Mirrorless Cameras

I’ve shot over 1,000 images on the new Nikon Z5 II, and it redefines what an entry-level full-frame camera can do

12:00 pm | April 22, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: JPEG | Comments: Off

Nikon Z5 II: two-minute review

The Nikon Z5 II may be the ‘entry-level’ model in the brand’s most recent lineup of mirrorless bodies, but it’s by no means the stripped-down back-to-basics affair that its predecessor was. Nikon has conspicuously taken the body up a notch in terms of performance and features – and, for that matter, price.

It inherits the lion’s share of specs from the outstanding Nikon Zf, and subsequently it’s a fully-fledged hybrid shooter that excels in all but the most extreme of use cases. Notwithstanding its position in the Nikon range, don’t think of this as an entry-level camera – it’s anything but.

Nikon Z5 II product shot — The Nikon Z5 II with the Nikkor 24-50mm f/4-6.3 kit lens (Image credit: Future / Alex Whitelock)

At the heart of the Nikon Z5 II is the same Expeed 7 processor that's in the recent higher-end Z-series bodies. Subject detection? Check. Super-sticky 3D tracking? Check. In terms of autofocus, video, and meaningful quality of life changes, this camera blows away the original Z5 in every area.

If I had to nitpick, I would say that the almost 25% price increase over the Z5 is a glaring sore point for this camera. I do, however, think the massive jump in performance makes this camera worth every penny; you pay more, but you also get substantially more camera. If you've been eying up the Zf, but were put off by its hipster charms and questionable ergonomics, then the Z5 II is the clear choice here.

It's also, arguably, the top choice in the entry-level to mid-range full-frame mirrorless market right now. It's carefully placed just below the Z6 III in terms of burst rates and video specs, but compares favorably to the likes of the Canon EOS R8, Panasonic S5 II, and Sony Alpha A7 III. All have their merits, but the Nikon Z5 II offers a compelling blend of price and performance without any glaring compromises. In short, it beats its competitors on either price or specs – it really is well positioned.

As a stills camera in particular, it's hard to fault the Z5 II. You get a tried-and-tested 24.5MP back-side-illuminated sensor that's capable of excellent results, and 12fps raw capture. I'd also argue that this is one of Nikon's best cameras for JPEG shooters yet, thanks to the inclusion of the handy Picture Control button and support for sharing custom JPEG recipes via Nikon Imaging Cloud.

The video specs are a little weaker considering that 4K 60fps video is cropped, but the Z5 II is still capable of full-width 4K video up to 30fps – that's significantly better than the previous model.

In the rare cases where you need 6K video capture or quicker readout speeds, the Z6 III is likely a worthwhile upgrade. Otherwise, however, the Z5 II is going to be an absolute winner for most users. Sure, it's not a resolution beast like the Z8, nor is it particularly quick like the Z6 III; but the Z5 II is a superb camera in its own right, and one that's going to have mass appeal, even outside the Z-Mount ecosystem.

Nikon Z5 II: price and release date

The Nikon Z5 II body-only costs $1,699 / £1,599 / AU$2,699
Zoom kit bundles starting at $1,999 / £1,899 / AU$3,249
Roughly 25% more expensive than first Z5

At $1,699 / £1,599 / AU$2,699 the Z5 II arrives with a significant price jump over the first-gen model. At launch it’s roughly 25% more expensive than the first iteration, and the price difference is even more glaring considering that the Z5 has hit as low as $999 in the US in recent months.

Judged in terms of specs, however, the Nikon Z5 II is an aggressively priced body. I’ll elaborate more later, but the Z5 II is simply in a different league to its predecessor when it comes to both performance and features, and in my book this quantum leap softens the blow of the price hike significantly.

You could easily compare it to the most recent offerings from Canon R8 or Panasonic S5 II, but I’d argue that the Nikon is the more fully featured camera for the price. The R8, for example, is cheaper at $1,499 / £1,629 / AU$2,489, but forgoes IBIS and a second card slot. The S5 II is more comparable in term of specs, but it’s pricier in the US and UK at $1,999 / £1,699, and the Z5 II inherits the outstandingly refined subject-detect autofocus of the higher-end Z-Mount bodies.

The Z5 II is also well placed to compete with older mid-range models like the Sony Alpha A7 III. Sony’s former hybrid king is still available for new for around $1,799 / £1,679 / AU$2,000, and features a compelling mix of excellent autofocus, extensive lens choices, and specs that still hold up for enthusiast users.

It’s a testament to the A7 III that even in 2025 it remains a competitive choice, but the Z5 II finally gives customers a better option than Sony's seven-year-old camera in this price bracket. Sony’s traditionally killer USPs of autofocus and lens choice are less deadly to rivals now – and the Z5 II also features meaningful quality of life upgrades like a fantastic EVF, flip screen, and excellent IBIS. The Z5 II is so well featured that it’s hard not to recommend it, despite the unfortunate price bump.

Price score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z5 II: specs

Nikon Z5 II: design and handling

Similar design to the Nikon Z6 III
Fully articulating display
Picture Control button for JPEGs

Despite the Z5 II’s internal similarities to the Zf, outwardly the two cameras couldn’t be any more different. Nikon has returned to its modern design language with the Z5 II, and like its predecessor it essentially shares the same body as the most recent higher-end Z6 model, aside from that camera’s top LCD panel.

The Z5 II’s design is typically Nikon. It’s function over form, although the brand has made subtle tweaks compared to its previous generation of cameras. For one, the body is slightly thicker, and Nikon has also made a few changes to the EVF housing, which now sweeps around to the generously sized Z mount on the front. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it change, but the camera looks more modern for it.

The button layout is essentially the same as on the previous model, but there are some changes. The playback button and sequential shooting menu have been switched, for example, and there’s now a handy ‘Picture Control’ button to quickly access JPEG settings. Either way, everything is in the right place, and if you’re already a Nikon shooter you’ll feel right at home. Notably the grip remains the same; chunky, with plenty of purchase for when you're using larger Z-mount lenses.

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As on the Z6 III, the top and back plates are made of a sturdy magnesium alloy, and you also get the large and bright EVF that’s typical for Nikon cameras. The EVF is the same 3.69k dot OLED panel as on the previous model, although Nikon says it can now reach up to 3,000 nits of brightness.

Perhaps the most meaningful design change for the Z5 II is the inclusion of a fully articulating display. Previously, the Z5 only featured a tilting display, so it’s nice to see the inclusion of a flip screen that’s particularly useful for talking-head scenarios. There’s some debate around whether a tilting screen is still superior, but I much prefer the fully articulating option personally in terms of versatility. Not only do you get that selfie and talking-head option, but the flip-out screen is great for getting low-angle shots in portrait orientation, plus it isn't partially obstructed by the viewfinder for waist-level shooting like the previous screen.

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Ports-wise, the Z5 II features micro a HDMI port, plus headphone and microphone jacks, and USB-C with charging support. Unlike some budget models from the competition, notably the Canon R8, the Z5 II also features two card slots. You get support for two UHS-II cards here rather than the CFExpress Type-B combination that’s common on Nikon’s higher-end bodies, but it's still a fantastic inclusion for an entry-level camera. It’s also a nod to the Z5 II’s intended enthusiast target market, since the supported cards here are much cheaper than the CFExpress cards.

I'm grasping at straws to find a valid criticism of the Z5 II's design, but there are a few minor quibbles. The PASM dial, for example, doesn't feature the usual locking mechanism you find on higher-end bodies. It's a minor thing, yes, but it's easy to knock the dial out of your mode of choice, and it seems like an easy thing to rectify. Otherwise, the Z5 II is almost perfect in terms of function for a modern body.

Design score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z5 II: features and performance

Inherits subject-detection autofocus from high-end bodies
Now shoots 4K 30fps footage uncropped
12fps burst for raw / 30fps JPEG with pre-capture

The previous Z5 was an entry-level camera through and through. It was capable of capturing lovely images, sure, but pedestrian autofocus performance and lesser specs meant it was best consigned to rather sedentary subjects.

The Z5 II, however, is a significant leap in terms of performance. With an almost identical specs sheet to the mid-range retro-bodied Nikon Zf, the Z5 II is in a completely different class to its predecessor.

There’s really no other way to express it: the Nikon Z5 II is just a superb camera for the vast majority of applications. The 24.5MP back-side-illuminated sensor in combination with the Expeed 7 imaging processor means the Z5 II is an extremely capable body regardless of the price tag.

Readout speeds, while not up to the level of the Z6 III with its stacked sensor, are dramatically better now. The Z5 II supports raw burst rates up to 12fps versus its predecessor’s pedestrian 5fps. If you’re happy to go with JPEGs, then you can crank that up to 30fps, with additional support for pre-capture.

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Video specs have also been improved significantly. The Z5 II now features full-width 4K footage at 30fps instead of the 1.7x crop of the Z5, and you also now get support for advanced formats like 12-bit N-RAW and 10-bit N-Log. Technically, the Z5 II can capture 4K at 60fps, but its 1.5x crop means it's still far behind the higher-end Z6 III when it comes to hybrid capabilities.

The two cameras do, however, share a lot of DNA, particularly when it comes to autofocus. The Z5 II inherits the various person, animal, and vehicle subject-detection capabilities from the higher-end Z Mount cameras, and is all the better for it.

Especially when compared to the older Z5 and Z6 models, the subject-detection autofocus is multitudes more effective here in all scenarios. On previous Z-mount bodies I was accustomed to having to manually steering the camera via tracking points or defined AF areas, but that’s not the case with the Z5 II.

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Nikon Z5 II next to the Nikon Z5 — The Nikon Z5 II has received a subtle redesign (Image credit: Future / Alex Whitelock)

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In testing, I found myself shooting with full-area continuous autofocus in the vast majority of scenarios, simply letting the camera do its thing. The Z5 II has no issues picking out people, birds, eyes, and moving subjects in crowded or otherwise demanding scenes. 3D tracking is also significantly stickier now, which is handy for the rare occasions when subject-detection fails.

In terms of price relative to performance, it’s extremely hard to fault the Z5 II here. Sure, it’s not the quickest camera from Nikon, or the prettiest, but it’s an extremely capable body that’s perfect for a wide range of users. The Z5 II really is a versatile camera that’s going to be a fantastic tool for the vast majority of enthusiast shooters.

Features and performance score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z5 II: image and video quality

24.5MP back-side-illuminated full-frame sensor
Now supports custom JPEG recipes
Internal 12-bit N-RAW and 10-bit N-Log video

The Z5 II’s sensor is a known quantity by now. It’s a sensor that’s been knocking around in Nikon cameras in some form or another since 2018. That’s by no means to its detriment, though, since this 24.5MP back-side-illuminated sensor is capable of providing incredible results across a wide range of subjects and scenarios. You could say it’s an old favorite, even.

I have a fair amount of experience with this particular sensor, having shot with the older Nikon Z6. So I was immediately at home with the Z5 II’s output, and I’m pleased to note that it’s more than capable of producing detailed images with pleasing color straight out of the camera. It’s hard to fault a sensor this good – there really aren’t any limitations aside from the relatively middling 24.5MP resolution limiting cropping potential in the most extreme circumstances.

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Nikon Z5 II Sample images — Images shot with the 24-50 and 24-200mm kit zoom lenses (Image credit: Future / Alex Whitelock)

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If you can live with ‘just’ 24MP, then you’ll find the Z5 II’s output excellent – JPEGs in particular are fantastic. The image stabilization is rated at an impressive 7.5 stops – this sensor was already known as a low-light beast, but the image stabilization really adds to the camera’s night photography credentials.

Looping back to the Z5 II’s excellent JPEG output, it’s worth mentioning just how Nikon has significantly upped its game with the Z5 II. The camera now supports the new Nikon Imaging Cloud, which unlocks a much smoother image upload workflow and the seamless sharing of image recipes a la Fujifilm.

Given that my processing app of choice (Adobe Lightroom) didn’t support my pre-production Z5 II’s raw output, I quickly found myself tinkering with numerous JPEG presets. Switching between presets is extremely easy thanks to the dedicated Picture Control button on the top of the camera, and the interface also enables you to tweak various settings like sharpness, contrast, and clarity.

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If I have a complaint, it’s that the various in-camera JPEG sliders are still rather basic, and the default profiles lack the polish of the likes of Fujifilm. The Nikon Z5 II, however, has a secret weapon in that it can store up to nine additional custom color profiles from the NX Studio app. This app fully supports color grading and other advanced options, so it’s perfect for really tailoring your JPEGs to match your raw workflow.

I imported a few presets onto my Z5 II, and was instantly able to get some superb results right out of the camera. The process is extremely smooth, and Nikon’s excellent in-camera retouch options easily allow you to test out your profiles on the various raw files already saved to your card.

Below are a few images showcasing what's possible with these in-camera presets.

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These presets can also be used for in-camera color grading, although advanced videographers will likely want to make use of the camera’s new internal N-Raw and N-Log formats for maximum flexibility and dynamic range. Generally speaking, video output is excellent here – especially with the oversampled 4K footage at 30fps.

If the Z5 II has any weaknesses when it comes to video, they're generally down to the sensor's middling readout speeds. Aside from the 1.5x crop at 4k 60fps you also get some rolling shutter when panning quickly, as with most bodies without a stacked sensor. If you want a more fully-featured and modern video platform, it could be worth investing in the higher-end Nikon Z6 III.

While we’re here, it’s worth mentioning the number of excellent lenses that are ready to pair up with the Z5 II. While the Z-Mount supports plenty of high-end glass, even modest choices like the Nikkor 24-50mm f/4-6.3 kit lens are capable of providing great results. My favorite lenses for the Nikon Z5 II in particular are the super-lightweight Nikkor 40mm f/2 and Viltrox 85mm f/1.8, both of which are great lower-cost lenses that pair perfectly with the Z5 II.

Most of the example images you can see here were shot with either those two lenses or the Nikkor 24-200mm f/4-6.3 zoom, which is another kit option for the Z5 II.

Image and video quality score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z5 II: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Nikon Z5 II?

Buy it if...

You want a great-value all-rounder
The Nikon Z5 II is fantastic jack-of-all-trades camera for a competitive price. It's a great choice if you want something that nails both photo and video without breaking the bank.

You're looking to upgrade
If you're already shooting with an older Z-mount body or even a Nikon DLSR then there's a strong argument for upgrading to the Z5 II. The autofocus in particular provides a massive jump in performance over the older bodies, even the higher-end Z6 II.

Don't buy it if...

You want a retro design
The Nikon Z5 II is almost identical to the Nikon Zf when it comes to performance and specs, so the latter is the obvious choice if you prefer a more retro look.

You need advanced video features
The Z6 III provides more headroom in terms of high-resolution video with its support for 6K/60p N-RAW.

You need resolution
The Z5 II's 24.5MP sensor isn't a high-resolution beast like the higher-end cameras in Nikon's lineup. If you need massive cropping potential there's the older Nikon Z7 II, pricier flagships, or look elsewhere.

Nikon Z5 II: also consider

Panasonic Lumix S5 II

The Lumix S5 II is another competitively priced full-frame body that offers a viable alternative to the Nikon Z5 II if you're looking for something more video-centric. The S5 II is capable of open-gate 6K / 30p recording at 10-bit, which gives it the edge for resolution and cropping video. That said, the Z5 II is cheaper at full list price, and inherits the outstanding autofocus from the higher-end Nikon Z-Mount bodies.

Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix S5 II

Nikon Zf

On paper the Nikon Z5 II and Nikon Zf are extremely similar cameras in terms of performance. In form, however, the two couldn't be more different, with the Zf sporting a gorgeous retro design. If you'd prefer the same specs in a more classic, nostalgia-themed body, the Nikon Zf is the obvious choice. Expect to pay a little extra for the pleasure though.

Read our in-depth Nikon Zf

How I tested the Nikon Z5 II

Nikon loaned me the Z5 II and some lenses for two weeks
I tested it with the 24-50mm and 24-200mm kit zooms
I also used the Nikon 26mm and 40mm and Viltrox 85mm primes
I carried the camera daily, testing its video and photo capabilities
I shot over 1,000 images with the camera

I used the Nikon Z5 II as my everyday camera over a two-week period, which gave me the chance to shoot more than 1,000 images and videos. I was able to test the subject tracking, low-light performance, and image stabilization effectively thanks to using the camera in a diverse range of environments, both indoors and outdoors.

Nikon sent me the Nikkor 24-50mm and f/4-6.3 Nikkor 24-200mm f/4-6.3 zoom kit lenses to try, as well as the Nikkor 26mm f/2.8. I also made sure to use the camera with a third-party lens, in this case the Viltrox 85mm f1/.8.

First reviewed April 2025

I’ve shot hundreds of photos with the stunning Sigma BF – despite its flaws, it makes other cameras feel ordinary

11:00 am | April 3, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: AF, DNG, SSD | Comments: Off

Sigma BF: two-minute review

I knew that the Sigma BF would frustrate me at times, but what I wasn't prepared for was how much I would enjoy making pictures with the camera.

This unique and boldly minimalist camera, which has been likened to Apple's products, oozes character, and despite its many design and performance concessions I've come to love it.

Yes, the 24.6MP full-frame Sigma BF's minimalist design polarizes opinion – for some it's an object of desire, for others it's a firm no. However, even hardened fans of the camera, who now include me, will admit there's maybe one concession too many.

Rated using a conventional scoring system, the Sigma BF comes up short because its limitations are many. It doesn't have a viewfinder; its touchscreen is fixed; memory is internal only (a 230GB SSD and no card slot); the 24MP full-frame sensor isn't stabilized; its ergonomics could be better; battery life is modest; and key connections ports for video, such as mic in and a headphone jack, are absent.

That said, cameras can't be reviewed purely by ticking boxes. They're creative tools, and if you find one that gets you, and brings out the creator in you, then what it scores in a review is less relevant.

Silver Sigma BF camera with 35mm f/2 DG contemporary lens attached, in the hand — Isn't she lovely? (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

A similarly-priced, conventional mirrorless camera like the Nikon Z6 III gives you all the tools you need, wrapped in a sensible design with superb ergonomics, and it 'scores' better. However, if you want a bit of excitement, and a stunning and unique camera that can delight, frustrate, then delight again from one beat to the next, the BF is the ticket.

For seasoned photographers, there’s a re-learning process with the Sigma BF in terms of navigating its nondescript controls and minimalist menus. You need to spend some time getting to know the BF. Familiarize yourself with its quirks and its joys, and most other cameras feel somehow dull and characterless by comparison.

It's also a sensational pairing with Sigma's Contemporary I-series lenses – I had a new silver version of the 35mm F2 DG lens to match the silver BF. Sigma, if you're reading this: producing a pancake lens next, that pairs with the BF's compact body, should be a top priority.

Sigma says the BF stands for 'Beautiful Foolishness', I've read other reviewers liken it to a 'Best Friend'. For me, it’s Brilliantly Flawed and I'm a Big Fan.

Whatever its technical compromises, the Sigma BF is a design masterstroke. It's a beautifully imperfect thing that deserves its place in your hand. Relationship status? Seeing someone.

Sigma BF: price and release date

The Sigma BF body-only costs $1,999 / £1,969 / AU$3,995
It's available for pre-order in silver or black versions
Sigma has also launched silver versions of multiple I-series lenses

Sigma lenses are typically around half the price of proprietary brand equivalents, but what of the brand's cameras? Well, the BF costs $1,999 / £1,969 / AU$3,995 body-only, which on the one hand is pretty steep for a 24MP full-frame camera with no viewfinder.

However, this is no ordinary camera. When you consider the BF's build quality – the chassis is machined from a single ingot of aluminum, and the camera has premium touch-sensitive controls – then suddenly it feels more reasonable.

Pre-orders are open now, and the BF is available in silver or black versions – interest in the silver version has been particularly high. However, reportedly Sigma can only make nine Sigma BF units per day, and so the lead times for orders could dwarf even those for 2024's most sought-after camera, the Fujifilm X100VI.

Price score: 4/5

Sigma BF: specs

Sigma BF: design and handling

Chassis machined from a single ingot of aluminum
Nondescript controls, some of which are touch-sensitive, plus simple menus
Internal SSD memory only, no card slot
No mic or headphone port, just a USB-C port

A camera that's machined from a single ingot of aluminum in a process that takes seven hours, with production limited to nine units per day, should be special. The BF is just that.

It's true that the Sigma BF's minimalist design won't be for everyone. It's distinctly Apple-like in terms of its design, at a time when retro cameras like the Fujifilm X100VI are trending. Personally, I've found the BF to be one of the most fascinating cameras in recent memory.

Its premium quality is obvious, right down to the smallest details – even the the metal body cap, which I dedicated an entire article to. The camera is weather-proof and feels rock-solid – I'd fear more for any surface it came into contact with, even though of course I wouldn't want to thrash such a lovely camera around.

With its clean lines and stripped-back control layout come various design concessions, particularly if you've been spoilt by other mirrorless cameras that place plentiful controls at your fingertips.

There's no grip to speak of, just a textured front half; a design choice that feels more aesthetic than anything else, and which complements the matte finish beautifully.

As such, the BF is best used with small lenses, especially Sigma's I-series of Contemporary primes. Sigma was on the ball in launching silver versions of some I-series lenses to match the new silver BF – I had the new silver 35mm F2 DG for this review.

These I-series lenses are pretty small, none more so than the 45mm F2.8. That said, there's no true pancake lens for Sigma's L-mount, and I'd like to see one to full complement the BF's ergonomics.

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Sigma BF with its body cap, on a white surface in strong light, with defined shadows — The BF employs a back illuminated 24.6MP full-frame sensor (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Each button and control is beautifully dampened, and – get this – two of the buttons are touch-sensitive: the menu button and the playback button. If you half-press the playback button, your latest image pops up on screen until you let go. Fully press the button in and you enter playback mode. Quality.

Markings on the buttons are suitably nondescript, so it'll take you a while to workout what each one does. Also, once you're in a menu, it's not all that obvious how to make exposure changes – a prize goes to whoever works out how to select or deselect the auto option in exposure settings the fastest.

Finding commonly used settings is no problem, though. There are three simple menus to navigate: the main one with your most-used settings, and two sub-menus. This simple setup feels very Hasselblad X2D 100C.

In that top menu, you can scroll through the options using the control wheel, with the latest setting being displayed on a charming, tiny LCD. Via this, quick changes to settings like color profiles are possible.

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Front of the Sigma BF camera — In bright sunlight, at various angles, there can be blinding glare from the silver version of the Sigma BF. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the Sigma BF camera's USB port — Clean lines, just a single USB-C slot (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Rear of the Silver Sigma BF camera — A large 3.2-inch touchscreen dominates the camera's rear (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the Sigma BF camera's wrist strap loops — There's a loop just on one side of the BF, suitable to attach a wrist strap (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Top view, Silver Sigma BF camera with 35mm f/2 DG contemporary lens attached, on a large log — Minimalism at its best – the top of the camera features a large shutter button only (and built-in stereo mics). (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the Sigma BF camera's rear LCD — The premium matt finish feels lovely (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the Sigma BF camera's shutter button — There's that shutter button, and below it a thumb grip (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the Sigma BF camera's rear buttons — There's a recess in the BF's corner where the camera rests in your palm. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the Sigma BF camera's small LCD display — Each control is beautifully dampened, while some are touch senstive. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Arguably Sigma's most controversial design choice was to limit storage to an internal SSD only. That's fine, so long as the SSD is reliable – and we've no reason to believe it won't be – but if there's an issue with it the camera becomes useless without a costly repair (assuming that is indeed possible).

I love cameras that include built-in memory as a fail-safe, but that's when it's in addition to removable media such as an SD card. Internal memory only will be a dealbreaker for some people.

To upload photos from the BF you'll need to connect it via the USB-C port, which is also used to charge the camera. I found the upload process super straightforward, and speedy to a MacBook Pro.

The exterior is suitably stripped-back too, meaning there's no mic input, headphone jack, HDMI or even loops on both sides for a shoulder strap, just on one side for a wrist strap.

I don't mind all of the above. What I did miss the most is having a viewfinder or a tilt / vari-angle screen. In bright sunlight I naturally found myself bringing the camera up to my eye as if a viewfinder was there to compose the shot, while at awkward low angles I wished for a tilt screen.

Both or either of those display features would make the BF more practical, but I understand why they're absent – how could Sigma otherwise make such a beautifully minimalist camera?

Design score: 4.5/5

Sigma BF: features and performance

8fps with continuous AF, recorded onto rapid internal SSD
Below-average 260-shot battery life
No IBIS, just electronic stabilization for video

If you want an all-singing all-dancing mirrorless camera, the Sigma BF is not for you. Sure, its startup time is rapid, but it lacks many of the powerful features that we've come to take for granted in cameras at this price point and above.

Take the 24.6MP sensor – it's not stabilized. That's not a dealbreaker for what will surely be an everyday camera for photographers, and used with fast-aperture prime lenses, but I'd love to see it – after all, in-body image stabilization is part of an internal component, and so including it wouldn't impact the BF's minimalist design.

For video, there's the option for electronic stabilization, which imposes a 1.25x crop to the image area, meaning it's not available for the 6K option.

The burst shooting with continuous AF drive mode maxes out at 8fps, so it's not the quickest. However, sequences can run for longer than you'll likely ever need: up to 350 raw images or 1,000 JPEGs. Buffering time for those sequences, before the camera is ready once more to perform fully, is shorter than on most rivals too.

As mentioned, there's no card slot, and images are saved to an internal 230GB SSD. You can upload photos via the multi-purpose USB-C 3.2 port, which is rated up to 10Gbps and can also be used for any one of the following functions at a time: external video output, charging and power delivery, cable release, external mic, and headphone output.

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Silver Sigma BF camera without lens attached, on a large log — The 24.6MP full-frame back illuminated sensor; there's no stabilization (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Silver Sigma BF camera with 35mm f/2 DG contemporary lens attached, on a large log — The BF's multi-purpose USB-C port, with functions including image upload, charging and for external accessories (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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The Sigma BF camera's underside — The BF's underside, including a lock for the pop-out battery (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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The Sigma BF camera's rear touchscreen display looking dark in bright light — You'll need to crank the screen's brightness to its maximum when shooting in bright light (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Sigma has created a new BP-81 battery for the BF – it's a tiny 3,300mAh unit that's rated for a meagre 260 shots, although I don't mind the lower-than-average shot life when you consider how compact the BF is.

Autofocus is a hybrid phase-detection and contrast-detection system, with subject tracking for humans and animals. It's proven pretty reliable overall during my testing, especially for close-up portraits, but I've certainly used more sophisticated systems from the likes of Sony, Canon and Nikon.

Part of the issue with autofocus is relying on a fixed touchscreen that's not always the easiest to see, depending on the shooting conditions. You hope focus is spot on, but it isn't always.

Another element that limits autofocus performance is that the focus options you have to choose from are relatively basic – this is a minimalist camera in just about every way. I'd also say, based on my experience of both cameras, that the Nikon Z6 III is much better at picking up subjects that only take up a small portion of the frame.

As for video, the BF features built-in stereo mics, but no dedicated mic input, just mic connection via the multi-purpose USB-C; and the stereo mics are particularly susceptible to wind distortion. In short, many of the features that video users rely on are absent – the BF is more a photographer's camera that happens to shoot lovely-quality 6K video.

Features and performance score: 3.5/5

Sigma BF: image and video quality

24.6MP photos in detail-rich 14-bit raw universal DNG format
6K video from the full width of the sensor, no EIS available at this resolution
13 color profiles for photos, L-log for video

Despite its rather conventional-sounding 24MP full-frame sensor, the Sigma BF is capable of producing highly-detailed images with gorgeous color.

Special mention must go to the superb 35mm F2 DG lens I was testing the camera with – detail is pin-sharp from center to edges, with a lovely focus fall-off when you're shooting at the maximum f/2 aperture.

There are plenty of other superb L-mount lenses to pair with the BF, and Sigma lenses are reasonably priced too. That said, I do think that Sigma needs to prioritize producing a pancake lens that truly complements the BF's compact body, especially while sales for the camera are likely to be strong. A tiny 35mm f/2.8 should be doable.

The photos in the gallery directly below are a selection of the kind of everyday images that the Sigma BF is so adept at capturing.

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Photo of an old church in the sun, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Packed commuter train in the dark of a tunnel taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Selfie of a man wearing sunglasses ans baseball cap, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Looking down at a bike wheel, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Photo of a public footpath signpost, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Daffodil close up, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Closeup photo of tiny white flowers, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Photo of a country road, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Photo of horses in a field on a sunny day, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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An old train container, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

As with Leica, I always appreciate that a Sigma camera's raw files are the universal DNG format, meaning that just about any editor happily accepts the files; and they're detail-rich 14-bit files, no less.

Shoot in raw and JPEG simultaneously, and the standard color settings and full image area is kept for raw files, but your active color mode is applied to JPEGs. There are 13 modes to choose from for photos, and there are a few crackers amongst them.

The Calm color profile is Sigma's version of natural / muted, while Rich is a vibrant profile. I'm a fan of the BF's natural '709 Look' for photos, even though it's based on the Rec.709 profile traditionally used for video, plus the punchy and trendy Teal and Orange. It's easy to scroll through these options quickly to make your selection.

Here's the entire list of color modes: Standard, Rich, Calm, Powder Blue, Warm Gold, Teal and Orange, FOV Classic Blue, FOV Classic Yellow, Forest Green, Sunset Red, Cinema, 709 Look and Monochrome.

Street photography is a forte of the Sigma BF, as you can see from the collection of images below.

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London street photo of people walking down old street in bright sunlight with strong shadows cast on the wall, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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London street scene on bright sunny day, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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London street photo of vintage car, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Monochrome photo of a London train station from high vantage point, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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A wall in bright sunlight with strong shadows cast on the wall, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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London street photo of people walking in bright sunlight with strong shadows cast on the ground, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Commuter on early morning train, texting, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Would I prefer the BF had a 61MP sensor, like the one in Sigma's own fp L? Sure. And a stabilized sensor too. Those extra pixels would give greater scope for cropping into images taken with a lens like the 35mm F2 I had for this test, for the times you can't get close enough, while in-body image stabilization makes handheld shooting easier in various conditions.

All the photos you can see below were taken with the BF's autofocus with subject tracking active, and the close-up portraits are reliably pin-sharp on the eyes. My hit ratio in low light was less reliable, but impressive nonetheless.

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Photo of man with setting sun behind him, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Portrait of a man, illuminated by the setting sun, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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People in a British pub at night taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Flowers, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Silhouette of person standing in front of a glass door, taken with the Sigma BF camera and Sigma 35mm F2 DG lens — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Video specs are decent, with 6K 30fps video in Sigma's L-log profile looking particularly lovely after grading, though you'll miss out on electronic stabilization in 6K, which rules out handheld footage on the move – the sample video below includes shaky unstabilized clips as I walk through London, plus a selection of the color profiles so you can appreciate the different styles.

However, it's the distinct lack of supporting features for video that plants the BF firmly in the photography camp, rather than it being a hybrid model.

Image and video quality score: 4.5/5

Sigma BF: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Sigma BF?

Buy it if...

You love minimalist tech
I thought the Hasselblad X2D 100C was peak minimalism, but the Sigma BF is another level – there isn't even a memory card slot!

You want a camera that stands out from the crowd
The camera market is flooded with conventional DSLR-style mirrorless cameras; the Sigma BF couldn't be more different.

You want a small everyday camera
Considering its full-frame sensor, the BF is compact, and pairs nicely with Sigma's dinky Contemporary I-series lenses.

Don't buy it if...

You value function over form
Design is the BF's selling point... if you want something different. However, other cameras at this price point will offer more control and more features.

You shoot video a lot
The BF can record lovely-looking 6K video with Sigma's L-log color profile, but it lacks most supporting features needed for video, such as in-body image stabilization, and mic in and headphone out ports.

You need removable storage
The BF doesn't have a memory card slot, just an internal SSD, so if something goes wrong with the internal memory it's game over. We wouldn't expect any issues, but it's something to worry about.

Sigma BF: also consider

Sigma fp

The BF follows two other Sigma full-frame cameras with similarly compact form; the fp (24MP) and the fp L (61MP). The fp L is more readily available and has the pricier, higher-resolution sensor yet costs the same as the BF, while the fp costs around 20% less, but is harder to find new. The BF wins for design, while the fp models arguably have better features and more conventional controls, even if the BF has improved in certain areas, such as autofocus performance. All three cameras use the same L-mount.

Read our in-depth Sigma FP review

Nikon Zf

Full-frame 24MP cameras at the BF's price point are plentiful. Most have a conventional design, such as the Canon EOS R6 Mark II and Nikon Z6 III. However, there are other cameras that pack a similar punch but whose design and user experience are key, such as the Nikon Zf. Unlike the modern, minimalist Sigma BF, the Nikon Zf is a retro model with exposure dials and faux leather finish.

Read our in-depth Nikon Zf

How I tested the Sigma BF

Sigma loaned me the silver version of the BF for one week
I tested it with the Sigma 35mm F2 DG Contemporary lens
I mostly used it for everyday and street photography, taking between 500-1,000 photos and videos, and I also tested its video features

I tried to use the Sigma BF as much as possible during a oneweek loan period, taking it with me everywhere, including on city commutes and walks. As you can see from the photos, I had the silver BF, which was the version I was hoping for, together with a new silver version Sigma 35mm F2 DG Contemporary lens.

I've used the BF in bright sunlight and on cloudy days, as well as at night. I've made photos using the various color profiles and autofocus modes, as well as videos at the various resolutions.

First reviewed April 2025

I tested the pricey full-frame Leica SL3-S, and I’ve never seen 24MP images look so good

2:48 pm | March 23, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Comments: Off

Leica SL3-S: two-minute review

Leica has taken the same product approach as other mirrorless camera makers, offering a high-resolution model in the 60MP Leica SL3 and a lower-resolution but more effective hybrid camera in the 24MP SL3-S.

Leica has had a long technology partnership with Panasonic, and the SL3-S has a lot (no, really, a lot) in common with the Lumix S5 IIx on a technical level. Physically, though, it’s very different. The SL3-S has a bigger, heavier body but with a super-streamlined control layout, with only three buttons on the rear having a specific labelled function.

It’s customizable to the nth degree, and it’s easy to assign new functions to the buttons as you go along, too. This approach does mean, however, that you'll need the patience to set it up to your liking in the first place, and a good memory for the functions you’ve assigned to the various buttons and dials.

It’s a nice camera to use, if heavy, and the info display panel on the top plate is a welcome feature when so many mirrorless camera makers don’t bother with these any more. The 5.76m-dot EVF may not have the very highest resolution on the market, but it’s clear and sharp and easily good enough. The rear screen is slightly disappointing. It has a tilt mechanism only, not a vari-angle pivot, and in our tests it just wasn’t bright enough for easy viewing outdoors, even with the brightness pushed up to maximum.

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Leica SL3-S — (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

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I tested the SL3-S with the Leica Summilux-SL50mm f/1.4, and between them, the combo produced images of exceptional clarity and definition for a 24MP camera. The dynamic range seems about average for a camera of this type, but the JPEGs have very good tonal range from shadows to highlights, and at ISO 6400 (and beyond) noise levels are remarkably low.

The autofocus performance seemed pretty good when tracking humans and animals for video, though this isn't really a run-and-gun camera, and it's probably a little heavy for a gimbal too. It’s probably fair to consider this a filmmaking tool, not a vlogging camera.

The stabilization is only rated at five stops but seems to deliver its claimed maximum reliably, which you can’t always say for other cameras. This provides a very steady platform for handheld static shots, and can even cope with careful camera movements and walking-while-filming, though the results can soon get a little ‘choppy’.

Overall, the SL3-S is very expensive if you consider its specifications alone, but what you are also buying is quality – not just in the camera’s build and finish, but in the thought that’s gone into its control layout and interface. The results, too, are absolutely first rate. The Leica SL3-S is truly a class act in every sense.

Leica SL3-S: price and release date

Leica SL3-S body only: $5,295 / £4,500 / AU$8,990
Leica SL lenses start from around $2,195 / £1,850 / AU$3,490
On sale now

The Leica SL3-S is undeniably expensive, costing almost three times as much as the Panasonic Lumix S5 II / S5 IIx, which many would say it’s based on. Despite the technical similarities, however, this is a very different camera physically, with all the build quality and design finesse that you would expect for the brand. Also, this is by no means the most expensive full-frame mirrorless camera on the market; there are several which cost a good deal more, albeit with higher or more specialized specifications.

The overall cost of ownership of the SL system is perhaps not quite as high as many might expect, either. Leica’s own SL lenses are more expensive than similarly specced alternatives from other brands, but still in the same ballpark – and not as terrifyingly expensive as some M-mount optics, either. And you can, of course, use any Sigma or Panasonic L-mount optics – though anyone prepared to invest in the SL3-S would probably prefer to stick to Leica SL glassware.

Price score: 3/5

Leica SL3-S: specifications

Leica SL3-S: design and handling

All-metal magnesium and aluminum body, synthetic leather cover
IP54 weather sealing
Tilting rear screen

The first thing you notice about the Leica SL3-S is the simplicity of its external design and controls. On the back there are buttons marked Play, Fn and Menu, but beyond that every other control is unmarked, and can be set to any function you choose. These include two large control dials on the top, a thumb dial on the back and five function buttons on the front, top and back of the camera. There’s also a joystick for AF point selection, menu navigation and more.

Customization is super-easy. A long press on a function button brings up a menu where you can change the assigned function to something else. It’s a clever and efficient bit of interface design that’s typical of Leica, although it might not suit everyone. Some will prefer labelled buttons and dials that have a definite function, even if you can’t change them, to having to remember how you set the various buttons up.

Also, given that this is a hybrid camera where you need to be definite about whether you're in stills and video mode, wouldn’t it have been better to have a clearly labelled switch for that? An unmarked function button hardly seems adequate.

Another issue I had during testing was that I was constantly finding the focus point was somewhere other than where I left it – a common issue with touchscreens, of course – and on one occasion I found the focus area type had changed, and I don’t know why. I also found the zoom magnifier activating randomly while the shutter release was half-pressed, and I never could figure out what I was pressing to make that happen. All this is user error, of course, but it’s just a pity that the SL3-S design, beautiful as it is, leaves so many opportunities for such mistakes.

The 5.76m-dot EVF is excellent, but the 2.33m-dot rear screen less so. Even at full brightness it’s not always easy to see clearly for outdoor shooting. For video, you might have to rely more on the EVF than you would like – though of course for any kind of serious filmmaking you would quite likely have the SL3-S rigged up with an external monitor anyway.

Design and handling score: 4/5

Leica SL3-S: performance

Superb stills quality
Great high-ISO performance
Excellent JPEGs
Highly effective stabilization
Good AF tracking, though not the best

You might argue that the SL3-S is ‘only’ a 24MP camera, but it produces the crispest, clearest images you’re ever likely to see from a camera with this resolution. Part of the credit undoubtedly has to go to the 50mm f/1.4 Summilux lens Leica provided for this review – this is a massive lens for a 50mm f/1.4, but it’s spectacularly sharp and aberration-free, and from edge to edge too. This is a lens you can confidently use wide open at f/1.4 without any hesitation.

The JPEGs from the SL3-S are very nice indeed. The camera achieves an excellent tonal range right into darker areas without seeming to sacrifice any midtone contrast. You can get blown highlights in JPEGs from overexposed skies, but you can recover highlight detail from the raw files, of course – though the SL3-S’s raw dynamic range seems no better or worse than that of rival cameras.

High-ISO performance is excellent. I shot a series of low-light interiors at ISO 6,400 expecting to see some significant deterioration in image quality, but the images looked really, really good. I should have set the ISO a lot higher!

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I was impressed by the IBIS too. Leica only claims five stops of compensation, but I think you probably get all of this pretty reliably, so this is perhaps Leica just being conservative. I’ve used plenty of other brands that claim higher levels of shake compensation but simply don’t deliver it.

Some have remarked that the SL3-S's AF tracking isn't quite as good as that of the Lumix S5 II/S5 IIx, but I couldn’t see any obvious weaknesses in my testing with human face / eye tracking, and the animal tracking, even though it’s still only in beta, was extremely good at keeping up with my feisty young terrier on a beach walk. Of course, it’s one thing the AF system knowing what it should be focusing on, but it will also depend on your lenses having fast enough AF actuators to keep up.

I honestly think, though, that if you’re into fast and immersive POV filming, this isn’t the kind of camera you would choose; the SL3-S will be much more at home on a tripod for more staged video productions.

Performance score: 5/5

Leica SL3-S: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Leica SL3-S?

Buy it if...

You're more concerned with quality than cost
And by that I mean not just quality of output, but quality of design, construction and operation.View Deal

You're already invested in the Leica SL system
If you're a Leica shooter looking for a more adaptable and versatile content tool than the SL3, this is it.View Deal

You have an SL2-S
If you're struggling a little with the contrast AF tracking performance of the older Leica, upgrading to the SL3-S is a clear win.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You primarily need the video capabilities
The SL3-S is not a good buy if you’re not interested in Leica’s premium design aesthetics – the Lumix S5 II/S5 IIx will do a grand job for a lot lessView Deal

You’re going to use Sigma or Panasonic lenses
The SL3-S makes the most sense with Leica’s own SL glassware, which is typically big and expensive, alas.View Deal

You’re going to shoot in hazardous conditions
Yes, the SL3-S does have IP54 weather sealing but, frankly, its sheer cost makes it a slightly nerve-racking choice for extreme filming. Use something cheaper!View Deal

How I tested the Leica SL3-S

I had a one week SL3-S loan from Leica
It was sent along with the Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH lens
I made photos and videos of various subjects, including animals and landscapes

I was able to use the Leica SL3-S for a few days to shoot a variety of subjects. For one shoot I chose a country walk via a yachting marina, and for another I took the SL3-S to a country estate to check out its low-light capabilities for interior shots. I also took it on an urban architecture expedition to get an idea of its dynamic range and detail rendition.

I tested its video capabilities too, particularly its stabilization and autofocus tracking, with a dog-walk on a windy beach. The aim was to find out how well the stabilization worked for static handheld shots and also a walking run-and-gun style. My pet dog was a big help in testing the AF tracking performance, including Leica’s animal tracking AF system, which is still in beta.

In particular, I wanted to try the SL3-S in shooting conditions that required a variety of settings changes, often from one shot to the next, to get a proper idea of how the Leica’s innovative control system actually worked in the field.

OM System’s OM-3 isn’t just pretty, it’s made photography fun for me again in a way that Canon, Sony and Nikon fail to

7:29 pm | February 27, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: AF, SLR | Comments: Off

OM System OM-3: two-minute review

The OM System OM-3 is a stunning camera – just look at it – even if it still stings for Olympus fans that you're reading OM System on that viewfinder hump.

With its flush faux leather frontage and silver top plate adorned with exposure dials, the OM-3 is as good as retro gets in the camera world. Oh, and there's also a new color mode dial – that's so on-trend.

Contrary to what its old-school exterior might suggest, this isn't a camera that's stuck in the past, and under the hood the OM-3 packs serious power. Its stacked 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor delivers blazing-fast burst-shooting performance, up to 50fps with continuous autofocus; intelligent subject-tracking autofocus that works a treat (most of the time); and an array of computational photography modes that make light work of difficult shooting techniques such as focus stacking, which would otherwise require time-consuming edits (even if some of the end results aren't perfect).

OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera on a wooden surface with floral painting background, 12-45mm F4 Pro lens attached — Isn't she lovely? (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

I'm a big fan of what OM System has done with the OM-3. This is its best camera since its acquisition of Olympus in January 2021. From mind-bogglingly impressive in-body image stabilization (I've shot sharp images handheld with seconds-long shutter speeds – that's smartphone night-shot-like skills), to computational photography modes that encourage creative techniques such as long exposures, highly effective autofocus, a wide choice of lenses and a lightweight build (particularly the lenses), I've had a blast shooting with the OM-3 over several weeks.

As an everyday camera, most of the fun and creative computational photography modes feel more relevant in the OM-3 than they do in the serious OM-1 II, an alternative that's the better pick for serious photography such as wildlife.

There's so much about the OM-3 that just feels right. That said, I wish it was a rangefinder by design, like the Pen-F. Don't get me wrong: the OM-3 is 2025's best-looking camera so far. I just think that as an everyday camera that's best used with small and lightweight lenses, the Pen-F's smaller rangefinder-style body would have been the better way to go. After all, we already have other OM System cameras with a similar form factor to the OM-3, such as the OM-5.

At $1,999 / £1,699 / AU$3,199 for the body only, the OM-3 is also a pricey camera, especially when you consider that the Fujifilm X-T5 with its 40MP APS-C sensor is around $100 / £100 less. The bottom line for me, however, is that the OM-3 is a camera that I want to shoot with more than most. Its compact and retro design, together with its super-fun shooting modes, have encouraged me to new levels of creativity, and I can’t really put a price on that.

OM System OM-3: price and release date

The OM-3 costs $1,999 / £1,699 / AU$3,199 body-only
It's available bundled with the excellent 12-45mm F4 Pro lens for $2,299 / £1,999 / AU$3,799
Available to pre-order now, with stock expected late February

On the one hand, the OM-3 is excellent value. It's the cheapest camera available with a stacked sensor, and packs many of the same features as the pricier OM System OM-1 II flagship. It feels like even better value when bundled with the 12-45mm F4 Pro lens for $300 / £300 / AU$600 more – this is no ordinary kit lens, but a super-sharp and versatile zoom.

However, when you consider rival cameras that you can pick up for around the same money or less, such as the Fujifilm X-T5 with its larger APS-C sensor and 40MP stills, suddenly the OM-3 feels expensive. Its stacked sensor is a costly component and will limit potential price reductions, but I'd hope that the price of OM-3 will settle at around $300 / £250 / AU$500 less than the list price by the end of 2025.

Price score: 3.5/5

OM System OM-3: specs

OM System OM-3: design and handling

A thing of beauty, modelled on 1973’s Olympus OM-1 analog SLR
Features a handy vari-angle touchscreen and dated 2.36m-dot EVF
Useful dedicated dials for color modes and computational photography modes

For me, the OM-3 is almost the perfect embodiment of Micro Four Thirds photography; it’s compact and lightweight, highly rugged and attractive, and outright fun.

It’s the camera system that you want to slip into a jacket pocket for a day out or take away for a weekend break, and one that makes you obsessively creative – family and friends who've been with me during my review process have had to show extreme levels of patience while I've played around with the camera!

The OM-3 feels great in the hand with a small lens attached, and it’ll turns head too, if that seals the deal for you.

I say it’s almost perfect because for an everyday camera like this I think a rangefinder-style body would have been the better design choice – much like 2016’s Pen-F (which we’re told the OM-3 is the natural successor to).

After all, we already have a number of OM System cameras with a raised viewfinder hump, like the OM-5, so why not just squeeze the OM-3's modest 2.36m-dot EVF unit into the corner of a smaller rangefinder-style camera?

It's disappointing that we get a dated 2.36m-dot EVF, especially when the OM-1 II has a 5.76m-dot unit with clearer 0.82x magnification. I think the viewfinder placement and dated specs are my main design criticism of the OM-3; otherwise, it’s wider-than-average body allows space for controls to breathe, even if its grip-less body counts out easy handling with larger lenses.

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OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera in the hand, no lens attached — The OM-3 is a small camera befitting the Micro Four Thirds sensor format (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera in the hand, 12-45mm F4 lens attached — I like the wider-than-average body – the design gives controls more space to breathe. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Top half of the OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera, floral backdrop — Such a classic-looking camera (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Top plate of the OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera on a wooden surface with floral painting background, 12-45mm F4 Pro lens attached — The top plate is decked with plenty of dials and controls. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Rear of the OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera, on a wooden surface, floral painting backdrop. — With the LCD screen packed away, the OM-3 looks even more old school. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Rear of the OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera with touchscreen flipped out — The OM-3 has a decent flip-put touchscreen (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

If you like the OM-3’s looks, then you’ll also love how rugged and well built it is. OM System is one of the few camera brands to officially rate its cameras for weather-sealing, and the OM-3 is IP53-rated – that’s decently resistant to dust and water spray. So even though you won’t want to get this lovely-looking camera soaked in a rain shower, it can take it.

I also appreciate the new dedicated button and dials to directly access the OM-3’s color modes and computational photography modes, two creative options that are highly addictive and fun to play with.

You’re spoilt for choice for getting the look you like with four color mode settings, including a dedicated monochrome option, together with a practically infinite degree of customization.

Enthusiast filmmakers are well catered for too, with headphone and microphone ports and USB-C connectivity, although the micro HDMI port won't impress serious videographers, nor will the camera's single SD card slot.

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The color mode dial of the OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera — The color mode dial on the OM System OM-3 (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Closeup of the OM System OM-3's Computational Photography button (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the OM System OM-3's memory card door — Just the single SD card slot here. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the OM System OM-3's shooting mode dial — A new shooting mode dial offers photo, video and S&Q (slow and quick) modes. I often found myself moving this dial accidentally when changing lenses. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Close up of the OM System OM-3's top dials — There are plenty of dials to make quick adjustments to camera settings. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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Computational photography modes are the closest you get in a mirrorless camera to the smartphone photography experience and features like the Google Pixel's long-exposure mode.

For example, the Live ND Shooting option can reduce the amount of light the camera gathers, much like an ND lens filter, to enable long-exposure photography – and thanks to the camera’s highly impressive in-body image stabilization you can get this effect when shooting handheld too.

You don’t need a tripod and lens filters to get the long-exposure effect; you can simply take the camera out of your pocket, access one of the ND filter effects, with a max ND64 (6EV) strength, and start shooting. The ease with which you can get creative is what really makes the OM-3 such an addictive camera.

Design score: 4.5/5

OM System OM-3: features and performance

Stacked sensor delivers up to 50fps with continuous AF
Very impressive 590-shot battery life
Superb image stabilization performance
Some computational modes take time to process

I have no complaints regarding the OM-3's features and performance – it's a surprisingly powerful little camera.

I have to start with its impressive stacked sensor, which delivers incredible speed; there are few cameras that can better its 50fps burst shooting with continuous autofocus, sustained for sequences of around 5-6 seconds before the camera starts to down.

I was able to squeeze slightly longer sequences out of the OM1-II, but the OM3's performance is more than enough considering the kinds of everyday photography people will likely use it for.

The OM-3's sensor is also stabilized – and OM System cameras, including predecessors bearing the Olympus name, offer exceptional image stabilization performance. With a steady hand you can shoot sharp images with shutter speeds that are several seconds long, depending on the lens you're using, and for video it's entirely possible to shoot smooth-looking clips when on the move.

OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera on a wooden surface, no lens attached — The stacked 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor is seriously fast (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

It's the impressive stabilization that makes the computational photography modes particularly accessible. For example, employing the Live ND Shooting mode with up to 6EV ND filter effect for long-exposure effects wouldn't be the same if you had to mount the camera to a tripod. But here we are, able to achieve the effect handheld – see my street and ocean shots in the gallery below.

The same can be said for the High Res Shot mode, which increases resolution to 50MP (with a tripod mount option further increasing detail to 80MP). We also get the latest graduated ND filter effect to reduce the difference in brightness between land and sky by up to 3EV, plus HDR modes.

Some of these modes go some way to nullifying the perceived shortcomings of the OM-3's 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor and its lesser dynamic range, while other modes are simply downright fun.

Then there's the autofocus performance. In some regards it's exceptional – for example when detecting certain subjects such as birds – and there are sophisticated options for people, such as eye priority that can be further narrowed down to left or right eye priority.

However, there are other scenarios where I found the OM-3's autofocus less reliable than rival cameras, such as in dim, low-contrast light. Overall though, autofocus performance is very good.

I must also commend the OM-3's battery life. A decent-sized unit is squeezed into the camera and this delivers a 590-shot capacity, which for a camera this size is pretty impressive.

Battery door of the OM System OM-3 mirrorless camera — The OM-3 squeezes in an impressively large battery with decent 590-shot capacity. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Features and performance score: 5/5

OM System OM-3: image and video quality

Same image quality as the flagship OM-1 II
20MP stills, with a 80MP high-res shot mode
4K video up to 60fps, and no rolling shutter

Compared to the sensors in full-frame and APS-C cameras from the likes of Sony, Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm, the OM-3's Micro Four Thirds sensor is smaller, and comes with certain downsides in terms of image quality.

At 20MP, the OM-3 has less resolution than similarly priced rivals, a narrower dynamic range, and relatively modest low-light performance. However, I'm still very happy with the photos and videos that I've been able to capture, and for many scenarios the OM3's image stabilization and computational modes can turn the tables to deliver superb end results.

Not all of the computational modes can be relied upon for every scenario, however. For instance, focus stacking, which is used to increase depth of field and is especially useful for macro photography, exhibits a subtle but spottable ghosting effect in bright subjects, which I particularly noticed in a close-up image of a backlit mushroom.

Creative color

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: classic car in quaint London street at night — One of the many Art Filter effects (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: inside the Tate Modern gallery, London. — Here is one of the new creative color looks, with no customization (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: man in Tate Modern gallery, gritty black and white edit — One of the monochrome looks - the one with harshest contrast. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

The new color mode dial is worth highlighting too. This offers four options, including monochrome settings, new creative looks with four customizable settings, the long-present Art Filters, plus a Picture mode for a purely customized color profile.

Many of the Art Filters feel a bit dated now, but I still like some of the effects. I think most people will find that one of the new creative looks suits their style, especially given that you can manually tweak the look of each one, with control over curves, shading, sharpness, contrast, and color temperature.

OM System OM-3 sample video

There's also OM System's Log color profile for video, HLG, plus a couple of Cinelike color profiles for pleasing straight-out-of-the-camera grades.

Video resolution tops out at 4K with frame rates up to 60fps. If you're happy to drop to Full HD, then slow-motion 240fps is possible, while a Slow & Quick mode can be utilized for timelapse effects in addition to slow motion.

The OM-3 is a photography-first camera, but it's entirely possible to get gorgeous-looking and smooth video clips if you know what you're doing.

Computational photography sample images

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: jagged rock in the ocean, blurred water around it — I employed the Live ND Shooting mode and a 4 second exposure time to get this blurred water effect (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: jagged rock in the ocean, with the water movement blurred — I employed the Live ND Shooting mode and a 4 second exposure time to get this blurred water effect (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: long exposure blurs the people as they walk over the millenium bridge, London — A 1 second exposure time and Live ND Shooting mode was just right to blur the movement of passers-by. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: London skyline over the Thames — The Live Graduated ND filter effect, maximum 3EV strength (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: London city skyline over the Thames — The same photo without the graduated filter effect (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

For the above long-exposure-effect photos, I set the OM-3 to the Live ND Shooting ND64 setting, which reduces the amount of light the camera takes in by 6EV. This is the maximum strength available, and is sufficient to slow the shutter speed down to seconds long on a gray day, as in the London street and UK coastal images above.

All the above images were captured handheld, and detail in still subjects such as the rock and the ground is perfectly sharp. As such, I've felt confident enough to leave my tripod at home for most of this review. Not needing a tripod or ND filters makes creating long-exposure effects a breeze, and I sometimes found myself getting carried away creating such images, much to the annoyance of the people with me at the time!

OM System OM-3 further sample images

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: rolling hills — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: crowded smoking area of a London pub at night — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: St Pauls cathedral over the river Thames at night — Being able to shoot this static scene handheld with a 1-second shutter speed and still get a sharp image meant I could select a lower ISO and enjoy a cleaner end image, virtually free from noise. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: portrait of man with dramatic cliff backdrop — Taken with the 90mm F3.5 macro lens (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: lady smoking a cigarette on London street — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: portrait of boy in coat by beach huts — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: London underpass with a shaft of light illuminating the old wall and passerby — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: inside an empty ancient church — 2 seconds shutter speed, handheld, and detail is sharp (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: London street restaurant at night — Image quality is ok here, but the low light and ISO 6400 setting needed mean that detail isn't quite so crisp (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: horses in sun-drenched field — Lovely natural colors (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: people cross the street in London — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: St Pauls cathedral over the Thames at night — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

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OM System OM-3 sample photos: snowdrop flower closeup, golden hour — (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Image and video quality score: 4/5

OM System OM-3: testing scorecard

Should I buy the OM System OM-3?

Buy it if...

You'd like to get obessively creative
OM System leads the way for smartphone-like computational modes, with plenty of creative effects to enjoy.

You love the old-school looks
It's not radically different from previous OM System offerings, and Fujifilm and Nikon are competitive in this space, but the OM-3 is the best-looking retro camera of the year so far.

You want a small camera and lens system for everyday photography
Micro Four Thirds beats larger sensor formats if you prefer small and lightweight gear, plus the OM-3 is a lovely choice for everyday photos.

Don't buy it if...

You're a wildlife and sports photographer
While it offers super-fast burst shooting and autofocus speeds, the grip-less body of the OM-3 is uncomfortable to hold when paired with large telephoto lenses.

You're on a budget
The OM-3's list price could prove to be a sticking point for many – it's a lot to pay for a casual everyday camera.

You're a regular night photographer
Versus larger-sensor rivals, the low-light image quality and autofocus performance of the OM-3 doesn't stack up.

OM System OM-3: also consider

Fujifilm X-T5

For around $100 / £100 less than the OM-3 less you can pick up the Fujifilm X-T5, which is a highly capable mirrorless camera in a similar mold, sporting a retro body and offering powerful performance. You get a larger APS-C sensor with impressive 40MP resolution and 6K video skills, plus a solid build quality and handling, with neat exposure dials and decent in-body image stabilization.

Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T5 review

Nikon Zf

For a bigger outlay, the Nikon Zf is our favorite retro mirrorless camera overall. Like the OM-3 it's inspired by an analog SLR – in this case the Nikon FM2 – and it's a compelling Fujifilm rival for retro fans. The full-frame 24MP sensor, superb manual focus-assist tools, easy access to black and white photography, plus Nikon's best-ever image stabilization, combine to great effect.

Read our in-depth Nikon Zf

OM System OM-1 II

If you love the modern tech of the OM-3, including its stacked sensor, computational photography smarts, and superb tracking autofocus, you'll get all of that with the costlier OM-1 II, which is better suited to wildlife and action photography thanks to its pronounced grip and comfortable handling with large lenses. It offers the same image quality and performance as the OM-3, plus it costs more, but you get a better design for demanding pursuits.

Read our in-depth OM System OM-1 II review

How I tested the OM System OM-1 II

OM System loaned me the OM-3 with the 12-45mm F4 Pro lens for several weeks
I also used some of my own OM System gear with the camera – the 90mm F3.5 Macro lens and tiny 45mm F1.8 portrait lens
I put the OM-3 through its paces in many and varied photo and video scenarios, and tried out the computational photography modes

I shot with the OM-3 for several weeks, together with the 12-45mm F4 Pro, 90mm F3.5 Macro, and 45mm F1.8 lenses. I was also using the OM-1 at the same time, which has enabled me to make comparisons between the handling of the two types of OM System designs.

The camera and lenses were with me come rain or shine, both day and night, during which time I tested the gear regularly, including the OM-3's photography modes, color profiles, and computational photography smarts.

I tested the High Res Shot and Long Exposure modes, both handheld and with the camera mounted to a tripod. I've also tested burst shooting performance, with standard cameras settings that we use for all of TechRadar's camera tests.

First reviewed February 2025

I’ve tested the Panasonic Lumix S1R II, and it beats its bulky predecessor in almost every respect

5:00 pm | February 25, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: OLED | Comments: Off

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: two-minute review

The Panasonic Lumix S1R II is the new flagship model for Panasonic’s Lumix S series of full-frame mirrorless cameras, replacing the original, 2019-released S1R.

Built first and foremost for capturing massive amounts of detail (the ‘R’ in its name presumably referring to ‘resolution’), the S1R II features a new full-frame 44.3MP CMOS sensor and can record 8K video at up to 30fps, not to mention 4K video at 120fps – a significant video resolution and frame rate improvement over its predecessor.

Panasonic trumpets meaningful advances in other areas too, most notably autofocus, continuous shooting speed and image stabilization, all while reducing the overall size and weight of the camera body in comparison to the Lumix S1R.

Having used the Lumix S1R II for over a week in a wide variety of photo and video shooting scenarios, I’m mightily impressed by what Panasonic has achieved here. The S1R II is surprisingly compact and lightweight for a full-frame flagship camera, immediately solving one of the S1R's biggest flaws.

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Panasonic Lumix S1R II on harbor wall — (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

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Panasonic Lumix S1R II — (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

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The S1R II isn't perfect. Its battery life isn't the most impressive, and some of its more demanding hi-res video modes can cause the body to gradually overheat and require a shutdown and cooling-off period. It also requires that you own a pricy CFexpress Type B card to use some of its features.

None of these issues is a deal-breaker for me, though, especially when taking the camera's capabilities and strengths into account. There's the portability, which I've mentioned, but also much-improved autofocus talents in comparison to the S1R, thanks to the implementation of a fast, accurate phase hybrid system to replace the rather slow and spotty contrast detection system on the old camera.

Image stabilization is also more effective here, stills shooting speeds are higher (especially the new 40fps electronic shutter option) and there are far more resolution, bitrate and frame rate options for video shooters than on the S1R – including Apple ProRes HQ internal recording and the aforementioned 8K resolution.

The Panasonic Lumix S1R II feels like a big leap over its predecessor and just a brilliantly flexible all-rounder. Yes, it's expensive, but I can't think of many full-frame cameras I'd rather pick if I needed a device that can do it all.

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: price and release date

Lumix S1R II body only: $3,299 / £2,999 / AU$5,499
UK-only Lumix S1R II with 24-105mm lens bundle: £3,799
On sale March 2025

The Panasonic Lumix S1R II will be available from March 2025 priced at $3,299 / £2,999 / AU$5,499 body only. In the UK, it'll also be available in a kit with a 24-105mm f/4 standard zoom lens for £3,799. These prices aren't too different to what you'd have paid for the original Lumix S1R cost upon its launch in 2019, so it's hard to have too many complaints about the cost. Inflation hasn't had too much of an effect here.

Panasonic is also launching a battery grip accessory, the DMW-BG2, alongside the camera. This will be available from March 2025 also, priced at $349 / £299.

Price score: 4.5/5

specs

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: design and handling

Relatively compact and just 795g
Large, detailed OLED viewfinder
Front and rear tally lamps

The original Lumix S1R was a large, bulky camera, often annoying so – but I don’t feel the same way about the S1R II. It’s so much easier to live with, weighing only 795g including a battery and SD card. That’s over 200g lighter than the S1R, despite retaining its premium metal body and weather sealing.

Thanks to this lighter, more compact body, it feels much more like a camera you could take out with you on a daily basis, rather than one you’d reserve for special occasions. That does depend somewhat on the lens you choose, of course: the 16-35mm f/4 zoom Panasonic loaned to me for the purposes of review is a really chunky and weighty piece of glass, and makes the S1R II feel quite bulky, whereas the 85mm f/1.8 prime the company also lent me makes for a much more manageable, agile setup.

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Panasonic Lumix S1R II battery charger — (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

The S1R II’s classic DSLR-style shape is a joy to handle. There’s a large grip to wrap one’s right hand around, and with the camera’s relatively low weight this meant I could even use it one-handed at times. Build quality feels solid and premium, although I was a little disappointed to note that Panasonic has eschewed metal lug rings for attaching the neck strap. The fixed rings used here feel a little cheap for a flagship camera.

The camera’s physical controls are all nicely placed; my day-to-day camera is a Panasonic Lumix GH6 II, so the S1R II’s similar control setup felt immediately familiar. There’s a dial to flick quickly between photo, video and S&Q (slow and quick) shooting modes, front and top record buttons and more than enough dials to ensure any setting can be swiftly adjusted with a minimum of fuss. The original S1R's top plate LCD info panel has been removed here, which helps keep the size down in this its successor – but I concede some people might miss its ability to deliver a quick rundown of the current settings.

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Panasonic Lumix S1R II menu screens — (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

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The on-screen UI, meanwhile, will be immediately familiar to anyone who has used a recent Lumix camera. The 3-inch screen itself is a pretty standard affair, able to tilt and swivel nicely in almost any direction, while the large, ultra-sharp OLED viewfinder is a highlight and a pleasure to hold your eye against.

Connectivity is solid. There’s a full-size HDMI plus USB-C, mic, headphone and wired remote sockets, now each with their own protective door. On the storage front, there’s a single SD card slot plus an additional slot for high-performance CFexpress Type B cards.

Finally, there are front and rear tally lamps to indicate when recording is active. That might seem like a basic feature and a must-have for a mirrorless camera with a big video focus, but so many cameras skimp on it that I’m pleased to see it here.

Design and handling score: 5/5

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: features and performance

Phase hybrid autofocus
Dual I.S. 2 image stabilization
10fps / 40fps burst shooting

The S1R II comes with a number of performance improvements over its predecessor. First and possibly foremost is its phase hybrid autofocus system, which is faster, smoother and more accurate than the contrast-based system on the old model. It’s particularly great for video use, slickly keeping subjects in sharp focus without any of the hunting that was sometimes seen on older Lumix models. It can also identify and automatically track a variety of subjects, from humans to animals to motorcycles. I’ve tested it with humans and cats and it's never been less than effective and dependable.

The on-board image stabilization is Panasonic’s Dual I.S. 2 variety, combining sensor-shifting in-body and lens-based stabilization with user-configurable electronic stabilization tailored to specific shooting scenarios. Panasonic generally does stabilization particularly well and from my testing that seems to be the case here too, with vlogging and handheld video gaining an almost gimbal-like stability at the cost of a crop to the frame. Panasonic claims the system adds up to 8 stops of shutter speed compensation, as opposed to 5.5 stops on the original S1R. Numbers aside, I can say it's a very capable system that leaves the user more time to focus on the more important and enjoyable aspects of video or photo capture.

Shooting speed has likewise been given a boost. When using the mechanical shutter, it’s risen from 9fps to 10fps with AF-S and 6fps to 8fps with AF-C, while switching to electronic shutter now allows for 40fps bursts with AF-C. This speedy shooting works hand in glove with the new autofocus setup, allowing you to point and shoot at moving objects and rely on the camera to recognize, focus on and capture them in motion.

Bucking the trend for improvements, battery life is slightly worse than that of the S1R, but you can still expect around 350 images on a full charge – or over 1000 when using the Power Save LVF mode. From my own personal use, where I switched fairly often between photo and video capture, plus made frequent use of potentially power-sapping modes like high-speed stills shooting and high resolution, high frame rate video recording, I did notice the battery bars dropping pretty fast. I think it’s fair to say that power users may need to invest in a spare battery or two – although with in-camera charging and the ability to use the USB-C port as a power supply, there may be alternatives.

The S1R II appears to have some kind of active cooling system, with fan noise audible at times, but it will overheat when pushed to its performance limits during video capture. When left recording 8K footage at 30fps or 4K footage at 60fps, it overheated and shut itself down after about 20 minutes, requiring a few more minutes of downtime to cool off before it could begin again. Worth noting if you're somebody who needs to record long uninterrupted videos.

Features and performance score: 4/5

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: image and video quality

44.3MP stills and 8K/30p video
177MP high-resolution mode
10-bit color depth and wide range of bitrates for various qualities / file sizes

The S1R II is the resolution king for Panasonic’s Lumix S range, and both photos and videos are extremely rich in detail and dynamic range.

Photos are captured at 44.3MP which, while marginally smaller than the 47.3MP images captured by the S1R, are more than sufficiently detailed for creating huge prints or heavy cropping. Pixel peepers have absolutely nothing to fear from the images here: I found them richly detailed even when zoomed right in, with smooth color gradation and superb dynamic range. I shot both in JPEG and RAW, processing the latter in Adobe Lightroom. The majority of the photos I've included in the gallery here were captured in RAW, but even JPEGs allow for a nice measure of post-production tweaking.

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Panasonic S1R II photo sample — (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

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Panasonic Lumix S1R II sample photograph — (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

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As you'd expect from a modern day full-frame camera, the S1R II is quite capable in low light situations, if perhaps not among the best performers in its class in that regard. Fit a fast prime on here and you could certainly use it as a discreet camera for nighttime street photography or similar.

As with the Lumix S1R, there's also the option to shoot a burst of images that the camera then combines into a single super high-resolution shot, which is here around 177MP. This can be even be achieved handheld, thanks to clever algorithms stitching the image together, and I found the results to be quite impressive. There's a lot more detail present when you zoom right into the images, and only the odd strange artefact (I noticed a seagull appearing multiple times) to signal that this isn't derived from a single exposure.

On the video front, the camera can record 8K footage at up to 30fps, as well as a variety of ‘lesser’ resolutions at higher frame rates. It has an Open Gate recording option, which uses the entire surface of the sensor and results in up to 6.4K video now – and 8.1K or 7.2K options being promised via a future firmware update later in 2025.

It also offers an option to record video in Apple ProRes RAW and RAW HQ formats at up to 5.8K internally, provided you use a CFexpress Type B card. Panasonic claims videos can exhibit up to 14 stops of dynamic range too.

I was very impressed by the camera's video capabilities. Not only does it offer a wide range of options to suit creators of all stripes, but it performs in an unfussy and dependable manner. The above vlogging video was captured in Panasonic's flat V-log color profile and corrected and graded in post-production, but the process took very little time and effort on my part. The base video I was able to capture from the camera was a great place to work from, and left me very happy with the results in terms of color and contrast.

Factor in the S1R II's excellent stabilization and autofocus and it's a very, very strong package for video creators.

Image and video quality score: 5/5

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Panasonic Lumix S1R II?

Buy it if...

You want a user-friendly flagship
The compact size, low weight and much improved autofocus make this a truly user-focussed flagship. Despite its capabilities and features, it’s a fairly portable camera that handles a lot of the hard stuff for you.View Deal

You’re serious about hi-res video
Beyond the headline-grabbing 8K recording, there’s also a 6.4K Open Gate option and various other higher-than-4K video modes available. If detailed video is important to you, the S1R II delivers.View Deal

You want a do-it-all device
With excellent photo and video skills, it doesn’t feel like the S1R II focusses on one to the detriment of the other. It’s a genuine hybrid camera that can handle all sorts of situations.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You’re looking for a simple mirrorless model
The S1R II is an advanced and expensive flagship camera, offering many features that casual users will never need or use. If you’re just starting out on your mirrorless camera journey, pick something simpler and cheaper.View Deal

You need epic battery life
While the S1R II’s battery life isn’t terrible by any means, it’s not the best among flagship mirrorless cameras – and 8K video capture drains it fast. You might need to buy additional batteries or a portable power bank if you’re planning on a long weekend of shooting.View Deal

You need unlimited video recording times
Longer video clips at higher resolutions and frame rates not only drain battery life fast but overheat the S1R II. If you need to record uninterrupted, this isn't the camera for you.View Deal

Panasonic Lumix S1R II: also consider

Nikon Z8

The list price of the Nikon Z8 started life around 25% more than the Lumix S1R II's starting price, but Nikon's flagship is available for the same price at the time of writing. On paper, the two full-frame cameras share many similarities; 45MP (approx) stills and 8K video. If we were pushed to suggest one model, we'd say the Z8 for photography-first users, and the Lumix S1R II for serious video work. The truth is though, both are very capable hybrids.

Read our in-depth Nikon Z8 review

Panasonic Lumix S5 II

Those for whom the Lumix S1R II features are a little overkill should consider the Lumix S5 II. The cameras share practically the same design and handling, but the pricier Lumix S1R II is the resolution king, with 8K video and 44MP to the Lumix S5 II's 6K video and 24MP stills. You pay twice the price for twice the detail.

Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix S5 II

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix S1R II

Pre-production model with latest firmware
Paired with wireless mic gear
Vlogging and photography in a range of scenarios

Panasonic loaned me a pre-production model of the Lumix S1R II running the latest firmware (the firmware that will be on the retail units on launch day), plus two L-Mount lenses: a 16-35 f/4 zoom and an 85mm f/1.8 prime.

I've used the camera for vlogging, both testing its internal mics and pairing it with a DJI Mic 2 wireless mic kit. I've also taken lots of photos in different scenarios, including a sunset walk along the East Kent coast and a day trip to Canterbury.

First reviewed February 2025

Panasonic Lumix G97 review: enthusiast-level camera, beginner-level price

2:41 pm | January 31, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: AF | Comments: Off

Panasonic Lumix G97 two-minute review

The Panasonic Lumix G97 is effectively an updated refresh of the 2019 Lumix G95/90, with a higher-resolution rear screen, the video recording limit removed, and a new USB-C port for charging and power. Granted, that doesn’t sound like much of an update – but when you use the G97 you realize just how responsive, well-made and powerful this camera still is, even by todays’ standards.

It does have a 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, which is half the size of the sensors in its APS-C rivals, which also offer more resolution at 24-26MP+. This has some effect on the ultimate image quality, but perhaps not as much as you might expect, since the G97’s sensor has no anti-aliasing filter in order to maximize fine detail; and while there is more digital noise at higher sensitivities, you have to push the ISO quite a long way before it shows (and APS-C cameras also produce noise, of course).

Panasonic Lumix G97 product shot — Does the Panasonic Lumix G97 look familiar? It's VERY closely based on the previous G95/90 with a handful of minor improvements for 2025 (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

And then there’s Panasonic’s somewhat controversial DFD contrast AF – the G97 does not employ Panasonic’s latest hybrid phase/contrast tech. Is it a problem? Not in stills photography, where the AF is extremely fast and responsive. You might notice the difference in video, though, where many users report the AF hunting or ‘pulsing’ as it keeps re-checking even stationary objects. It will depend on what you film, and how.

Let’s look at what this camera delivers elsewhere. You get an extremely effective in-body image stabilization system (the smaller sensor helps here), a good-quality EVF where most rivals at this price don’t have one at all, a 1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen, a twin-dial control system (three dials, if you count the one on the back) and, if you go for 12-60mm lens bundle, one of the best kit lenses out there, both for zoom range and for real-world image quality. Really, this is an enthusiast-level camera at a beginner-level price.

Panasonic Lumix G97: Release date and price

$850 / £799 with Lumix G 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6
£699 body only (UK)
£899 with Lumix G 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 II (UK)

At launch, the Lumix G97 is being offered only as a bundle with the Lumix G 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens in the US, but in the UK you can buy it body-only or with the Lumix G 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 10x zoom. They’re all great deals, but the 12-60mm bundle looks the best for new users.

It’s worth pointing out that this is a 24-120mm equivalent 5x zoom that goes well beyond the range of most kit zooms, and it’s also rather good.

At these prices, the Lumix G97 is just about the cheapest new mirrorless camera on the market, matched closely on price by the OM System OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. The Canon EOS R100 is cheaper still, but does not have IBIS, has weak 4K video features, and does not come with a lens to rival the Panasonic’s excellent kit lens.

Price score 5/5

Panasonic Lumix G97: Specifications

Panasonic Lumix G97: Design and handling

DSLR-style design with twin control dials
1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen
5-axis 5-stop IBIS

The Lumix G97 looks and handles like a small DSLR. It might seem unnecessarily large for a camera with a Micro Four Thirds sensor, but the fact is that there is a limit as to how small you can make a camera that still fits a human hand properly – especially one which takes interchangeable lenses.

Where you do see an advantage from the smaller sensor is in the smaller and lighter lenses this system uses. The 12-60mm (24-120mm equivalent) kit lens is a great example – it offers a 5x zoom range in a lens that’s little larger or heavier than a 3x kit zoom on a larger-format camera.

There’s a decent-sized grip on the right side of the body that provides a secure hold, leaving your other hand free to operate the lens or the flip-out touchscreen. If you prefer to use the EVF, that's bright and clear, and has an eye sensor to switch from the LCD to the viewfinder automatically.

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The main mode dial is clearly labelled and has a firm, positive action. There are two control dials on the top, one around the shutter release and the other at the rear, right where your thumb lies. These do different things in different modes; in Manual mode, for example, the front dial adjusts the lens aperture and the rear dial changes the shutter speed. These dials are firm, positive and perfectly weighted. In between them is a prominent red Record button for video.

Round the back there’s a useful three-position focus mode lever with an AF-L/AE-L button in the center and a four-way controller with a rotary dial around the outside – though this does not have the same feel as the control dials on the top.

Overall, this feels an extremely well-made camera for the money, with all the controls right where you need them – there are buttons for white balance, ISO and EV compensation on the top, and a Q.MENU button on the back to bring up an on-screen display with more camera settings.

A focus-point joystick would have been nice to make setting the focus point easier, but you only get these on more advanced semi-pro cameras, so you can’t really complain – and you can always use the touchscreen to set the AF point.

Design and handling score 4/5

Panasonic Lumix G97: Performance

Excellent definition and contrast from 20MP sensor and great kit lens
Very fast AF for single-shot stills photography
Continuous AF less good, and occasionally some ‘pulsing’ with video

Panasonic Lumix G97 sample image — The Limix G97 is capable of excellent results. Photography like this depends on lighting and composition, not small differences in sensor technology (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The Lumix G97 delivers first-rate detail rendition. The lack of a low-pass filter and a kit lens that delivers super-sharp detail right across its focal range makes for a combination that plenty of APS-C cameras can’t match. Higher ISOs do show noise quicker, it’s true, but not by much. Besides, today’s AI noise-reduction tools can make an ISO 6,400 image look practically like ISO 200.

The G97’s video looks good too, though with only 8-bit internal capture there’s a limit to how far you can push things if you want to grade your footage heavily later. It does come with Panasonic’s V-Log profile, a paid add-on for many Lumix models, but this really needs better-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 capture to work on, and you can only get that with the G97 via an external recorder. It’s fine for basic use and if you’re just starting out vlogging, but it’s not a serious filmmaking tool.

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The autofocus is a mixed bag. For stills photography, it’s extremely fast and responsive. In burst mode, it’s a little less positive, though given that the G97 can only manage 6fps with continuous autofocus, it’s not really intended to be an action specialist.

The AF generally does a good job for video, refocusing smoothly as your subject distance changes or you reframe the shot. Its characteristic ‘pulsing’ effect is often hard to see, but if you’re filming a static subject and background it can be quite annoying. One solution is to switch to single-shot AF and simply tap the rear screen while filming to refocus – carefully!

The IBIS is excellent. It’s only rated at five stops, but this is actually a consistent and achievable figure, unlike the bigger numbers often quoted for larger-sensor cameras – which are often absolute best-case figures you can rarely approach.

Performance score 4/5

Should I buy the Panasonic Lumix G97?

Buy it if...

You want performance, versatility and value
Who doesn't! The Lumix G97 gives you an awful lot for your money. Effectively, it's an enthusiast-level camera at little more than a beginner-camera price.View Deal

You need a camera that can 'grow' with you
This is a sophisticated camera that's capable of all sorts of more advanced photographic techniques when you're ready to try them out.View Deal

You want a decent, versatile kit lens
The Lumix G 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 typically bundled with the G97 offers a 5x zoom range and excellent quality.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You already have a Lumix G95/G90
The improvements aren’t enough to make it worth swapping, though this could be a good upgrade from the older 16-megapixel G85/G80.View Deal

You want to do any high-speed action photography
The burst speed is only 6fps with continuous autofocus, the buffer capacity is only average, and the continuous AF can struggle.View Deal

You want a camera specifically for video
The G97’s video quality is good but it lacks higher-quality settings, and the autofocus can ‘pulse’ visibly, making it hard work for solo shooters/presenters.View Deal

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix G97

I spent two weeks photographing and filming a variety of subjects
I tested the 5x zoom kit lens across its range of focal lengths
I checked if the 5-stop IBIS lived up to its claims
I tested autofocus performance for stills and video AF/tracking
I assessed the image detail and quality against APS-C rivals

I tested the Lumix G97 and its 12-60mm kit lens on many different subjects including outdoor still images, action sequences (with a very excited dog), close-ups and indoor shots, and in a variety of lighting conditions.

Panasonic’s DFD autofocus has not always had the best reputation, so I particularly wanted to find out if and when it struggled, and what to look for.

I also wanted to check the definition of Panasonic’s 20MP MFT sensor, which has no low-pass filter, to see how it stacked up against larger-sensor APS-C rivals. The 12-60mm kit lens is particularly interesting because it offers a 5x zoom range compared to the 3x zoom of most kit lenses, and I did want to see how the image quality varied across the zoom range, and whether it declined at all at longer focal-length settings.

Lastly, the IBIS system in the G97 is only rated at five stops of compensation, so I wanted to find out just how achievable that was in real-world shooting.

Canon EOS R1 review: a five star high-speed powerhouse for pros, with a sky-high price

4:00 pm | January 25, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: ISO, LCD | Comments: Off

Canon EOS R1: two-minute review

The Canon EOS R1 follows design conventions passed down from professional high-speed DSLR cameras, such as the EOS 1D X Mark III, in that it also features a built-in vertical grip and high-capacity batteries for extended shooting times, complete with seriously impressive high-speed shooting capabilities. If you want a no holds barred camera for sports and wildlife photography, this is the speediest Canon camera on offer.

Its flagship features, functionality and performance excel for the rigors of pro press photography – the few that might actually be able to afford the EOS R1's eye-watering price tag will consequently be equipped for demanding jobs with one of the best Canon cameras currently available.

Canon EOS R1 mirrorless camera in the hand with a basketball court background, under the lights — (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

The camera sports a 24.2MP full-frame BSI stacked CMOS sensor and can capture photos at up to an incredible 40fps, plus 6K raw video at up to 60fps. There's also a slew of useful features including the ability to capture bursts of JPEGs while shooting Full HD video, but we'll cover those in more detail later.

Autofocus is fast and accurate with up to 4,368 AF points depending on the AF mode selected, and the in-body image stabilization (IBIS) is amazing and highly effective, so you can rest assured you have a camera that works for you. The biggest issue with the EOS R1 is the cost, which will put it out of the reach of many photographers, and it's certainly more camera than any enthusiast could ever need.

Canon EOS R1: price and release date

Expensive at $6,299 / £6,999 / AU$10,499
Body only with no kit options
Available now

The EOS R1 was announced in July 2024 and is available now with a body-only price of $6,299 / £6,999 / AU$10,499. This is, of course, expensive, and will put the camera out of the reach of even many professional photographers. This is a similar price, however, to the EOS 1D X Mark III – the quickest DSLR ever made – so with inflation that's pretty impressive.

As a camera designed for professional photographers, some of whom will inevitably be EOS 1D X Mark III owners, the EOS R1 works incredibly well with adapted EF DSLR lenses. For professionals with plenty of expensive EF L-series glass, this softens the financial blow because they can be confident that they won't have to upgrade all of their glass to RF lenses all at once.

Naturally, using native lenses will be preferable to most photographers, but the ability to only need to do this as and when the natural upgrade cycle completes is incredibly useful. Even professionals, who spend more on photo kit than the average enthusiast will appreciate this.

Price score: 3.5/5

Canon EOS R1: specs

Canon EOS R1: design and handling

Built-in vertical grip mirrors the camera's regular control layout
Versatile articulating LCD screen
Generously large viewfinder is easy to use

In terms of the overall design, the EOS R1 looks every inch a professional camera thanks to its built-in vertical grip for horizontal and vertical shooting. There are dual CF Express Type B card slots on one side of the camera, while on the other you'll find the physical ports which include USB-C, Ethernet, HDMI, mic, headphones and PC sync for flash. The EOS R1 also offers Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

Surprisingly, the EOS R1 isn't overly cumbersome despite its large and hefty size – that's 6.2 x 5.88 x 3.43in / 157.6 x 149.5 x 87.3mm with a weight of 2.7lbs / 1,115g, including a battery and memory card (but no lens), which is largely thanks to the well-contoured vertical and horizontal grips, plus the new camera coating that provides a secure grip. The camera also balances well with both smaller lenses and larger telephotos. Overall build quality is excellent as you'd expect for a professional camera.

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Canon EOS R1 top plate with OLED screen — (Image credit: James Abbott)

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Canon EOS R1 rear view with LCD screen hidden — (Image credit: James Abbott)

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Canon EOS R1 rear view with LCD screen showing camera menu — (Image credit: James Abbott)

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Canon EOS R1 dual memory card slots — (Image credit: James Abbott)

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Canon EOS R1 Side view of ports — (Image credit: James Abbott)

One of the immediate differences you notice when compared to mid-range cameras such as the EOS R6 Mark II, and even the EOS R5 Mark II, is the sheer number of direct access controls on offer. The AF-ON button serves a dual purpose in that it offers two programmable functions with the sensor in the center allowing you to use swipe actions with your thumb to move around zoomed images or to adjust autofocus, for example – it's a slick design feature.

Having many direct access controls is standard for high-end professional cameras like the EOS R1, because you don't want to otherwise be scrolling through menus to find and make adjustments when in fast-paced shooting environments. Also, many controls are duplicated on the vertical grip so you can enjoy the same level of convenience and comfort when shooting in both formats.

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Canon EOS R1 mirrorless camera with red brick background — (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

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Canon EOS R1 mirrorless camera 's battery — (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

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Canon EOS R1 mirrorless camera in the hand, no lens attached — (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

On the rear, you'll find the 2.1m-dot 3.2-inch articulating touchscreen which is useful because it can be positioned in many ways. But it's the generously large, almost cinema-like, 9.44m-dot viewfinder that truly caught my eye. Not only is the viewfinder window large, but so too is the immersive EVF screen itself.

The EOS R1's menu system is intuitive and easy to navigate, but like most cameras these days there are so many options available, including button customization, and so it'll take some time to full familiarize and set up the camera for your shooting needs. Some features do require you to delve into the menu to switch them on or off, despite all of the direct access controls, but this approach is standard for all cameras.

Design score: 5/5

Canon EOS R1: features and performance

Dual processors deliver Canon's best-ever speed, including 40fps continuous shooting
Advanced autofocus with dedicated sports modes and face recognition

The EOS R1 features a new high-speed 24.2MP full-frame BSI stacked CMOS sensor that reduces rolling shutter at the expense of a slight reduction in dynamic range. This reduction certainly wasn't noticed shooting a range of subjects during testing.

The sensor is powered by dual processors: the DIGIC X and the DIGIC Accelerator. These processors allow for large volumes of data, fast image capture, fast AF and produce excellent image quality, as well as facilitating the Deep Learning technologies for in-camera image upscaling and noise reduction.

The EOS R1 is packed with so many features that it's impossible to cover them all, but there are undoubtedly some that stand out from the crowd. The EOS R1 is a camera designed for speed and can capture raw files at up to 40fps with the electronic shutter enabled, or 12fps with the mechanical shutter active. The mechanical shutter extends to 1/8000 sec while the electronic shutter pushes further to a lightning-fast 1/64,000 sec.

Canon EOS R1 with 85mm f/1.2 attached — (Image credit: James Abbott)

Autofocus is incredible; it's fast, accurate and intelligent in maintaining the EOS R1's focus on speed. During testing when photographing seals on a beach, the subject detection worked flawlessly to identify eyes and faces with near-perfect accuracy, even though obstacles were sometimes present in the frame.

The AF system uses Canon's Dual Pixel Intelligent AF where subjects are accurately tracked, while Canon says it's able to identify faces and bodies. There's also subject detection, which works incredibly well, while cross-type AF makes focusing more precise and effective, even in low light and low contrast situations.

Canon EOS R1 with 15-35mm f/2.8 lens attached — (Image credit: James Abbott)

There's also a new Action Priority mode that according to Canon recognizes movements in basketball, soccer and volleyball while tracking the ball and switching between subjects as the action unfolds. I didn't personally have the opportunity to test Action Priority, but TechRadar's Cameras Editor Tim Coleman did during the camera launch, and the sentiment is that Action priority has game-changing potential for sports photographers.

Then there's eye-control AF, which, as the name suggests, tracks the movement of your eye and where you're looking in the viewfinder as a guide to position the active AF point(s). Eye-control AF has to be configured via the camera menu. Again, Tim Coleman has written a dedicated feature about Eye-control AF.

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Basketball player, shot with the Canon EOS R1 — Before the basketball game started, I took a portrait of this player and selected him as the player for the EOS R1 to prioritize as the primary subject to focus on. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

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Another interesting and useful feature is pre-continuous shooting which, when enabled, allows the camera to buffer 20 frames while the shutter button is halfway depressed. When you fully release the shutter button, the buffered frames are also captured to provide a greater hit rate in fast-paced situations when your reactions might not be up to speed.

20 frames equates to half a second of pre-capture when shooting at the maximum frame rate. This is great, of course, but isn’t a feature you'd want to use all of the time because of the sheer number of frames you'd be capturing and needing to edit.

Features and performance score: 5/5

Canon EOS R1: image and video quality

Excellent high ISO handling
AI-powered upscale and noise reduction
Up to 6K Raw video

EOS R1 images are beautifully sharp, which can in part be attributed to the new low-pass filter that reduces moire and false color alongside maintaining sharp detail. Image quality is excellent with raw files naturally providing the greatest degree of flexibility. JPEGs are also fantastic out of camera which will undoubtedly appeal to press photographers delivering images directly to picture agencies.

JPEG color profiles can be tweaked with custom profiles so photographers can adjust settings such as brightness and contrast. The Standard profile provides great results but images can be further improved using levels to adjust the black and white points in Photoshop. Colors are pleasing and Canon has long been well respected for its color science, so there are no complaints here.

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Seal on a beach shot with the Canon EOS R1 and 200-400mm lens — (Image credit: James Abbott)

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A feature within the camera is AI-powered upscaling and noise reduction. These are frustratingly only available for JPEGs and the former increases file sizes 4x to 96MP. Fine details are preserved while color and contrast are maintained, but it's a shame that this functionality isn’t available for raw files. Adobe users, however, can take advantage of Super Resolution to increase raw files by the same factor.

Noise reduction certainly works but the closer you get to the maximum ISO within the camera's standard range, the less effective the results are.

AI upscaling example

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Seal on a beach shot with the Canon EOS R1 and 200-400mm lens showing AI upscaling from original JPEG — AI upscaled JPEG with original photo inset (Image credit: James Abbott)

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Seal on a beach shot with the Canon EOS R1 and 200-400mm lens 100% zoom of an AI upscaled JPEG — 100% crop of the AI upscaled photo to show detail (Image credit: James Abbott)

Video is a major component of the EOS R1 too, with the ability to capture 6K 12-bit raw video in-camera, up to 60fps. 2K and Full HD video can be captured at up to 240fps, while 4K is available up to 120fps. Canon C-Log flat color profiles are also available alongside the ability to capture proxy video to one memory card, with full-resolution files recorded to the other.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg but gives you an idea of what the EOS R1 is capable of. Plus, a video feature that could be useful for hybrid press photographers is the ability to capture Full HD video and 17MP JPEGs at 10fps at the same time when the Dual Shooting function is switched on.

Image and video quality score: 5/5

Canon EOS R1: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Canon EOS R1?

Buy it if...

You're a pro sports, wildlife or press photographer
The EOS R1 is aimed squarely at sports, wildlife and press photography, with features and functionality that make image capture and delivery in these situations highly efficient.

You need fast continuous shooting
If a maximum frame rate of 40fps will enhance your photography, alongside pre-capture buffering of 20 frames, the EOS R1 will help you to capture the decisive moment and then some.

You'd like exceptional autofocus
The autofocus system employed by the EOS R1 is excellent and sets a new bar for AF technology when it comes to capturing sharp images of fast-moving subjects in complex situations.

Don't buy it if...

You need a higher resolution
Despite in-camera JPEG upscaling to increase resolution by 400%, the EOS R1's true resolution is 24.2MP, and there are plenty of alternatives that produce higher resolution raw files and excellent image quality.

You don’t require speed
Not all photographers require the level of speed on offer here, such as landscape and portrait photographers. The EOS R1 is also heavy and bulky for landscape photography with more suitable cameras available.

You're not a professional
Of course, anyone with deep pockets can buy the EOS R1, but unless you’re a professional working in specific areas of photography, it's much more camera than you will ever need it to be.

Canon EOS R1: also consider

Nikon Z9

The Nikon Z9 is a few years old now but it continues to match flagship cameras from competitors thanks to impressive performance, speed and its 45.7MP sensor. It only uses an electronic shutter, but to fully experience the EOS R1's speed of capture this is the shutter type you have to use in any case.

Read our in-depth Nikon Z9 review

Canon EOS R5 Mark II

The Canon EOS R5 Mark II was launched alongside the EOS R1 and offers many of the same features and functionality in a smaller and less expensive body. What's more, the control layout is similar and the EOS R5 Mark II offers a higher resolution 45MP BSI stacked sensor.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R5 Mark II

Sony A9 III

Believe it or not, the Canon EOS R1 isn't the out and out fastest camera around – that award goes to the Sony A9 III, a flagship camera for sports that we called 'the high-speed camera to beat'. A true design innovation, the A9 III is the first camera of its kind with a global shutter which, among other things, realizes burst shooting speeds up to 120fps, plus extremely fast shutter and flash sync speeds. It's also Sony's best designed camera yet, though you'll want the optional grip to bulk it out like the EOS R1 when using telephoto lenses.

Read our in-depth Sony A9 III review

How I tested the Canon EOS R1

James Abbott shooting seals with the Canon EOS R1 and 200-400mm lens — (Image credit: James Abbott)

I had the EOS R1 for a couple of weeks, along with three Canon lenses
I captured a range of subjects, from wildlife to landscapes
I tested Canon's in-camera Deep Learning features such as upscaling

I mainly tested the Canon EOS R1 for shooting wildlife, but also to capture landscape and night photography, and I had three Canon lenses to choose, including the RF 85mm F1.2L USM and RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM. It might not be the obvious choice for landscape photography, given it is heavy and bulky, but I gave it a go none the lens and it performs exceptionally well in this situation too.

I tested as many features and functions as possible were tested, with my main focus being the speed of the camera's autofocus and continuous burst shooting. It was also important to familiarize myself with the control layout so the camera could be used as if it were my own.

I also tested Canon's in-camera 'Deep Learning' features in order to provide a thorough overview of the camera in terms of professional image capture.

First reviewed January 2025

Nikon Z50 II review: a pocket rocket at a competitive price

7:03 pm | January 7, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: ISO | Comments: Off

Nikon Z50 II: two-minute review

A tidily packaged APS-C camera with great handling and plenty of features at decent price, we rated the original Nikon Z50 highly. Its successor takes that recipe and supercharges it, with the help of an Expeed 7 processor. The result is a versatile mirrorless camera that’s perfect to learn and grow with.

Its dimensions are neat enough to compete with the best travel cameras, yet Nikon hasn’t sacrificed ergonomics. Slightly larger than the original, the Z50 II feels fantastic in the hand. With a deep grip and plenty of direct-access controls, as well as a useful vari-angle touchscreen and upgraded viewfinder, it’s a satisfying camera to shoot with, whether you’re capturing stills or video.

Under the hood, Nikon’s latest Expeed 7 processor runs the show – the same silicon found in the Nikon Z9 and Z8. It might be pitched as an entry-level option, but that chip gives the Z50 II some serious pace. The interface is quick as you like, while autofocus performance is superlative. Equipped with detection modes for nine different subject types, including people, animals and vehicles, it’s as fast and accurate as many of Nikon’s more expensive models.

Processor aside, a lot remains unchanged from the Z50. That includes the APS-C sensor which, at 20.9MP, is bettered by many of the best beginner mirrorless cameras. That said, it’s still capable of producing detailed and realistic images when paired with a quality Z mount lens. If you already own a Z50, you won’t notice a huge difference in overall quality – although noise performance has been improved thanks to the Expeed 7 processor, meaning stills are cleaner at the same ISO settings.

Nikon Z50 II mirrorless camera on a wooden tabletop — (Image credit: Future / Chris Rowlands)

Nikon has also bolstered the video capabilities of the Z50 II, boosting its status as an all-rounder. 4K frame rates now top out at 60fps, albeit with a 1.5x crop, and it becomes the first Nikon APS-C camera to support 10-bit N-log video – giving videography enthusiasts more flexibility when color grading in post. A headphone socket is a welcome addition, too.

The features above are complemented by a new Product Review mode, which allows influencers to produce content where the focus shifts seamlessly from presenter to product. There’s also a Picture Control button on the top plate, which gives easy access to color presets, with the option to add downloaded Creator Recipes alongside the built-in presets.

Taken as a whole, the Z50 II proves that one camera can work effectively for different creative styles and experience levels. Buy it as a beginner and it will quickly yield impressive results. Stick with it as you improve and the Z50 II has the controls and capabilities to continue delivering.

Nikon Z50 II: price and release date

Body-only price: $909.95 / £849 / AU$1499.95
With the 16-50mm kit lens: $1,346.95 / £1,199 / AU$ N/A
Available now

Like the original Z50, the Z50 II is positioned at the entry-level end of Nikon’s Z mount line-up. With a body-only price of $909.95 / £849 / AU$1499.95, that feels like a competitive offer for such a well-rounded APS-C camera.

In Australia and the US, the Z50 II costs pretty much the same as the original did at launch. In the UK, it’s cheaper by £50. That makes it excellent value. While the Z50 can now be found at a discount online, we think the second-gen version is the smarter buy: it’s not a total upgrade, but its powerful processor and video upgrades make it the more accomplished all-rounder.

That price also makes it slightly cheaper than the Canon EOS R10, our current favorite camera for beginners and arguably the Nikon Z50 II’s closest rival. Both are compact APS-C cameras with modern autofocus and comparable video skills. Which is right for you will come down to more than cost alone, but the Z50 II wins on price.

The Z50 II can also be picked up with bundled lenses. If you’re not already bought into the Z mount system, this is a great way to save on entry-level glass. Options include a single-lens kit with a 16-50mm VR lens for $1,049.95 / £999, and a twin-lens kit which throws in a 50-250mm VR number for $1,299.95 / £1,199. There’s also an 18-140mm kit in the UK and Australia for £1,299 / AU$2,279.

Price score: 5/5

Nikon Z50 II: specs

Nikon Z50 II: design and handling

Upgraded viewfinder and vari-angle touchscreen
Slightly bigger dimensions with a deeper grip
Dedicated Picture Controls button for style presets

At first glance, the Nikon Z50 II bears a strong resemblance to the original Z50. It’s a tidily packaged camera, very much in the established mold of entry-level mirrorless models. Its dimensions are compact enough to be travel friendly, yet it also benefits from a sturdy build and comfortable ergonomics.

That’s in part because the Z50 II is marginally bigger and heavier than the first version. In the hand, we found its grip substantial enough to wrap our fingers around, without being cumbersome. We also appreciated the extra grams: the body features plenty of plastic, but doesn’t feel flimsy in use.

Look closer at the Z50 II and you’ll find several welcome refinements. The tilting screen of the original has become a fully articulating display, a much more flexible solution for framing on the move. This is especially useful for videography and vlogging, as it can flip all the way around to face the front. So is the addition of a headphone port, which allows aspiring filmmakers to monitor audio in real time when recording footage.

The viewfinder has also received the attention of Nikon’s product developers. It has the same 2.36m-dot resolution as before, but is now twice as bright at up to 1000 nits. In practise, that makes the EVF an easier adjustment for the eyes when framing and shooting in daylight conditions.

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Eagle eyes will also discover new additions to the control layout. In our review of the Z50, we complimented the layout and balance of its buttons and dials, praising its resemblance to full-frame Nikon siblings like the Z6 and Z7. The Z50 II gets closer still, with the addition of five new buttons.

You still don’t get a joystick, which means selecting the AF point requires use of the touchscreen. What you do get are zoom buttons, a display button and a dedicated drive button. These aren’t game-changing additions, but we valued their presence: they bolster the Z50 II’s chops for aspiring enthusiasts, making it easier to change key settings, without cluttering the interface.

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The fifth new button sits on the top plate. A first for any Nikon camera, it gives instant access to Picture Controls – a library of aesthetic presets. To seasoned users, this might sound like a fad, but we think it will appeal to learners who want to get creative while shooting JPEGs. 31 profiles come pre-installed, with the option to adjust them through NX Studio. You can also download Creator Recipes from Nikon Imaging Cloud, and select which appear in the list.

The button’s presence leans into the Z50 II’s status as a camera for all kinds of creators. So does the fact that you can re-program its function, a useful option which will appeal to users as they move into shooting RAW stills and making color edits in post.

Design score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z50 II: features and performance

Expeed 7 processor drives subject-recognition AF
Same 20.9MP APS-C sensor as the Nikon Z50
First Nikon APS-C camera with 10-bit N-log video

If you already own a Nikon Z50, you’ll find a lot of familiar numbers on the spec sheet. The Z50 II uses the same 20.9MP APS-C sensor as its predecessor. Its mechanical burst speeds max out at 11fps. And, like many of the best mirrorless cameras for beginners, it still doesn’t offer in-body image stabilization. What it does have is a new engine.

The headline upgrade for the Z50 II is its Expeed 7 processor – the same chip used by the flagship Nikon Z9 and, subsequently, the Z8. This is the first time it’s been fitted to an APS-C body. As the motor that drives everything from autofocus to burst shooting speeds to video frame rates, it has a lot to do. Based on our experience, the Expeed 7 makes the Z50 II a proper pocket rocket.

Chief among the benefits of that new chip is top-spec subject-recognition autofocus. It might be an entry-level model, but the Nikon Z50 II can detect and lock on to targets rapidly and reliably. It has dedicated detection modes for nine different subject types, including people, animals, birds and cars, as well as an auto setting which can pick up a range of subjects at the same time.

In our experience, the Z50 II’s autofocus performance feels just as snappy in action scenarios as many of Nikon’s more expensive full-frame Z series models. With a new High-Speed Frame Capture+ mode which allows you to shoot at up to 30fps using the electronic shutter, this is a camera that’s perfectly comfortable covering action. We did encounter some rolling shutter when using this mode, but it's nevertheless an impressive feature for an entry-level camera.

It helps that the SD card slot now supports UHS-II cards for faster read and write speeds. The USB port has also been upgraded to a Type-C number, which brings a host of benefits: as well as 5Gbit/s transfer rates, it can be used to charge the camera directly, while UVC/UAC compatibility means it can be used as a webcam without the need for additional software.

Nikon has pitched the Z50 II as a hybrid, which is reflected in its video skills. Even with the same sensor as the Z50, Nikon has harnessed the power of the Expeed 7 to squeeze more recording performance out of it. That includes the ability to capture 4K/60p video, albeit with a 1.5x crop. Uncroppped 4K footage is shot at 30fps, oversampled from 5.6K.

It’s also the first Nikon APS-C camera to support 10-bit N-log video, as well as the option to use RED Luts. This makes the Z50 II a camera with the flexibility for budding filmmakers to grow with, as they learn the ropes of videography and start to explore the possibilities of color grading.

These enthusiast-grade video capabilities might go beyond what most beginners need, but the Z50 II is also well-equipped for first-timers. A new Product Review mode seamlessly adjusts focus from the presenter to an object brought into the frame, similar to the Product Showcase feature found on cameras like the Sony ZV-1. It won’t be relevant to everyone, but if you have ambitions of becoming an influencer, it’s an effective tool.

Like the Z50, the Z50 II features electronic vibration reduction to help steady handheld footage. As before, this applies a 1.3x crop to video. Nikon claims that the feature has been improved for the Z50 II, though our tests found that it still isn’t a replacement for full in-body image stabilization.

Features and performance score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z50 II: image and video quality

Excellent image quality in most conditions
Better noise-handling than the Z50 at the same ISO
4K/60p video with a 1.5x crop

On the whole, images from the Z50 II are as they were with the Z50: realistic, vibrant and clear. While its competitors offer higher resolutions, the 20.9MP sensor inside the Z50 II still does an admirable job of capturing detail.

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Sample images shot with the Nikon Z50 II — (Image credit: Chris Rowlands)

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With the white balance on automatic, we found stills out of the camera to be nicely saturated and just the right amount of dynamic range, without straying too far from neutral. The metering system coped well in a range of lighting scenarios, delivering well-judged exposures. We found that skin tones in particular were rendered faithfully in natural lighting, with a touch of warmth only detectable when shooting under heavy artificial lighting.

While its sensor size and ISO range are unchanged, we found that the Nikon Z50 II handles noise better than the Z50, thanks to the Expeed 7 processor. It was always going to lose out to its full-frame siblings, but you can get away with pushing the ISO number higher on the Z50 II before significant smoothing becomes an issue. ISO 12800 is still the upper limit, but you can comfortably lean on ISO 6400 if the conditions demand it.

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Nikon Z50 II sample images — (Image credit: Chris Rowlands)

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If you’re purely a stills photographer, you will get better resolution elsewhere. What sets the Z50 II apart as a value offering is its autofocus performance, as well as its hybrid video abilities. As noted above, stabilization isn’t perfect, but the same adjectives are true of 4K footage from the Z50 II as for its stills.

We found 4K/60p video to be well-defined and nicely balanced. In our tests, the Z50 II adapted well to different light sources and levels, producing lifelike footage that’s good for grading. Used with a tripod, we can’t see content creators having any issues with the video that the Nikon Z50 II captures.

Image and video quality score: 4.5/5

Nikon Z50 II: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Nikon Z50 II?

Buy it if...

You want top-spec autofocus
Driven by Nikon’s Expeed 7 processor, the Z50 II offers autofocus performance to rival the flagship Z9. With subject detection modes for people, animals and more, it’s rapid and reliable.

You value ergonomics and handling
A deeper grip makes the Z50 II even more comfortable to shoot with. A vari-angle touchscreen is helpful for framing, while new buttons bring its control layout in line with full-frame Z models.

You want to shoot a mix of stills and video
With 4K/30p footage oversampled from 5.6K, plus support for N-log 10-bit recording and a useful Product Review mode for vloggers, the Z50 II has the video capabilities of a proper hybrid.

Don't buy it if...

You already own the Z50
Performance improvements from the Expeed 7 processor are notable, but with few other changes to the overall package, there’s probably not enough here to justify upgrading from the original Z50.

You need in-body image stabilization
Like many entry-level mirrorless cameras, the Z50 II lacks in-body image stabilization. Electronic video stabilization is available with a crop, but you’ll need a VR lens for optical shake reduction.

You want high-resolution stills
At 20.9MP, the Z50 II’s APS-C sensor doesn’t have the highest pixel count. If the number of megapixels matters to you, other entry-level mirrorless cameras offer more for similar money.

Nikon Z50 II: also consider

Canon EOS R10

Our top pick for beginners, the R10 is a similarly priced entry-level mirrorless camera with a compact design, impressive autofocus and rapid burst speeds. It also benefits from a deep grip. Like the Z50 II, it has no in-body image stabilization and puts a crop on 4K/60p video.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R10 review

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV

Its 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor is smaller than the APS-C type inside the Z50 II and has (fractionally) fewer megapixels, but the Mark IV impresses in other ways. It offers excellent in-body image stabilization, classic styling and a compact body, all at a more accessible body-only price.

Read our in-depth Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV review

Nikon Z fc

Another APS-C Nikon Z mount camera, the Z fc offers a stunning blend of old and new. It uses the same sensor as the Z50 II, packaged in a body inspired by the retro FM2. You also get a vari-angle touchscreen, making this a great value casual alternative.

Read our in-depth Nikon Z fc review

How I tested the Nikon Z50 II

Tested a production model over a fortnight
Shot with multiple Nikon Z mount lenses
Used with Nikon’s SnapBridge smartphone app

I tested the Nikon Z50 II for a fortnight, shooting with it on a daily basis. Nikon supplied me with three Z mount lenses for this review: the Z 35mm f/1.4, the Z 85mm f/1.2 S and the Z 70-180mm f/2.8. This allowed me to cover a range of subjects and scenarios with the Z50 II, from street scenes to portraits.

To assess its hybrid capabilities, I used the Z50 II to shoot a combination of stills and video. I also shot fast-moving subjects, including children and dogs, to put its autofocus and burst speeds to the test. During testing, I used one of the best SD cards, a SanDisk Class 10 U3 model, to ensure that performance wasn’t throttled by the memory card.

I also tested the Z50 II at various times of day and in different weather conditions, from bright sunlight to overcast skies. The resulting stills let me assess the white balance out of the camera, as well as how effectively the Z50 II handled noise at different ISO settings.

First reviewed January 2025

Alice Camera review: reinventing the camera for the smartphone age

6:01 pm | November 23, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: Qualcomm Snapdragon | Comments: Off

Alice Camera: one-minute review

As someone who proudly runs a YouTube channel named “All The Gear, No Idea”, I'm always on the lookout for tech that promises to simplify the art of photography. Enter the Alice Camera: a camera body with Micro Four Thirds sensor and lens mount, powered by a Snapdragon chip, and that uses your smartphone as its viewfinder, all controlled through an app. Not a camera as we know it – something smarter.

A UK-based start-up brought this bold idea to life, and as one of the first 100 backers, I've spent three (very long) years waiting to see if it could live up to the hype. Spoiler alert: it's been quite the ride.

The experience has been a mix of awe, impatience and ultimately, satisfaction. The Alice Camera is a deceptively simple concept: it pairs the processing power of a smartphone (a Qualcomm Snapdragon with 8-core CPU to be exact) with the optical performance of a proper camera like the Lumix G9 II. This setup provides access to a wide range of affordable and lightweight lenses, while making the notoriously cumbersome menus of traditional cameras a thing of the past.

For anyone who’s wrestled with the cryptic menus and camera settings on a Panasonic Lumix or Sony, this camera is a breath of fresh air. The interface is as intuitive as using your phone’s camera app, with the added benefit of real-time sharing of your shots. Refreshingly, Alice Camera's software is open source, meaning if you're smart enough, you can build extra features and settings, unlike the leading brands like Canon and Sony that maintain all the control.

Admittedly, the Alice Camera is facing some production delays - something I’ve experienced firsthand, having waited three years for mine. But as frustrating as the wait might be, I can assure you it’s worth it. For those still waiting for their camera, stay patient. The Alice Camera offers a unique blend of convenience, innovation, and quality that makes it stand out in a crowded market.

If you put the Alice Camera in the right hands, it can deliver professional-grade results that you simply wouldn’t achieve with one of the best camera phones alone. Personally, I believe it’s worth every penny. I took some sample shots with the Leica SL3, which is one of the best professional cameras available, with a 180mm lens and then used the Alice Camera with an equivalent Leica 90mm on it to achieve the same focal length. I couldn’t really tell the difference unless I went pixel-peeping, and who really does that on social media anyway?

As someone who usually fumbles with new tech, I’m completely sold on this one. Delays receiving the product aside, I'd have no hesitation recommending the Alice Camera to any photographer.

Alice Camera in a studio — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

Alice Camera: price and availability

$845 / £1,026 at time of writing
Pre-orders for batch 4 at time of writing
Prices could be different depending on which batch of backers you're in

The Alice Camera isn’t cheap, but I think any criticisms that I've read about its price are a bit unfair. You have to bear in mind that this is a small company that doesn’t have the economies of scale of a larger traditional camera manufacturer. They are not Sony. They cant sell TV’s to make up the losses they could incur on a camera division. It’s $850 / £1,000 approx for the camera itself, and some argue that when paired with a high-end smartphone, you’re looking at a total of over $1,800 / £2,000. But here’s the thing: most of us already own a smartphone, so it's really only the cost of the camera and lens you're looking at. And for that outlay, you get the ability to instantly share and livestream high-quality smartphone-beating photos and videos. You really cannot factor in the cost of your smartphone. And if you really must do that, then buy an old iPhone 12 and it’s still compatible – at best that will cost you another $400 / £500.

Alice Camera: specs

Alice Camera: Design

Premium metal body that is lightweight and with an ergonomic handle
Secure phone grip that fits smartphones as small as the iPhone mini all the way to an iPhone 16 Pro max
Simplified user interface and user experience making setup easy

Unboxing the Alice Camera felt like discovering a hidden gem. The sleek, lightweight design is deceptive - it feels premium, despite its featherlight build. The metal finish adds a level of robustness that’s reassuring. Inside the box, you’ll find a unique identifier that links the Wi-Fi on your phone to the camera, essential for pairing them up. The camera strap and build quality only add to the premium feel. However, what stands out most is the sensor: a micro four thirds unit that’s significantly bigger than anything you’d find on a standard smartphone. This offers more professional and realistic looking background separation, not the digitally created artificial bokeh that phones create.

Setting up the Alice Camera is as easy as it gets. You attach your phone via the extremely secure clamps (in my case, an iPhone 15 Pro Max) and pair the camera through the Alice Camera app, which is available for both iOS or Android. Once connected, you’re ready to shoot in seconds. The app has an intuitive user interface and experience. As a user you’re able to toggle between basic or advanced settings where you’re able to control everything from shutter speed to white balance, tint, colour enhancements and dynamic range.

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Alice Camera uses a Micro Four Thirds lens mount – the same used by OM System cameras such as the OM-5 and Panasonic Cameras including the Lumix G9 II – and you can use a whole variety of lenses for this system. When you put the Alice Camera into manual focus mode a digital rangefinder graphic appears and offers a more tactile experience than I expected. That said, using manual focus can be tricky, particularly outdoors where the phone’s screen contrast struggles to differentiate between the subject and background. I found this especially frustrating when trying to focus on finer details. The shots looked great at first glance, but once zoomed in, the lack of precision became apparent - though that may have more to do with the budget Olympus (OM System) lens I was using. Autofocus is rolling out in the next few weeks and I cant wait!

Alice Camera: Performance

Qualcomm Snapdragon and Google AI chip for running computational photography on device
11MP photos, while not the highest, are perfectly suitable for everyday photography and social media
4K 30fps and 2k 60fps video captures high-quality video footage, ideal for content creators and vloggers

Female model with dark hair, red lipstick and in red dress, outdoors at night, taken with the Alice Camera — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

Despite the occasional hiccup with manual focusing, I’ve managed to capture some stunning images by my standards. A particular highlight was photographing my friend Hannah using a Leica 90mm lens. The smooth resistance in the focus wheel made manual focusing far more satisfying than the cheaper alternatives, and the final images were sharp and full of character. I own a couple of Leicas and I’ve gotta say, in my incapable hands, I could seldom tell the difference in shots! In the right hands, gear really can make all the difference, but Greg Williams could take better shots with this than I could with a Hasselblad!

As for video, one complaint I’ve seen online is that the Alice Camera isn’t suitable for vlogging. Honestly, I’m not sure where that criticism comes from - vlogging with the Alice Camera is perfectly feasible. Using a wider lens like the Panasonic Lumix 9mm or a 12-60mm would cover most use cases. Yes, my 25mm lens was too tight, but no one would vlog with an equivalent of 50mm.

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Closeup of a female model's eyes, taken with the Alice Camera — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

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Female model with dark hair, outdoors, taken with the Alice Camera — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

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Female model with dark hair in red dress, outdoors at night, taken with the Alice Camera — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

When you take a photos, the JPEGs are immediately sent to your smartphone’s camera roll, which means they’re ready to share instantly. Also because of Alice Camera’s AI-driven computational photography software pipeline my photos look great straight out of camera with very little editing. These JPEGs are 3MB in size so they don’t eat up too much storage on your phone.

The team behind the Alice Camera say that the software is open source, which in theory gives it unmatched potential for customization, with their own plans to add autofocus in the near future, in addition to the ways others can enhance the user experience. I find that extremely exciting.

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Rear of a yellow Bentley car in a showroom, taken with the Alice Camera — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

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Modern gearbox panel of a supercar, taken with the Alice Camera — (Image credit: Rashid Ahmad)

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Should you buy the Alice Camera?

Buy it if...

You’re fed up of complicated camera menus and workflows

Alice Camera is a breeze to use. If you’re someone graduating from a smartphone to a mirrorless camera for the first time then this would be very intuitive compared to the complex camera menus of traditional cameras.

You want an affordable fun camera

Alice Camera attaches to your smartphone and is frankly very fun to use. You have immediate access to your files. If you’re happy to let the camera take control you can, but you can also get fine-grained control.

You want to be part of the next wave of innovation

In my view Alice Camera is pushing the boundaries of mirrorless-and-smartphone integration. If you want to take part in that journey then join the ride!

Don't buy it if...

Megapixels matters most to you

Alice Camera doesn’t offer the highest megapixels available so if this is important to you then consider this before purchasing.

You prefer traditional buttons and dials

Alice Camera has a minimalistic design. There are only two buttons - a shutter button and an on/off button, not a single dial to speak of.

You work in wet or rainy environments

One thing to highlight is that the camera is not technically weather sealed. Although I have used it outside with some mild drizzle and it did not affect its performance, this is not the camera for the Amazon.

How I tested the Alice Camera

Used as primary camera for over a month
Paired with a variety of lenses
Photos shot in RAW & JPEG

I bought two Alice Cameras and used them as my primary cameras for over one month. I've taken it on early morning photo walks, portrait photo environments, and used it mostly for stills but sometimes in video scenarios. It's able to handle moving subjects, although I did struggle a bit with manual focusing. I avoided using the camera in heavy rain or difficult conditions but I did feel comfortable using it in cold and drizzly rain.

I paired the camera with the Lumix 25mm f/1.7 and the Leica 90mm f/2 APO-Summicron (via an adapter, the M-mount and MFT). The resolution for all the images was 11MP. I took all photos in RAW format. Shooting mostly with wide apertures I was able to get a nice blurry background but for some landscape photos I stopped down the aperture.

First reviewed November 2024

Sony A1 II review – a refined flagship

5:31 pm | November 19, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: AI, FE, Pixel Shift | Comments: Off

Sony A1 II: two-minute review

Combine a dash of the Sony Alpha A1, a splash of the Sony A9 III, a sprinkling of all-new refinements, give it a stir, and voilà… you have the Sony A1 II, Sony's best-ever Alpha camera, and one of the best hybrid professional cameras available.

It's not quite as quick as the A9 III with its global shutter, unlimited flash sync speed and 120fps burst shooting, nor does it quite produce the same highly-detailed pictures as the 61MP A7R V; but the A1 II is the best Sony has to offer for detail and speed in a single camera.

That dash of the A1 is the same full-frame back-illuminated 50MP stacked sensor, powered by Sony's Bionz XR processor for 30fps burst shooting and 8K video up to 30fps with 10-bit 4:2:2 color depth, plus 4K 120fps slow-motion video.

The sprinkling of the A9 III (that upgrades this camera over the A1) is a like-for-like design, meaning a larger handgrip with a nicely-angled shutter button, a larger 3.2-inch multi-angle touchscreen with better color depth, more effective image stabilization now rated up to 8.5EV, Sony's AI processing chip, plus an additional custom button for the likes of an instant boost in speed for burst shooting.

Sony A1 II mirrorless camera's vari-angle screen pulled out to the side, outdoors on a tripod with autumn leaves background — The A1 II's design is inherited from the A9 III, which means a chunkier handgrip and larger multi-angle touchscreen (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Finally, the sprinkling of the all-new includes a new 'Auto' subject-detection autofocus mode, meaning you don't have to manually select the subject type ahead of time, though you still can if you'd rather. Users can also import custom LUT color profiles, in addition to Sony's popular S-Log3 and S-Cinetone color profiles that are built-in.

The message here is that there's practically nothing new in the A1 II, which is highly unusual for a Sony flagship camera, especially after such a quiet 2024 for the camera giant, with this being the first new full-frame Alpha this year.

The A1 II combines excellent A1 and A9 III attributes in a single camera, but there's little here to get excited about. Sony has slightly reduced the launch price compared to the A1 when it was announced almost fours ago, so that's something at least. However, Sony's hand has been somewhat forced by cheaper rivals coming onto the scene since the A1 – the Nikon Z8 and Canon EOS R5 Mark II, and compared to them it feels over priced. For instance, at the time of writing you can get two Z8's on sale for the same price as one A1 II.

Ultimately, Sony has created a polished upgrade over the first-gen model that's likely to please pros who rely on their gear daily in challenging situations. It may not be an exciting upgrade, but the Sony A1 II is up there with the very best cameras we've tested.

Sony A1 II: price and release date

Body-only price is $6,500 / £6,300 / AU$10,989
Available since late November
New BC-ZD1 charger and VG-C5 grip (sold separately)

The Sony A1 II went on sale from late November 2024 with a list price of $6,500 / £6,300 / AU$10,989. That's a fraction lower than the launch price of the A1 from all the way back in 2021. In one sense that's commendable on Sony's part, but on the other hand the market has changed, and the A1 series has now has accomplished rivals that offer perhaps 90% of the all-round package but cost much less. Sony needed to be aggressive with its pricing, and it has been to an extent, but the Nikon Z9 in particular looks very reasonable by comparison and the Nikon Z8 and Canon EOS R5 Mark II are cheaper still.

Price score: 3/5

Sony A1 II: specs

Sony A1 II: design and handling

Same design as the A9 III
Smart control layout with handy shortcuts to frequently used features
New dedicated mic for voice memos

In terms of change from the A1, you get a larger 3.2-inch multi-angle touchscreen, with the dual hinge enabling users to tilt and angle the screen for easy viewing at high or low angles whether they're shooting vertical or horizontal. That dual-hinge design also enables you to pull the screen further away from the body and its chunky viewfinder eye-piece, which can otherwise partially obstruct the screen (the A1 II comes with two eye-pieces, one of which has a larger cup).

While we're on the viewfinder, it is again a 9.44m-dot OLED display which is yet to be bettered, however this time the refresh rate is doubled from 60fps to 120fps for a smoother experience, or an even smoother maxi um 240fps refresh rate, albeit the resolution of the display drops.

The A1 II's handgrip is more rounded and all-round chunkier, and I feel like it slots into the hand better than the grip on the A1, though they are similar in depth. There are little refinements too, such as the shutter button being angled slightly differently and easier to press.

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Top plate of Sony A1 II mirrorless camera with autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Closeup of the Sony A1 II mirrorless camera's ports, outdoors on a tripod with autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Sony A1 II mirrorless camera's memory card door open with card inside and autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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As on the A9 III, there's an additional custom button on the front of the A1 II, which is factory-set to act as a speed boost for continuous burst shooting. The idea is that you don't always want to be shooting at the maximum frame rate, which in this case is 30fps, but you might suddenly need that speed, and the button allows you to tick over at a lower frame rate and get an instant injection of extra frames when you need it.

One feature that caught my eye in the original A1, and has again here, is the max flash sync speed of 1/400 sec. That beats the Nikon Z9 for example, making the A1 II a more versatile camera for flash photography, especially if you like using a wide aperture. However, Sony's own A9 III is more versatile still, with what is effectively has an unlimited flash sync speed.

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Sony A1 II mirrorless camera outdoors on a tripod with autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Sony A1 II mirrorless camera with FE 28-70mm F2 lens, outdoors on a tripod with autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

The A1 II is also an extremely rugged weatherproof camera, with nicely designed rigid doors on the connection ports that stay out of the way when the ports are in use, while the dual memory card door features a push lock and is a better design than Nikon's, which can easily be knocked open.

Check out our A9 III review to learn more about the A1 II's design – the two cameras share practically the same design.

Design score: 5/5

Sony A1 II : features and performance

Improved image stabilization, up to 8.5EV
Same 759-point AF array, now with AI processing unit for subject detection
30fps burst shooting for up to 153 raw images, now with pre-capture

Sony has delivered one notable hardware improvement over the A1, adding an AI processing unit that was debuted in the A7R V. This should deliver better subject-detection autofocus for photo and video compared to the A1, though we haven't tested the A1 II against the A1, both of which share the same 759 AF point array, to see just how much of a difference it makes.

Having used Sony's previous professional Alphas, I was most keen to test out the new Auto subject-detection autofocus mode. Frustrated by what feel to me like unnecessarily complex subject detection choices that you need to manually select ahead of time – humans, birds, animals, car, insects, planes, trains and so on, I've called on brands to add an auto mode that simplifies the experience. Cue the A1 II and its new mode.

Compared to the dedicated subject detections modes that are still available, there's very little to choose between the performance of the new Auto mode. The Auto option performed equally well for me when shooting portraits of people, locking reliably onto my subject's eyes, and during a soccer game capturing the fast moving pro players in action. That said, I haven't conjured up a scenario specifically for the sake of testing potential weaknesses the Auto mode might have.

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Sony A1 II mirrorless camera's LCD screen displaying the autofocus modes, outdoors on a tripod with autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Sony also says the next-gen autofocus is able to recognize the head and body of humans / animals, and that its performance is 30% more effective than the A1's for detecting human and animal eyes, while the camera's autofocus can operate effectively in low light down to -4EV. Until recently if you'd asked me the best autofocus system available I'd say Sony without hesitation, but Canon's latest efforts in the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II are mightily impressive too, especially the new sports priority modes. I couldn't tell you which is better now without running a direct comparison.

Closeup of the Sony A1 II mirrorless camera's drive mode dial, outdoors on a tripod with autumn leaves background — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Another similarity between this camera and its predecessor is that both can shoot at a burst rate of up to 30fps for a similar length of time before slowing down – a little over 150 raw frames or close to 180 JPEGs. For such occasions, that speed-boost button is infinitely helpful for improving efficiency and workflow by enabling you to adapt your shooting rate.

The A1 II also gets a handy pre-capture feature. Pre-capture is nothing new, although Sony was late to the party, only introducing it to an Alpha camera with the A9 III. Put simply, pre-capture can buffer up to one second's worth of photos – in this case 30 photos – before you fully press the shutter button to start capturing a high-speed sequence. That one second of grace when you're slow to react could be the difference between capturing the moment and missing it completely.

Features and performance score: 4.5/5

Sony A1 II: image and video quality

50MP stills and 8K/30p video
4:2:2 10-bit color depth and Sony's S-Log3, S-Cinetone, plus LUT imports
Pixel Shift and Noise Reduction shooting modes

Sony's 50MP full-frame stacked sensor is a proven performer, delivering sharp stills with up to 15EV of dynamic range. The A7R V's 61MP sensor gets you marginally better detail, but the A1 II is a much faster performer. Furthermore, in-body image stabilization is improved over the A1, and you'll often get slightly sharper end results when shooting handheld, depending on the camera's shutter speed and how steady your hand is.

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Portrait of a man within a veil — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Versus the 24MP Sony A9 III for sports, I really appreciated the higher resolution 50MP sensor which gives you extra scope for cropping into images, and which enables a 21MP APS-C mode – with which you effectively extend the focal length of your lens by 1.5x. The soccer photos below were taken from considerable distance with a 400mm lens, but I could crop in and frame exactly how a 600mm lens might look.

Once again Sony's Pixel Shift Multi Shooting mode features, combining up to 16 shots for one larger 199MP composite image. It's not as effective as Canon's new in-camera AI upscaling feature in the EOS R1 / EOS R5 Mark II, especially if there's any movement in your shot. However, in situations such as still lifes in the studio it increases detail by up to 400%. Sony has also added a new Noise Reduction shooting mode that, like Pixel Shift, combines multiple images but in this case for a cleaner image, especially in low light.

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Ballet dancer in a white studio — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Dancer mid air in a white studio — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Outright image quality is, in effect, the same as from the A1, which is a good thing, with clean images up to ISO 12,800 from the A1 II's ISO 100-32,000 range. The almost four-year-old sensor has stood the test of time. Where we really see improvements in image quality is in the positive effect of improved image stabilization for handheld shots and even more reliable subject-detection autofocus for shooting animals, vehicles, people, and so on.

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Head and shoulder portrait of a man with autumn leaves in the background, taken with the Sony A1 II — The Auto subject-detection mode worked fine in this portrait, with the focus pin-sharp on the eyes (scroll to next image to see a close-up). (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

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Closeup of the eye in portrait of a man with autumn leaves in the background, taken with the Sony A1 II — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

As for video quality, again it's mostly as you were from 2021's A1: 8K up to 30fps, 4K 60fps in 4:2:2 10-bit from the full-width of the sensor, or 4K up to 120fps with a slight crop. Thankfully, the A1 was ahead of its time and the A1 II still holds up today, plus it throws in some new features such as 1/48sec and 1/96sec frame rates for true 180-degree shutter angle at popular cinematic frame rates. It also brings LUT imports (with support for monitor LUT display), plus AI-based Auto Framing à la ZV-E1.

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Manchester City player Jeremy Doke dribbling the ball, defended by Ola Aina — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

Having 50MP to play with gives more cropping potential, which can especially be handy for sports photography. There's even a 21MP APS-C / Super 35 mode which effectively extends your lens focal length by 1.5x.

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Image and video quality score: 4.5/5

Sony A1 II: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Sony A1 II?

Buy it if...

You want Sony's best-ever mirrorless camera, no matter the cost
It's a modest update of the flagship A1, but there's enough in here for certain photographers to merit the upgrade.

You need speed and quality
The A9 III is quicker, the A7R V has a higher resolution 61MP sensor, but the A1 II offers a compelling mix of speed and quality in one camera.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best bang for buck
New Nikon and Canon rivals offer almost everything the A1 II does, but for much less money.

You don't need a do-it-all camera
Portrait and landscape photography specialists can save by opting for the 61MP A7R V, while sports only shooters can look to the A9 II.

Sony A1 II: also consider

Nikon Z8

The Nikon Z9 should be the A1 II's rival, but the smaller and cheaper-still Z8 has a similar form factor to the A1 II and plenty of similar features, at least on paper. The two full-frame mirrorless cameras shoot high-resolution stills at 45MP (Z8) to 50MP (A1 II), 8K video, and both handle really well. Each camera has minor advantages over the other, but the most striking difference of all is price – you can pick up two Nikon Z8s for the price of one Sony A1 II.

Read our in-depth Nikon Z8 review

Canon EOS R5 Mark II

For speed and quality, Canon offers the EOS R5 Mark II, TechRadar's Camera of the year 2024 winner. It was a significant upgrade of the EOS R5, adding serious power under the hood to the 45MP stills and 8K video skills. A newly-designed stacked sensor and second processor improved speed, while new autofocus skills – including sports priority modes – are a match if not better than Sony. Canon's all-in-one full-framer is much cheaper than the A1 II too, although Nikon's Z8 is cheaper still. Overall, the new Canon model could be the most compelling of the three. Pros are spoilt for choice!

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R5 Mark II review

How I tested the Sony A1 II

Sony A1 II mirrorless camera in the hand — (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

I tested a full-production model with final firmware, over two single week periods
Used with multiple lenses, including the FE 28-70mm F2 GM lens and 400mm F2.8 GM OSS
I used it with Sony's Creator Cloud app

I tested a final firmware version of the Sony A1 II ahead of launch, together with the new Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM lens, for a week. I consequently used it after launch for sports photography. The A1 II's raw files were not readable in editing software at the time of testing.

I've been shooting with a CFexpress Type A card to get the best possible performance from the camera, and recorded burst sequences at TechRadar's standard camera testing settings: 1/250 sec, ISO 200, and continuous AF.

Sony's Creator Cloud app works with the A1 II, and I used the app to remotely shoot images with the camera and upload images too. I shot portraits of humans and animals with the various subject-detection autofocus modes.

I've also tested the A1 II for pro sports, and in a range of weather conditions and various times of day / night.

First reviewed November 2024