, broadening our team to more than 250 people around the world," O'Connor continues.
Stanford University violated its own policies after using AI to swap out a Hispanic male student with a Black female student in a school photograph.
Adobe announced in June that it had entered an agreement to purchase Topaz Labs, a software company best known for its AI-based upscaling technology for photos and videos. As of today, the acquisition is now complete, and Adobe fully owns Topaz Labs.
The Natural Landscape Photography Awards (NLPA) has announced its latest winners, a collection of beautiful landscape and nature photos that emphasize realism and authenticity.
Today at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit, where Qualcomm unveiled its new Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 Mobile Platform, Motorola took the stage to unveil its most advanced and powerful smartphone, the Signature 27. Motorola says its new flagship phone pushes the boundaries of mobile imaging.
Viltrox has announced that it is bringing its full line of Air Series primes to Leica L-mount: the 14mm f/4, 50mm f/2, 40mm f/2.5, and 20mm f/2.8.
Something is seriously wrong with Sony's planned FX5 production schedule. After an announcement in July that it would be available to purchase on August 21, it was first delayed into September and now has officially slipped again: shipping will start "from the end of October."
By some strange turn of fate, I found myself sitting on a camera case, face-to-face with a 500-pound tiger from less than a foot away. I could feel his breath on my skin, and more than once, that same breath fogged the front element of my lens as I photographed him.
Today at its annual Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm unveiled two new flagship mobile SoCs, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. They both promise to supercharge the age of agentic AI, although there are some very interesting new features for imaging as well.
Evoto has announced version 8.0, which spans the Evoto Desktop app, the Evoto mobile app, and Evoto Video. The update brings portrait retouching directly inside DaVinci Resolve, story-based intelligent culling, mobile tethering support, and a new preset and asset marketplace.
Just over a year ago, Adobe released an all-new, mostly-free Premiere app for iPhone. At the time, Adobe promised that Premiere would come to Android, too. As of today, the promise has been fulfilled.
Upstart camera company Caimera has teamed up with Austrian PC fan company Noctua, on a new prototype Micro Four Thirds camera that is all about cryptographic authentication at the time of capture. The CAIM1 camera's name stands for "Counter Artificial Intelligence Machine 1." Catchy.
Aperture, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of photography, has found a new home in New York just across the street from the American Museum of Natural History.
It was only in May that PetaPixel reviewed the Vivo X300 Ultra smartphone, then the company's flagship handheld. Now the X500 Series has landed in China, bringing the debut of a brand-new Pro Max model dripping with cutting-edge camera technology.
Major photo agencies and newspapers are temporarily withholding photographs of President Donald Trump’s events in solidarity with news organizations barred from the White House.
One of the world's fanciest hotels has enforced a photography ban after social media-obsessed guests spent more time snapping their food than eating it.
Police are hunting for two female suspects after $10,000 worth of professional camera gear was stolen from a high-end fashion event in the Hamptons.
A photographer lives in one of the most beautiful places in the world for two months each year: atop Mount Fuji in a Shinto shrine.
Meta has seen its stock price surge this week thanks to its new agentic AI app Muse hitting the top of Apple's App Store charts.
Police across the U.K. are warning parents about the dangers of urban exploration photography as more children enter abandoned buildings in hopes of going viral on social media.
The winners of Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 have been unveiled. An image of a northern gannet bursting through the ocean’s surface has taken the grand prize in the "world’s largest bird photography competition."
So the new Sony FE 400mm f/4.5 GM OSS and FE 600mm f/6.3 GM OSS lenses are obviously different, right? Yes, of course, but not nearly as different as one might reasonably assume. Some seriously efficient optical engineering is going on here.
Rodney Charters, the cinematographer who shot nearly every episode of the first eight seasons of the hit TV show 24, has died at 80.
The modern reincarnation of Yashica is dipping back into the original Yashica's history yet again with an upcoming compact digital camera. The Yashica Y16, inspired by and named for a 1959 classic, is arriving soon with a decidedly retro look.
Insta360 has announced new firmware and a new Ultra Telephoto Lens for its creator-focused Luna Ultra that gives the camera a 450mm focal length equivalent.
A photographer captured the moment lightning struck a mountain -- unaware that the powerful storm had just claimed the life of a 19-year-old hiker nearby.
Brevitē is no stranger to Kickstarter campaigns, but the company best known for its camera backpacks is certainly a stranger to its newest foray: Clothing. Brevitē has launched a new Kickstarter for what the company calls "Creator Apparel."
An American CEO was forced to cut her trip to Canada short after posting an AI-edited photo of herself and three family members wearing “Lake America” sweatshirts that went viral and sparked an uproar.
I've been a big fan of the Mac Studio ever since Apple released the first one. It has a great design and form factor and delivers enough power for pros and then some. With the Mac Pro gone, the Mac Studio carries a heavy burden. The new Mac Studio with M5 Max is more than up to the task.
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Google have announced that the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite will now power Googlebook, a new type of laptop designed for Gemini Intelligence.
The novelty of the M4-generation Mac mini's redesign has worn off. But on the plus side, there's something else all-new to enjoy, the first Mac with M6 is here.
A photographer has recalled a photo shoot with convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes that he now suspects was all a charade.
Apple has reportedly placed tiny “Hello” signs in its stores worldwide as a camera test for the new iPhone 18 Pro.
Camera operators working for MS NOW were turned away from the White House over the weekend after the U.S. Secret Service confiscated their press badges at a security gate.
A photo exhibition imagines the life Emmett Till might have lived if he had not been murdered more than 70 years ago.
Insta360 officially opened its first flagship retail store outside Asia today, September 19, 2026, and PetaPixel was on the ground in New York City's famed Times Square for the grand opening.
These fascinating satellite photos show enormous data centers being built over the last couple of years.
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max have arrived, and their familiar outward appearance belies a major change to the main camera. For the first time, an iPhone features a variable aperture, and PetaPixel spoke with Apple to learn firsthand why it was created, how it works, and what it means for how people capture photos and videos on Apple's latest flagship phone.
Lens makers these days rely heavily on computers, advanced digital simulations, and extremely sophisticated glass-making and molding techniques. The resulting lenses are impeccably sharp and consistent. But old lenses were great, too, and a classic Nikon manufacturing video from 1966 takes viewers back to a much simpler and very different era of lens manufacturing.
Much has been made of Fujifilm cracking the top three digital camera makers in terms of overall shipments, even if the situation is a bit more complicated. What's definitely true is that Fujifilm is selling more digital cameras now than in years past, and Nikkei thinks women are a big reason for Fujifilm's success.
A photographer’s fascinating images of crowds in the 1980s and 1990s offer a vivid look at a society in transition -- revealing the relationships, tensions, and shared experiences unfolding within them.
Welcome back to Film Friday. We’re featuring one of our heavy hitters this week with Kodak’s Ektar 100. Alongside the Portra films, Ektar is one of the most popular films on the market and definitely one of the most used color films out there. The film is well-known for its fine grain, vivid color saturation and poppy contrast.
NASA scientists have published before-and-after photos of a newly formed crater on the Moon that provides an unusually detailed view of what happens when a large object strikes the lunar surface.
An image that was heavily edited with AI has controversially won a state fair photography competition, prompting organizers to change the rules for next year.
