Opinion

An elderly person, wearing a headscarf, rests with a hand on their forehead. A digital overlay shows an image search for "Dog" and displays various dog photos as top results.

Dear Apple Photos: My Grandmother Was Not a Dog

Kind, caring, and generous. These adjectives describe two important parts of my life; my late grandmother Anna, and my wife's late dog Buckeye. These are where the similarities end, but not according to Apple's Photos app.

A split image comparing two water scenes. Left: Calmer water with a subtle wave and a green check mark. Right: More turbulent, splashing water with a red X. An arrow points from left to right.

I Was Disqualified by a Nature Photography Competition… Again

Everyone who knows me is aware that I love pushing the limits of what’s possible and creating the “makeable” from both the possible and the impossible. This time, however, I didn’t succeed, and the Glanzlichter nature photo competition disqualified me.

Close-up of a vintage-style camera lens with a black and silver body. The lens is labeled "Fujinon Aspherical Lens" and "Super EBC GF f=35mm 1:4." The camera has a classic textured grip surrounding the lens.

It’s Crazy How Sharp the Fujifilm GFX100RF Lens Is

Last week, Chris Niccolls and I were in Prague for the launch of the Fujifilm GFX100RF. While he spent the majority of our time with the new camera while I filmed his thoughts, I did enjoy several hours with it snapping photos of my own. Looking over them now, I can't help but be shocked at how sharp the lens is.

Two Olympus cameras with attached lenses are placed on a weathered wooden log. The cameras are angled slightly towards each other, showcasing their controls and logos against a blurred background.

OM System’s Strategy Might Box It Into No-Man’s Land

OM System isn't willing to sacrifice the performance of its computational photography features in order to increase the resolution of its sensors. That strategy leverages one of the company's competitive advantages, but it also very well makes it difficult for its cameras to appeal to any photographer.

A Sony α7R IV camera with its lens removed is displayed against a blurred outdoor background. The camera is facing forward, showcasing its sensor and brand logo.

Three Year Later, the Sony a7R V Remains a Class Leader

The Sony a7R V will turn three years old this fall, but photographers would be forgiven for thinking it was much older than that. A lot has happened within and outside Sony's Alpha mirrorless lineup since the a7R V landed, but the venerable a7R V remains a favorite of ours here at PetaPixel.

A large, white telephoto camera lens is set against a swirling, colorful background with shades of yellow, orange, and pink. The lens is positioned horizontally, showcasing its detailed design and tripod mount foot.

Sigma’s New $6,000 300-600mm f/4 Lens Is Somehow a Bargain

It's bizarre to think that a $6,000 lens is a bargain, but that's precisely what Sigma's brand-new 300-600mm f/4 DG OS Sports lens is, thanks to the landscape in which it exists. Telephoto primes with an f/4 aperture can be extremely expensive, way more than $6,000, and Sigma's new lens zooms. It's a highly appealing lens, and Sigma targets an absurdly aggressive price point.

A person with gray and black hair and a beard is holding a large camera with a white lens, smiling at the camera. They are outdoors with green foliage in the background.

The Sigma BF Is Weird and I Love That About It

Today Sigma announced the BF, the company's latest camera that makes a series of wild, unexpected design choices. Sigma calls it "radically simple" and for the first time in a while, a company's marketing language isn't overselling the product.

A person in a red jacket holds a black compact camera with both hands, pointing it towards the viewer. The camera lens is prominently visible, and the jacket features an orange zipper.

Why Is The Ricoh GR IV Taking So Long? Photographers Want it Now

In today’s world of photography, camera models come at us thick and fast. Some brands seem to update cameras yearly; for others, it’s two or three years between new models. However, there are always the odd ones out, and this is definitely the category in which Ricoh and its formidable GR III series fall. Despite being a runaway success for the brand, even the most loyal users now wonder when a successor will appear.

Left: Two people sitting in a studio setting being filmed, surrounded by cameras and equipment. Right: A person wearing a blue shirt operates a video camera outdoors, standing in a grassy field.

Are Camcorders About to Make a Big Comeback?

2025 has so far proved to be the year of comebacks. Point-and-shoot compacts are flying off shelves faster than camera stores can restock them. But there could be another resurgence set to occur, and this one has flown well under the radar: camcorders.

A person with a beard smiles while holding two camera lenses against a colorful, swirling background. The text "WEIRD ZOOMS" is displayed in bold, multicolored letters.

Our Favorite Weird Zoom Lenses That Buck Conformity

The photographic world tends to flow into a state of normality, order, and conformity. Certain lenses just work for most situations, and the popular choices of the professionals quickly become the traditional tools of the masses. It seems everyone starts with a general-purpose lens that covers a rough full-frame range of 28mm to 70mm or so, and then eventually, you end up with something wider and something longer.

Three smartphones are displayed, each with three rear cameras and different colors: silver, dark blue, and white. The phones are angled to highlight their camera designs against a neutral background.

Samsung’s AI Gamble Isn’t All That Inspiring

You could be forgiven for looking at Samsung’s latest crop of flagship devices in the S25 series and wonder what the silver lining is. It’s all about AI -- Galaxy AI, that is -- and in doubling down on these features, the company is betting that it has a leg up on what could be the next big thing for mobile devices.

Logo featuring the text "gettyimages + shutterstock" in bold black letters on a white background.

Stock Photography’s Crossroads: Can a Getty-Shutterstock Merger Fix It?

As someone who spent over a decade in the stock photography and creative tools industry, I’ve seen firsthand how it has evolved. The news of a potential Getty and Shutterstock merger made me think about how the stock photography industry actors found themselves at a crossroads and what future lies ahead.

A seagull flies over a body of water with its wings spread wide. An enlarged inset shows a gold Bitcoin symbol highlighted in the center, indicated by a red arrow from a smaller coin image in the bottom left corner.

Adobe’s Generative AI Jumps The Shark, Adds Bitcoin to Bird Photo

Last year, Adobe updated its Firefly generative AI platform multiple times, the most recent coming in September. Over that time, the Lightroom and Photoshop tools that rely on the technology have gotten steadily worse and the system's choice to add a Bitcoin logo to a photo of a seagull is a perfect distillation of the problem.

A Nikon mirrorless camera body with a textured grip, prominent buttons, and a lens mount is displayed against a gold, textured background.

No Camera Has Received Better Free Firmware Than the Nikon Z9

With firmware version 5.10 launching earlier this month, Nikon has made its flagship Z9 mirrorless camera, released in late 2021, even better. The new firmware is the latest in a long series of free post-launch updates that have made the Z9 even better and much more versatile. Many camera companies believe strongly in post-launch support, but arguably, no camera has benefited more from free firmware updates than the Z9.

selfie

Please Stop Dying Taking Selfies

In the last year, I have written dozens of stories for PetaPixel about various incidents where people have died (or almost died) while taking a selfie, photo, or video. It may sound like a lot, but it is only a handful of the fatalities that I could have reported on.