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The Digital Photography Review Newsletter
The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 400,000 subscribers
Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Welcome to the 842nd DPReview Newsletter!

With the holidays just around the corner, most of the DPReview team is taking some time off between now and the new year, but don't worry – we still have plenty of content lined up for you. You'll find links to our most recently-published articles and sample galleries below, and keep an eye on our homepage for more, over the next few days.

Thanks for reading, and happy holidays from all at DPReview.com.

Barney


Review update: Zeiss ZX1 studio scene analysis

As we press on with our full review, we've analyzed just how the Zeiss ZX1 stacks up in front of our standard studio test scene. See for yourself how it performs.

Check out how the Zeiss ZX1 performs in the studio

Gear of the year 2020: Dan's choice - Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VXD

Tamron's 70-180mm F2.8 is a high-quality telephoto lens for Sony E-mount that won't break your back or the bank. Read about why it's been one of Dan's personal favorites this year.

Read more about Dan's favorite lens of the year

Have your say: Best gear of 2020 - winners and final vote!

For the past few weeks, our readers have been voting on their favorite photographic gear released in the past year in a wide range of categories. Now that the first round of voting is over, it's time to reveal the first-round winners and pick the best overall product of 2020.

Vote now in our final readers' poll!

Nikon Z 50mm F1.2 S sample gallery

Nikon's new Z 50mm F1.2 S is a fast, versatile prime lens for the full-frame Z-series. It's a seriously big, seriously pricey lens, but does its performance justify its cost? Take a look at our samples gallery to find out.

Check out our samples from the Nikon Z 50mm F1.2 S

Gear of the Year: Dale's choice - Fujifilm X-Pro3

Dale's favorite camera this year is one of the most interesting and distinctive mirrorless ILCs on the market - the ultra-traditional, rangefinder-styled Fujifilm X-Pro 3.

Read more

News updates
Published Wednesday, December 23, 2020 4:07:00 PM GMT

This ultra-compact 35mm pancake lens features a fixed F5.6 aperture but manages to squeeze a manual focus mechanism inside.

Published Wednesday, December 23, 2020 3:00:00 PM GMT

As we press on with our full review, we've analyzed just how the Zeiss ZX1 stacks up in front of our standard studio test scene. See for yourself how it performs.

Published Wednesday, December 23, 2020 2:45:00 PM GMT

SkyPixel has announced their 6th annual drone photography and videography competition.

Published Wednesday, December 23, 2020 2:00:00 PM GMT

A new firmware update adds bird detection autofocus to the E-M1X and, oh boy, it finds all the birds. The E-M1X and E-M1 Mark III also get ProRes Raw video recording, but does it meet Jordan's standards?

Published Tuesday, December 22, 2020 8:50:00 PM GMT

The DJI GO 4 app recently added local data mode on iOS. This keeps your flight data strictly on your phone instead of being sent to servers.

Published Tuesday, December 22, 2020 7:48:00 PM GMT

Considering the FX6 effectively uses the same core components as the Sony a7S III, it goes to show just how much video power is inside Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras if you don’t need all the extra production-level inputs and outputs.

Published Tuesday, December 22, 2020 6:14:00 PM GMT

MiNT Cameras has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its InstantKon SF70 instant film camera. It uses Fujifilm Instax square format film and includes manual and automatic functionality. MiNT hopes the SF70 captures the spirit of the classic Polaroid SX-70 while introducing improved modern functionality.

Published Tuesday, December 22, 2020 3:00:00 PM GMT

Tamron's 70-180mm F2.8 is a high-quality telephoto lens for Sony E-mount that won't break your back or the bank. Read about why it's been one of Dan's personal favorites this year.

Published Tuesday, December 22, 2020 2:40:00 PM GMT

The adapter, which offers full support for Nikon’s phase-detection autofocus system, is technically a Leica M mount to Nikon Z mount autofocus adapter, but since you can stack other adapters on top, the options are almost limitless.

Published Tuesday, December 22, 2020 2:00:00 PM GMT

Nikon's new Z 50mm F1.2 S is a fast, versatile prime lens for the full-frame Z-series. It's a seriously big, seriously pricey lens, but does its performance justify its cost? Take a look at our samples gallery to find out.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 7:03:00 PM GMT

This new global partnership will see the two companies work together to research and develop co-engineered imaging systems for Vivo smartphones, starting with the new X60 series.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 6:08:00 PM GMT

The public betas, which have known issues and won't work with all third-party add-ons, are the first to natively run on Apple's new M1-powered computers.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 5:26:00 PM GMT

Nick Brandreth of the George Eastman Museum is back with a new episode of 'Darkroom Magic'. The new episode shows how to make your own paper developer.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 3:00:00 PM GMT

We've just finished processing our Zeiss ZX1 studio scene, and holy cow, that lens looks amazing. Click through to see for yourself.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 2:22:00 PM GMT

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured many beautiful, important images over its first 30 years in orbit. To celebrate the milestone, NASA published 30 new images, all highlighting Caldwell objects, celestial objects amateur astronomers around the world can view for themselves.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 2:00:00 PM GMT

For the past few weeks, our readers have been voting on their favorite photographic gear released in the past year in a wide range of categories. Now that the first round of voting is over, it's time to reveal the first-round winners and pick the best overall product of 2020.

Published Monday, December 21, 2020 5:31:00 AM GMT

Japanese publication AERAdot has reported that Nikon is ceasing camera production at its Sendai ‘Mother’ Factory and moving operations to its Thai factories as a cost-saving measure.

Published Sunday, December 20, 2020 3:00:00 PM GMT

Dale's favorite camera this year is one of the most interesting and distinctive mirrorless ILCs on the market - the ultra-traditional, rangefinder-styled Fujifilm X-Pro 3.

Published Sunday, December 20, 2020 3:00:00 PM GMT

Please, no more ugly camera straps, cheesy how-to books, useless smartphone accessories or lens-shaped mugs (emphasis on that last one). Here's what we photographers actually want this year for the holidays...

Published Saturday, December 19, 2020 8:07:00 AM GMT

Looking for an awesome last-minute gift idea? Consider an instant camera! We tested every Instax model on the market and picked our favorite two. Snag either for under $100. [Originally published October 2020]

Published Saturday, December 19, 2020 8:00:00 AM GMT

What would the Sony a7S III look like if it were a cinema camera? Spoiler: it would look like the Sony FX6. This week, Jordan reviews the FX6 to see how it compares with the a7S III. Which one would he pick? You might be surprised.

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 9:07:00 PM GMT

The U.S. government has added Chinese drone maker DJI to its economic blacklist.

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 5:44:00 PM GMT

While we may be hunkered down at home for a while longer, that doesn't mean you can't plan for future travel when it's safe! Earlier this year we reviewed four popular compact travel tripod options, here's our favorite. [originally published July 2020]

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 3:31:00 PM GMT

Sotheby's of New York recently completed the auction of 'A Grand Vision: The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Masterworks'. The 123-lot collection earned a total of $6.4M USD, with 94% of lots selling. An iconic image set a record, selling for $988,000, the highest total ever for an Ansel Adams print.

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 3:22:00 PM GMT

The lens joins the 7.5mm F2 Zero-D MFT lens from Venus Optics, making it the second 'Zero-Distortion' MFT lens in Venus Optics' lineup.

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 2:55:00 PM GMT

The fully-manual lens costs just $98 and is available for Canon M, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds and Sony E mount camera systems.

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 2:00:00 PM GMT

If you're looking to expand your 35mm camera collection for the holidays, here are five(ish) film cameras you can find at stocking-stuffer prices.

Published Friday, December 18, 2020 4:04:00 AM GMT

Canon Japan says the RF 70-200mm F4, which was set to be released this month, is being pushed back to a March release due to ‘ insufficient supply for the launch.’

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 8:03:00 PM GMT

Firmware version 3.20 for both the Nikon Z6 and Z7 adds the ability to record Blackmagic RAW footage to Assist 5” 12G HDR and Video Assist 7” 12G HDR monitors/recorders if you've purchased Nikon's Raw video upgrade.

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 6:57:00 PM GMT

Aside from being the first Micro Four Thirds camera on the list, it's easily the most affordable. This also means Panasonic now has two prosumer-grade cameras on the list, as the S1H was added last year.

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 3:51:00 PM GMT

Texas Monthly has shared an article detailing how one high-risk photographer was exposed and eventually tested positive for COVID-19 after the party hid that the groom had tested positive ahead of the event.

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 3:31:00 PM GMT

Fujifilm's latest X-S10 is a likeable mirrorless camera with some of the company's best tech packed inside, and it doesn't cost the earth. We think it could be a good fit for photographers of all kinds – find out more in our full review.

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 2:59:00 PM GMT

Syrp is well-known for its motion control and camera slider products. Its latest offering is the Genie Micro, a small camera remote you attach to your camera via its hot shoe and USB port.

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 2:10:00 PM GMT

While a student at the University of Hertfordshire in 2012, Regina Valkenborgh constructed a pinhole camera using duct tape and a beer can. She set the camera up and forgot about it. It was finally discovered this year, after exposing upwards of 2,953 days.

Published Thursday, December 17, 2020 2:00:00 PM GMT

Our team at DPReview TV just wrapped up their review of the new Leica SL2-S. Check out this gallery of images captured along the way, shot entirely with Leica glass.