Just a couple of years ago, China's economy was booming to the degree that global companies -- camera manufacturers included -- shifted financial expectations up as a result. But now that boom has inverted, which means companies didn't hit those financial targets.
Which drone video that you have watched will stay with you the longest? There's been some great ones, like that bowling alley video a few years ago or beautiful shots of Iceland. But they don't compare to the avalanche of videos coming out of the Ukrainian frontline, many of which show a human being's final moments.
The Sony FX5 has been unveiled, ushering in a new era for Sony's FX Series cinema cameras and, in many ways, answering the increasingly noisy critics who have been reasonably demanding more meaningful improvements from Sony.
Yesterday, SmallRig announced the Professional Outdoor Backpack (25L) 6521 that advertises an "innovative" interior that promises to hold dividers in place via a hook-and-loop system. That sounds great, but the innovation wasn't SmallRig's -- it was Hasselblad's.
Is the Taylor Swift wedding a major turning point? No, I'm not talking about what it means for Miss Americana and her NFL husband -- I'm talking about how quickly fake photos from the event last weekend are being refuted.
The more photos I take and the more cameras I test, the more I realize that the shooting experience is just as important as the results. So why has one of the most iconic experiences -- the waist-level twin-lens reflex camera -- been left by the wayside?
Hot on the heels of Insta360's Luna and Luna Ultra launching, Insta360's founder JK Liu explained his long-term ambitions for cameras, namely that users will forget they even exist.
For the past year, I've been focusing mainly on panoramic photography. It started with the Hasselblad XPan, which led me to purchase the Fujifilm TX-1, and even made me go further into the 3D printed 120 format world with Sasquatch, CCB, and Exposing Engineering. But that's all analog, and digital photographers deserve an option, too.
For the past several months, the photography community has been subjected to the strangest series of product launches that we've ever seen. I use the word "launches" very loosely, because two-thirds of those products have yet to actually "launch."
"I was scared to hire a photographer for my wedding," says the sister of Reagan Simmons Hancock in the harrowing Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct. It's not surprising. Her sister was murdered by her wedding photographer.
When it comes to memory cards, most photographers just want them to work, have blistering specs, and be kind to their wallet. But which brand to choose? Last week PetaPixel took a trip to China to check in with one of the main players, Lexar.
Earlier this week, I published a "review" of sorts of the Nikon S3 rangefinder, which I believe to be one of the most beautiful cameras ever made. Through that experience, though, I was reminded of Nikon's vintage glass, and once again baffled by how the company hasn't remade them.
We were sitting on a train between neighborhoods in Osaka, Japan, when Chris Niccolls turned to me. "I'm thinking of buying a new camera," he said. I was shocked. Chris, who has a different camera in hand every week because of his job as a reviewer, actually wanted to own one. "I want something small."
Yesterday, PetaPixel shared that a fully AI-generated film titled "Dreams of Violets" had been accepted into the Tribeca Film Festival. For some reason, there are people who insist this is the future of films. If that is the case, then congratulations: I hate movies.
Low-budget horror movies aren't for everyone. But it's difficult to ignore Obsession, which just raked in over $30 million in ticket sales over the Memorial Day weekend, taking it to $80 million worldwide. Not bad for a film that was made for just $1 million.
Happy Birthday to David Attenborough. The legendary naturalist turns 100 today. Few people have done more to educate the world about wildlife and conservation.
Yet another photo contest has attracted significant attention in the online photography community for all the wrong reasons. The winning photo in the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) recent Garden for Wildlife Photo Contest was disqualified following public outcry. However, the NWF and photographers disagree on why the winning photo violated competition rules.
After my dad passed away a couple of years ago, I inherited his Nikon F and FTn cameras which jump started a resurgence for the love of photography in me. Now with a binder full of negatives (and positives) and an SSD of scans, it felt weird just leaving them there. That's not where photos belong.
Here's the thing with photography: you can take a mundane photo and think, 'Why did I take that?' But years later, that same photo is a fascinating artifact from a bygone era.
Thirteen years ago, I sat in an amphitheater in Los Angeles as Adobe announced that it would be shifting from Creative Suite to Creative Cloud. I remember being skeptical, but I was also willing to give Adobe the benefit of the doubt. After all, it created a beloved line of tools.
You might have seen an amusing photo of a Pikachu running away from police in Turkey. It was recently shared to popular Instagram page History Reported, where it has received millions of views and over 200,000 likes.
The photos captured by the Artemis II team have been beautiful to behold and have brought two brands to the forefront of discussion: Nikon and Apple. Neither brand paid their way into this position, and that's the best endorsement anyone can ask for.
When I was in college, I had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad in Florence, Italy to study. There, I took a "Chemistry of Art" class that culminated in a visit to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, where priceless works of art are on display. It is also where many are stored and maintained.
Sam Altman has always cut a strange figure to me; like a teenager in many ways. Even his Twitter bio, "AI is cool I guess," is a sullen and petulant remark.
I flew to Atlanta expecting to cover a lens launch and came away with something far more meaningful. The debut of the Zeiss Otus ML 35mm f/1.4 was framed as a first look, but what Zeiss created was not a traditional showcase. Instead, it became an evening centered on artists, storytelling, and a sense of community that rarely takes the spotlight in this industry.
A well-known Pentax leaker with a strong history of being right has said a new Pentax DSLR is coming this year. That's certainly possible, but based on very recent conversations with company leadership, you should probably temper your expectations.
In 2017, I picked up a Surface Book II to review. While, as a photographer, I didn't like it, I had to admit that it did tick a lot of boxes for the average user.
Think back to this time last year when The Brutalist was being pilloried for using AI to improve Adrian Brody's Hungarian accent. Two other Oscar-nominated movies in 2025 had also confessed to using AI to improve speech.
Mountain lions are rare in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and there's been a buzz in the National Elk Refuge recently where one has been spotted prowling around.
SAG-AFTRA, the Motion Picture Association, Disney, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, these are just some of the powerful companies and organizations fighting back against AI video generators, which can now imitate scenes from movies.
Photography is an art form of trade-offs. When the shutter speed goes up, the aperture must come down. Higher ISO raises the exposure but hurts the image quality. A brighter maximum aperture means more cost and more weight. Everything is based on a give-and-take relationship, and balancing these factors is key to success.
AI will come to a mainstream camera; it's only a matter of time. Somewhere, in some boardroom, the case is being made right now to inject some level of AI -- most likely generative -- into the tool of photography, and the first brand to do it will be the last. And they will regret it.
Pomelli by Google Labs is a free AI-powered marketing tool designed to help small to medium-sized businesses with their marketing campaigns, and it has just released a new feature: 'Photoshoot'.
Tamron consistently creates zoom lenses that break the norm when it comes to focal length, offering alternatives to the classic patterns that most other manufacturers pursue. Even the more conventional Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and 70-180mm f/2.8 refuse to match the more common 24-70mm and 70-200mm formulae. However, the standout lens from Tamron in recent memory is the oddly effective 35-150mm f/2-2.8 lens, which proves to be an ideal event lens for almost any situation. If it could be faulted in …
Canon has created, in a very short time, a complete line of L-series prime lenses that cater to the hybrid photo and video shooter. It is quite an achievement to build a whole line of professional prime lenses that are all similar in size, weight, and form factor, while still maintaining the quality expected of an L-series optic. The latest addition to the family is the 14mm f/1.4L VMC, a first for Canon in its RF-mount. I took this $2,600 lens for a spin, appreciating its compact nature, but …
Social media was once the backbone of marketing for photography businesses. However, we now have strong reasons to leave it behind and adopt a different approach to photography. Why did my recent behavior change prove this to be true?
A photographer says he feels vindicated after he had not one but two sets of photos falsely accused of being fake on the same day.
Lighting company Profoto is the latest to throw photographers under the proverbial bus in an attempt to milk AI for all its worth. The company has drawn ire on social media for what many consider a series of tone-deaf posts and comments.
Earlier this week on The PetaPixel Podcast, we discussed Nikon's lawsuit against Viltrox and both the best and worst-case scenarios for that outcome. As part of it, we found ourselves talking about L-mount and how it was the only option outside of Sony E-mount that has shown itself willing to be "open." Unfortunately, it doesn't offer a compelling solution for the average photographer.
Flickr is one of those platforms that refuses to die, like a beloved old truck that leaks oil but still starts every morning. Flickr is one of the original photo-sharing communities, and if you’ve been around long enough, you probably remember when it was the internet for photographers. I've been on Flickr since the early days, and at one point, it genuinely felt essential. In fact, I had a pro account for over a decade.
Even before its release on Netflix, "The Stringer" was controversial. But there is much more to the conversation than just who took the famous "Terror of War" photo.
This week in Missouri, a band of vervet monkeys and a single goat were spotted roaming the streets of St. Louis. But while it made international headlines, it was further complicated by an avalanche of AI-generated photos.
Ricoh Imaging recently revealed to PetaPixel that it was having a difficult time figuring out how to make the DSLR popular among a wider group of people, admitting that the current fan base of the brand wouldn't be enough to keep it afloat. I argue the best route forward is to pull a Sega.
We got not one, not two, but three fantastic mid-range full-frame cameras in 2025: the Panasonic Lumix S1 II, the Canon EOS R6 Mark III, and the Sony a7 V. These join the Nikon Z6 III, which launched just 18 months ago. The mid-range mirrorless camera segment has never been this competitive, fresh, and fantastic, which is outstanding news for photographers.
Street photography documents contemporary life. If done well, it can be one of the most compelling genres for viewers. It is also a regularly debated genre of photography, and opinions differ on what exactly is street photography.
There are so many fantastic, capable digital cameras available these days. Nearly every new camera from all the major manufacturers can take great photos, has reliable autofocus, and offers a competitive feature set. Ultimately, the biggest differentiator between most cameras is the experience of using them. 2025 delivered many new cameras that not only provide a great experience, but a different one that celebrates the act of photography itself and what it means to capture photos.
At the beginning of this week, PetaPixel reported that Elon Musk's X had rolled out a controversial new feature allowing users to edit any photo on the platform without asking permission. Within days, the new tool has been abused -- and it is women who are being targeted.
From a rare big cat once thought extinct, to breathtaking images captured by remote cameras deep in the Congo rainforest, and footage from a trail camera left inside a grizzly bear den for ten years, trail cameras recorded some truly remarkable images in 2025.
Now for the fifth year in a row, PetaPixel has gathered its team together to gaze into the future and see the facts, the truths, that will come to pass in the camera industry in 2026. As always, we are prepared to be very wrong.
When Kodak re-released Kodacolor in 100 and 200 ISO variations a few months ago (which is probably just Kodak Color Plus in a new box), the film community got very excited. Now that dust has settled and I am not hearing a lot about the film much these days, but that should change. This film rocks.
