Editorial

Canon had a strong 2024, launching a new flagship camera, a highly anticipated (and excellent) sequel to the popular EOS R5, and a bunch of diverse new lenses.

After a torrid pace in 2023, during which time Nikon launched a pair of cameras and nine all-new lenses, the company slowed a bit this year, releasing just two new cameras and three lenses. Nonetheless, it was a strong year for the Japanese company and one that helped Nikon continue to claw back market share in the mirrorless era. Plus, Nikon bought RED, so there's that.

Sony had a very solid year. Releasing two cameras and five lenses, Sony wasn't quite as busy as in 2023 but busy enough to maintain its firm grip on the mirrorless camera segment.

Fujifilm was prolific this year, launching four new digital cameras, including the hyper-popular X100VI, a pair of new Instax instant cameras, and four new lenses (although it's more like three).

While Sigma absolutely earned its title of PetaPixel's Photo Company of the Year in 2024, legendary German photo company Leica was not far behind. Leica was not only prolific across multiple camera system segments, but the company posted the highest revenue in its 110-year history.

With three new lens releases, 2024 was a relatively typical year for Tamron. Last year, Tamron announced two lenses, …

What a fittingly unusual year for Ricoh Pentax, a photo company that itself is quite strange. Always one to march to the beat of its own drum, Ricoh Pentax did things unlike everyone else in 2024, and that's, by and large, a good thing.

Hasselblad was uncharacteristically busy this year, releasing a "new" camera and three new XCD lenses. The premium Swedish camera manufacturer continues to focus heavily on celebrating still photography and the experience of taking photos, and we're here for it.

Two companies are actively developing products for two distinct camera systems: Fujifilm and Panasonic. In Fujifilm's case, it's the APS-C X Series and the medium-format GFX System. For Panasonic, it's the Micro Four Thirds platform and the L-Mount system, which includes full-frame mirrorless cameras and lenses. We'll look at Fujifilm next week, but for now, the attention is on Panasonic and its rather interesting (and diverse) year of product launches.

Buying a camera is like entering into an agreement with the brand. You’re handing over your hard-earned cash, and they are giving you the best product they can, or at least that’s how it used to be.

We're big believers not only in Micro Four Thirds as a platform but OM System as a company. But 2024 was, to put it mildly, a challenging year for OM System.

This week, Adobe said that it would be making changes to its Photography plan pricing and eliminating the most affordable option entirely. Beyond that, as more camera and lens companies are pushing to support the "hybrid" creator (for good reason), Adobe continues to ignore them.

Think "action camera," and visions of snowboarders recording their high-adrenaline run down a slope spring to mind, and with good reason. Action cameras have unlocked new creative options for those wanting to capture their active pursuits on film. The results can be jaw-dropping, thanks to 4K or even 5.7K resolution options, enhanced slow motion, and mind-blowing stability. In short, an action camera can capture footage that looks like it was shot by a film crew rather than a tiny camera mounted to your ski helmet.

A decade ago, in the hallowed halls of the now defunct Photokina show in Cologne, Germany, photographers, journalists, editors, and all sorts of other industry movers and shakers were elbowing each other out of the way to get closer to a trade booth where a brand’s newly launched flagship models were being admired. But the most popular booth of 2014 didn’t belong to Sony, Nikon, or even Canon... it belonged to Samsung.

No camera system provokes more opinion and vitriol than Micro Four-Thirds. It is the most divisive system out there; you either love it or stay clear. Micro Four-Thirds (MFT) cameras have been around for a long time, with the story beginning in 2008 when Panasonic brought out the G1, closely followed by the Olympus E-P1. In the here and now, this is a system under the microscope, and thanks to several factors, the next 12 months could be critical for its future and survival.

Despite being ahead of its time, the Pentax K-1 (and its Mark II upgrade) was a camera system that promised so much yet appears to have run out of road. Born seemingly from an R&D department whose chains had been freed, the engineers went wild, strayed off-script, and produced a camera full of innovation. Fast forward to 2024, and a lack of lens support paired with no upgraded models in over six years leaves Pentax owners in an unwanted state of limbo where even the most loyal customers are now compelled to look elsewhere.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday offered many deals for photographers looking to upgrade their equipment while saving a few dollars in the process. Typically, this online promotion on steroids allows brands and camera store chains to push stock that has been on the shelves for a couple of years and is likely to be superseded by newer models over the coming months. However, there are a few models that buck typical trends.

Foldable smartphones aren’t a total novelty anymore now that various brands make them, but they’re still far from being ubiquitous in people’s hands. There are various reasons to consider one, but how they can affect mobile photography helps make them more interesting.

A security firm has released a deepfake detection tool as a useful aid to determine whether a piece of content is AI-generated or not.

In just the last year and a half, Apple launched Final Cut on iPad and Final Cut Camera, updated Final Cut Pro to a new version for the first time in 13 years, and moved to purchase Pixelmator. As Adobe's public perception continues to struggle, Apple is making moves to take advantage.

Artificial intelligence (AI) might be running into a cul-de-sac thanks to data shortages and technological constraints, according to a report from Bloomberg.

In 2018, I was happily flying my DJI Mavic 2 Pro above a waterfall in Maui. Next to me, struggling to even get his GoPro Karma off the ground, another photographer eventually gave up. The Karma failed because it just couldn't get the basics right. Sony's Airpeak suffered the same fate.

Early this week, I pulled a colleague into a video chat and shared my screen with him, asking if he was familiar with Apple Photos. He said yes, and proceeded to let me continue. That was when I told him what he was looking at wasn't Apple Photos.

This morning, multiple blogs and YouTube channels published their reviews of the new Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 Lab lens for Sony E-mount cameras. PetaPixel has a unit in hand but chose not to review it because of an issue Viltrox made us aware of.

While browsing Reddit yesterday, I came across a gorgeous photo of Earth that had been downloaded from the NOAA's GOES-East orbital satellite. Looking more closely, I realized the NOAA was uploading a new, 470-megapixel photo every 10 minutes.

Earlier this week, Lexar announced a new SD 8.0 card that promised read speeds up to 1,700 MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000 MB/s, which is leaps and bounds faster than the all-metal SDXC cards it announced alongside them. As great as that sounds, this card is not fully compatible with anything and that speed will never be fully realized.

People are turning to ChatGPT to rate their Instagram profiles but asking the AI chatbot to be as mean as possible.