• Canon could release several 'world-first' RF lenses this year
• Among them, an RF 24-70mm F2L and several 'big white' telephoto primes
• We'd love to get your votes on which ones you'd most like to see

The folks at Canon Rumors have recently been writing about a string of promising Canon RF lenses, each tipped for a 2026 release, according to its sources. There's one pro zoom that sounds dreamy, plus several primes billed as first of their kind.

For me, the RF 24-70mm F2L could be a game-changer, covering multiple professional needs with a maximum aperture that's a whole stop brighter than the f/2.8 aperture in the equivalent traditional 24-70mm f/2.8 pro zoom.

What's even more exciting is that the rumored lens could be much smaller and lighter than the RF 28-70mm F2L USM, according to Canon Rumors, even with that wider zoom.

That original 28-70mm zoom with constant f/2 aperture was launched around the time Canon debuted its EOS R mirrorless camera system and RF-mount in 2018, marking a new, post-DSLR age, and was an optic that we couldn't have imagined for Canon's EF-mount DSLRs.

It's a gargantuan lens, mind you, and I'm sure Canon fans will be excited by the possibility of a lightweight alternative with an even wider zoom range and equally bright constant f/2 aperture. And the 24-70mm F2 isn't the only lens being talked about.

Primed for action

Canon Rumors says that an RF 24-70mm F2L could be one of several new RF lenses ready for a 2026 launch — that's one way to keep Canon fans happy especially since Sony has been busy launching it's own lighter f/2 zooms, such as the 28-70mm F2 GM and 50-150mm F2 GM — both five star rated lenses.

Other Canon lenses potentially in the pipeline, according to Canon Rumors, are a new 500mm F5.6L and updates to the current 400mm and 600mm telephoto primes, all 'big-white' pro primes with 'new and unseen technology', the details of which we don't know yet. The 400mm and 600mm primes could feature a built-in 1.4x teleconverter, and eye-watering price tag.

There is also a suggestion that Canon won't stop at a single f/2 zoom lens, and Canon Rumors readers have been speculating about a 70-180mm F2L and 12-24mm F2L in the comments of the Canon Rumors article. There's also mention of a showpiece RF 85mm prime with maximum F1 aperture!

That's a serious collection of pro primes and zooms, though these are all rumored products and by no means guaranteed. I know which lens from the above excites me the most, but I'm keen to hear what you think. Have your say in the poll below — you can vote for multiple lenses, including all seven if you can't decide between them.

In case you didn’t know it, there’s an "explosive growth in video-first products". That’s according to Canon, which just unveiled another 'V' mirrorless camera, the EOS R6 V.

With this latest arrival, Canon now has 22 EOS R mirrorless cameras in its arsenal, and the range caters for every niche and need, even if its naming convention can get a little confusing.

It was telling that, during a video briefing ahead of the EOS R6 V's launch, Canon showed several slides explaining who its various cameras are for, yet one attendee was still compelled to ask “why did you call it the EOS R6 V?”

So let’s unpack what the new camera is, where it sits in Canon's range, and which type of user it's aimed at. Here are 5 things you need to know…

1. Who’s the EOS R6 V for?

Canon started its ‘V’ series of cameras with the EOS R50 V, with the ‘V’ denoting video. Or perhaps it’s vlogging; I’m actually not sure. Either way, photography is a secondary function of the range.

You see, Canon believes that video-first products are where the market is going, and now it's given the ‘V’ series the full-frame treatment with the EOS R6 V, which rivals the Sony ZV-E1 and Nikon Zr — cameras with serious video skills, but pared back design when compared to pro cinema cameras.

In Canon’s range, the EOS R6 V sits above the EOS R50 V which is a vlogging-style version of the EOS R50 with an APS-C sensor. Both omit a viewfinder in favor of a host of video-friendly features and design touches, including a tally lamp, vertical and horizontal tripod mounts, auto-rotating menus (for video), and long record times.

If the EOS R50 V is a starter camera for vlogging and video creators, then the EOS R6 V is a supercharged version for upgraders, or those with pro-level skills who are looking to dive straight in. But things get more complicated — the R6 V inherits a sensor found in two other Canon cameras; the EOS R6 III and EOS C50.

The EOS R6 III is a photography-first camera which can also shoot great video, while the EOS C50 is a cinema camera with pro-level connectivity that happens to take photos; the EOS R6 V is somewhere in the middle.

Those three cameras share many of the same features, but are designed differently, and the EOS R6 V targets the same market as the Sony ZV-E1 and Nikon Zr. That should hopefully clear some things up, but let’s dig a bit deeper…

2. Sensor

Logically, the main reason that the new camera is called the EOS R6 V is because it features the same sensor as the EOS R6 III (but not previous EOS R6 models). However, not even the Canon spokesperson could confirm the reasoning behind the naming when presenting the product. The EOS C50 cinema camera also has the same sensor — it’s a 32.5MP full-frame sensor rated for 7.5 stops of image stabilization.

Each of the three cameras are capable of recording 7K video up to 60fps, internal RAW recording with Canon’s C-Log color profiles, the option for open-gate recording (from the full height and width of the 3:2 aspect ratio sensor), oversampled 4K up to 60fps, 4K /120fps and 2K up to 180fps. By comparison, the cheaper and smaller EOS R50 V’s video skills are very limited.

The EOS R6 V can shoot superb stills too, like the EOS R6 III — that's 32.5MP stills up to 40fps, with pre-capture. Not bad at all. Where the cameras differ the most is in their design.

3. Design

The EOS R6 V is a much bigger camera than the EOS R50 V — you can see the differences between the various cameras in the images above. However, it's similarly styled, with a similar control layout and shape.

Neither camera has a viewfinder — a growing trend that we’ve seen in new cameras, and one that isn't going down well with TechRadar readers. You'll be composing images using the camera’s 3-inch 1.62m-dot vari-angle touchscreen (which pales in comparison to the Nikon Zr’s gorgeous 4-inch display).

The bulkier body of the EOS R6 V packs the larger sensor, and features cooling vents, adding to the camera’s depth but equipping it with what are effectively unlimited record times. Canon told me that with the fan enabled, record times at any resolution, including 7K, are over two hours. In reality, you’ll run out of battery or space on your memory cards before the camera needs a break.

The EOS R6 V is a highly customizable camera, too, with 12 buttons that can be assigned your choice of function. It offers live streaming through full-size HDMI, a vertical tripod mount, and a zoom lever which can be used for a digital zoom, but also with 'power zoom' lenses. Speaking of ‘PZ’ lenses…

4. A new ‘kit’ lens

Alongside the camera, Canon announced the RF 20-50mm F4L IS USM PZ lens, and the two are designed to work together. The ‘PZ’ stands for power zoom, which is a smooth zoom function via a control on the lens, plus the camera itself also has a zoom lever.

By contrast, standard RF lenses paired with the EOS R6 III and other photography-first mirrorless cameras are manual-zoom only, and that jerky motion is not particularly something you’ll want during recording, or to be evident in your videos.

The lens itself weighs 420g, and coupled with the EOS R6 V, which weighs 688g with battery and card (598g without), balances well on a gimbal. It's equipped with 24cm close focusing and a decent 0.33x maximum magnification. Given it’s an L-series lens, build and optical quality are top drawer, and it costs a fair whack. How much? Here are the prices for the camera and lens…

5. Pricing

The EOS R6 V costs £2,400 / AU$3,599 (I’m rounding up UK prices by a penny because all those 99s are tedious), and will be available from June 24. You’ll be able to buy the camera in a kit with the RF 20-50mm F4L IS USM PZ lens, and together they’ll set you back £3,550 / AU$5,399 — that’s a saving of almost £300 / AU$400 versus buying the two separately. The lens will be available separately for £1,440 / AU$2,199, but I don’t have details on the launch date of the lens on its own yet, which I believe will be later than that of the kit. I'll also update this article with US pricing as soon as I can.

That pricing means the EOS R6 V is the most cost-effective way to bag Canon’s 32.5MP sensor — it’s cheaper than the EOS R6 III, and much less than the EOS C50. It’s the same story with the Sony ZV-E1 — it packs the same 12MP full-frame sensor and 4K recording as other pricier Sony cameras, including the A7S III and FX3.

Say what you will about these vlogging-style cameras — they do cost less versus other designs. I’ve had some brief hands-on time with the EOS R6 V, but not nearly enough time to form any meaningful conclusions. Stay tuned for our full review further down the line.

I was delighted to interview top wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas at this year's Sony World Photography Awards, after he scooped the top Wildlife Category prize for his 'Crossing Point' series.

His stunning and highly detailed photos were captured over a 6-month period and provided vital data on Kenya's iconic Masai Mara National Park's wildlife to local agencies. The park's rangers were stunned by some of the discoveries, all captured using Burrard-Lucas' unique, self-developed camera trap system.

As a camera nerd, I was especially keen to understand his camera setup and how he went about capturing the photos, which are now very much in the spotlight since the SWPA 2026 awards.

What Burrard-Lucas shared with me was fascinating, and also goes to show that there can very much be life left in old camera gear yet.

'Where a lot of mirrorless cameras fall down'

You might expect the series to have been captured with one of the best mirrorless cameras. Burrard-Lucas does indeed primarily use Sony gear for wildlife photography in the field. However, for his remote camera traps used in this winning series, his gear choices were altogether different.

Burrard-Lucas' camera traps are based on his own 'Camtraptions' devices, specifically a highly advanced motion sensor for wired or wireless operation. He wirelessly paired the motion sensor with a full-frame Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera (fitted with a 35mm lens). That's right, a 14-year-old, enthusiast-level DSLR.

Given their age, and like most of the best DSLRs, you can only pick up EOS 6D's second-hand now, with 'excellent condition' models costing around $400 / £350 at leading retailers.

The fact that these old DSLRs are low-cost is part of the appeal for Burrard-Lucas, because of the number of camera traps he sets up and the harsh environments he typically works in — there's a real cost to performance consideration. He told me he needed affordable, "reliable and robust" gear with excellent low-light image quality, and the EOS 6D fit the bill.

Even so, there's actually a technical advantage to older DSLRs. Good lighting was crucial to the series, especially since many of the species being tracked are typically nocturnal and shy, such as rhinos, so Burrard-Lucas needed to use flash.

Burrard-Lucas told me, "Any old DSLR camera works really well in the camera trap setup — it [the camera] needs to work well with flash, which is where a lot of mirrorless cameras fall down."

The composition you see in his 'Crossing Point' series was decided at the beginning, with the motion sensor positioned to trigger the camera when the animal walked into the specific part of the frame (which Burrard-Lucas manually focused the camera's lens on), and the camera remotely triggered three flash guns to illuminate the subject and immediate lush surroundings.

Given that composition and focus are selected ahead of time, there was little need for Burrard-Lucas to pick a top-spec camera with leading burst shooting speeds and autofocus performance. His gear choice was determined by image quality requirements, reliability, and affordability, and the EOS 6D was his pick.

Burrard-Lucas regularly works using camera traps, and they are positioned where they are at risk of damage from wildlife. Therefore, he told me that whenever he sees cheap "old secondhand DSLRs, I snap them up".

When I asked about his use of camera traps, Burrard-Lucas said, "for nocturnal creatures, there's nothing better than camera traps, because really it comes down to lighting.

"For these elusive animals, a photographer could wait 12 hours, but you can't wait four months, so it's the only practical way when you've got this defined focal point."

I've decided to give Burrard-Lucas' camera trap system a go for myself, and he advised me, "It's super easy, and so many people are making new use of their old DSLR camera. You don't need a lot of additional kit; the sensor, a single flash to start with, keep things simple and leave it out for a few nights."

Burrard-Lucas sells every item needed for his photo award-winning system except for the camera itself on his Camtraptions website, where you will also find a much more detailed how-to.

I can't say I'll be photographing anything as exciting as a rhino or a leopard, but it'll be great to dust off my old Nikon DSLR and give it a new purpose, and I can't wait to see what sort of nocturnal wildlife visits my countryside garden. Hopefully, I'll share some of the best photos soon.

You can see more of the 'Crossing Point' project photos at the World Photo Organisation website.

The winners at the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 have been revealed, and once again the prestigious contest, which this year attracted 430,000 entries from over 200 countries and territories, was packed with incredible photography and stories.

I was fortunate to get a sneak preview of the exhibition — which is open to the public at Somerset House in London until May 4, 2026 — and its 300 plus works, to hear from the 10 category winners and attend the glitzy award ceremony. And best of all, I had the opportunity to sit down with the Wildlife category winner Will Burrard-Lucas to discuss his 'Crossing Point' series created in Kenya's Masai Mara national park.

The project was seeded in cooperation with the Safari Collection and local government to provide vital data of the iconic national park's wildlife, primarily to track rhino numbers, but the highly-detailed photos made many more discoveries that 'stunned' the park's rangers, despite them being intimately familiar with the park's wildlife.

I was already familiar with Burrard-Lucas' wildlife photography, but less so with how he makes the photos, so I was keen to discover more about his unique camera setup. What he shared with me was fascinating.

'For nocturnal creatures, there's nothing better than camera traps'

Will Burrard-Lucas' wildlife photography is captured using a variety of setups, from daytime shoots with Sony mirrorless camera gear in hand, to camera traps paired with 'old secondhand DSLRs' and left in place for long periods — the latter was his approach to the 'Crossing Point' project.

Low-cost trail cams are ideal for recording wildlife, but the image quality is typically poor and not detailed enough to distinguish specific animals. Burrard-Lucas, on the other hand, uses top-quality camera gear, paired with his self-developed camera trap system.

Burrard-Lucas' camera traps are his own 'Camtraptions' devices, and are based on a highly advanced motion sensor — the latest version being the culmination of years of development — which works with a number of leading digital cameras for wired or wireless operation.

For this project, Burrard-Lucas wirelessly paired the motion sensor with a full-frame Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera (fitted with a 35mm lens), which in turn remotely triggered three off-camera flashguns. As he tells me, "Any old DSLR camera works really well in the camera trap setup — it [the camera] needs to work well with flash, which is where a lot of mirrorless cameras fall down."

He had access to closed-off areas of the national park where there are a concentration of particularly rare wildlife species, including rhino — which are notoriously shy. A brook surrounded by lush vegetation was the stage for the vital project, an unusual setting for a park typically known for its wide open plains. "The moment I saw it, I knew it was the right place," Burrard-Lucas says.

The camera was fixed to a tripod and protected from the elements and was left in place for more than six months; the composition that you see was decided at the very beginning with multiple considerations. The motion sensor is positioned to trigger the camera when the animal steps into the specific part of the frame, and the camera's focus is manually set to that spot, with off-camera lighting ready to illuminate it in low light.

With such a project, Burrard-Lucas doesn't need the latest camera gear with blazing fast shooting speeds and AI subject detection autofocus. No, he needs 'reliable' and 'robust' gear with excellent image quality, and also that's affordable given the number of camera traps he sets up and the environments he works in. Whenever he sees cheap "old secondhand DSLRs, I snap them up," he tells me.

Many of the species that the park was particularly keen to get more data on are shy, nocturnal creatures, especially rhino. As such, lighting is key, and there are three flashguns positioned to illuminated the subject and immediate surrounding vegetation.

With the setup in place, Burrard-Lucas had trained the rangers to make a weekly check on the gear, change batteries and download the pictures from the camera's memory card, fresh for another week of motion-triggered capture.

The rangers believed a single rhino to be resident in the area, but over following months were surprised to identify eight different beasts. Yet it was another discovery that left them 'stunned' — when a kudu entered the brook one day. Kudu can be found in other parts of Kenya, but until these unique nighttime photos revealed their presence they had not been thought to live in the Masai Mara national park.

"You can never predict what's going to show up," says Burrard-Lucas, but over the course of six months his camera photographed a wide range of wildlife, from rhino to leopard, elephant, giraffe, the surprise kudu and many more.

For me, the thrill of photography is being there and experiencing what I'm photographing in the moment, so I was keen to hear how this alternative approach of setting the stage ahead of time for remote capture differed to when he's out with the camera in hand, reacting to what he's seeing before him.

"They both have their place for different species and different projects", says Burrard-Lucas, "but for me, for nocturnal creatures, there's nothing better than camera traps, because really it comes down to lighting.

"For these elusive animals, a photographer could wait 12 hours, but you can't wait four months, so it's the only practical way when you've got this defined focal point." For other creatures that don't stick to trails or are typically out in wide open savannahs, a camera trap is much less helpful.

I ask Burrard-Lucas about camera trap photography for beginners, and he tells me, "It's super easy, and so many people are making new use of their old DSLR camera. You don't need a lot of additional kit; the sensor, a single flash to start with, keep things simple and leave it out for a few nights."

I might just try this camera trap setup for myself; Burrard-Lucas sells every item needed for it barring the camera on his Camtraptions website, which also provides an in-depth how-to. Whether I can photograph anything as exciting as a rhino is a different matter, of course — but you have to start somewhere.

Canon continues to lock out third parties from its RF-mount for full-frame cameras (but not APS-C), but that decision feels somewhat justified given how active it's been in filling out its range of lenses.

Take the latest pair of lenses for mirrorless – the Canon RF 14mm F1.4L VCM and Canon RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 Fisheye STM. They're two niche, ultra-wide lenses that nicely fill gaps in Canon's range, in particular for astrophotographers and extreme sports respectively.

I got to try both lenses at Canon's HQ in the UK ahead of their announcement, albeit not in the kind of scenarios where they would truly shine. But my short hands-on experience with the 14mm f/1.4 left me super-impressed – here's how I got on.

Canon RF 14mm F1.4L VCM – first impressions

The new 14mm F1.4L VCM is the sixth prime in a range of hybrid lenses, which also includes two zooms. It's easily the widest of the lot, and its 14mm full-frame coverage is popular, especially among astrophotographers, and it's also great for landscape and interior architecture photography, plus weddings and video work.

What immediately impressed me is the size and weight of the 14mm f/1.4 lens – it's just 20.4oz / 578g, which is pretty much half the weight of the Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG Art and around 10% lighter than the Canon EF 14mm F2.8L II USM for DSLR cameras, which has a smaller f/2.8 maximum aperture.

It's a fraction larger than other VCM lenses (you can see the six primes together in the image below), but it's a similar weight, and is the only one to feature a built-in petal lens hood – that's because of its bulbous front lens element (which also means there's no filter thread to attach screw-on lens filters, you'll need an optional adapter).

These lenses are built for photo and video work, with a supremely effective Voice Coil Motor (VCM) for autofocus, which is both fast and near-silent. An aperture ring features, with an iris control which be set to clicked or smooth. Photographers will want the clicked feedback for aperture changes, while the smooth option is ideal for subtle transitions during video recording.

The ring closest to the front of the lens can be customized, as can the control button on the side of the barrel. And, this being a professional 'L' series lens, build quality is top drawer, and it's weather-sealed.

I paired the RF 14mm F1/.4L VCM with a Canon EOS R5 Mark II (some of the product photos below are with the EOS R6 Mark III), and the combination was a perfectly balanced match.

Optically, there are 18 elements 13 groups, and these include Canon's 'BR', 'UD' and Fluorite elements. Eagle-eyed Canon fans will note the inclusion of pricey Fluorite elements, which are usually reserved for Canon's professional super-telephoto optics.

There are also 'GMo' aspheric lenses, which Canon says suppress sagittal coma flare – a distortion that is the bane of astrophotographers. Given all of the above – the super-wide focal length, extremely bright maximum aperture, sagittal coma flare suppression and lightweight weather-resistant build – the RF 14mm F1.4L VCM sounds perfect for astrophotography.

Sadly, my short hands-on time with the lens was limited to a stroll outside of Canon's HQ during daylight hours, so I haven't pushed the lens to anywhere near its limits yet. Still, my sample images (see the galleries above and below, with notes in the captions) demonstrates that it has an impressive handle on lens flare with sun in the shot, and corner distortion with the lens aperture wide open at f/1.4, plus impressive sharpness.

Canon's in-camera lens corrections are working hard to correct the ultra-wide-angle image, and for the most part the impact is hardly visible. I see a little corner softness, but not much. One unavoidable drawback, however, is the 0.24m close-focusing distance, which limits the maximum magnification to 0.11x – this is no macro lens.

As optically excellent and lightweight as it might be, the RF 14mm F1.4L VCM costs £2,399.99 (US and Australia pricing TBC), which means bragging rights go to the Sigma 14mm f/1.4 for value* – which costs around 35% less. Canon's lens is set to go on sale on Feb 26.

*The Sigma lens isn't currently available in the Canon RF mount.

Canon RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM – what you need to know

During my visit to Canon, my focus was on the 14mm F1.4L VCM lens, but Canon also unveiled its first fisheye zoom lens for mirrorless, the RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM. It's wider than the RF 10-20mm F4L USM (which we awarded five stars in our review), and a different type of fisheye lens to the RF 5.2mm F2.8L Dual Fisheye Lens which is designed for 3D VR imaging.

Canon says its new fisheye lens is wider, faster and better optically than its EF 8-15mm F/4 L Fisheye USM for DSLR cameras, from 2012. At 16.8oz / 476g, it's also lighter (the 8-15mm weighs 190z/540g), plus there's a drop-in filter slot near the rear of the barrel (a feature I would love to have seen on the 14mm F1.4L VCM). The lens comes with a clear filter, while Canon will sell a circular polarizer and variable ND separately).

At its wide end, the 190-degree angle of view is true fisheye (with circular image inside a visible black frame), but zoom in to 14mm and you have a 'regular' ultra-wide-angle lens, with the image filling the frame. The fisheye image can be converted to 2D VR 180-degree, but not 3D like the 5.2mm alternative optic.

As a 'L' series professional lens, the 7-14mm fisheye is weather sealed. Its close focusing distance is just 15cm, which delivers a decent 0.35x max magnification. Canon says focus breathing is suppressed.

The RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM is due to hit stores on February 26, and will cost £1719.99 / AU$3,899 (US pricing TBC).

What do you make of Canon's two new ultra-wide-angle lenses? Let me know in the comments below.

• Canon marks 30 years of PowerShot with a limited edition G7 X Mark III
• It sports a new graphite trim and logo, but is functionally the same
• It will be released on April 23 and will cost $1,299 / £859.99 / AU$1,449

Canon kicked off its diverse range of digital compact cameras all the way back in 1996 with the PowerShot 600 – a screen-less 0.5MP snapper. Oh, how cameras have changed since then! And to mark 30 years of PowerShot, Canon has unveiled a 30th Anniversary Edition of it's most popular model today, the G7 X Mark III.

Previously available in black or silver versions, the new limited edition G7 X Mark III is decked out in a graphite finish and wears Canon's 30-year anniversary logo, while the front ring has a new twill pattern (see those details below).

It will ship in a specially designed anniversary box, and will be available from April 23 for $1,299 / £859.99 / AU$1,449, though given the popularity of the original, you'll want to act fast when pre-orders open from February 10. For context, the original model's list price is $879.99 / £819.99 / AU$1,349, but it is generally out of stock online.

Functionally, the 30th Anniversary Edition is identical to the original model. First unveiled in 2019, the G7 X Mark III packs a 1-inch sensor and 4.2x optical zoom lens, delivering 20MP stills and 4K video. It sports a flip-up touchscreen and nicely designed compact body.

Those are still decent specs seven years later, but the reason we're still talking about the G7 X Mark III today, and why it's the chosen model for a anniversary makeover, is that it went viral a couple of years ago.

In fact, this flashy limited edition version could be your best chance of bagging a new G7 X Mark III – most retailers list the original as out of stock, with some estimating next shipments in late March.

Alongside announcing the PowerShot G7 X Mark III 30th Anniversary Edition, Canon launched a revised version of the battery used by this and other PowerShot cameras – the NB-13L replacement battery, which costs £72.99. There are also two new lenses for its full-frame cameras, the RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5L Fisheye STM and the RF 14mm F1.4L VCM – the latter I've shared my first impressions of.

Where to buy

• 🇺🇲 Pre-order at B&H Photo for $1,299 / get to Adorama's New York store
• 🇬🇧 Register interest at WEX
• 🇦🇺 Get notified at Canon Australia with pre-orders on February 10 – act fast!

PowerShot lives on

PowerShot looked consigned to the history books following years of inactivity. However, that all changed when Canon launched the PowerShot V10 – a unique 4K vlogging camera with built-in kickstand, which was followed by the PowerShot V1.

The V1 is essentially a supercharged G7 X Mark III, with a similar layout but a beefier body and superior specs, including a larger 1.4-inch sensor, Canon's best autofocus for PowerShot, and impressive video specs, including built-in cooling fans and unlimited recording. Check out the two PowerShot models side by side below.

Compact cameras are enjoying a resurgence. CIPA 2025 numbers confirm a 30% rise in compact camera shipments year-on-year, and a 50% increase in value, suggesting premium models like the PowerShot G series are in fashion.

We have every reason to expect more PowerShot models in the future too – including a rumored PowerShot V3 travel zoom. For now, those still hankering for a G7 X Mark III stock are back in luck – the new 30th Anniversary Edition will hit stores in April. And at this rate, the legendary series might to live on and mark another milestone!

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A: two-minute review

Several camera brands are riding the wave of sudden popularity in compact digital models that we’ve seen over the past couple of years. I suppose we should have seen an uptick in interest coming, once photographers started using smartphone cameras for ‘serious’ work, and while the format has never truly vanished completely, the humble compact seems to be returning to the mainstream.

The Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A (known as the Ixus 285 HS A outside the US) is indistinguishable from its predecessor, the ‘A’ in the name being the only external feature that can be used to tell them apart. The biggest internal differences are the replacement of a full SD card slot with a microSD type, which is either an advantage or a nuisance, depending on how you look at it. Apart from some minor changes to Wifi security, that’s about it when looking for ‘new’ features. So, in short, if you didn’t like the 2016 version, which went viral because of TikTok and that fact Kendall Jenner has one, the 2025 edition is unlikely to be for you.

Image quality is perfectly acceptable for point-and-shoot uses which, let’s face it, is the main reason you’d buy a compact camera in the first place. It isn’t going to win awards for critical sharpness or low light performance like it’s big brother the Canon EOS R6 Mark III, nor is it going to become a Netflix filmmakers tool, like the Nikon ZR, but it provides maximum portability and a practical solution for casual travel photography.

Its 20.2MP 1/2.3-inch sensor is back-illuminated, which goes some way to improving signal-noise ratio in reasonable lighting, but it falls short once the ambient lighting levels drop. Images are fairly mushy under interior lights, where the ISO must be raised above 400.

I’m glad Canon didn’t feel tempted to squeeze on more pixels, which is something many smartphone manufacturers do to grab the headlines, as any more would have been a step too far in my opinion. The flash doesn’t help much as it’s small and not very powerful, plus it tends to bleach detail, creating an ugly exposure fall-off inherent to direct flash photography in darker environments.

However, you’ll probably find this flash effect is one of the reasons for people to buy the camera. It’s an incomprehensible reversal of consumer aspirations for image quality, but the ‘disposable camera look’ of the 80s, 90s and 2000s is to Gen-Z what honey is to ants. Images from cameras such as this are edgy and original to this age group, while to mine (millennials and others with more grey hairs than they’d like generally known) they bring a wash of nostalgia.

The zoom is very handy, supported by a surprisingly effective image stabilization (IS) system that keeps shots steady as low as 1/25sec at the long end of the focal range in my tests. The screen, meanwhile, isn’t super-detailed but matches the baseline quality of the files the sensor is capable of turning out.

All-in-all, the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A / Ixus 285 HS A is a fun, trendy, and highly usable compact camera that, as long as you buy it with realistic expectations, is sure to bring you joy and great memories.

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A specs

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A: Price and availability

• Released September 9 2025
• Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A costs $379.99 / £369.99 / AU$549
• The camera is currently sold out in most markets due to high demand

The Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A is available for $379.99 in the USA. The camera is sold as the Canon Ixus 285 HS A in the UK and Australian markets and can be found for £369.99 / AU$549 depending on the retailer.

Due to the incredible demand for the camera, many resellers are currently out of stock in most markets, with back-ordering often available.

• Price score: 4/5

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A: Design

• Small and compact body which is easy to carry in a coat pocket
• There is no touchscreen LCD, which seems and odd omission
• Telescopic 12x zoom lens closes to a flat profile when the camera is off

On picking up the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A you realise you’d forgotten how impressively small compact cameras could be, despite their sometimes exceptional zoom ranges. Compared to an interchangeable lens camera, or even the average smartphone, this Powershot camera is positively tiny. It comfortably fits in a coat or trouser pocket and, unlike a smartphone, the lens is conveniently folded away behind a protective shutter, reducing the possibility of scratches.

Despite its diminutive proportions, the camera is easy to handle. All of the buttons are within easy reach of the thumb and can be pressed comfortably. Most of these are recessed into the camera body, making it less likely to press them by accident - always a potential issue on a device that lives in your pocket, but without the protection of a locked touchscreen.

For someone with larger hands such as myself, it can be a challenge to hit the right button on the first attempt without knocking its neighbours, since they are all so close together. I didn’t encounter too many occasions where I was required to work quickly with the PowerShot though, so it didn’t prove too inconvenient.

The mode switch on the top right of the body, next to the shutter button, makes it simple to flick between Automatic and custom shooting modes, although there aren’t too many of those. The Auto mode is the basic point-and-shoot mode for stills and video, but by navigating through the menu system, it’s possible to switch the camera into Program mode for more manual control.

Just as on higher-end cameras, Program mode looks after the shutter speed and f-stop, but enables the user to select the ISO along with color profiles and other more custom settings. There is no Tv or Av modes like you might find on the main dial of a Canon EOS R8, or even the entry level mirrorless Canon EOS R100, however, so you are reliant on the internal light meter to do its job well.

The middle position is the Creative Shot mode, which curiously shoots five additional frames each time you fire the shutter, each one having a different effect applied. I guess this is a quick way to capture unique shots for social media, but the effects themselves are questionable.

Finally, Hybrid Auto captures a short video ahead of the final still photo, creating a sort of behind-the-scenes style clip that could be used to accompany an image in an Instagram Reel or on TikTok. You can tell it’s this user demographic the Elph 360 HS A is aimed squarely towards.

The main LCD isn’t especially mind-blowing, not least because it isn’t touch-sensitive. I understand this keeps the cost down, but in the smartphone age it seems a strange omission. I guess it really leans into the ‘blast from the past’ theme and while I was unhappy at first, I quickly grew accustomed to going without. In fact, I ended up enjoying the neo-vintage effect this created and suddenly, I was back in High School again. Technology-wise, the 2000s were literally simpler times.

The resolution can’t keep up with many of the most recent smartphones and tablets, at approximately 461,000 dots, and images do look a little washed out. Even magnifying the preview image doesn’t reveal much about the sharpness and contrast of the saved file. However, shots from this camera aren’t meant to be seen up close or in-print, so the screen is good enough for checking the basics of composition and exposure, in anticipation of sending your images to the web.

The new microSD memory card format might bug some users, especially if you have a collection of full-size SD cards in your collection. However, since many potential buyers will be coming from a smartphone anyway, it shouldn’t be too unfamiliar. If you buy a microSD card with an SD adaptor, you can enjoy the best of both worlds should you need to re-use it in a larger format camera.

• Design score:4.5/5

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A: Performance

• Relatively limited 180-shot battery life
• Integrated optical IS system is very effective in low light
• Rapid autofocus with subject tracking
• No RAW file shooting capability

Despite having a smaller sensor and often lower resolution than interchangeable lens cameras, compacts also regularly suffer from reduced processing power, caused by the use of a derated version of a processing engine found in higher-end models. This keeps costs and size down, but negatively impacts performance, including startup times. Thankfully, the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A doesn’t lag too much, and takes only a couple of seconds to be shot-ready from pressing the power button. There weren’t any instances where I felt I had missed a shot because the camera wasn’t ready. It’s impressive for a model in this price bracket.

Similarly, there isn’t excessive buffering after each shot, perhaps helped by the fact you can only shoot JPEGs, with no RAW mode available. This limits maximum file size, but the result is still a sporty camera with respectable reflexes. There’s more of a delay after a burst of images, namely in the Creative Shot mode where a sequence of six shots is created in one go, putting the DIGIC 4+ processor under more strain.

The iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology is said to improve the performance of the white balance, autofocus, and auto exposure systems – the camera put in a reasonable performance on all fronts.

The AF system isn’t up to the standards of the Dual Pixel CMOS AF system seen in cameras like the Canon EOS R5 Mark II or EOS R10 or even the PowerShot V1. These models not only provide full phase-detection AF capability, but also have far more latitude for customization of subject sensitivity and tracking behavior. That said, the PowerShot Elph 360 HS A isn’t slow to focus, especially in good light.

It was able to pick out details in the landscape, at both wide and long focal lengths with minimal hunting, and rarely did I find it had back or front-focused. It struggled more at close focusing distances, using the Macro shooting mode. I couldn’t get the camera to find the area of the subject I wanted it focus on, and so it took several attempts to guide it in the right direction. I didn’t expect much else since even dedicated macro lenses can show their AF weaknesses at minimum focus distance. Moreover, the 1cm working distance is praiseworthy.

The zoom range is a reason alone to buy the camera over using a phone. It offers a full-frame equivalent of a 25-300mm lens – a 12x optical zoom. This covers both standard-wide and telephoto lengths. The zoom travel is rapid and smooth, making in-clip zooming possible during video shooting, although the internal mic does pick up the noise of moving components. Within about five seconds from hitting the power button, I was racked out at the longest focal length and focused on my subject.

AF tracking isn’t the camera’s strong point, especially at these telephoto settings. But once again, it’s good enough for the types of scenarios you’d be using such a camera. The AF points aren’t as thoughtfully spaced and positioned as on an enthusiast-level camera, and they rely on a contrast detection-based system, which is always going to be slower and more prone to hunting. This is particularly noticeable in low light, and on a couple of occasions the camera failed to focus entirely.

• Performance score: 4/5

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A: image quality

• The sensor is smaller than on smartphones such as the iPhone 17 Pro
• Low-light images feature quite heavy detail loss through noise reduction
• The lens is sharp and can reveal good detail at lower ISO settings

That 1/2.3-inch sensor is significantly smaller than the unit found on the latest iPhone, which is of the 1/1.28-inch format. It’s hard to imagine that phones have overtaken compact cameras in this way, but it’s also important to remember that the iPhone starts at around $1,100 while the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A retails for about $379. That’s a pretty big price gap. Yes, the iPhone isn’t a dedicated photographic tool, but it’s a technology powerhouse and one of Apple’s flagship products. The PowerShot is a proverbial drop in the ocean in the percentage it contributes to Canon’s yearly turnover.

Even with a 20-megapixel resolution, the pixels are fairly small, with an approximate pixel pitch of 1.19 micrometers. This limits their light-gathering capacity, which you can see in the signal-noise ratio from ISO400 and above. At the lowest sensitivities the situation is much better, and outdoors the resolution is rather good. It’s under these conditions that you get to see what the lens is capable of, and it impresses in its sharpness. I was especially enamored by its micro contrast, which lends a great deal of texture to stone walls, tree bark and other granular materials.

In flatter tones like the sky, or smooth areas of berries and other glossy surfaces like car paintwork, noise is far more noticeable – it isn’t as effectively hidden amongst subject texture. By ISO800 the mushiness starts being hard to ignore, and at around ISO1600 colors take on a washed-out, insipid character.

Auto White Balance is fairly accurate, although it is readily confused by saturated color in the frame. Under mixed lighting it will tend to favor one end of the kelvin scale or the other. However, it will then cope unexpectedly well under interior lighting. Exploring the corridors of a 14th-Century castle-turned-hotel, there wasn’t a lot of external light penetrating the small windows in the three foot thick stone walls, so the low illumination and warm artificial light posed a great challenge – true for any camera.

The PowerShot Elph 360 HS A managed to figure out the fluorescent lamps and warm-toned walls, preventing over saturation without unpleasantly neutralizing everything by adding too much blue. A fantastic result for a point-and-shoot camera with limited color control.

Dynamic range, meanwhile, suffers quite a lot from the pixel size, and it doesn’t take much before the photosites are saturated and clipping of the highlights starts to occur. This is even more of a problem in the absence of RAW capture although, while you can actually retrieve a decent amount of shadow detail, once the highlights are blown there’s nothing to bring back.

Video is limited to FHD, although I was surprised once again by the quality in difficult lighting. Grain is definitely visible, but footage can look fantastic. For the TikTok generation, whose buying habits are responsible for bringing the camera back in the first place, it could be genuinely useful.

I must also give a special shoutout to the IS system, which demonstrated it could be remarkably effective at reducing camera shake. There were multiple cases where I tapped the shutter release, audibly heard the length of the exposure duration and instinctively went to delete the resulting shot, confident it would be unusably blurry. But to my surprise, there was very little.

In summary, the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A is a fun little camera to use, that keeps the compact camera flame burning. It’s limited in its capabilities, but it does what it is designed to do very well: taking the joy of an ultra-portable camera and de-coupling it from your phone’s myriad other functions.

• Image quality score: 3.5/5

Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Canon PowerShot Elph 360 HS A

• I tested a full production model over the course of a week
• I tried the camera in a range of lighting conditions, including low light
• Images were viewed at 100% on-screen and processing applied to assess detail extraction possibilities.

I ensured the camera was tested in some of the harshest lighting conditions it could be presented with, to see how it coped at the extremes of its design. I took it into the dark interior of a castle, which relied heavily on fluorescent lights, creating pools of contrast. I used the camera at every ISO setting and, although I could not alter the aperture, I used every focus length to test the sharpness continuity.

I shot in Auto Mode, Creative Shot Mode, and Program Mode to explore how these impacted the user experience. I used the Low light Mode and compared the images to those where I had applied more manual control over the exposure settings.

I then processed some sample images to see how much detail could be recovered from the shadows, although the shots that appear here are unedited out-of-camera Jpeg.

• First reviewed January 2026

Things move quickly in the tech industry, but the speed with which the photography world has developed over the last 18 months or so has shocked and delighted even the most experienced journalists and observers. From the Global Shutter of the Sony A9 III, to the long-awaited launch of the flagship Canon EOS R1, to the unexpected announcement that Affinity Photo will now be completely free of charge, a lot has happened in a short space of time.

Then, of course, there’s the stratospheric rise of AI and the polarizing views of how this is going to shape the future of virtually every corner of the creative sphere. If I could sum up this topic in as few words as possible, I’d just use the now ubiquitous “well, that escalated quickly” meme of Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy.

Predicting what gear, features and industry trends we might see for the year ahead used to be a fairly straightforward affair, but today, anything is possible. We can take some educated guesses about which camera models might be announced, which lenses might be added, and how AI might look this time next year, but rather than speculate on exact products, here I’ve outlined the direction I’d like to see the industry move. This includes the types of camera I want, design trends in camera development, lens mount growth, and new features.

Consider this my camera tech Christmas wishlist for the year ahead.

My dream camera for 2026

For a while, retro-designed cameras were largely the reserve of Fujifilm, with fan favorite models like the X-T5, X-T30III, and X100VI providing a feeling of yesteryear charm but with all of the modern bells and whistles demanded by a digital content creator. It seemed like a relatively niche market at first, but with Fujifilm’s move into retro-aesthetic Medium Format cameras like the GFX 50R and, more recently, the fixed-lens GFX 100RF, it became clear there was a real appetite for cameras inspired by the designs of decades past.

Then, Nikon went all-in with the Nikon Z fc and full-frame Nikon Z f models, and the concept suddenly felt mainstream. So, how long is it until Canon jumps on the bandwagon? I hope it’s not too long.

A retro-inspired design based around a film camera like the Canon F-1 or AE-1, but fitted with the contemporary RF Mount would be my ideal camera on several metrics. Bringing one of those classics into the 21st Century, by arming it with features seen in some of the Best Canon Cameras in 2025, would create a sturdy, tactile but compact camera which looks as good as the pictures it could take.

Imagine a Canon EOS R-A1 or R-F1 fitted with the advanced autofocus of the Canon EOS R3, the superior low-light performance of the Canon EOS R6 Mark III, or the high-resolution stills and video capabilities of the Canon EOS R5 Mark II. Or, if we let our imaginations venture into the more obscure, a digital version of the now highly sought-after Canon VI L would make a refreshing substitute for the now defunct Canon M system.

It would be a compact-form model with a thin profile and minimal handgrip, but with either a full-frame or APS-C sensor and access to the growing family of top-quality RF lenses.

Such a camera would be glued to my hip and fitted with a Canon RF 35mm F1.8 IS Macro STM, or Canon RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM lens. To add a cherry on top of this hypothetical cake, which has already been discussed, I’d love a retro-inspired lens range to go with the body. Nikon did this with the NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 SE and Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE to pair well with the Z fc and Zf, so it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest Canon might follow suit.

Lenses galore: give me more third-party mirrorless optics

We’ve finally started to see more third-party lenses in the big two mirrorless mounts; Canon RF and Nikon Z. Despite there being a seemingly endless supply of lenses for Sony E Mount, some of them rated as highly as the Best Sony Lenses in 2025, such as the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 or Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG Art, up until recently there have been limited options for Canon and Nikon users.

Sigma is making waves with a range of bargain f/1.4 primes for Canon cameras, but I’d really like to see two of my favorite lens brands get in on the RF action. Irix and Tokina have long impressed me with their build quality, sharp optics, and affordable pricing. They also look good. If Irix in particular could bring their Dragonfly series to the RF mount, it would give Canon users an additional range of wide-aperture, manual focus lenses at a competitive price point.

This isn’t too much of a step into wishful thinking territory since the DSLR-centric Irix lenses were aimed mainly at Canon EF and Nikon F users. With DSLRs fading into history, it wouldn’t be a big jump to re-engineer the lens family for mirrorless use. This would involve down-sizing and making the construction more lightweight, but the result would be an excellent evolution of an established lineup.

Tokina might be more of a wildcard, but the FíRIN range is already available for Sony E Mount and other models can be bought for Fujifilm X. Having models like the atx-m 23mm F1.4 X PLUS for APS-C format Canon cameras could also come in useful if, as discussed earlier, Canon were to introduce a more retro-styled camera, thanks to the manual aperture ring and compact form. Of course, Canon will need to allow third parties to make lenses for its full-frame cameras first – they are currently locked out. All current third party lenses for Canon mirrorless cameras are for APS-C cameras (RF-S).

Let’s rethink camera and lens design

Cameras have looked fairly similar for the majority of the history of photography. Yes, it’s a tried and tested design based largely on practical and technical requirements, but in the digital age, manufacturers have far more latitude to get creative with control layouts than they’ve so far demonstrated.

Take a look at the Sigma BF, or the Sigma FP lines. They aren’t to everyone’s tastes, but there’s no denying that they are different. They represent a new direction in camera design thinking that starts to give us a glimpse of what a digital camera could look like. Sigma is no stranger to pushing boundaries like this, with a history of camera oddities like the SD Quattro H, which served a similar purpose. I don’t think all cameras should be like this, but I’d like to see further development, with a follow-up to the BF and the concept of a modular camera system, allowing photographers to build the camera that’s right for their style of shooting.

There is an argument that cameras can only get so clever before they stop being cameras. Autofocus is now powered by AI and takes much of the work out of the hands of the photographer; before we know it you’ll simply have to point the camera in the general direction of your subject and it will find them, follow them and pick the areas to focus on. We’re virtually there now, and before long re-focusing in post-production will be commonplace. Equally, it’s possible to shoot at up to ISO25,600 and above without much of a noise penalty.

In other words, camera tech is already near-perfect, so how much better can it get? I’d like to see more cameras and lenses with unique character, and less of a focus on absolute quality. People buy Leica cameras and lenses, such as the Leica M EV1, for their signature style, and I want more of that.

In 2026, my hope is that Typoch expands its unique Simera lens range for multiple mounts, and brands like Voigtlander develop lenses like their Nokton 50mm f/1.0 Aspherical. These optics aren’t always the absolute sharpest on the market, but they are still exceptional and bring a style of contrast and color reproduction that is unique to them.

Do we really need as many features?

In 2026, I don’t personally have much need to get excited by yet another generation of AI-driven subject tracking, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like some features already found in some camera families rolled out to others. Let’s start with the humble memory card. I know that CFexpress cards are the future, but I have more high-performance SD cards than I can count, which irritates me slightly.

If I have a camera with dual card slots, I want both to accept the same format. That’s why I like the Canon EOS R6 Mark II and Fujifilm X-T5 – they are high-end cameras but don’t substitute one card slot with a CFexpress or XQD port like the Nikon Z6 III or Nikon Z8. I get the rationale: it allows photographers to slowly build up their stock of the newer format, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a pain in the backside.

Sony cameras like the A7 VI and the recent A7 V, along with the A7R V, have dual slots that accommodate both types of memory card, allowing the use of a two-card setup even if you only have a single format. It’s a relatively simple solution to an otherwise significant inconvenience, and I’d love to see more brands implement it. Should a Canon EOS R5 Mark III make an appearance or a Nikon Z7 III, those would be the ideal opportunities.

Internal memory is another handy feature seen in the likes of the Leica M11, but is noticeably missing from other brands. This seems like another oversight and it’s something that should definitely be normalized in camera design.

What I don’t want to see from cameras and lenses in 2026

There are some directions that camera brands could take their products that I don’t feel would benefit the photography world in a meaningful way. I’d like to see a Leica M12 show up in 2026, potentially with a new processor and improved LCD screen, but what I don’t want is a departure from the established M-system design.

I don’t want the M12 to feature an electronic viewfinder, as seen on the M EV1, as I think this defeats the purpose of owning a rangefinder in this family. I doubt this would happen, as Leica generally knows their audience, but the allure of something shiny and new, especially if the M EV1 sells well, might be enough to dazzle the development team into heading down the wrong path.

I would also prefer that AI stays out of consumer-level cameras. While I’m not anti-AI, I think we need to make the distinction between traditional photography as an art form and AI-driven commercial appeal and convenience. I actually think that marrying cameras and AI could be a ticket towards prolonging the perceived relevance of the high street photographer – take the new Nano Banana-equipped Caira Camera – so long as it’s made clear that proper photographic understanding is required to create authentic moments.

For example, in-camera auto retouching, like the removal of obvious blemishes, might be a huge time-saver for wedding and portrait photographers. You’d shoot a reference image and highlight the bits that weren’t desirable, then the camera would filter these out for you. It would probably have to be done in RAW+Jpeg mode, so you had the unedited files to work on if needed, but it would be a genuinely practical use of AI to increase a photographer’s turnover.

You know what they say; if you can’t beat ‘em…

My 2026 Christmas camera wishlist

• A retro Canon camera
• Irix and Tokina to go mirrorless
• A follow-up to the Sigma BF and/or FP
• More Thypoch Simera lenses (specifically a Thypoch Simera 85mm f/1.4)
• A Leica M12 (with rangefinder)
• Universal memory card slots on more cameras
• More cameras with internal memory
• In-camera AI editing features
• Less industry consolidation: more products with unique design and aesthetic qualities

So farewell, 2025 – you were frequently exciting, regularly chaotic, occasionally frustrating but always interesting. And that’s how we like it around here.

It was a year in which often fairly iterative improvements to hardware were overshadowed by rapid and significant advances on the computing side of things. I’m talking, of course, about AI, which is now so dominant within the tech world that it’s increasingly hard to find a device that doesn’t have an AI brain.

Not that I’m complaining, because the leaps made in 2025 by the likes of OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Gemini were truly astonishing; the pace of change is such that it feels like we’re squeezing about a decade’s worth of advances into each year now, and I wouldn’t like to predict what the state of play will be in 12 months’ time. Well, other than to say that we’ll be taking for granted things which seem almost impossible right now – although as our AI Editor Graham Barlow notes below, maybe we’re already doing that.

In comparison, it often looked in 2025 as though things were slowing down on the hardware side. Could Apple really make its already-excellent MacBooks much better? Could Samsung improve much on the superb Galaxy S series? Was there much scope for OLED TVs or wireless headphones or mirrorless cameras to develop?

The answer was yes, yes and yes. Though the upgrades to many models may not have been as big as those on the software side, they were frequently excellent in their own right. The improvements to battery life, screen tech and camera lenses may not be as flashy as those on the AI front, but they can make a real difference to how we use our devices on a daily basis. In many ways, tech fans have never had it so good.

Whether that will continue in 2026 remains to be seen. AI now looks to be having a direct – and negative – effect on component prices, which could make your favorite new phone or laptop more expensive in the coming year. We might also see stock shortages in some areas, which could further inflate those price tags.

It looks like we’re set for another year of exciting, chaotic, frustrating and interesting news, then – and we’ll be here with you every step of the way. Until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading TechRadar in 2025, and have a happy New Year!

My year in tech

I bent reality, but I failed to bend an iPhone

This year was marked by astonishing leaps in AI capabilities, which I tried to not only report on but experience in full. From my first experience with ‘vibe coding’ to wild leaps of fancy with Veo 3 (and later the Sora app) to creating my own digital double, AI’s fast-changing capabilities constantly amazed me.

Never in four decades of covering emerging technologies have I seen anything like it: AI’s rise continues to be a heady mixture of enthusiastic adoption tinged with white-knuckled fear about what it all means for jobs, and for humanity, and nothing we saw in 2025 did much to resolve that anxiety.

However, it was my conversations with those leading the AI and wider innovation charge that stood out. My interviews with Amazon’s Panos Panay about Alexa+ and Google’s Sameer Samat about the future of Android were particularly memorable, as was the moment when one of Apple’s top executives threw his brand-new iPhone Air to me during a video podcast and insisted that I try to bend it.

The rise of humanoid robots was a trend that shocked and pleased me in equal measure, though I’ve tried to temper my enthusiasm with the knowledge that clever marketing and eye-popping videos will only get us so far. We all want the ultimate home robot, but I still don't think many of us are willing to pay $20,000 to get it.

Away from all the AI and robots, I spent much of the year trying new phones, including redesigned iPhones and an incredibly thin folding Samsung phone, along with a wide range of wearable technology that included the Galaxy XR headset, and some very exciting AR glasses from Meta and Google’s Android XR group. Experiencing these felt like peering into our near technological future, which increasingly will be filled with on-demand AI, flexible phones, and maybe those robots.

The year in AI

This was the year we started taking AI for granted 

For all the talk of breakthroughs and hype, 2025 felt less like the year AI changed everything and more like the year it quietly became unavoidable. While the much-hyped arrival of super-powerful artificial general intelligence (AGI), predicted for 2025 by many, simply hasn’t materialized, the year has still been a strong one for companies such as OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, and Google. That said, there have also been some massive flops; and as for Apple, it feels like yet another year in which it slipped further behind in the AI race.

ChatGPT maintained its vice-like grip as the most popular AI chatbot in the world, though it hasn’t been plain sailing for OpenAI. Legal challenges, particularly the copyright infringement claim brought by The New York Times, have continued to dog the company, and in June its servers crashed for a couple of days, giving the world a brief taste of life without the ubiquitous chatbot.

OpenAI then fumbled the ball with the release of its GPT-5 model, which came across as cold and unemotional compared to the previous GPT-4o. For millions of users who’d come to rely on the chatbot as something closer to a trusted companion it felt like a best friend had undergone a personality transplant overnight, forcing OpenAI to make the legacy 4o model available again.

The company has also lost a little ground to Google’s Gemini in recent months. The arrival of Gemini 3 Pro in November was well received, and on the image front, Gemini’s Nano Banana and Nano Banana Pro proved superior to ChatGPT for image generation. OpenAI responded with a new image-generation model in December.

AI-powered pets and toys also began to appear this year. We took Moflin for a spin, until we accidentally fried its battery. More broadly, the dominant theme of the year was that every product must now have AI built into it in some form, and no company exemplifies this approach better than Microsoft, which has spent the year enthusiastically stuffing Copilot into just about everything it makes.

Finally, the year looks set to end on a high note for Amazon. Alexa+, the AI-powered version of Alexa that Amazon has been promising all year but hasn’t yet managed to fully roll out, may finally be getting a web version, at least in the US.

THE YEAR IN PHONES

Slim pickings for thin phones, and hints of a tri-fold future

2025 was the year of the super-thin phone, writes Roland Moore-Colyer, Managing Editor, Mobile Computing, with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in the first half of the year, and the iPhone Air in the second. These handsets grabbed headlines with their svelte proportions, but so far sales figures have yet to match the hype.

That’s likely due to their relatively high prices in the face of already pretty slim iPhones and Galaxy and Pixel handsets, all of which saw the expected yearly upgrades with the iPhone 17, Galaxy S25 and Pixel 10 lines respectively. While the upgrades to the iPhone 17 family appeared incremental at first glance, I'd argue they're a bigger deal when you dig into the details: there was a new design and cooling system for the Pro phones, the standard model finally got a 120Hz display, and Apple's 48MP 'Fusion' camera came to every iPhone in the lineup, including the Air (the Plus model went the way of the dodo).

AI found its way into more phones and more features, with Google’s Pixel phones in particular boasting a whole host of genuinely useful smart tools. Meanwhile, Apple just about managed to distract us from the shortcomings of Apple Intelligence with its flashy Liquid Glass design and the eye-catching Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro.

Some of the most interesting phones came from smaller brands, with the Nothing Phone 3 offering something a little different without scrimping on flagship features. There was the Oppo Find X9 Pro with its strange but useful camera kit, while the OnePlus 15 was the only phone to earn a maximum five-star review from us this year. There were also a clutch of affordable phones from the likes of Motorola and Xiaomi, proving that you don’t have to pay a lot to get a very capable smartphone these days.

We saw further evolution in the folding phone space, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 leading the way, and Samsung also unveiled its first tri-folding phone, with the Galaxy Trifold joining Huawei's Mate XT, and teasing a future of devices that truly blend phones and tablets. We may even see a foldable iPhone in 2026, but don’t hold your breath.

THE YEAR IN COMPUTING

RAM drama enlivens a year of evolution over revolution

When it came to computing, 2025 didn't start off as the most promising year. While 2024 felt like a year of revolutionary change, with the explosive growth of AI, the fall of Intel, and the rise of Arm-based laptops that were actually worth buying, this year has felt more like we're in a holding pattern, as the innovations of the past few years are iterated on and refined.

The year kicked off with Nvidia launching its latest generation of consumer graphics cards, the RTX 5000 series, at CES 2025, and they encapsulated the ‘evolution, not revolution’ theme, with some great new features that haven't fundamentally shaken up the industry, as the introduction of ray tracing with the RTX 2000 series did. Of course, making a great product even better is no bad thing, and our components editor and GPU expert John Loeffler was suitably impressed, enthusing in his RTX 5090 review that “If you're a gamer, you'll still get impressive gen-on-gen performance improvements over the celebrated RTX 4090, and the Nvidia RTX 5090 is really the first consumer graphics card I've tested that can get you consistent, high-frame-rate 8K gameplay.”

I have an RTX 5090 and I love it, and I've also been impressed by its 8K performance in modern games, but with the majority of PC gamers still playing at 1080p, this high-end GPU might be a bit too expensive to justify. Other releases from AMD and Intel, plus Apple’s latest M5 chip, continued the theme of impressive releases that don’t massively change the computing landscape.

Perhaps the biggest event in 2025 was the continued rise of AI. Recently, the AI boom has led to a global shortage of memory, which has in turn caused an increase in the prices of devices that use it. All of a sudden, PCs, RAM, and GPUs look set to get increasingly expensive, though some, like our computing editor Christian Guyton, aren’t too worried – yet. Personally, the end-of-year drama is making me nostalgic for those early months when 2025 felt rather boring.

THE YEAR IN TVS

The era of giant, cheap TVs is here

This year saw two really interesting developments in TV technology, with the first being the arrival of a whole new kind of ‘Tandem RGB’ OLED TV panel from LG. This appeared in the LG G5, helping it to score the maximum five stars in our review, and in the fantastic Panasonic Z95B, enabling both TVs to hit stunning levels of brightness and color depth, but with reduced power consumption.

However, this new screen technology didn’t win either of those sets our TV of the Year award – that went to the Samsung S95F, which not only earned its own perfect 5-star review, but was also voted the top TV in the most categories by the judges in our flagship OLED TV showdown, which pitted it against the LG G5, Panasonic Z95B, and Sony Bravia 8 II.

The second big tech development was the arrival of RGB mini-LED tech – and, make no mistake, this is the next big thing. It’s more efficient than current mini-LED tech, and is capable of richer colors and less light leakage from bright areas to dark ones, and it could be the tech to finally knock OLED off its perch.

We know that Samsung, LG, TCL and Hisense will all launch RGB mini-LED TV ranges in 2026, but the Hisense UX116 was the only TV to use it in 2025 – and it was a mixed bag, with performance issues that disappointed given its eye-wateringly high price. Still, we’re excited to see how this tech develops.

But the biggest thing in TVs this year was the TVs themselves – as in, they got big and they got affordable. TCL and Hisense launched 85-inch and 100-inch TVs that were within the budgets of regular mortals, and 75-inch TVs are becoming positively cheap, while still being good. While new tech is exciting, huge TVs like the Hisense U8N and TCL QM7K becoming more affordable is the change that made the biggest difference for customers.

THE YEAR IN VR/AR

Android XR arrives to challenge Meta’s dominance

This year XR or 'extended reality' took center stage, thanks in large part to Android XR hardware finally breaking cover in the shape of the Samsung Galaxy XR headset. We also tested prototype Android XR glasses ahead of their expected release in the coming year, and they’re impressive (the glasses at least, the headset less so right now). Google, along with its Android partners, looks set to seriously challenge Meta in 2026.

For its part Meta debuted several new smart wearables over the past 12 months, including two pairs of Oakley smart glasses – the stylish HSTNs and the sporty Vanguards, the latter of which are perfect for runners when used with a compatible Garmin watch. We also saw a Gen 2 model of the Meta Ray-Bans, and the company's latest step towards full-on AR specs, the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which as you can probably guess feature a display for the specs to relay info visually. We’ve tested them, and they’re everything Google Glass wanted to be, but right now they're not easy to get hold of.

What about VR headsets proper? Valve surprised no one (because the device was so heavily leaked before launch) with its Steam Frame headset announcement. Key details like the price are still a mystery, but it will be landing in 2026 – and when it does, the spec sheet teases a device that could seriously challenge the reigning champion of VR, the Meta Quest 3. Depending on how Valve handles the launch, I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes all other headsets feel obsolete – even the Galaxy XR and Apple Vision Pro.

Talking of Apple's mixed-reality spatial-computing headset, we got a new version with an M5 chip and comfier strap, but while it's a worthwhile upgrade the price still feels too high.

THE YEAR IN AUDIO

The year the big dogs bit back

If 2024 was the year niche UK hi-fi brands took over the dance floor amid a hiatus from audio's heavy hitters (see Bowers & Wilkins' fantastic Pi8 earbuds or Cambridge Audio's inaugural, affordable, adorable P100 cans), 2025 was the year the big dogs returned to the party and got their groove back.

We got five major headphones releases in 2025, starting with the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds in February. The hotly anticipated update to the 2019 Powerbeats Pro proved that Apple could indeed deliver heart-rate monitoring in its earbuds.

Cut to May and Sony's WH-1000XM6 landed, to finally knock the 2020-issue WH-1000XM4 off the top spot in our best headphones guide. It was a similar story with the June arrival of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), quickly followed by the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) in September – a two-pronged attack on the market that saw Bose reinstated as the king of ANC.

However, this roundup wouldn't be complete without a nod to the biggest launch of them all: the fall arrival of Apple's AirPods Pro 3. The shape's different, the ANC is twice as good, and yes, like the Powerbeats Pro 2 they also keep tabs on your ticker, in a slightly different way, and with increasing third-party fitness-app support. Still the most popular earbuds in the world? Absolutely.

Elsewhere, Spotify Lossless finally landed, at no cost to Premium subscribers, offering almost-as-good-as-Apple-Music resolution at up to 24-bit/44.1kHz. While Lossless wasn't a huge hit with fans initially, the big green streaming machine's popularity continues to grow, despite concerns over artist payments.

Oh, and if you take note of just one audio brand name this year, let it be WiiM. As Sonos continues to tackle trust issues among its once-loyal fanbase, the plucky multi-room underdog unveiled its WiiM Sound (and now the WiiM Sound Lite) premium hi-res speakers – and the firm would love to help you build your wireless sound system around them.

THE YEAR IN CAMERAS

A memorable year for glass as well as for cameras

2025 was full of pleasant surprises for photographers. The Sigma BF was truly out of the ordinary, being dubbed ‘the camera Apple would have made’, while the Caira with its Nano Banana AI skills showed us a glimpse of how on-the-go generative editing can work in an actual camera.

Fujifilm and OM System showed us that user experience matters with the quirky X half and retro OM-3 respectively, while Hasselblad and Nikon delivered strong offerings of their own – my favorite stills camera ever, the X2D II, and a new player in the cinema-camera game, the Nikon Zr. A special shoutout goes to Nikon for becoming the best-value camera brand this year, notably for the excellent Z5 II, which is our Camera of the Year, and Z50 II.

It was arguably an even better year for new lenses than cameras, with Sigma, Sony and Viltrox in particular knocking it out the park with world-first and affordable optics. Canon continues to lock out third parties from its full-frame camera lineup, but that decision feels more justified after it launched the affordable and capable 45mm F1.2 STM prime.

A sense of order was restored towards the end of the year when Canon and Sony launched their anticipated mid-range full-frame cameras: the EOS R6 III and A7 V, both of which are integral to their lineups.

The long-threatened US ban on DJI products finally came into effect, and we saw a couple of major product launches from the brand in the build-up to it: the incredible (sort of) sub-250g Mini 5 Pro, and the DJI Osmo 360 – its first foray into 360 cameras, and rival to both the Insta 360 X5 and GoPro’s new Max 2. DJI is also being tipped to launch its first 360 drone soon, but Insta360 got there first with the truly innovative Antigravity A1.

Overall, it’s been a good year for camera fans, with demand seemingly remaining strong in the face of competition from increasingly capable smartphones. I’m predicting that the consumer and cinema camera spaces will continue converging in 2026, and I hope the likes of Viltrox expand our options with new and affordable autofocus zoom lenses.

The year in gaming

The Switch 2 makes waves, and GTA 6 looms over 2026

Gaming in 2025 was largely dominated by the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s a safe improvement on the original Switch, and one that epitomizes the ‘evolution not revolution’ approach to console development.

The specs sheet won’t blow anyone’s socks off, but it’s a superb package that cements the Switch's position as the go-to handheld console; and it was so popular in the pre-order and launch phases that it took months for retailers to catch up with demand. It’s been backed up by some excellent games too, including Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Kirby Air Riders, and Pokémon Legends Z-A.

Sony had its own say in the gaming handheld space, breathing new life into the PlayStation Portal handheld device, which is now capable of excellent cloud streaming. This has elevated the handheld, which we were already big fans of, to impressive new heights.

The PS5’s game library got a bump with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei, as well as titles including Borderlands 4, Battlefield 6, Arc Raiders and TechRadar Gaming’s Game of the Year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Elsewhere, indie games ruled, with the likes of Blue Prince, Hades 2, and Hollow Knight: Silksong proving standouts in a strong year for releases.

It’s been a year to forget for Xbox, however, and its woes only accentuated the aforementioned successes for Nintendo and Sony. For starters, more Xbox games – including Gears of War: Reloaded – arrived on PS5, while others are set to follow, including the symbol of Xbox itself, Halo. Meanwhile studios were shuttered and prospective games cancelled, and to make matters worse the Xbox X/S were outsold by a tiny family console, the Nex Playground, over Black Friday. All in all it’s been tough going for Team Green.

As for 2026, it’s beginning to feel like the pace of progress towards next-gen consoles will quicken, and the game release calendar looks well stocked. However, a titan looms: Grand Theft Auto 6 is now slated for release in November after being originally planned for late 2025, and the whole gaming world is going to revolve around its arrival.

THE YEAR IN FITNESS

Time’s finally up for wasteful wearables, thanks to Google

Last year, I ended my contribution to this round-up by predicting a move away from fitness watches towards screenless trackers, such as a new WHOOP model, writes Matt Evans, Senior Editor, Fitness, Wellness & Wearables. Well, we got not one, but two new WHOOPs, and they were… fine. But, as prices rose, I found the ongoing subscription model far too expensive.

However, my prediction that we’d move away from smartwatches hasn’t really been borne out. Wearable tech isn’t changing much in the mainstream, with the highest-profile releases being a slate of new watches from Garmin, Apple, Samsung, Google and OnePlus, and they’ve been as popular as ever.

Look beyond those big releases, however, and interesting new stuff is out there. A subscription-free WHOOP competitor band was launched by Polar, while Core Devices, the resurrected Pebble watch company led by its original founder, unveiled a pair of watches inspired by the original Pebble designs, complete with low-power LCD-style screens, and open-source software that anyone with the know-how can tinker with.

Core Devices also launched a new kind of smart ring with a button and a microphone, which the company says acts as “external memory for the brain”. Elsewhere, the AirPods Pro 3 now have built-in heart rate sensors, and Meta teamed up with Garmin to bring us the Oakley Meta Vanguard sports specs. Cool new wearable innovations are happening, but it all still feels quite fringe.

My innovation of the year, however, came from Google. The Google Pixel Watch 4 is the first properly repairable smartwatch, as you’re able to take it apart and replace the battery and display. This enables you to change individual parts rather than the whole watch, reducing your contribution to e-waste, and saving you money in the long run.

Almost every other piece of wearable tech from every other company is still a sealed unit that will ultimately end up being disposed of, and I hope Google's move could be the catalyst for change that the wasteful wearable tech industry sorely needs.

THE YEAR IN ENTERTAINMENT

Streaming sensations, box-office flops, and merger madness

The biggest story of 2025 broke late in the year, and it concerned off-screen studio machinations rather than on-screen drama. Netflix’s $82.7bn bid for Warner Bros. sent shockwaves through the industry when it was announced in early December, and provoked a counter-bid from Paramount Skydance. There’s still a long way to go before a deal is approved, but should Netflix acquire one of the film world’s most iconic studios it would be a landmark moment for the streaming sector, and would represent a seismic shift for the entertainment industry as a whole.

Turning to the year's big theatrical releases, and numerous new movies flopped at the box office, including some with huge names attached (I’m looking at you, Dwayne Johnson and The Smashing Machine). Heck, with Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps all underperforming, even the usually reliable Marvel Studios didn’t have a money-spinning hit on its hands. I wonder how many people predicted that animated and live-action/CGI hybrids would rule the theatrical roost, led by multi-billion dollar-spinning flicks like Lilo & Stitch, Zootopia 2, and Ne Zha II…

As for the major streaming services, users endured more of the now-customary annual price hikes, while Max raised eyebrows by rebranding itself – again – to HBO Max. On the screen, unexpected hits such as HBO medical drama The Pitt, plus Netflix's ‘one-shot’ drama Adolescence and pop-culture phenomenon Kpop Demon Hunters, proved that not even the savviest industry exec can really be sure what viewers will latch onto. Add in the return of unmissable shows including Severance and Stranger Things amid the glut of great and not-so-great film and TV releases, and there was plenty to keep our eyeballs engaged. Now, what have you got in store for us, 2026?

The Year in Smart Home

If the subscriptions don't get you, the fridge ads will

It's been a slow but not insignificant year in home technology as legacy brands scramble to keep pace with bigger, already tech-savvy players vying for their spot in our homes – whether that's Breville reinventing the toaster with a proprietary optical sensor, IKEA launching new renewable energy solutions, or Eufy and Dreame duking it out to give us the most effective stair-climbing robot vacuum.

Some brands were less innovative than others though. Dyson left some of us feeling snubbed with its 'new' (read: decade-old) vacuum, while Shark's TurboBlade Cool + Heat failed to impress despite its noble attempt at mimicking other SharkNinja product's viral fame.

Elsewhere we saw big plays from Amazon and Google in the smart home space, with the arrival of their AI-bolstered home assistants. Amazon's Alexa+ and Google's Gemini for Home both entered Early Access beta in the US, and while the early reviews for both have been mixed, it's a promising glimpse into the future of the connected home.

Both of those services are subscription-based offerings, and subscriptions look set to become a major battleground for smart-home brands, and a bone of contention between brands and their customers, as companies attempt to lock users into their ecosystems, as we've already seen with video doorbells. Between that, and brands like Samsung using screen-loaded appliances as advertising billboards around the home, now might be a good time to really think about which brands you want want to invest in as you build your smart home.

As I look back over the past 12 months of camera gear and accessory launches, what strikes me is how strong a year this has been for new lenses.

It's not like there's been a shortage of new cameras in 2025, but it's in the lens market that design innovation has impressed me the most, with multiple first-of-a-kind optics, and new players emerging as impressive alternatives to leading camera brands.

I'm here to give some of the best new lenses for 2025 the recognition they deserve. After all, it's cameras that typically get most of the attention and fanfare, but as a photographer I know the importance of great glass.

I've had the pleasure of testing many of the latest lenses from Sony, Canon, Nikon, OM System, Viltrox and more, and below I've listed my top five.

Before we dive in, I must give honorable mentions to a few lenses from this year that I'm yet to try, and which didn't make the selection below. They are the Sigma 17-40mm F1.8, Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC Contemporary, Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR (for APS-C), Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG Art, Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM and Sony FE 100mm F2.8 Macro GM (for full-frame).

Now, let's unpack my five personal favorites, and why they stood out.

Sony FE 50-150mm F2 GM

• Release date: April 22
• Verdict: 5 / 5

I wasn't initially convinced by the specs of Sony's 50-150mm F2 GM, nor its premium price tag, but once it was in my hand I was so impressed that I awarded it five stars out of five in my in-depth review. It also took the title of the Best Camera Lens in the 2025 TechRadar Choice Awards 2025, scoring the most votes from our readers and expert TechRadar team alike.

I even described the 50-150mm F2 GM as a lens "worth switching systems for" – high praise indeed. So what makes Sony's unique pro zoom stand out?

Users will appreciate the constant f/2 max aperture whatever the focal length, which makes the 50-150mm a dream lens for events, weddings and portraiture. Focus is fast and silent, optical quality is top drawer whatever the lens settings, and bokeh is dreamy. Besides missing out on optical stabilization (and the matter of that heavy price tag), the Sony FE 50-150mm F2 GM is essentially flawless. I've never been more jealous of Sony shooters.

Read my Sony FE 50-150mm F2 GM review

Sony FE 50-150mm F2 GM sample photos

Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II

• Release date: August 22
• Verdict: 5 / 5

I didn't think Nikon's original Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens needed a successor, but when the mark II version landed in August it improved on the superb original in multiple ways, and is arguably the finest standard professional zoom lens available from any brand.

I own the original model and I'm more than happy with it, so it's all the more impressive that Nikon has been able to improve on the 24-70mm f/2.8 S in several ways. The new mark II version features an internal zoom which means the lens barrel doesn't extend as you zoom, and in my book that improved robustness is welcome, especially for the demanding shoots for which that I would typically use this lens, like events. The new version is also now the lightest 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for any full-frame camera, so more points to Nikon there.

As for image quality, it's fractionally better than the original, and pin-sharp from edge to edge at any setting. Bokeh is smooth, sunstars are crisp, and distortions are non-existent. Autofocus is snappier too. I'm still not about to sell my original 24-70mm f2.8 to upgrade, but that's no reflection on a lens that scores top marks in every metric (and which has already dropped in price).

Read my Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II review

Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II sample gallery

OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm F2.8 IS Pro

• Release date: September 10
• Verdict: 5 / 5

The world's first 100-400mm (equivalent) lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture across its zoom range is truly special. I first got to try the 50-200mm F2.8 IS Pro out at a wetland center in the UK which is home to an abundance of birdlife, and was immediately impressed by the lens' versatility and quality. Even better, its reach can be further extended with a 1.4x teleconverter to create a 560mm f/4, or a 2x teleconverter for a 800mm f/5.6.

OM System doubled down on its outdoor photography credentials, ensuring the 50-200mm is properly weather sealed, something that's helped by an internal zoom. Pair it with a camera like the OM-1 II and you have a super-lightweight setup considering what the combo is capable of, including smart subject-detection autofocus, rapid burst shooting, and phenomenal image stabilization performance.

Fussy bokeh in certain scenarios, such as backlit macro photography shots, was a slight letdown, but otherwise the pin-sharp optical quality seriously impresses. There's a severe leap in price from the 40-150mm F2.8, but I think this new zoom is worth every penny. It's an incredible lens, especially for wildlife photography, with decent close-focusing skills adding extra shine. I'd go so far to say as this lens tops my wishlist, being the one that would make the biggest difference to my own setup.

Read my OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm F2.8 IS Pro review

OM System 50-200mm F2.8 sample gallery

Viltrox 135mm F1.8 LAB

• Release date: March 19 (Z-mount, late 2024 for Sony E-mount)
• Verdict: 4.5 / 5

Viltrox is rightly gaining a solid reputation as a high-quality, affordable alternative to pricey proprietary lenses, and fully deserves to be featured in this article. We've reviewed several of the Chinese lens maker's optics, including the five star 35mm F1.2 LAB, but it was the 135mm F1.8 LAB for full-frame cameras that impressed me the most.

Perhaps it was because I had previously tested the Nikon 135mm f/1.8 S Plena and declared it my dream portrait lens, only for Viltrox to pull it's own version out the bag for just 30% of the asking price.

Yes, the Viltrox version is weightier, but beyond that there's really not all that much to choose between to the two, except for the huge gap in price. Viltrox currently makes lenses first for Sony E-mount, and a number of those also are made for Nikon Z and Fujifilm X-mount further down the line.

Viltrox also joined the L-mount alliance in September, and so we should expect further options for its most popular lenses, one of which is 2025's impossibly small 28mm F4.5 pancake. My hope for 2026 is that Viltrox branches out from primes and into high-quality zoom lenses.

Read my Viltrox 135mm F1.8 LAB review

Viltrox 135mm F1.8 LAB sample gallery

Canon RF 45mm F1.2 STM

• Release date: November 6
• Verdict: Not yet rated

The one lens in this roundup that I'm yet to get my hands on is the Canon RF 45mm F1.2 STM, which is a never-before-seen f/1.2 prime lens without Canon's pro 'L' moniker or premium price tag. This is Canon sticking one back to cheap Chinese alternatives.

I know it won't be up to the same standard as a pricey pro prime equivalent like the RF 35mm F1.4L VCM – even the sample images provided by Canon demonstrate pronounced lens distortion (see below) – but it doesn't need to. What the 45mm F1.2 STM does is bring a super-bright-aperture prime, with its shallow depth of field potential, to beginners who would otherwise be priced out of owning such a lens.

Canon deserves kudos here – of all the leading camera brands, it's the one that's giving the widest camera and lens choice for users of all experience levels and budgets, from the award-winning pro EOS R5 Mark II to the EOS R100 (which is the cheapest mirrorless camera available) and now this cheap f/1.2 prime.

Canon is full of surprises, and while it continues to keep its full-frame RF lens mount closed to third parties, a lens like this finally makes that strategy feel justified.

Canon RF 45mm F1.2 STM sample gallery

Other outstanding lenses for 2025

Canon has been a household name in the world of digital cameras for 30 years, and there are hundreds of models on the market. Luckily, the TechRadar team has 20 years of experience testing, reviewing, and using them. It puts us in a unique position to recognize and recommend the best Canon cameras – from legacy DSLRs to cutting edge mirrorless models. In this guide, we've drawn on decades of hands-on experience to highlight our favorite Canon cameras in every category, for every budget.

If you're prepared to splash some cash, the Canon EOS R5 Mark II is our top pick. It's a perfect representation of what Canon cameras are capable of today. With a powerful 45MP stacked sensor, flawless autofocus and unique features that impressed us during testing, I rate it as Canon’s best-ever camera for photography, and it ain't half bad for video, too.

That said, there are cheaper alternatives for less demanding users, such as the beginner-friendly Canon EOS R10. There's something for everyone in Canon’s camera catalog, and we've cherry picked the best models below, which also includes premium PowerShot compacts.

That said, there are cheaper alternatives for less demanding users, such as the beginner-friendly EOS R10. Yes, there’s something for everyone in Canon’s camera catalog, and I've cherry picked the best models below, which also includes premium PowerShot compacts. All of the cameras in our shortlist earned their place by performing well in our comprehensive real-world tests. So, because our recommendations are based on accurate data and our objective assessments, you can rest assured that they're trustworthy – and that we'll help you find the right piece of Canon kit.

Why you can trust our choices

Each Canon camera in this guide has been put through its paces by our expert team of reviewers, in a series of objective tests in the field, as well as subjective testing for the love of photography.

Each model has earned its place for particular reasons, whether that's down to a specific use case, its handling, reliability, features on board, image quality or value. We've completed an in-depth review for each model, which shares our experiences, and consequently pinpoints why it comes with our recommendation.

Ultimately, real-world tests are the most revealing way to understand a camera's performance and character, so our team focuses heavily on those, along with standardized tests for factors like ISO performance.

To start with, we look at the camera's design, handling, and controls to get a sense of what kind of photographer it's designed for and who would most enjoy shooting with it. When we take it out on a shoot, we'll use it both handheld and on a tripod to get a sense of where its strengths lie, and test its startup speed.

When it comes to performance, we use a formatted card and shoot in both raw and JPEG (if available). For burst shooting tests, we dial in our regular test settings (1/250 sec, ISO 200, continuous AF) and shoot a series of frames in front of a stopwatch to see if it lives up to its claimed speeds. We'll also look at how quickly the buffer clears and repeat the test for both raw and JPEG files.

In various lighting conditions, we test the camera's different autofocus modes (including Face and Eye AF) in a single point, area, and continuous modes. We also shoot a range of photos of different styles (portrait, landscape, low light, macro/close-up) in raw and JPEG to get a sense of metering and its sensor's ability to handle noise and resolve fine detail.

If the camera's raw files are supported by Adobe Camera Raw, we'll process some test images to see how we can push areas like shadow recovery. And we'll also test its ISO performance across the whole range to get a sense of the levels we'd be happy to push the camera to.

Battery life is tested in a real-world fashion, as we use the camera over the course of the day with the screen set to the default settings. Once the battery has reached zero, we'll then count the number of shots to see how it compares to the camera's CIPA rating. Finally, we test the camera's video skills by shooting some test footage at different frame rates and resolutions, along with its companion app.

We then take everything we've learned about the camera and factor in its price to get a sense of the value for money it offers, before reaching our final verdict.

Meet the team

Canon cameras regularly feature in TechRadar's camera coverage and we've been hands-on with all of the best Canon cameras – for many of us our experience even predates the launch of TechRadar back in January 2008. Collectively, our team of reviewers has amassed hundred of hours using Canon cameras for real, in wide ranging scenarios.

The best Canon camera

Below you'll find in-depth summaries for all of today's best Canon cameras. Our team has tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that these recommendations can be trusted.

The best Canon camera overall

Canon EOS R5 Mark II sample images

Canon has built on its best-ever camera for photograpghy, the EOS R5, with a stellar upgrade – the EOS R5 Mark II. We still get 45MP stills and 8K video, plus a rugged body that fits well in the hand, but that's where the similarities end. That 45MP full-frame sensor is now a stacked sensor which massively improves the camera's control over rolling shutter, while a second processor improves the camera's overall speed and unleashes all-new features, including in-camera image upscaling. You can pick a JPEG / HEIF image shot with the EOS R5 Mark II and upscale it 400% to 180MP, with super-impressive results.

We've used the EOS R5 Mark II extensively, focusing on action photography and video where the camera really shines. New autofocus modes detect specific sports, like soccer and basketball, and intelligently select where to focus, including on one of up to 10 stored faces. Canon's eye control AF is also a revelation – seamlessly tracking where you're looking in the viewfinder to determine which subject you'd like to focus on. The EOS R5 Mark II is a massive upgrade in terms of outright speed, too. Our review team observed that continuous RAW bursts top out at 30 frames per second.

As with most things in life, there are some downsides to consider. There The EOS R5 Mark II has a merely average battery life, which is especially evident when you compare it to the R5, and high-bitrate RAW bursts can fill cards quickly.

For practically every photographer, however, the EOS R5 Mark II is the smart choice. It's as comfortable capturing split-second sports moments as it is nailing subtle expressions in portraits, and we've been blown away by what is Canon's most versatile and capable camera ever – even if costs more than its Nikon Z8 and Sony A7R V rivals.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R5 Mark II review

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The best budget Canon camera

Canon EOS R10 sample images

If you can look past the old-school sensor, we think Canon’s EOS R10 is one of the best entry-level mirrorless cameras for beginners. Fitted with Canon’s powerful Digic X chip, it also benefits from truly modern autofocus abilities that make it feel fast and responsive.

The processor and AF tracking proved remarkably powerful during testing, and continuous shooting speeds of 15fps with the mechanical shutter make the EOS R10 a solid choice for anyone looking to experiment with action photography. The camera's low-light abilities are limited by the lack of in-body image stabilization, but image quality proved decent when we tried it out for ourselves, with plenty of detail hiding in the shadows. Video skills are solid too, with 4K footage oversampled at 30fps.

We particularly liked that the EOS R10 is straightforward to use and easy for learners to get creative with – and that's mostly thanks to the dual control dials and a dedicated AF joystick. The lightweight body will also feel familiar to anyone who has previously handled DSLRs, and the articulating touchscreen making it an easy switch for smartphone photographers.

One the major practical limitations of the EOS R10 is the restricted range of native RF-S lenses. Unfortunately, the ecosystem isn’t as broad or mature as Canon’s full-frame or DSLR lens families.

Still, after our hands-on time, is a great match for beginners and hobbyists who want affordable, reliable performance without excess bulk. If you need the very latest sensor tech, deep lens choices, or robust battery life for professional shoots, pricier Canon models make more sense.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R10 review

• ^ Back to the top

The best premium Canon camera

Canon EOS R3 sample images

Styled more like a sports DSLR than the handier EOS R5, the Canon EOS R3 is every bit a professional mirrorless camera. It has fewer megapixels than the EOS R5, because it’s built for speed instead of outright resolution – and if the former is your priority, it’s the best Canon camera you can get.

During our extensive time testing the EOS R3, we found it one of the best sports and wildlife cameras we’ve ever tested.

At its core is a 24.1MP stacked CMOS sensor, which we described in our review as a “purring photographic engine”. It can shoot full-quality raw images at a remarkable 30fps, as well as 6K/60p raw video internally without any noticeable rolling shutter. We were also mightily impressed by its autofocus system, and reassured by the tough magnesium alloy build.

In short, the EOS R3 is the pinnacle of mirrorless speed. It’s undeniably big and expensive, but if you need an uncompromising Canon camera and can afford to pay the premium, you won’t be disappointed.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R3 review

• ^ Back to the top

The best Canon camera for hobbyists

Canon EOS R7 sample images

Hitting the APS-C sweet spot, we think the EOS R7 is one of the top options in Canon’s line-up for enthusiast shooters – offering a generous feature set while undercutting its full-frame cousins.

One of the highlights is Canon’s latest Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus, which proved both rapid and reliable in testing. Electronic burst speeds of up to 30fps also make the R7 a dream for sports and wildlife photography, with in-body image stabilization offering eight stops of compensation when shooting handled.

Overall, real-world usage proved that the EOS R7 can produce lovely images in a wide range of conditions. Low-light results aren’t quite on par with Canon’s full-frame models, but it’s hard to argue when you’re getting such impressive versatility and value. That includes two UHS-II card slots, an articulating touchscreen, and the ability to shoot uncropped 4K/60p video. It's also a nice camera to use, with a comfortable grip and accessible control layout.

All that’s really holding the Canon EOS R7 back right now is a lack of native lenses, which Canon will surely address if the RF-S system becomes as popular as it should be.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R7 review

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The best Canon EOS R5 II alternative

Canon EOS R6 III sample images

This third edition of Canon's full-frame hybrid mainstay doesn't switch up the formula that made Marks I and II a success – it rather hones and tweaks to nudge things closer to perfection, with a higher resolution sensor, a more extensive video tool kit and some improvements to autofocus compared to the previous generation.

This isn't the most exciting camera out there, perhaps, but it's a star performer with both 33MP stills and video, supporting 7K open gate capture for the latter – although its restricted recording times due to a lack of internal fans do hamper its video credentials slightly.

If you've already got a bulging collection of RF lenses, the R6 Mark III is a formidable buy, but those just starting out or moving over from other systems may find its high price a tough barrier. We think it does ultimately represent good value for money, but if you're on a budget there are plenty of affordable rivals vying for your attention.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS R6 Mark III review

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The best affordable full-frame Canon camera

Canon EOS RP sample images

It's a few years old, but we think the Canon EOS RP still offers excellent value for those who want to go full-frame, but can't stretch to the pricier Canon EOS R5 and EOS R6. We found it to be charmingly compact and easy to use during our review, which means even beginners will be able to quickly find their way around the camera.

The EOS RP's small size does occasionally make the camera feel front-heavy when using larger lenses, but it pairs perfectly with some of the best Canon RF lenses, including affordable primes like the RF 50mm f/1.8.

The EOS RP's 4K video game is a little more restricted, as it comes with a 1.6x crop factor and you can't use Canon's trusted Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus system at resolutions higher than 1080p. That aside, we continue to be impressed by the value the EOS RP offers. It has excellent AF performance, produces vibrant and sharp images, boasts a wonderfully responsive rear LCD touchscreen, and can be used with existing EF lenses with a lens adaptor.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS RP review

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The best compact Canon camera for vlogging

Canon PowerShot V1 sample video

In the PowerShot V1, Canon has created an all-new hybrid compact camera which betters the trending PowerShot G7X Mark III in every way. It packs a class-leading 1.4-inch sensor, new 16-50mm lens which is wider than most and ideal for vlogging, Canon's best autofocus system in a PowerShot model, plus handy video features such as a built-in ND filter and cooling vents for unlimited 4K video record times. It comes at a time when there are few brands launching such cameras at the sub $1,000 price point, too.

During testing, we discovered a few V1 drawbacks: the lens' small maximum aperture somewhat counters the large sensor appeal, plus you lose out on optical stabilization when recording 4K 60fps video. And while this is largely a better model for photos than Sony's ZV1-II, photographers will likely wish for a viewfinder and built-in flash – neither feature here.

Dedicated vloggers are probably better served by the half size, half price DJI Osmo Pocket 3. Overall, however, this is an affordable hybrid compact that's ideal for aspiring vloggers and content creators who like to shoot photos too.

Read our in-depth Canon PowerShot V1 review

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The best Canon DSLR overall

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV sample image

Canon’s 5D range continues to be popular among traditionalists. And for good reason: these high-specced DSLRs offer a huge number of features in a body that handles superbly. Here we have an excellent 30.4MP sensor which, although lower in resolution than the likes of the Nikon D850, still gives you plenty of scope to create fantastic shots in a range of conditions.

Our tests also found that the 61-point AF system performed well in low-light and was also impressively quick, if not quite up to the standard of the latest mirrorless models. 4K video recording is available, but this being a slightly older model, it's limited to 30p. While autofocusing is whip-smart, the 5D Mark IV can only manage 7fps burst shooting, which puts it behind many newer models.

But if you’re shooting landscapes, portraits, still life – in short, anything which doesn’t move too quickly – you'll find it an excellent photographic companion.

Read our in-depth Canon 5D Mark IV review

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The best Canon DSLR for beginners

Canon EOS Rebel SL3 / 250D / 200D Mark II sample images

If you’re a fan of the DSLR format, we think the Canon EOS Rebel SL3 (known as the EOS 250D or 200D Mark II outside the US) is one of the best entry-level DSLR cameras you can buy.

In our review, we praised its combination of build quality and features, which add up to excellent value for beginners. We also found it relatively light and compact for a DSLR. It’s an easy camera to use and wield in the hand, aided by an articulating touchscreen which proved very responsive in testing.

We were also impressed by its Dual Pixel CMOS AF system. A more recent mirrorless camera will outclass its 9-point array and 5fps burst shooting rate, but we found that the system can still focus quickly in good light. Images are generally well-exposed, too. Rolling shutter and a crop factor unfortunately reduce the usefulness of 4K recording, but if you want an affordable camera that’s compatible with a wide range of lenses, we think the EOS Rebel SL3 / EOS 250D is a good choice for beginners.

Read our in-depth Canon EOS Rebel SL3 / EOS 250D review

• Find savings on Canon cameras with our Canon promo codes.

• ^ Back to the top

Also consider

It was no easy task narrowing down the best Canon cameras to just nine entries. Naturally, there are plenty of other compelling alternatives that didn't make the cut. Below are some of our other favorite Canon cameras, together with what makes them special:

Best flagship DSLR – Canon EOS 1DX Mark III: the most capable DSLR ever made, the 1DX Mark III is a tough as they come, with unmatched high-speed to boot for a camera of this kind. 20MP stills for 20fps with no real limit on how many frames, superb autofocus, supreme build quality and battery life, this one is for demanding pros, as is its high price tag.

Best travel compact – Canon EOS M6 Mark II: Canon discontinued its EOS-M mount, for which the EOS M6 Mark II mirrorless camera is the priciest model. Should you still buy a camera from a discontinued system? If you're happy in the knowledge Canon won't make any more lenses, you could just pick up a bargain. And with lenses like the EF-M 22mm F2 STM which is a superb option for street / travel / reportage, you could just get a bargain for what will be a superb pairing for years to come.

Best purpose-built vlogging tool – Canon Powershot V10: This one is a little different. Built specifically with vlogging in mind, the tiny V10 features a kick-stand, fixed wide angle lens and 1-inch sensor, 2-inch tilt-touchscreen, together with decent autofocus skills. One to slip in your pocket or position in tight spaces, the V10 could elevate your video creation game.

Cheap video-centric mirrorless – Canon EOS R50 V: Another great budget-friendly vlogging option is the mirrorless EOS R50 V, which offers a stripped-back and compact body that's ideal for content creation when paired with a suitable lens. You'll probably need to supply an external microphone though, as the built-in mic isn't a strong point.

Cheap mirrorless – Canon EOS R100: OK, so we slammed the EOS R100 when it was launched and even labelled it the worst camera of 2023. However, it's pretty much the cheapest Canon camera available new, and it's part of Canon's excellent RF-mount, equipped with the 24MP APS-C sensor found in pricier models like the EOS R10, our favorite Canon camera for beginners. If you're not put off my the EOS R100's limitations, such as basic video recording and fixed LCD that's not touch sensitive, this could be a superb starter camera especially if learning photography is your focus.

Best for sports – Canon EOS R1: Launched alongside the EOS R5 Mark II and somewhat in its shadow, the EOS R1 is Canon's best-ever camera for sports photography. It boasts much the same tech, with twin processors, in-camera upscale editing and a stacked sensor, only the physically larger EOS R1 is designed for raw speed, being able to rattle off 24MP stills at 40fps for photo sequences longer than you'll realistically ever need to keep shooting for.

Best trending – Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III: Long popular with vloggers, Canon’s G7X range kicked it up a notch with the G7X Mark III, which features a 20.1MP one-inch sensor, uncropped 4K video recording, flip-up touchscreen and a microphone socket. Years after its release, it trended in TikTok and demand surged, as did its price. If you want a similar camera but that's better in just about every regard, the slightly bulkier PowerShot V1 is the wise pick.

Affordable alternative to EOS R6 Mark III – Canon EOS R6 Mark II: The latest iteration of the EOS R6 is a truly fantastic all-rounder, but those capabilities come at a hefty asking price. The previous model in the range, the EOS R6 Mark II, remains a viable hybrid alternative that'll cost you a lot less.

How to choose the best Canon camera

• Best cameras for photography
• Best camera for beginners
• Best beginner DSLR cameras
• Best DSLR
• Best 4K camera
• Best full-frame camera
• Best compact camera
• What camera should I buy?
• Mirrorless vs DSLR: 10 key differences
• Camera rumors

• Key upgrades include higher resolution 32MP stills and 7K video
• Available for $2,799 / £2,799.99 / AU$4,199, or in one of two lens kits
• For now, the EOS R6 Mark II remains available for a much lower price

Canon has unveiled the EOS R6 Mark III – its latest mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera, with upgraded photo and video skills, alongside the staggeringly affordable RF 45mm F1.2 STM lens.

It comes almost three years after the EOS R6 Mark II and improves on that model with a 32MP sensor that's likewise equipped with 5-axis stabilization, plus higher-resolution 7K video.

For reference, the EOS R6 Mark II shoots 24MP stills and 4K video, so the latest model is clearly a step up for detail-hungry creators, especially since it's also the first EOS R camera to shoot open-gate video.

Those open gate 7K video skills are inherited from the recent Canon EOS C50 cinema camera – the smallest entry-level model in Canon's range.

Like before, and despite increased resolution, high-speed action photography can be captured at 12fps using the mechanical shutter or up to 40fps with the electronic shutter. Together with pre-capture for up to 20 shots with the shutter half-pressed ahead of starting a sequence.

Canon says the EOS R6 Mark III's expanded buffer can handle up to 150 RAW photos with the camera shooting at full speed, which means it should maintain its top speed for around 30% longer than the EOS R6 Mark II.

As part of refined autofocus skills, there's also the Register People Priority autofocus function (see above), as found in the EOS R5 Mark II. Users can register up to ten different people to prioritize for autofocus, which is a handy feature for sports and wedding photography, where you might want to single one person out among many.

Moving on from those image quality improvements and smattering of new features, the EOS R6 Mark III's design is practically identical to the EOS R6 Mark II.

The weather-sealed body has the exact same dimensions (though it weighs 699g to the EOS R6 II's 670g) and the same control layout, 3-inch 1.62m-dot vari-angle touchscreen, and 3.69m-dot EVF.

Its LP-E6P battery (the same used by the EOS R5 II) is backwards compatible with the EOS R6 II, but delivers fewer shots from a full charge – 390 shots to 540 (using the EVF) or 620 shots to 760 (using the LCD).

The EOS R6 Mark III (body only) costs $2,799 / £2,799.99 / AU$4,199, or it can be purchased with RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM lens for $3,149 / £3,149.99 or the RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM lens for $4,049 / £3,899.99 / AU$5,999.95 – that's similar to the EOS R6 Mark II's launch price three years ago, and a pleasant surprise.

Canon will keep the EOS R6 Mark II on the shelves for now, and three years later, that camera has reduced in price by about 30%. If you don't need the EOS R6 Mark III's higher resolution stills and video, then the older model could still be worth considering as a cheaper alternative.

The ultimate hybrid mirrorless camera?

Sony, Canon, and Nikon each have a mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera in their ranks, all of which offer a tantalizing mix of performance, quality, and price.

Until our in-depth EOS R6 Mark III review is complete, the Nikon Z6 III will continue to hold the best mirrorless camera crown, with the Sony A7 IV looking a little long in the tooth now.

That being said, the EOS R6 Mark III seems to have the ingredients to surpass the Z6 III and take the top spot. It matches the Sony A7 IV's higher-resolution stills (which outperform the Nikon Z6 III's 24MP), and edges the Z6 III for speed (which comfortably beats the Sony). It goes one step further, too, with open gate video recording and the highest resolution for video creatives.

We've not had the time needed with the EOS R6 Mark III yet to come to a conclusive verdict, but we will be sure to share our in-depth review soon. But based on the details we have and past experience with Canon cameras, the EOS R6 Mark III could just be the unremarkable update that is, in fact, the camera to beat.

• Canon unveils the affordable and lightweight RF 45mm F1.2 STM lens
• It's Canon's first-ever 'non-professional' f/1.2 prime lens
• It costs $469 / £479.99 / AU$699.95, but the lens hood is an optional extra

An affordable, lightweight f/1.2 prime lens from Canon wasn't on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are looking at the new Canon RF 45mm F1.2 STM, announced today.

Designed for full-frame cameras, the RF 45mm F1.2 STM is Canon's first 'non-professional' f/1.2 autofocus lens and an ideal pairing with Canon's enthusiast full-frame cameras, such as the EOS R8 and the new EOS R6 Mark III – the latter was announced alongside the lens.

Usually, an f/1.2 prime is a pricey, weighty lens for pros, but Canon's surprising 45mm F1.2 STM is an altogether different creation: it's a lightweight every day carry at just 0.76lb / 346g, and it costs just $469 / £479.99 / AU$699.95.

The 45mm focal length is much like the human perspective, and with its fast f/1.2 aperture and background-blurring potential, the 45mm F1.2 looks ideal for portraiture enthusiasts.

Surely there's a catch, I hear you say. Well, aside from the lens hood being an optional extra (£35.99, about $41 / AU$70), the optical quality clearly won't match the likes of the Canon RF 50mm F1.2L USM lens, which is over 5x the price.

Alongside the press release, Canon supplied me with some sample images taken with the lens, which give some indication of the kind of quality we can expect.

Where are the compromises, if any?

I haven't had my hands on the RF 45mm F1.2 STM lens yet, but Canon's range of sample images shot with the lens are quite revealing in terms of the kind of quality we can expect. I've included a variety below.

The flat lay of the food platter is taken at f/8, and the detail is impressively sharp across the frame, with only a slight softening in the corners. Detail is also pretty sharp in some images shot at f/1.2, such as the sliced lemon.

Background bokeh is smooth in that lemon photo, too. However, look closely at the shine of the lemon where it's out of focus, and you can see longitudinal chromatic aberration (bokeh fringing).

It's chromatic aberration that's the most obvious lens distortion I can see across the range of images supplied. For example, magenta fringing is plainly seen in the hair of the redheaded model, while there's green fringing in the out-of-focus trees in the photo of the lady crouched by a waterfront.

I'm hoping these sample images were taken with in-camera lens corrections turned off and no corrections applied in post, and that such distortions are easily corrected with a little editing.

Close focusing looks really limited, too – the specs say that the minimum 0.45m close focusing distance yields a maximum 0.13x magnification. This is no macro lens.

Even still, we shouldn't have unrealistic hopes for optical quality in what is a lightweight f/1.2 autofocus lens with an unmatched low price tag. Big respect to Canon – it has made this once-exclusive fast aperture with its desirable shallow depth-of-field effect available to more people, and I can't wait to try it out for myself to really see how good it is.

Usually, I would expect a lens with these specifications and price tag to come from a third-party Chinese brand, but this is a Canon lens, which, for me as TechRadar's Cameras Editor, is one of 2025's biggest surprises.

• Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2025 winners were announced on October 15
• The Canon EOS R5 was the most popular camera among the finalists
• Released in 2020, it has since been succeeded by the EOS R5 Mark II

If you’re anything like me, you’ll love being nosy about what other photographers are shooting with, especially award winners. With experience as a photo contest judge myself, unsurprisingly I found myself browsing through the winning images of the Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2025 contest, announced on October 15.

It was while looking closer at the technical details behind the successful entries, that I was quite amazed by the gear of choice. Surely speed and accuracy are paramount for wildlife photography, right? I'd therefore expect the top WPOTY shots to be taken with a flagship high-speed mirrorless camera.

The Nikon Z 9 featured, sure. The Canon EOS R3? That too. But there was a much more popular camera among successful entrants (besides the 11-year-old Nikon D810 DSLR used for the winning shot). It wasn't even the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, a winner itself of TechRadar's Choice Award for Camera of the Year 2024, but it was in fact the original model from 2020 that was the most popular among the WPOTY winners. Yes… it was the Canon EOS R5 (Mark I).

Now, I’m one of the first to preach about the throwaway nature of the tech industry, but when it comes to this level of imaging, I admit I was expecting more recent headline-grabbing cameras to be the weapons of choice for this group of award-winning photographers.

An enduring balance of pixels and power

The original EOS R5 was launched back in 2020, alongside its slimmed-down sibling, the EOS R6. Both cameras have since been replaced with the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and Canon EOS R6 Mark II – superb successors, which has got me wondering about why the five-year-old R5 still ranks so highly.

The EOS R5 lacks the Eye-Control AF of the Mark II, and the more recent EOS R3, but still makes use of a snappy Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system with 5,940 focus areas. More specifically, the EOS ITR AF X autofocus component incorporates deep-learning AI – a phrase with which we’ve quickly become accustomed, but which was truly futuristic tech at launch. This system was initially developed by Canon for the popular EOS-1D X Mark III DSLR camera, which coincidentally also made an appearance in WPOTY 2025.

The EOS R5 comes armed with a full-frame 45-megapixel CMOS sensor, 20 frames-per-second burst shooting with the electronic shutter, 8-stop body stabilisation, and 8K video. When you compare this to another frequent competition performer, the Nikon Z 8, a far more recent release, the resolution and top RAW burst rate of the older camera are more than a match. The same goes for the aforementioned Nikon Z9, which is not only more recent but is positioned higher in its range (it’s aimed squarely at pros, while the EOS R5 was also priced for enthusiasts). Meanwhile, 2024’s Sony A1 II has a comparable resolution of 50MP and 8K video, and only just beats the EOS R5 on top burst rate with 30fps.

When prominent wildlife shooters like Andy Rouse, and commercial pros such as Peter McKinnon choose the R5 for their top-level work, it’s hardly surprising that the camera was built to last. If anything, the success in the Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2025 proves that, just because newer, shinier cameras come along, it doesn’t immediately mean that older cameras become irrelevant.

You might also like

• Best wildlife photography camera 2025: our top picks from Canon, Nikon, Sony and more
• And the winning Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 image was taken with... an eleven-year-old Nikon DSLR
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The Sony A7 V rumor mill has kicked into gear, which suggests the full-frame all-rounder could land soon. Tipsters speculate October or November this year – I reckon the latter of the two is more likely, but anything could happen.

And the fifth-gen model of the best-selling A7 series can't come soon enough for Sony. Its A7 IV lost the top spot in TechRadar's best cameras guide to subsequent rivals from Canon (the EOS R6 Mark II) and then Nikon (the Z6 III) in 2024.

A lengthy tenure in that guide is proof of just how far ahead the Sony A7 IV was at its launch in 2021. However, the powerful Nikon Z6 III, which came two and a half years later equipped with a partially stacked 24MP sensor, delivers an all-round speedier performance and polished video skills and is rightly regarded as a better pick overall today.

So what does A7 V need in order to steal back that best camera crown from Nikon and defend that spot from a potential Canon EOS R6 Mark III? I've hand picked five upgrades that it really, really needs.

1. A new kind of sensor

The New Camera leaked two A7 V images, one of which suggests that the upcoming model will have a 33MP full-frame sensor. That's the same resolution as the A7 IV, and already a sweet spot in the mid-range market.

What's less sweet is the performance of the A7 IV's sensor – it has known rolling shutter distortion in high-speed shooting and for video. To truly better rivals, the A7 V needs a new kind of sensor, even if resolution remains the same.

Sony could take inspiration the Nikon Z6 III, which has a speedier partially stacked sensor with faster read out speeds and none of the issues that plague the A7 IV, albeit with a lower 24MP resolution.

If the A7 V were to have a speedier 33MP sensor, then it's off to a great start. (A global shutter like in the A9 III would be another level, but is highly unlikely). I'd be surprised if the sensor turns out to be the exact same one as before, but I'm also unconvinced it'll be a stacked or partially stacked type either – expect a tweaked sensor, perhaps with faster read out speeds and improved stabilization performance.

• Likelihood: 3/5

2. An AI chip and improved autofocus performance

This upgrade feels like a safe bet. All current Sony Alpha cameras following the A7 IV, starting with the A7R V, feature an AI chip that powers sophisticated subject detection and tracking autofocus skills.

Placing such a feature in the A7 V wouldn't tread on the toes of its pricier siblings, the A7R V, A1 II and A9 III. On the contrary, I'd expect Sony to introduce this upgrade to the A7 V.

The upshot will be improved autofocus speed and performance for a wider range of subjects. Couple that with a speedier sensor and the A7 V would already be shaping up nicely, plus there could be even more performance-based upgrades...

• Likelihood: 5/5

3. The latest processor and improved burst shooting

The third upgrade should also center on speed, this time in the form of Sony's latest Bionz XR processor and improved burst shooting performance.

The A7 IV maxes out at a rudimentary 10fps in its continuous high-speed mode, and those burst sequences don't even last that long before the camera slows down. Rivals like the EOS R6 Mark II and Nikon Z6 III are leagues above, with faster and longer burst shooting capabilities.

If the A7 V were to combine a stacked or partially stacked 33MP sensor with Sony's latest processor, quicker burst shooting and versatile AI subject tracking autofocus, it would feel like a much more polished A7 IV, and one that could hold its own against the very best mid-range models of 2025.

Another scenario is that Sony introduces its next generation processor to replace the Bionz XR unit. Unlikely perhaps, but added processing power could be key for positioning the A7 V above rivals.

• Likelihood: 5/5

4. Improved video skills

The A7 IV held top spot in our best cameras guide for such a long time because of its 33MP sensor which is better for general photography than rivals. However, those lower resolution rivals have upped the bar for high-speed photography and video performance, and the A7 V needs to catch up.

As already mentioned, it will need to address the rolling shutter distortion that plagues the A7 IV, through a sensor with faster read out speeds, but the video specs also need a boost – 4K 60fps with a 1.5x crop won't cut it in 2025.

It's a given that the A7 V will have much better 4K video recording skills, possibly even 4K 120fps with no crop, and a range of new LUTs color profiles. The question is, will Sony break rank from 4K recording and offer detailed 6K like its rivals do? That I'm less sure of.

• Likelihood: 4/5

5. Refined displays

I really like how the Sony A7 IV handles, but Sony has since improved its Alpha design in consequent full-frame models, the A7R V, A9 III and A1 II.

Those models feature a 2-way tilt / vari-angle touchscreen, which can work for both tilt and out to the side selfies. Rumors suggest the A7 V will get such a display, which would trump rivals.

There's also speculation that a higher-resolution EVF will feature, possibly a 5.76m-dot unit. I'm 50/50 on this one – the recent RX1R III didn't get such an upgrade, so the A7 V could also miss out. If it does, expect complaints from grumpy reviewers.

In other areas, Sony needs little improvement, especially given its industry-leading battery life.

• Likelihood: 4/5

Quick prediction

I expect Sony to take a similar tack to Canon and Nikon, and deliver a speedier successor to the A7 IV that feels more polished than before, without breaking significant new ground.

The A7 V's sensor will be faster although possibly not to the degree that some hope, while autofocus, burst shooting and video recording should all receive a major boost, together with tweaks to the camera's design. I'm thinking it could be a lot like the A7R V, but with less pixels and a potentially speedier sensor, with an asking price of around $3,200 / £2,800 / AU$5,000.

Will the A7 V raise the bar once more? Perhaps, but unlikely to the extent the A7 IV did. At the least, it will put up a good fight and bring Sony back into the mid-range picture.

Like most people, I spend far too much of my free time staring at my phone screen, alternating between doom-scrolling news headlines and flicking through attention-grabbing, casino-like apps. I love the idea of switching off and engaging in a fully offline hobby.

Running is a great activity for this, as it allows me to uncouple from the digital world and engage with my surroundings, but this is technically work. I'm often testing the best smartwatches and best running shoes in my capacity as TechRadar's Senior Fitness Editor, and therefore I'm checking my metrics and route on one of a dozen wellness apps, or scanning Strava, after every run.

So to completely separate myself from screens, I chose a very different hobby: painting little figurines, rolling dice and moving them around a table.

Painting and playing Warhammer, and other war games like it, offers an old-school escape from a life glued to screens, which is why miniature painting and wargaming saw such a resurgence during the Covid years. However, every time I get to play the game, especially on a gaming board full of expertly-painted terrain supplied by my local hobby shops, I really enjoy taking photos of the action, which invariably involves picking up my phone.

I'm rocking an Oppo Find X5 Pro, which has a great triple-lens rear camera with Hasselblad tech built-in, but the camera either tends to focus on certain elements in the shot and leave other important areas out of focus, as you can see below, or keep everything in focus when you'd rather creatively blur other elements in the background.

Fiddling with the settings and composition to try and get the desired shot means slowing the game down, potentially frustrating my opponent.

However, if that was the only issue, this article wouldn't exist: I could work on mastering my phone's camera with a bit of practice. The main reason I want to ditch my phone during game times is that once the darn thing is in my hand, I've instantly reconnected with the world.

The temptation to check my WhatsApp messages or work emails rears its ugly head straight away, especially when I can see unread notifications in my nav bar. While Airplane Mode is one solution, I don't enjoy having my phone in my hand while I play, and would prefer to leave it in my bag if I can.

Consequently, I was delighted when I stumbled on my Canon Powershot SX530 HS, an older 'bridge' camera that's now too outdated to make our best Canon cameras list. However, it is a great camera for my needs: simple to use, with a 16MP lens and plenty of control over depth of field – that is, which parts of a scene and in focus and which are blurred – and other settings should I want to dig into the nuts-and-bolts of photography a little more.

It was a present from my wife many years ago, and had been collecting dust in a drawer after we moved house before I rediscovered it – and found that it was the ideal device to help me disconnect my hobby time from reality.

I'm not a good photographer by any means, but I really enjoyed putting my phone away and taking pictures of the action on a dedicated device. From a psychological perspective, it felt like I was engaging with the game a lot more by not using the phone, which I associate with distraction.

A report published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in 2022 found that phone use during social experiences has "detrimental effects on cognitive processing, well-being, and relationships" according to existing research on the topic. The report cited stats that Americans were spending over three hours a day on their phones – and three years on, I imagine that number can only have increased.

Putting my phone away during play and picking up my camera instead, and using an offline tablet to peruse the rules of the game, has made for a richer and more intentional experience. With not having my phone in my hand for rules or pictures, I felt as though I was more present and focused on my tabletop time – and it didn't hurt that the camera is excellent, adding depth and drama to miniature battlefield scenarios.

This intentionality is preserved and enhanced at all stages of the hobby. When I took action shots of battlefields in the past, I would send them to my fellow hobbyists in a WhatsApp group or Discord server, but I would only ever interact with the images on my phone. In order to get them off my camera, I have to plug it in and upload them from the camera's SD card, setting aside time for this part of the hobby rather than idly flicking between my camera roll and a distracting app like Pinterest or Reddit.

Once they're on my laptop, I found I could interact with the images in a much deeper way, appreciating them on a larger screen, and upload them into Photoshop to tinker with the color and other elements. I've begun looking into more complex ways to alter images, such as stacking photos to increase the depth of field, enhancing finer details, and applying rudimentary effects – but I've got a long way to go here.

I may not have left phone addiction and screen-based distractions entirely behind, but with the help of my Powershot there's now one area of my life where I can escape the relentless encroachment of everyday life and grim reality – even if it is only to enter the even grimmer world of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

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Canon is keeping up its hybrid mirrorless camera gear push with the launch of its fifth f/1.4 prime lens designed for photo and video, the RF 85mm F1.4L VCM.

I've already had some hands-on time with the portrait lens, pairing it with the superb EOS R5 Mark II, and I came away with pin-sharp portraits with buttery smooth bokeh.

The 85mm F1.4L VCM follows Canon's 20mm, 24mm, 35mm and 50mm f/1.4 optics, all of which are identical in length and diameter, although they differ slightly in weight – the 85mm is the heaviest in the series, tipping the scales at 22.4oz / 636g.

That said, the 85mm F1.4L VCM a whole lot lighter, and cheaper, than Canon's pro RF 85mm F1.2L prime (which is almost twice the price), and for most portrait photographers it's the obvious pick, especially for those that shoot both photo and video.

The RF 85mm F1.4L VCM is far from cheap, mind – it costs £1,679.99 / AU$2,699 (US pricing TBC), with sales due to start on September 30.

Here's how I got on during my brief hands-on session with Canon's new lens ahead of its launch…

The portrait prime that hybrid creators will love

Unlike most other Canon RF lenses, the company's line of VCM optics, which now comprises five primes and two zooms, are designed for photo and video use.

Each lens features a click-less aperture ring for smooth adjustments while filming, Canon's Voice Coil Motor, which drives the practically silent and rapid autofocus (hence the name VCM), and suppressed focus breathing.

With unified dimensions (you can see all five lenses side by side, above) and negligible weight differences, the idea is that video creators using a gimbal can easily swap between any of the five primes without needing to recalibrate.

The new 85mm lens is the most telephoto of the lot, with a go-to focal length for portrait photography – during my brief time with the lens, it excelled for portraiture.

I grabbed a few outdoor portraits, seeking out dappled background light in order to pour over bokeh quality (those out-of-focus light orbs), taking like-for-like shots at f/1.4 and with the aperture closed down a little.

Check out the three portraits, above: in the first you can see that the bokeh is a little cats-eye shaped in the corner, but in the last its rounded throughout. In all the portraits I took, bokeh is buttery smooth.

There's more contrast in the (second) portrait shot at f/2.8 over the f/1.4 version. However, I love the high-key dreamy feel at f/1.4. Also, detail in the subject's eyes in pin-sharp in every photo.

That's the beauty of Canon's mirrorless camera gear, especially the EOS R5 Mark II which we awarded Camera of the year 2024 – autofocus performance is so reliable that you can relax into portrait shoots. Subject detection works a treat for animals too – check out the series of photos of a goose, below, taken at f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8 and f/4.

Specs-wise, the lens has an 11-blade aperture, which for the majority of the frame makes for rounded and smooth bokeh. Minimum focus distance is 29.5 inches / 75cm, which renders a modest 0.12x maximum magnification – this is no macro lens.

This isn't the first 85mm lens for Canon's RF mount – there's the aforementioned f/1.2 monster, and also a f/2 macro. But for portrait photographers, especially armed with a camera like the EOS R5 Mark II, or one of Canon's cinema cameras like the new EOS C50 (see below), it's a superb option. It's not cheap, but it's optically excellent.

Despite it being the fifth lens in the series of f/1.4 VCM primes, I can see the 85mm finding its way into the top two in terms of popularity, given the focal length, and those who buy it won't be disappointed – it's a fabulous lens.

What do you think of Canon's new RF 85mm F1.4L VCM, and the company's growing emphasis on hybrid camera gear? Let me know in the comments below.

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Canon EOS C50: two-minute review

Throughout its four years on the market Sony's FX3 has sat largely unchallenged in the compact cinema camera space, but that's changed with the arrival of the new Canon EOS C50.

For the money, you'll struggle to find a more complete cinema camera than the EOS C50. It boasts 7K open gate internal Raw video recording (and simultaneous proxy recording), dual base ISO for clean clips day or night, Super 35 and Super 16 crop modes, Canon Log color profiles with more than 15EV dynamic range, slow-motion recording, reliable autofocus… the list goes on, and I haven't even touched on the camera's photo capabilities or its video-first design.

For photographers, the 32MP full-frame sensor can shoot in RAW+JPEG with subject-tracking autofocus at burst speeds up to 40fps, with the option for pre-burst capture – not bad for a cinema camera. Handily, the EOS C50 features a dual menu system, making it quicker to navigate the menus than if photography and video were combined under a single menu.

The EOS C50 sits closest to the Canon EOS R5C, a version of the EOS R5 with active cooling for unlimited 8K record times where the latter overheated, but which still had a photo-centric design; in fact it's perhaps a little too close for that camera's comfort, because I see the new model easily being the more compelling choice of the two.

After all, it's very much designed for video, packing four 1/4-inch mounting points for accessories, three record buttons, and coming bundled with a top handle which features XLR inputs for pro-level 4-channel 24-bit audio recording.

It's also Canon's smallest and lightest cinema camera, weighing just 23.6oz / 670g. That means it sits below the bulkier EOS C70, in terms of price too, yet in many ways exceeds the capabilities of that camera, as it does those of the Sony FX3, all in a smaller and lighter package.

It also helps that Canon is busy releasing new hybrid lenses, meaning ones design for both photography and video users. In fact, it launched the RF 85mm F1.4L VCM on the same day as the EOS C50 (they're pictured together above) – it's the seventh in a range of VCM lenses with aperture ring, suppressed focus breathing and a quick and silent autofocus motor.

Canon is increasingly stepping into the low-budget video production space currently dominated by Sony, creating a complete system for run-and-gun filmmakers, and the EOS C50 is for me the most compelling camera in the range.

I'll be looking to get hold of the EOS C50 for a longer testing period to really see what it's made of. But, having used the FX3 for numerous video shoots down the years, I can already see the C50's potential – and it could well become the premium pick in our best video cameras guide.

Canon EOS C50: price and release date

• Costs £3,299.99 (US and Australia pricing TBC)
• It comes with the (pictured) top handle
• Goes on sale in November

The Canon EOS C50's list price is effectively the same as the EOS R5C's – which means it undercuts the rival Sony FX3 and sits below the larger EOS C70.

The hop handle accessory (see below) is included – that type of accessory would typically cost around $500 / £400 / AU$750 separately. It also comes with an LP6P battery, which is interchangeable with the LP6 type used by the EOS R5 series of cameras.

We don't have an exact launch date yet, but Canon says it will go on sale at some point during of November this year.

Canon EOS C50: specs

Canon EOS C50: Design

• The smallest and lightest EOS cinema camera
• Comes with a top handle, no viewfinder
• 14 assignable custom buttons
• 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen

In terms of size and weight, the EOS C50 is similar to the EOS R5C; it's just 10g lighter at 670g. Unlike the EOS R5C, however, the EOS C50 is a proper cinema camera – that means it loses out on a viewfinder, but gains a mod-friendly design.

There are four 1/4-inch mounting points to rig the camera up or attach accessories, including Canon's top handle, which is bundled with the camera.

The top handle is useful for run-and-gun filmmaking, and especially for shooting comfortably from low angles – and for such scenarios it certainly helps that the LCD touchscreen is fully articulating and can flip out from the body.

Personally, I'd prefer the touchscreen to be a little larger. The modest 3-inch display will prompt many users to attach an external monitor for clear viewing instead, such as a 5-inch Atomos Ninja, and it feels a little counter-intuitive to bulk out such a compact design with accessories too much.

A 4-inch display, like you get with some Blackmagic cameras – and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has a 5-inch LCD – would avoid the need for an external monitor.

The EOS C50's body is adorned with 14 custom buttons, which combined can be assigned any one of 100 functions for quick access to regularly used settings.

You'll also notice a photo / video switch on the camera's top, and I'm a big fan of the dual menu system linked to this switch – you select photo for the photo-centered UI, or video for the video menu, which streamlines the process of making changes to settings.

You'll also notice from the top view of the camera that the active cooling design of the EOS C50 is a little bulky – the vented section where the LCD sits protrudes from the camera's rear. It's hardly attractive, but it does enable extended video record times without the risk of overheating.

There's also pro-level connectivity for video, including timecode terminal and full-size HDMI, plus features such as XC support and IP protocol for livestreaming capabilities.

The EOS C50 is powered by an LP6P battery that's interchangeable with the LP6 units used by all EOS R5 cameras. At the time of writing, Canon hasn't provided me with expected shoot times from a fully charged battery.

Canon EOS C50: Performance

• 32MP stills at up to 40fps (using electronic shutter)
• Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF II with subject-detection autofocus
• 4K (oversampled from 7K) up to 120fps, 2K up to 180fps

I'll touch on the EOS C50's photo features before digging into video-making skills; after all, this is a capable camera for photography, even if it is designed for video first.

The first thing to note is the new 32MP full-frame sensor, which is the regular CMOS kind, not the speedier stacked type we've seen in recent pro models, such as Canon's own EOS R5 Mark II.

Another thing about the sensor – it isn't stabilized, which impacts the photography and video experience. You'll need to be conservative with shutter speeds for sharp photos, while you'll want a gimbal for smooth handheld video footage.

It's possible to shoot 32MP stills in RAW, JPEG and HEIF format at up to 40fps with the electronic shutter, with the option for pre-burst shooting, meaning the camera can get going from a half-press of the shutter before fully pressing it down to take pictures.

Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus is on board, complete with subject-tracking autofocus for both photo and video. I rate Canon's autofocus as up there with the very best, and the same is true for the EOS C50.

As for video, there are too many features to list here, but the highlights are 7K Raw (internal) video recording, with up to 15EV dynamic range using Canon's Log-2 color profile. It's possible to shoot up to 60fps in 7K, or 4K up to 120fps and 2K up to 180fps.

There are a couple of crop modes too: Super 35 (APS-C) up to 5K 60fps, or Super 16 at 2.5K up to 150fps, both in RAW.

The EOS C50 is the first Canon camera with open gate video – which means you're shooting with the full height and width of the 3:2 aspect sensor, rather than being limited to the traditional 16:9 video crop.

When shooting in RAW format, the cleanest image quality can be achieved with the dual base ISO settings: 800 or 6400, covering daylight and lowlight scenarios, through which you'll get that maximum dynamic range and best grading potential.

Overall, it's a really impressive feature set for a cinema camera at this price point.

Canon EOS C50: also consider

How I tested the Canon EOS C50

• I only had two hours with the EOS C50
• I paired it with multiple Canon lenses, including the 85mm F1.4L VCM
• I shot video portraits and landscapes outdoors on a cloudy day

This hands-on review is purely my first impressions of the EOS C50, which I only got to use for a couple of hours. I got a feel for how the camera handles during this time, and a glimpse of how it performs in short bursts for video recording and photography.

I paired the EOS C50 with a couple of Canon VCM hybrid lenses, and used it handheld with and without the top handle, but not a cage.

I've shot a few clips at various resolutions, but not in enough scenarios to draw any definitive conclusions regarding image quality.

I'm able to bring plenty of experience to this short hands-on, having used the Sony FX3 for multiple shoots, and having also shot with the Canon EOS C70. Being so familiar with portable cinema cameras means I can quickly form opinions about the EOS C50. That said, these are tools that users need to rely on, and so you'll want to wait for our full long-term review that.

• First reviewed: September 2025
• Read more about how we test

• Canon teases launch event for September 9 2025 at 2pm BST / 11pm AEST
• Partially obscured image strongly hints at new cinema camera
• Rumored to be Canon EOS C50, a direct rival to the Sony FX3

Canon Europe has posted a teaser on its YouTube, hinting at a major new camera launch next week. Under the title “Something new is coming!”, the video is set to premiere at 2pm BST / 11pm AEST on September 9.

For now, all that can be seen on the preview screen is a partially lit camera body and lens, but Canon has left some big clues as to what we can expect – namely the large red shutter button and a lit red tally lamp. Both are characteristics associated with the brand’s Cinema cameras and this, taken alongside the body shape of the camera (boxy, with no viewfinder bulge) strongly suggests we’re getting our first look at a new Cinema EOS camera next week.

The online rumor mill has already been in overdrive over this new launch, claiming that the new camera will be the Canon EOS C50, a compact replacement for the current Canon EOS R5 C and a direct rival to the four-year-old Sony FX3. The suggestion of compact proportions, much smaller than the EOS C70, certainly tally with the teaser image.

Watch out, Sony FX3...

According to SonyAlphaRumors, the Canon EOS C50 will come with a 32MP full-frame sensor and be able to shoot Open Gate, using the whole surface of the sensor – both width and height – for recording. This is something we’ve previously seen on some of Panasonic’s Lumix cameras, Blackmagic Cinema Camera models and more, but not on Sony or Canon cameras.

The C50 will reportedly weigh under 700g (lens not included), making it extremely compact and lightweight for a cinema camera.

If the Canon EOS C50 arrives with the features and design mentioned above, it could prove a much more tempting prospect than the ageing Sony FX3. Sony has long been rumored to be working on a much-anticipated FX3 II, however – so we may have a new battle of the compact cinema cameras to look forward to.

If you'd like to keep tabs on the announcement, there's a notification button on Canon's YouTube page, link above. Until then, what would you like to see in Canon's next cinema camera? Let us know in the comments below.

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The lines between traditional hardware providers and cybersecurity vendors are beginning to blur as printer brands enter the cybersecurity field, but hackers can still use your business printer as an easy backdoor into your corporate network.

Canon, long associated with cameras and office printing hardware, is now offering a tiered cybersecurity subscription aimed at protecting endpoint devices, documents, and data.

The offering includes two tiers: Enhanced and Premium - the former covers basics such as firmware updates and data backup, while the latter introduces proactive monitoring, threat detection, and rapid device recovery.

Canon security concerns

The launch follows closely on the heels of serious security concerns related to Canon's print infrastructure, including high-severity driver vulnerabilities and a possible network breach advertised on underground forums.

Just days before the new subscription service was announced, Microsoft’s offensive security team disclosed a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-1268, affecting Canon’s printer drivers.

The flaw, which scores 9.4 on the CVSS scale, could enable attackers to halt printing or execute arbitrary code under certain conditions.

Canon issued advisories and urged users to update vulnerable drivers, particularly those tied to several production and office printer models.

While patching is essential, the persistence of such flaws highlights the broader risks that poorly secured print infrastructure can pose.

Adding to this unease, Canon has reportedly become the subject of underground listings offering root-level access to its internal firewall systems.

Though the company has not confirmed any such breach, security analysts continue to monitor claims circulating on dark web forums puporting to offer access allowing attackers to create backdoors or move laterally through the corporate network

Against this backdrop, Canon’s new Subscription Security Services may be seen as both a response to reputational risk and an attempt to reposition itself as more than a printer supplier.

Though these services resemble endpoint protection platform (EPP) features, they are focused solely on Canon’s device environment.

Whether this strategy gains traction depends on more than just Canon’s execution, as there is still a fair amount of skepticism around traditional hardware companies taking on roles typically reserved for antivirus and cybersecurity providers.

For businesses managing large fleets of print devices, consolidating protection through the hardware vendor may offer convenience, but it raises questions about scope, integration, and oversight.

If others in the hardware sector begin offering similar subscriptions, the market could see a gradual expansion of what constitutes EPP.

Via Cybersecurity News and Security Week

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Cameras sure do feel pretty pricey in 2025, which is partly due to premium models trending over beginner-friendly snappers. However, there's still excellent value to be found if you look in the right places, and this list gives you that steer.

Of course, value can be pretty subjective – it doesn't reflect price alone. An expensive camera can still be excellent value, while a cheap one could in reality be a false economy. I've picked out 10 leading camera brands and ranked them from worst to best for value, which was no mean feat. Ultimately, value is about getting the most camera for your money, and a surprising brand is emerging as the best bang for your buck.

Just to flag before we get started – I haven't included action camera brands DJI, Insta360, GoPro and Akaso, because they're a whole category unto themselves. So, without further ado, let's dive in.

10. Leica

With its astronomical prices, it'll come as no surprise that Leica ranks bottom of the pile for value. Take the M11-D (above) – it's a stripped-back, screen-less digital rangefinder with full-frame 61MP sensor, which costs $9,395 / £8,100 / AU$15,990 body only. The price for Leica lenses starts in the thousands, too. Ouch.

That said, Leica is the Rolls-Royce of the camera world, manufacturing superb cameras that could last a lifetime, especially its M-series of analog and digital rangefinders (metal bodies, all made in low numbers in Germany). Plus, there's its Q-series of digital compacts such as the divine Q3.

In one sense, Leica can feel like decent value when you consider the quality of craftsmanship. But you're looking more than $20,000 / £16,000 / AU$30,000 for a Leica M camera plus a couple of lenses, while its more 'affordable' models like the D-Lux 8 compact are still twice the price of rivals – the reality is that Leica is an exclusive brand.

9. Hasselblad

A close run with Leica, Hasselblad is another legendary name in the camera world that's still producing new models in 2025, the latest of which are the X2D 100C (see above) and 907X CFV 100C.

Both of those mirrorless cameras are premium models commanding Leica-like prices. However, I'm placing Hasselblad as slightly better value than Leica based on the technology inside its latest digital cameras, which includes a larger, stabilized 'medium-format' 100MP sensor (sized 44 x 33mm), 1TB built-in SSD, and more.

Hasselblad's lenses cost a pretty penny too, but possibly a fraction less than Leica overall. And the quality of Hasselblad gear is jaw-droppingly good – the X2D tops my winning lottery ticket shopping list.

8. Sony

Now that we've got two premium brands out of the way, we're getting into the mainstream. And all things considered, from its flagship mirrorless models such as the A1 II, to vlogging compacts and lenses, I think Sony is a pricey pick.

Again, quality is superb, so if you can afford Sony, it's a top choice. I especially appreciate its latest lenses, such as the incredible 50-150mm F2 GM, which is my favorite lens this year and practically worth switching systems for.

That said, I get to enjoy using Sony camera gear through my job; I'm not spending my own money on it. The A1 II is almost double the price of some rivals, even those which offer 90-95% of the same features, and its premium lenses cost in the thousands too.

The saving grace for Sony cameras is the large number of low-cost third-party lenses from the likes of Viltrox, who tend to make lenses for Sony cameras first, and sometimes exclusively. Sony's quality and performance are unquestioned, but its prices are getting hard to swallow.

7. Canon

Like Sony, there's no doubting the quality of Canon camera gear. Its EOS R5 Mark II (above) scooped TechRadar's camera of the year 2024 award, and the brand has been busy rolling out a string of superb hybrid lenses for photo and video shooters this year. But, like Sony, there's a premium for Canon's full-frame cameras, such as the EOS R1, plus many of its RF lenses.

Where I think Canon fares better versus its rivals, especially Sony, is in producing low-cost beginner-friendly cameras, such as the EOS R100. It's Canon's entry-level mirrorless camera, and quite possibly the only sub-$500 / £550 mirrorless camera from any brand. There's a reason – from some of the dated tech inside and its basic fixed rear screen, which isn't even touch-sensitive. However, with a 24MP APS-C sensor and decent autofocus, it's still a decent starter camera.

Canon has also launched decent vlogging cameras in 2025, which are fairly well-priced. However, Canon only recently opened its lens mount to third parties to make lenses for its APS-C cameras (and there's still none for full-frame), so most of your choices are pricey Canon optics. Overall, Canon is a mixed bag when it comes to pricing and value.

6. Fujifilm

Fujifilm has nailed down the retro camera market with a string of excellent cameras, such as the X100VI and, most recently, the X-E5. It has long been seen as a low-cost Leica alternative, and that's still true. However, I've observed the premium path that Fujifilm has been taking following the launch of the X-E5, which was twice the price of its predecessor, the X-E4. Fujifilm is also cashing in on its popular X100 series.

Personally, I think it makes sense for Fujifilm to up the build quality of its cameras and therefore its prices – the metal top plate of the X-E5 is lovely and worth the extra outlay. Fujifilm's days as a good value brand, it seems, are limited.

Still, there are excellent value options in its X-series line up if you look hard enough, not least of which is the X-M5, which is a tiny 6K powerhouse that I've personally recommended to a number of vloggers looking for their first came. The X-S20 is a decent all-rounder too, while if you want a medium-format monster, Fujifilm is the value brand to go for because it costs much less than Hasselblad.

5. Sigma

Sigma is better known for its lens making skills, delivering premium optics typically for half the price of proprietary alternatives. And boy are its lenses good – available in L-mount and many more including Sony, Fujifilm, Nikon and now Canon.

The prices for its lenses are all the more impressive when you consider that Sigma is a family-owned business since 1961 that runs its entire production from its HQ in Japan.

As for cameras, Sigma occasionally forays into the market. Take the Sigma BF, which is probably the most talked about camera for 2025. It's uncharacteristically pricey for Sigma, but with good reason – the entire chassis is made from a single ingot of aluminum. So, while not cheap, it certainly is premium. With Sigma lenses, you're guaranteed excellent quality at affordable prices. As for its cameras, expect the unexpected.

4. Blackmagic

If you're a certain type of filmmaker, then you'll struggle to find better value than Blackmagic. Its Pyxis 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models deliver some of the best 6K footage you'll see, with a streamlined workflow to Blackmagic's own Davinci Resolve editing software – which is one of the best out there and comes free with a Blackmagic camera.

Blackmagic cameras use the L-mount too, for which there is a wide choice of lenses covering all budgets. That said, Blackmagic's cameras are truly video focused rather than hybrid, which will work for some and not others. For example, you'll get video connectivity and audio features not available with hybrid models, but equally they're less suitable for photography. With a lack of image stabilization and basic autofocus performance, they're also less suitable for run-and-gun filmmaking.

However, if you simply want the best video quality, then Blackmagic cameras top the list at their respective price points.

3. OM System

OK, so OM System cameras aren't exactly pushing the boat out in terms of upgrades, but a solid foundation was already laid by Olympus (before it was acquired by OM Digital Solutions).

Today's OM System cameras, such as the OM-3 (above), are a wonderful blend of portability, rugged quality, retro looks and cutting-edge computational smarts. They're fun to shoot with, and enjoy a huge range of lenses. Some may scoff at the Micro Four Thirds format which is half the size of full-frame, but it's perfectly suited for many genres of photography, especially when you consider the powerful features the smaller format unleashes – the OM-3 is the cheapest camera with a stacked sensor.

In 2025, OM System has been bucking a rising prices trend, namely when it launched the OM System OM-5 II with a lower list price than the three-year-old OM-5. I'm not sure you'll find a better value camera.

2. Panasonic

Panasonic has long been a leading light for value, especially with its video-focused mirrorless cameras, such as the Lumix GH series, the most recent model being the Lumix GH7. When I was looking for a versatile and portable video camera on a shoestring years back, it was the Lumix GH5 that made the most sense.

That same value extends across most of the line, from its bridge cameras to new compacts like the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 and other mirrorless models – the Lumix S5 II is another perfectly pitched full-frame hybrid.

Recently, however, new Lumix models have felt uncharacteristically pricey, such as the Lumix S1 II and Lumix S1R II. They still offer plenty of bang for your buck, again if you shoot video as much as stills. However, in my book, there's another brand rising through the value ranks that has stolen Panasonic's top spot.

1. Nikon

I'm as surprised as anyone that Nikon takes top spot in this list. After all, it has been one of the leading camera brands for decades, from its analog SLR roots to DSLRs and then mirrorless.

If you look across its entire range, virtually every model costs less than its rivals, especially with seemingly permanent discounts at leading retailers. The Nikon Z8 stands shoulder to shoulder with the Canon EOS R5 II and Sony A1 II, but it's as comparative snip.

We rank the Nikon Z6 III as the best mirrorless camera overall, and again it's cheaper than Sony / Canon rivals despite being the newer, better model. The Nikon Z5 II raised the bar for entry-level full-frame cameras, the Z50 II is a well-equipped APS-C model, while the Z30 is one of the cheapest vlogging mirrorless models available, not forgetting the retro-styled Nikon Zf and Zfc.

Every model takes its respective top spot for value. The only strike against Nikon is there's no true beginner camera in its lineup, and some of its lenses are fairly pricey. Otherwise, Nikon is the undisputed best value camera brand in 2025.

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It was clear what was on everyone's mind during Canon's first quarterly earnings call for 2025, with the investors' Q&A session dominated by US tariffs.

In the process, Canon became the first major camera brand to publicly discuss the impact of US tariffs, saying, "We have notified major dealers that we will raise prices and are in the process of estimating the timing and amount of the increase."

Additional tariffs do not affect the prices for goods already imported and Canon projects its US sales subsidiary has "about one or two months’ worth of inventory".

Canon camera prices should, therefore, stay the same for the first half of 2025. However, we can expect a bump in prices come the second half of the year, based on Canon's sales projections.

Canon went on to say, "Since tariffs are borne against the cost of goods, the higher the cost ratio is, the higher the price rate increases."

We don't yet know how severe increases could be, but Canon is actually in a better position than most other camera manufacturers to limit price increases passed on to customers, because most of the cameras it sells in the US are produced in Japan, not China.

Japan's additional tariffs of 24% are currently reduced to 10% for a 90-day period, although Canon said in the Q&A that it has no immediate plans to export camera goods ahead of schedule during this time.

Either way, those tariffs are much lower than they are in China, which at the time of writing is hit with an additional 145% tariff, severely impacting camera manufacturers such as DJI, and their customers.

And so it begins

We've already seen what are presumably US tariff-related price increases from other brands, including DJI, whose popular Osmo Pocket 3 just saw a price hike. Our top rated vlogging camera launched in 2023 around the $500 mark, but now it costs $800. Ouch.

Leica's D-Lux line of compact cameras are made in China and are already affected too – the price of the D-Lux 8 has almost doubled, meaning it's not quite the low-cost Leica it was.

Clearly brands aren't the ones absorbing higher cost ratios brought about by US tariffs – the lion's share falls on US customers, who will have to fork out more cash for a new camera once current inventories are used up.

Canon sees the impact as localized to US customers, but acknowledged that should US tariffs trigger a global recession, then camera prices could change across the world.

There might also be severe delays on new products made in China coming to market. There have been numerous leaks that DJI's rumored Osmo 360 – a GoPro and Insta360-rivaling 360-degree camera – is ready for launch, but also that DJI is considering pulling the plug on it given those increased costs.

In light of price hikes, we could see demand shift from new gear to used, and that in turn could spell an increase in the price of second-hand equipment.

The severity of price increases for new gear, plus the timeline, will no doubt become clear over the coming months, but if you're in the US and looking for a new camera, it could pay to act fast.

Click on the Q&A Session Summary link at Canon's global site for the complete session.

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• The mystery ultra-wide prime could have a f/1.4 aperture
• It could be Canon's widest prime lens for mirrorless yet
• There are no details of an expected launch date yet

Canon is tipped to fill a long-time gap in its lens lineup, with a completely new ultra-wide angle prime that could be perfect for astrophotography.

Leaks about the lens are seemingly few, but that hasn't stopped Canon Rumors from speculating what the mystery full-frame lens for Canon's mirrorless camera might be – and it could be a world-first.

Judging by the response to the post, such a lens could be a big hit with Canon and astrophotography fans. Here's what has been rumored so far.

An all-new, world-first prime

Canon has launched plenty of superb lenses for its mirrorless cameras, however, ultra-wide angle fans are short of options.

There's the five-star RF 10-20mm F4L IS STM zoom and a hybrid RF 20mm F1.4 VCM, but no wider fast prime like Sigma's 14mm f/1.4 (for Sony E and L-mount only). That could be about to change.

Arguably the most significant detail about this lens is absent in Canon Rumors' post: focal length. There's speculation is could be a 14mm lens, or even be as wide as 12mm.

The leaker seems more certain that the maximum aperture is going to be f/1.4. If it's going to be a true world-first lens then, it couldn't be a 14mm f/1.4, given Sigma's lens. However, it could still be, with various qualifiers.

Whatever the case, if this lens materializes, it sounds like something totally new for Canon, combining an ultra-wide perspective with a bright maximum aperture that's ideal for low light work, such as astrophotography.

Naturally, a professional L-series lens like a 14mm f/1.4 will be a chunky thing. However, I'd expect it to be smaller than a DSLR equivalent; Canon has previously been able to reduce the size and weight of certain DSLR lenses when making them afresh for mirrorless, such as the 10-20mm F4L IS STM, which was half the weight of the EF 11-24mm f/4L USM.

And while Canon has recently focused its efforts into hybrid VCM lenses designed for photo and video work, the feeling is that this rumored ultra-fast prime will be an STM lens, better equipped for photography.

Such a lens is one of the most requested from Canon photographers, who hopefully won't have long to wait.

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• Canon has reportedly canceled some planned price drops for two cameras
• Tariffs are being blamed for the canned EOS R7 and EOS R10 drops in the US
• Blackmagic also recently confirmed price rises for its cameras in the US

If you're a tech fan, it's hard to escape worries about US tariffs right now – and cameras may have just experienced their real-world impact for the first time with the reported cancellation of some planned Canon price drops.

The reliable Canon Rumors says it's been told that "price drops that were scheduled for May on both the EOS R7 and EOS R10 have been canceled in the United States". Annoyingly for anyone who's been planning to buy an affordable mirrorless camera, it was also told that "the price drops were going to be significant."

On the plus side, if you live in the UK or EU, Canon Rumors says its source has claimed that the Canon EOS R7 and EOS R10 price drops "are still scheduled to happen."

That could change, but it's another sign of the significant geographical variances we might see this year regarding discounts and pricing.

Of course, nothing is certain right now, and if the USA and Japan did come to an arrangement that reduced the impact of the tariffs, the situation could change. However, as things stand, the Canon EOS R10 (which we still rate as the best camera for beginners) and its mid-range EOS R7 sibling won't be as temptingly affordable as they might have otherwise been this year.

Unfortunately, this will likely be just the start of another rollercoaster year for camera fans...

Analysis: It might get a lot worse

Clearly, missing out on potentially big camera price drops isn't great, particularly if you've been thinking of getting a new EOS R7 or EOS R10. But if the early signs are any indication, things could soon get much worse, particularly in the US.

Over the weekend, Blackmagic posted the notice above, confirming that its US prices had been increased "due to new tariffs." In some cases, the rise was pretty dramatic, with the new Blackmagic Pyxis 12K G2 seeing its tag hiked by 32%.

Is that a sign of things to come from other camera manufacturers? While it's hard to predict anything with real certainty right now, it's certainly possible. A lot of Canon's manufacturing takes place in Japan (hit with a 24% tariff), while Nikon's mid-range equipment is made in Thailand (which currently has a 36% tariff).

Unless we see some rapid trade deals that reduce these tariffs, it's fair to assume that many camera bodies, lenses, and accessories – perhaps most – will become much more expensive this year.

If that happens, we can expect to see used prices rise, too, as the number of bargain hunters increases and pre-tariff supply starts to dwindle. In other words, it might become a good time to delay your next camera upgrade or at least reframe the situation as a relief from gear acquisition syndrome (otherwise known as GAS in camera circles).

It's time to brace ourselves for a rocky ride.

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• Rumors suggest the EOS R7 Mark II is due in Q3 or Q4 of this year
• Sources indicate that the Mark II could have a 40MP APS-C sensor
• No official announcement from Canon

The Canon EOS R7 was the company’s first flagship mirrorless model built around an APS-C sensor. Launched in 2022, we gave it high praise in our in-depth review – and it remains a fantastic hybrid camera today. But with stiff competition in the mid-range market, it’s fast approaching time for Canon to introduce a second edition of the R7.

If online chatter proves accurate, that’s exactly what could arrive later this year. We’re still some way off a definite launch date, but Canon Rumors – a reliable source for industry information – has published a story claiming that it expects the EOS R7 Mark II to hit shelves in Q3 or Q4 of 2025. It also suggests that the model will go “upmarket”.

Canon Rumors didn’t share any further details about what we can expect to see on the spec sheet of the EOS R7 Mark II and the manufacturer itself is still tight-lipped. But a quick look at the shortcomings of the original R7 should offer a few clues. It might also give Fujifilm something to worry about: an upgraded EOS R7 Mark II could outgun the X-T5 – the best Fujifilm camera you can buy right now.

What specs could the Canon EOS R7 Mark II have?

One of the key upgrades for the EOS R7 Mark II is likely to be its sensor. While the R7’s 32.5MP number was the class of the field when it launched, it was subsequently trumped by the X-T5, with its 40.2MP resolution. For this reason, a number of sources – including Canon Rumors – have suggested that Canon will increase the resolution of the EOS R7 Mark II to around 40MP.

Some have suggested that the sensor upgrade could also unlock 8K video recording capabilities. That would certainly make it a more powerful hybrid. So would the ability to shoot 4K/120p video, a feature which was lacking on the first-gen EOS R7.

Physically, we wouldn’t expect the Mark II to be a huge departure from the established form factor of the EOS R7. That said, Canon Rumors has posited that the Mark II will have a larger body, with ergonomics closer to those of the EOS R5 Mark II.

Several sources have also mooted whether the EOS R7 Mark II will benefit from significantly faster readout speeds. Canon Rumors has dangled the idea that the EOS R7 Mark II will be the first Canon mirrorless camera to eliminate a mechanical shutter altogether, aping the likes of the Nikon Z8 in delivering faster frame rates and reduced rolling shutter.

Paired with Canon’s latest subject tracking autofocus, this would make the Mark II a strong crop-sensor choice for serious enthusiasts, particularly those who like to shoot action, sports and wildlife. To match, we’d expect to see an upgrade to the resolution of the electronic viewfinder, which we found “a little pedestrian” in our review of the R7.

Of course, all of the above is based on speculation and nothing has been confirmed by Canon. That said, the EOS R7 Mark II is almost certain to be a major advancement for Canon’s APS-C line-up – and one that offers a compelling alternative to Fujifilm’s X-series.

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• Global launch of EOS R50 V and PowerShot V1 V-series of vlogging cameras
• A new RF-S 14-30mm power zoom lens was also unveiled for the EOS R50 V
• The PowerShot V1 costs the same as the EOS R50 V with 14-30mm lens

Canon has unveiled the new EOS R50 V alongside confirming global availability of its PowerShot V1, which was announced last month for Japan only.

Both V-series models are part of Canon's vlogging-focused camera range, joining the PowerShot V10 point-and-shoot compact – we expect more models to follow.

I had a two-day hands-on with both cameras ahead of launch, and you can discover if the compact camera's fanfare is justified in my PowerShot V1 hands-on review.

The EOS R50 V on the other hand is Canon's first V-series mirrorless camera, and unsurprisingly it utilizes the same RF-mount and 24MP APS-C sensor as the EOS R50.

Alongside the EOS R50 V, Canon launched the new RF-S 14-30mm F4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens (£379.99 / AU$579). The PZ stands for Power Zoom – a smooth zoom function ideal for video, and custom designed for the EOS R50 V.

Despite their different design cues, the PowerShot V1 and EOS R50 V with 14-30mm lens share the same launch price in the UK of £959.99, but are separated slightly in Australia, costing AU$1,449 and AU$1,499, respectively. Alternatively, the EOS R50 V can be purchased body for £729.99 / AI$1,169, or in a Creator Kit with lens and accessories for £999.99 (AU availability of the Creator Kit is TBC). Sales start on April 10, and I'll update this article with US pricing when I have that info.

Let's take a closer look at the EOS R50 V, and then consider which of the two new models offers better value for beginner vloggers.

Canon EOS R50 V vs EOS R50: a new video-focused design

In essence, the EOS R50 V packs much the same EOS R50 tech into a body designed for video, with slightly better video features, but it lacks a viewfinder.

Take its shooting mode dial as an example – there’s a host of video options including three custom settings you can save for quick access, but just one option for photography. The EOS R50's shooting mode dial is the flipside of that.

It also has tripod mounts for vertical and horizontal setups and accessories, record buttons on the front and rear, a tally lamp, plus a vari-angle screen for selfies and awkward angles, with auto support for vertical live view and menus. That all feels pretty high end for a camera at this sub £1,000 price point.

Other handy video features include aspect markers, timecode, USB-C power and charging, mic and headphone ports, false color, zebra display and manual focus peaking.

4K 30fps 4:2:2 10-bit video is oversampled from 6K, plus there’s Canon's C-Log 3 color profile and record times up to 2 hours. You can up 4K frame rate to 60fps, while Full HD delivers up to 120fps.

The same dual pixel autofocus II system utilized by the EOS R6 Mark II is found here, offering subject and eye detection for humans and animals.

The camera features a power zoom lever and can be bought with the new RF-S 14-30mm power zoom lens for smooth video zooms. It’s also a decent live-streaming camera, with 4-channel audio and compatibility with Canon’s Live Switcher app for multi cam setups – up to three EOS R50 V's can be synchronized.

That's a decent array of upgrades for video-focused users from the EOS R50.

EOS R50 V versus PowerShot V1

Unlike the EOS R50 V, the PowerShot V1 is a compact camera, meaning it has a built-in 3.1x optical zoom lens – it's a complete package. But with the PowerShot V1 costing the same as the EOS R50 V with 14-30mm lens, which model makes most sense for beginner vloggers?

With lens attached, the EOS R50 V is a heavier and larger package, but not by a lot – its height and width are no bigger. Both cameras could slip into a jacket pocket, while the V1 could squeeze into smaller pockets.

The EOS R50 V has a larger APS-C sensor to the V1's new 1.4-inch sensor, so expect slightly better image quality overall.

However, you can expect a similar depth of field and focus fall-off from the two aforementioned lenses, plus optical stabilization rated up to 5EV. (Of course you could buy different lenses for the EOS R50 V for different looks – for example, there are decent Sigma fast aperture zoom and prime lenses available that I've tested and can recommend.)

Canon says the EOS R50 V's autofocus is better than the PowerShot V1's, plus it has slightly more powerful video features, some of which were mentioned earlier. However, it doesn't have a built-in ND filter, like the V1 does, while the 14-30mm (21-45mm effective) kit lens isn't as wide as the V1's 16-50mm either – the latter is probably more versatile for vlogging especially.

If you want a simple one-stop vlogging camera, the PowerShot V1 probably makes more sense. But if you want a camera that can support you as your skills grow, with the option to swap lenses, then the EOS R50 V is a more serious package, for the same money.

Which model would you go for and why – the Canon EOS R50 V or Canon PowerShot V1? Let us know in the comments below.

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Canon PowerShot V1: two-minute review

There's been a buzz surrounding the PowerShot V1, principally because the compact V-series vlogging camera is like a bigger sibling to the trending (and dated) PowerShot G7X Mark III, with an all-new 1.4-inch sensor and 16-50mm lens.

Put the two cameras side by side and the design / control layout similarities are clear (see below) – these are pocketable compact cameras, with the PowerShot V1 being the bigger of the two, and both offer impressive suites of video features.

The PowerShot V1's most obvious rival is the Sony ZV1-II, while the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is a gimbal-stabilized alternative, and in many regards the well-rounded PowerShot V1 is a clear winner, even if there's a strong case to be made for DJI's take on the format.

Headline features include that 22.3MP, 1.4-inch sensor. That's a rare sensor size – it's essentially the same as Micro Four Thirds, but in 3:2 aspect ratio rather than 4:3. It measures 18.4 x 12.3 mm – much bigger than the 1-inch type used in the aforementioned rivals, which measures 13.2mm x 8.8mm.

A bigger sensor size in general means better image quality, but there are caveats. The notable PowerShot V1 drawback for me is the f/2.8-4.5 maximum aperture of its 3.1x optical zoom lens. Compare that to the ZV-1 II's f/1.8-4, and the PowerShot G7X Mark III's 4.2x zoom with a f/1.8-2.8 maximum aperture, and the V1 comes up short for light-gathering capabilities, which in some respects counters the image-quality advantage of its larger sensor.

Still, it's the widest lens of the bunch, with a 16-50mm range that's ideal for vlogging. Even with digital image stabilization active and the consequent image-area crop applied, the framing is plenty wide enough for vlogging with the camera at arm's reach – that extra 2mm at the wide end goes a long way.

The comprehensive suite of video features includes cooling vents and unlimited 4K 30fps video recording times, a built-in ND filter, Canon's best-ever autofocus for a PowerShot compact, plus mic and headphone ports.

Photographers are well catered for too, with a hotshoe accepting an external flash (but not 5-pin ones), and a rapid 15fps burst shooting speed that's doubled when using the electronic shutter, ably supported by that reliable subject-tracking autofocus.

Image stabilization is unavailable when shooting 4K video at 60fps, plus there's a 1.4x crop using this setting. On paper, both sound like major drawbacks, but that 16mm lens meant I was just about able to deal with the crop when vlogging handheld. The image stabilization is another matter, and some may want to drop down to 30 or 24fps when vlogging on foot, in order to keep their videos nice and steady.

These factors aside, the PowerShot V1 is an undeniably strong overall performer. As a complete package with Sony-beating features and a relatively decent price, it seems set to be a vlogging star.

Canon PowerShot V1 specs

Canon PowerShot V1: Price and availability

• £959.99 / AU$1,449 (US pricing TBC)
• Available from early April, exact date TBC

The Canon PowerShot V1 costs £959.99 / AU$1,449, with US pricing to be confirmed, and is available to order in the UK now (Canon Australia says 'late April', with an exact US release date also yet to be confirmed by Canon).

That starting price is less than what the older G7X Mark III currently goes for, with scalpers are capitalizing on the smaller model's popularity. However, the Sony ZV-1 II costs around 20% less than the V1, while the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is about half the price.

• Price score: 4/5

Canon PowerShot V1: Design and handling

• Similar design and control layout to the PowerShot G7X Mark III
• Under 500g and just about pocket-sized
• Includes vari-angle touchscreen, hotshoe, headphone, mic and micro HDMI ports

Canon has created a well-rounded and solid compact camera with a focus on video. Its design and control layout are strikingly similar to the PowerShot G7X Mark III's (see below), but on a larger scale that has enabled extra features such as a hotshoe and vari-angle screen, plus of course that larger sensor.

That being said, that undeniable 'video-first' approach is reflected in the lack of an electronic viewfinder or built-in flash – two features you might expect to see in a premium-ish compact like this.

The camera sits nicely in the hand thanks to its generous handgrip, and is adorned with a number of customizable buttons and controls. A special mention goes to the lens ring, which is ideal for making quick changes to aperture or your desired setting, plus the rear switch for instantly toggling between photo and video shooting modes.

In general, I found the PowerShot V1 intuitive to use thanks to its clearly labelled controls and well laid-out user interface. The only thing I disliked was the way Canon has hidden the slow-motion shooting mode deep in the menus. Most manufacturers make it available via a physical dial or switch these days, and I'd expect that here given the focus on video.

With the camera powered off and the lens retracted, I was able to fit it into my jacket pocket, which is impressive given the decent-size 1.4-inch sensor inside. Be warned, though: it's not going to squeeze into anyone's jeans pocket – not even with the increasingly baggy ones currently in fashion.

A vari-angle touchscreen is pretty much the norm in 2025 for video-focused cameras – it can be flipped out and tilted upwards for easy viewing from awkward angles when shooting horizontally, and flipped around for vlogging. As mentioned above, there's no electronic viewfinder here, however, so you'll need to use the screen for composing all your shots. I didn't mind that in general, but on the sunnier days I would have preferred using a glare-free viewfinder over squinting at the glossy screen.

Connectivity is about what I'd expect on a video-centric compact camera. There's USB-C for data transfer and recharging purposes, and it can also be used for UVC/UAC streaming, which I'll discuss in the next section of the review. Then there are 3.5mm microphone and headphone ports, and a micro HDMI output. I'd have preferred full-size HDMI, but can't complain too much about that given the camera's compact size.

Cooling vents are found on the top and left-hand side of the camera, and these effectively enable unlimited 4K video record times. This isn't the sort of feature I'd expect in a camera at this level and price point, so kudos to Canon for that. Documentation points out that overheating is still a possibility with higher frame rate recording, but an on-screen temperature meter will give you an early warning should things start warming up.

Perhaps partially because of these vents, the camera is not water resistant or weather-sealed in any way, so caution in inclement conditions is recommended.

On the bottom plate there's a standard tripod mount, plus a door hiding the battery and single SD card slot.

• Design score: 3.5/5

Canon PowerShot V1: Performance

• 16-50mm f/2.8-4.5 lens with optical image stabilization
• Dual Pixel AF II autofocus system with subject recognition
• Internal mic captures good quality 16-bit audio

Canon has fitted the PowerShot V1 with a wider zoom lens than most of its rivals. 18mm is the standard, but the V1's goes to 16mm at the widest point, which is a superb field of view for handheld vlogging.

It zooms optically to 3.1x, which is 50mm equivalent and handy for portraits and getting a little closer to distant subjects. The lens also has decent close-focusing skills, so you can create photos and dynamic video cutaways for vlog footage – check out the flower closeups in my sample gallery below for examples.

It's also equipped with optical image stabilization (OIS) that's rated up to 5EV. That's decent performance for photography, though it's of little use for video. For that, the camera has additional digital (or electronic) image stabilization (DIS). There's a small crop of the image area with DIS active, and even more with the enhanced DIS option, and that's where the V1's wider-than-most 16mm wide focal length is particularly handy – you'll still be able to frame yourself nicely in the shot with stabilization active.

The stabilization is generally impressive for video, and allowed me to shoot handheld without too much distracting shaking going on. When compared to its two closest vlogging camera rivals, I'd say the PowerShot V1 sits somewhere in the middle: the DJI Osmo Pocket 3's self-levelling gimbal makes it a real superstar of stability, whereas the Sony ZV-1 II's digital-only image stabilization doesn't really feel up to snuff for a vlog-centric camera.

The PowerShot V1 comes with very fast and effective autofocus too, courtesy of Canon's Dual Pixel AF II system. It's adept at locking onto subjects almost instantaneously, and has impressive recognition built-in for humans and animals. I found it picked up people, cats and dogs every time, and effectively tracked them as they moved too.

There's a decent internal mic able to record 16-bit audio in AAC or PCM format, and Canon provides a fluffy 'dead cat' wind muff in the box. This slots into the hotshoe and sits directly on top of the mic, helping to damp down wind noise and provide clearer recordings on blustery days. When using the internal mic, the wind muff feels like a must, even if it somewhat obstructs some of the camera controls, such as the on/ off switch. It's quite effective, although on especially windy days you'll still get some disruption to your audio.

Still, if you're a serious creator you'll be using an external mic instead, and these can be connected using the 3.5mm mic input, with sound monitoring possible through headphones and on-screen. During the review process I tested the camera with my DJI Mic 2, with the receiver mounted on the hotshoe, and found it to be a slick setup that certainly delivered better sound quality (including less wind noise) than the internal mic.

Another handy feature for vlogging is a tally lamp, which lights up red to confirm when you're recording. You can also opt for manual focus peaking and zebra display on the screen, plus timecode – again, all handy video features.

Note that you will need a fast-ish SD card to make full use of the PowerShot V1's 4K recording modes without abrupt stoppages. Canon recommends a "fast" UHS-II type card, but my Lexar V60 UHS-II card struggled at times when recording 4K, so you'll probably want to go with a V90 card to ensure you don't run into any write-speed issues.

Battery life is solid if unspectacular. A fully charged battery should be able to shoot around 400 still images or just over an hour of video according to Canon, but in my impression when recording 4K video it was a little less than that. The good news is that the camera's USB-C socket can be used to supply continuous power, so if you're filming at home you don't need to worry about battery life at all.

As well as for charging, power supply and file transfer, the USB port can be used to attach the camera to a computer for live streaming purposes, effectively turning the PowerShot V1 into a high-spec webcam. It uses the UVC/UAC standards, so will work with most streaming platforms.

• Performance score: 4/5

Canon PowerShot V1: Image quality

• 4K video at 24 or 30fps, 4K at 60fps with a 1.4x crop, Full HD at 120fps
• Canon Log 3 color profile supported
• 22.3MP still photos in JPEG and RAW

During my time with the camera I have been able to use the various video record modes, take photos, check image stabilization performance and shoot a few short vlogs using the internal mic, plus some B-roll footage.

In the sample vlog footage below, I cover 4K 30fps, 4K 60fps, image stabilization, and the 3.1x optical zoom among other things.

Usually, the camera's exposure metering and color are linked to the focus area. When focus was locked onto me, exposure looked fine with the help of the built-in auto ND filter, although I have seen shifts in the color of my skin in vlogs – some look spot on, others a little green, others too magenta. It's a good practice to set white balance manually, rather than rely on auto white balance.

Below you'll find some B-roll footage I captured to demonstrate the general image quality of the camera. This was mostly captured at 4K 24fps quality, using the flat Canon Log 3 color profile, which I then color corrected using DaVinci Resolve 19.

There's also a short clip of slow-motion footage in there, which is captured at 120fps before being played back at 'normal' frame rates – but note that the maximum resolution available while using this high-speed recording mode is Full HD. Audio recording is also disabled for slow-motion capture.

4K 60fps video looks great too, although as previously mentioned you'll lose out on the option for Digital Image Stabilization at this setting, as well as having to put up with a 1.4x crop of the image area. I don't mind the crop so much, as it effectively extends the lens for close-up B-roll.

There's also a crop when you employ enhanced DIS (not available with 4K 60fps), but the V1's widest 16mm focal length gives a lot of scope for cropping into the image area for vlogging. Lens focal length might sound like a small thing, but Canon has been smart with its choice of 16mm focal length for the wide setting.

Canon's 22.3MP 1.4-inch sensor is new, but we get Canon's familiar color science, and that's a good thing. Full-size photos look natural and are packed with detail – my skin and facial hair are super-crisp in the selfie above.

The color science means JPEGs straight out of the camera look lovely, but I also took photos in RAW format, editing them later on my computer using Adobe Lightroom. The results are in the gallery below, and I was largely impressed, particular with some of the colors, shadow detail and contrast I was able to draw out of the files with just a bit of minor tweaking.

Despite the large size of the PowerShot V1's image sensor, it's not what I'd call a low-light monster. Noise creeps in at fairly low ISO settings – probably as a result of the lens's rather small maximum aperture. The grain caused by noise is combated well in the in-camera JPEGs and I was also able to minimize its impact in Lightroom for the RAW files, but it's worth noting – especially since Canon has not equipped the camera with a built-in flash to illuminate dark scenes.

As I mention above, the maximum aperture of the camera is pretty low, and I would have I have preferred something like f/1.8-2.8. However, that wouldn't be possible within the same compact lens dimensions. In any case, with the lens set to its maximum aperture (f/2.8-4.5) and when the focus distance is close, it's possible to get a lovely shallow depth of field.

• Image and video quality score: 4.5/5

Canon PowerShot V1: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Canon PowerShot V1?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Canon PowerShot V1: Also consider

How I tested the Canon PowerShot V1

• Tested a full production model for three days
• I shot various handheld video clips using a range of resolutions and frame rates, and with stabilization active and off
• I recorded vlogs using both the in-camera mics and my DJI Mic 2 external mic
• I shot photos in RAW and JPEG indoors and outdoors at various times of day

I wish I'd had at least a week with the PowerShot V1, but limited review sample availability meant I instead had just three days to put it through its paces. That was, however, enough time to use all the various video modes on offer, including 4K and Full HD videos with 60fps, 30fps and 24fps frame rates, plus the 120fps slow-motion mode. I was also able to make short vlogs using both the in-camera microphone and my own DJI Mic 2 external wireless mic, and shoot comparison videos with the stabilization active and turned off, to see how effective digital stabilization is for video. I also tested the still photography performance by taking both JPEG and RAW photos in a variety of conditions and locations.

• First reviewed March 2025

• We're a week away from new Canon vlogging cameras
• Canon is teasing two models for an unveiling on March 26
• One is the PowerShot V1, already available in Japan

Mark your calendars, Canon fans: the camera giant has posted a teaser on social media that shows not one but two new V series models, set to be unveiled in full on Wednesday, March 26 at 6pm CET (10am PT / 1pm ET / 5pm GMT, which is 4am AEST on March 27 in Australia).

The teaser comes with the caption "exciting things are coming" and promises that the new cameras are going to be "the perfect new additions to your kit bag". As part of the V series, they'll be aimed at vloggers and creators.

It's not too difficult to identify the camera on the left of the image, because we've seen it before: it's the Canon PowerShot V1, which has already launched in Japan. It features a 16-50mm F2.8-4.5 lens with 3.1x optical zoom, a new stabilized 22.3MP sensor, and support for 4K / 30p video or 4K / 60p with a 1.4x crop. It's like a bigger sibling to the trending PowerShot G7X Mark III.

What we don't know yet is the price outside of Japan. It's on sale for 148,500 Japanese Yen there, which works out as about $1,000 / £800 / AU$1,600 – but Canon is unlikely to use a straight currency conversion. We should get accurate global pricing next Wednesday.

One launch, two cameras

The second camera, on the right, is more of a mystery – though not a complete surprise. There have been rumors that the PowerShot V1 wouldn't be the only V series model to launch this year, though to date we've not heard much about a second device.

According to Canon Rumors, this second model is set to be the Canon EOS R50 V – an entry-level mirrorless camera for vloggers that could retail for something in the region of $750 / £700 / AU$1,300.

As per the unconfirmed information Canon Rumors has, the suggestion is that the Canon EOS R50 V will come with a new lens of its own, and (as you can guess from the name) it'll be a video-centric take on the APS-C Canon EOS R50. We may see some refined ergonomics, though we don't have many other details.

All will be revealed next Wednesday, and we will of course bring you the news of the announcements as they're made. Given that the social media teaser mentions Canon's YouTube channel, it seems the launch will be livestreamed online too.

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Canon quietly announced the new PowerShot V1 this week, and I think this capable-looking compact vlogging camera will generate plenty of noise among camera enthusiasts and aspiring creators in the months to come, and become one of 2025's big hits.

At a time when there's been renewed interest in compact cameras, Canon has seemingly created an entirely new and well-rounded PowerShot. It packs plenty of video-friendly features into a compact body with a built-in 3.1x optical zoom lens, and photographers are well catered for too.

The PowerShot V1 steps into a space in the market where there isn't much competition, especially around the camera's anticipated price point. We currently have just the 148,500 Japanese Yen price to go off, which converts to around $990 / £785 / AU$1,550 – and if the actual pricing is close to that, then for the money users are getting impressive set of features for video and photo alike.

With the prestigious Canon name, a compact body, and a complete feature set, the PowerShot V1 is set to be a hit – let's look at the key reasons why.

Fit for purpose

The PowerShot V1 headlines begin with its new 22.3MP '1.4-inch' sensor. It's completely new for Canon and it's effectively Micro Four Thirds-size, except for that fact that it's a narrower 3:2 aspect ratio.

This sensor size is much larger than the 1-inch type used by the Sony ZV-1 II and DJI Osmo Pocket 3, which gives the PowerShot V1 an image-quality advantage, but smaller than the APS-C type used in video-first mirrorless cameras such as the Fujifilm X-M5 and Nikon Z30 – although these are bulkier system cameras that require lenses.

The V1's compact form factor, built-in 16-50mm F2.8-4.5 zoom lens, and larger-than-average image sensor feel like a magic formula, especially for vlogging and everyday photography.

A welcome bonus is that the lens is optically stabilized for photography, and it's rated up to a decent 5EV. For video, the V1 relies on the less effective digital image stabilization, which can't compete with the gimbal-stabilized Osmo Pocket 3.

I'd be remiss not to mention the array of other features that combine to make the PowerShot V1 a complete compact: a built-in 3EV ND filter, mic and headphone ports, a cooling fan for unlimited record times, a hotshoe for accessories such as a flashgun, plus blazing-fast 15fps burst shooting using the mechanical shutter – a rate that's doubled when using the electronic shutter.

There's no viewfinder, which is the biggest miss for serious photographers here. And for the money, the icing on the V1 cake would have been in-body image stabilization for video. However, that's a costly feature that's generally reserved for much pricier alternatives.

I should also caveat all of the above and make it clear that I haven't tested the PowerShot V1 yet, and so I can't comment on the camera's handling and image quality. We believe the vlogging compact will go on sale from April, with an exact date still to be confirmed by Canon – more product details can be found at the Canon Japan website.

As an overall package, I think the PowerShot V1 looks like a complete compact camera, especially for video-first users. But what do you think? Has Canon struck gold with the PowerShot V1? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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• Canon PowerShot V1 quietly announced on the Canon Japan website
• It features an all-new 22.3MP sensor that's effectively Micro Four Thirds size, and a 16-50mm F2.8-4.5 lens
• Its price converted from Japanese Yen is roughly $990 / £785 / AU$1,550

We've been following rumors of an exciting new Canon compact camera for some time, and that camera – the PowerShot V1 – has just been unveiled on the Canon Japan website.

Canon's latest PowerShot is primarily a vlogging compact camera, and on paper it looks like a Sony ZV-1 II-beating rival. It features a 16-50mm F2.8-4.5 lens and new stabilized 22.3MP sensor that's essentially the same size as Micro Four Thirds, save for its narrower 3:2 aspect ratio.

It offers 4K / 30p video and Canon's C-Log color profile, or 4K /60p with a heavy 1.4x crop – but that latter shouldn't be much of an issue considering the ultra-wide perspective of the 3.1x optical zoom lens.

There's also a built-in 3-stop ND filter, 5EV in-body image stabilization, mic and headphones ports, plus record times with a heat limit that starts at 25 minutes, but which can be extended to unlimited with the built-in cooling fan in action.

Photographers won't find features such as a viewfinder or built-in flash, but that doesn't mean they should ignore the PowerShot V1, because it has some incredibly powerful photo features. These include burst shooting at rates of up to 15fps with the mechanical shutter (that's incredibly fast – only a handful of cameras can go that fast using a mechanical shutter), or up to 30fps with the electronic shutter.

Overall, the PowerShot V1 has a solid feature-set squeezed into a compact body with comfortable-looking hand grip, and here's why I think it'll be a hit: it's likely list price. At the time of writing, we only have the 148,500 Japanese Yen price, which converts to around $990 / £785 / AU$1,550 – assuming that the actual prices are in that ballpark, that's pretty competitive considering the features on board.

Could the Canon Powershot V1 be the one compact camera to rule them all?

From the Sony ZV-1 II compact to the gimbal-stabilized DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and the Fujifilm XM-5 / Nikon Z30 mirrorless cameras, there's no shortage of sub-$1,000 vlogging cameras. And it's into this market that the Canon PowerShot V1 steps.

We haven't tested the feature-stacked PowerShot V1 yet – it's set for an April / May launch – but on paper it looks super impressive, and it's likely to enter the market at an enticing price point that I expect to make it very popular.

It's stabilized sensor is larger than the 1-inch type used by Sony and DJI rivals, while users still enjoy the convenience of a built-in lens that you don't get with mirrorless cameras such as the Nikon Z30.

And its image-making capabilities are supported by what looks like a complete user experience for video, with in-body image stabilization rated up to 5EV, a built-in ND filter, a cooling fan, mic and headphone ports, and a hotshoe for accessories such as external flashguns.

At 15oz / 426g with card and battery inserted, the PowerShot V1 is a little weightier than I expected, but it's the complete package idea for video-first users who also want a highly competent photography tool.

We'll be publishing our in-depth review as soon as possible after we get hold of the camera for testing, but even at this early stage the PowerShot V1 looks set to win a place in our best vlogging cameras guide.

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• I’ve tested all 4 of Sigma’s bargain f/1.4 primes for Canon cameras – here’s how to decide which one to buy

• Sigma's DC DN Contemporary f/1.4 primes are available in 16mm, 23mm, 30mm and 56mm versions
• They're designed for crop-sensor cameras like the Canon EOS R10
• There are also two f/2.8 zoom lenses in the range, also for APS-C cameras

Canon kept is RF-mount closed to third parties for several years, meaning that only Canon-made lenses were available for its mirrorless cameras – and with Canon's lens-making efforts focused on its full-frame cameras, its crop-sensor cameras, like the EOS R10, and their users were mainly left out in the cold.

That situation changed in April 2024 when Canon opened its RF mount to third-party lens makers, and Sigma was the first to come knocking, with some of its superb compact lenses now available for RF-mount cameras. I've had all four of its F1.4 DC DN Contemporary prime lenses for several weeks now, and they're hugely impressive considering their prices.

The lenses are the 16mm F1.4, 23mm F1.4, 30mm F1.4 and 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary lenses. These are designed for Canon's crop-sensor cameras, meaning their equivalent focal lengths are 24mm, 35mm, 45mm, and 85mm respectively on those cameras. These lenses have been available for some time for Sony E-mount and for Sigma's L-mount (which is also used by Panasonic and Leica cameras), and some of the lens quartet are also made for Nikon Z-mount and Fujifilm X-mount, and other mounts too.

There are also now two f/2.8 zooms available for Canon RF – I tested the Sony version of the 10-18mm F2.8 zoom lens way back, and it's another superb option.

Design-wise, each f/1.4 prime is similar to the next, with no physical controls, a dust- and splash-resistant rugged metal build quality, plus a snappy and quiet autofocus performance. Sadly, they all differ in physical size and have various diameters for threaded lens filters, so the continuity isn't there for quick swapping between lenses when using a gimbal (you'll need to recalibrate), but are all impressively compact.

Rather than splitting each lens into its own review, I thought it would be much more helpful to group them together into one round-up, establishing for whom and for what purposes each is best suited, and offering my verdict, and sharing which one I'm actually going to buy,, and why.

So, in focal length order, starting with the widest lens first, let's take a quick look at each lens.

Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary

• Equivalent 24mm focal length
• Ideal for landscape photography and vlogging
• Price depends on the mount version, starts at $489 / £389 / around AU$600
• My TechRadar rating: ★★★★½

The 16mm F1.4 lens is the largest prime lens of the bunch, with the widest perspective, equivalent to 24mm. It measures 90.3mm in length and weighs 14.6oz / 415g, while its perspective is similar to that of your phone's main camera – including leading models like Samsung Galaxy Ultra 25 and Apple iPhone 16 Pro.

This is an ideal lens for landscape photography in particular, while its wide perspective also works well for vlogging. For Canon's APS-C mirrorless cameras, there's a wide-angle RF-S 10-18mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM zoom lens which can go even wider, but its maximum aperture if just f/4.5 at the wide end. That's not an issue for landscape photography, for which you usually want depth of field, but Sigma's lens with its maximum f/1.4 aperture is more versatile for vlogging.

This is the most optically complex f/1.4 Sigma prime in this group, comprising 16 elements in 13 groups, and I found image quality to be excellent – detail is pin-sharp from center to edges when the aperture is stopped down a little, while the maximum f/1.4 aperture can give you a nice focus fall-off for closeup portraits. Check out a few sample photos in the gallery, below.

It's important to note just how heavily lens corrections are applied to JPEGs for Canon's RF-mount mirrorless cameras. In identical raw+JPEG images taken with the 16mm lens, you'll see barrel distortion in the uncorrected raw file and, at times, noticeable color fringing (chromatic aberration). I've found that Adobe's Camera Raw software doesn't easily correct color fringing, and as such I've tended to shoot both raw+JPEG simultaneously, using the raw files as a backup for images that I might need to make heavier edits to, for example when the exposure is off; otherwise I'm happy simply shooting JPEGs.

Sigma 23mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary

• Equivalent 35mm focal length
• Ideal for documentary and storytelling
• Price depends on the mount version, starts at $549 / £479 / AU$749
• My TechRadar rating: ★★★★½

My kind of lens, the Sigma 23mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary has an equivalent 35mm focal length, making it the obvious choice of the Sigma bunch for reportage and street photography, with its moderate wide-angle flattering enough for portraits and for when the surroundings are part of the story.

Considering its maximum f/1.4 aperture, the 23mm lens is impressively compact, measuring just 76.9mm in length and weighing just 12oz / 340g. I paired it with Canon's smallest and cheapest mirrorless camera, the EOS R100, and the combination had a really nice balance to it, and the same will be true with the larger EOS R7.

Optically, the 23mm lens comprises 13 elements in 10 groups, and has nine aperture blades for what Sigma describes as a rounded diaphragm. There's not really a similar lens currently available for Canon's APS-C cameras – the RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM lens is closest, but it's designed for full-frame cameras. It'll still work with APS-C cameras, but its focal equivalent 53mm focal length is even a little tighter than Sigma's 30mm F1.4 DC DN lens.

Picture quality is very good, from what is the priciest lens of the quartet. Detail is sharp, although I have noticed color fringing in raw files when shooting wide open, as well as vignetting, while barrel distortion is minimal. Again, lens corrections are applied automatically to Canon's mirrorless camera JPEGs, which pretty much deals with the distortions, although you might still want to shoot in raw format too in case you'd like to make further edits.

Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary

• Equivalent 45mm focal length
• Ideal for every day photography and portraits
• Price depends on the mount version, starts at $319 / £319 / around AU$400
• My TechRadar rating: ★★★★☆

With its 45mm equivalent focal length, the Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary is an ideal everyday lens, with a similar perspective to your eyes' field of attention. That means a flattering perspective for portraits, that's still wide enough to give you room to play with composition around subjects.

This is the second-smallest lens of the quartet, but at 10.1oz / 285g it's actually a few grams lighter than the smaller 56mm lens. It's pretty easy to manufacture a lens with this focal length and aperture – the 30mm lens comprises just nine elements in seven groups and a nine-blade aperture, and as such this is the cheapest lens of the collection at a highly competitive $319 / £319 (around AU$400), and it's usually available from select retailers for even less.

Like all the lenses in the lineup, it's dust- and splash-resistant, while all versions except the L-mount version feature linear focus. On the one hand this is the least exciting lens of the bunch for me – it's highly competent, but lacks the same sort of optical character I see in Sigma's other lenses. But if you know that this is a focal length you love, then you can't go wrong here – again, there's no lens to rival this one for Canon's RF-mount APS-C mirrorless cameras, plus it's reasonably priced.

Detail is sharp and there's no barrel distortion to speak of, but color fringing is pretty severe in uncorrected raw files, especially at f/1.4 to f/2.8. Again, shoot JPEG and color fringing is mostly dealt with, although not completely. If you have the patience for it, Canon's own editing software is worth a look, as it more effectively deals with lens distortions, but it doesn't run as smoothly as popular Adobe choices.

Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary

• Equivalent 85mm focal length
• Ideal for portraits and telephoto landscapes
• Price depends on the mount version, starts at $449 / £419 / around AU$649
• My TechRadar rating: ★★★★★

If you're a Canon user, shooting with the likes of the EOS R10, then I think the dust- and splash-resistant Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN is the most exciting second lens you can buy to complement the basic RF 18-45mm kit lens. Not only does its 56mm focal length give you a tighter perspective and flattering compression, its f/1.4 maximum aperture can get a lovely shallow depth of field with smooth focus fall-off. Put simply, this lens takes next-level portraits over Canon's kit lens.

With a lens construction comprising 10 elements in six groups, plus a nine-blade aperture, detail is sharp while bokeh is dreamy. You can see in some of my example pictures in the gallery (below) that bokeh is soft and free of any ugly onion-ring effect that you typically get with cheaper lenses, like Canon's RF-S 55-210mm F5-7.1 IS STM. Bokeh has a pronounced 'cat's-eye' effect in places rather than being round, but I don't mind that – more importantly it's soft and dreamy.

Another thing I really appreciate about the lens is just how lightweight and compact it is. At 10.2oz / 290g for the Canon RF version and measuring just 57.5mm in length, this is a positively tiny lens that sits really well even with Canon's smallest mirrorless camera, the EOS R100.

I've been majorly impressed with this lens, and if I was to pick just one of Sigma's f/1.4 primes to complement a Canon zoom lens, this, the smallest of the bunch would be it. It's not perfect, but it's the one with which you'll notice the biggest difference in your photos.

Verdict

Each of Sigma's four F/1.4 DC DN Contemporary prime lenses offer something unique for Canon's APS-C mirrorless cameras, the EOS R100, EOS R50, EOS R10 and EOS R7, although other brands like Sony and Fujifilm have a much wider choice of their own lenses for APS-C cameras, so there's arguably less of a need for Sigma's, other than perhaps their competitive price point.

Canon has a smattering of zoom lenses in this format, plus a few prime lenses for its full-frame cameras that are compatible with APS-C and are a pretty good fit, such as the RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM, but they're not truly designed for the format. As such, Sigma's lenses for Canon's RF mount cameras are highly appealing.

Most of Canon's APS-C cameras are bundled with the RF-S 18.45mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens, so considering that most users will already own that lens, I think the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary is the most obvious of Sigma's quartet to pick – it offers something completely different to that kit lens, and can get you next-level portrait photos and telephoto landscapes.

I also really like the 23mm lens for reportage and the 16mm for video work, and I could see myself picking those up second and third, but the first lens I will pick up is the 56mm. How about you? Which Sigma lens for Canon appeals the most? Let us know in the comments below.

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• Nikon announces Z-mount versions of the RED V-Raptor and RED Komodo
• The Nikkor Z 28-135mm F/4 PZ cine lens was launched simultaneously
• Since Nikon's RED takeover, we've seen permanent price drops for select RED cameras

Nikon's RED takeover is in full effect, following the launch of two RED cinema cameras with Nikon's Z-mount; the RED V-Raptor and RED Komodo. The Z-mount versions were launched alongside Nikon's own new cinema lens too, the Nikkor Z 28-135mm F/4 PZ.

Nikon instantly became a major player in cinema cameras when it acquired RED Digital Cameras in March 2024, and it's taken less than a year for us to see the fruit of the takeover, with Z-mount versions of two super popular RED cine cameras in the filmmaking industry.

It's a sucker punch to Canon – the RED Komodo 6K was previously only available with Canon's RF-mount, but its future is now firmly in camp Nikon. There will be various lens mount adaptors available, including Nikon Z to Nikon F and Nikon Z to PL, but RED's future is shifting away from Canon lenses.

What's more, the Nikon effect has extended to RED camera pricing, the cine camera maker's name, plus Nikon's own cameras are benefitting from RED tech. Let's take a look at what's been happening.

The Nikon effect is in full swing, and I expect more is to come

In and of itself, there's little that's new in the Z-mount versions of the RED V-Raptor and Komodo, besides the lens mount and what Nikon says is improved autofocus capabilities. The biggest impact is direct compatibility with Nikon Z-mount lenses, of which there are many, and which now includes the Nikkor Z 28-135mm F/4 PZ – a versatile and gimbal-friendly zoom with cine features that costs $2,596.95 /£2499 and has an April 2025 sales start date (Australia price and availability TBC).

What's even more exciting, especially to indie filmmakers, is Nikon slashing the prices of RED Komodo 6K bundles. In September 2024, we saw permanent price reductions of as much as $3,000 off – for example, the Komodo 6K Camera Production Pack now costs $11,995 (was $14,995). Still not cheap by any means, but more affordable for pros. Prices for the RED Komodo 6K with Z-mount start at $6,995 (around £5,600), while the RED V-Raptor 8K costs $29,995 (around £24,000 - converted from USD).

Nikon has also officially stripped back its subsidiary's name too, from RED Digital Cameras to simply RED, which is what most people call it anyway.

In the other direction, Nikon cameras are benefitting from RED tech. Back in September 2024, four RED LUTs color profiles were made available to Nikon's current mirrorless cameras, including the Nikon Z6 III, Nikon Z8, and Nikon Zf, and even certain DSLRs like the D780. Nikon's N-Log video footage can now be stylized into Rec.709 color using any one of RED’s Film Bias, Film Bias Bleach Bypass, Film Bias Offset, and Achromic – color profiles co-developed with cinema colorist Eric Weidt.

I don't expect the Nikon effect to stop here either. What do you think – what are the most exciting developments we can hope for from Nikon's RED takeover? Better video features in Nikon's mirrorless cameras? More Z-mount cine lenses? Let me know in the comments below.

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• Rumors suggest that a Canon PowerShot V1 is en route, with a 24MP sensor that's "close to Micro Four Thirds" in size
• It could be joined later this year by a PowerShot SX70 HS bridge camera successor
• Those two additions would make for a hugely varied PowerShot V-series lineup

There's a lot of hype right now about the rumored Canon PowerShot V1. The new point-and-shoot camera is supposedly set to land as early as March, and would signal a renewed commitment from Canon to making compact cameras – which could be a smart move, given that compacts are enjoying something of a comeback.

We don't have too much product info to go off right now, but the suggested sensor size is only going to get compact camera fans more excited. According to Canon Rumors, the PowerShot V1 will feature a 24MP sensor that's "close to Micro Four Thirds" in size, together with a 3x optical zoom lens.

For perspective, that sensor size is a fair bit larger than the 1-inch type used in existing point-and-shoots like the viral PowerShot G7X Mark III, and other models like the PowerShot G5X Mark II. However, it's not the largest sensor Canon has gone with for its compact cameras – that award goes to the APS-C sensor used in the PowerShot G1 X Mark III.

So which sensor size is the sweet spot? I reckon that Canon is onto a winner if it is indeed taking the middle option of Micro Four Thirds for its upcoming point-and-shoot – here's why.

Not too big, not too small

Sensor size has a big impact on both image quality and design, especially with point-and-shoot compacts that feature a built-in lens. The larger the sensor size, the more pleasing image quality is overall, but there are also design drawbacks.

The PowerShot G7X Mark III has a 20MP 1-inch sensor with a 4x optical zoom 24-100mm f/1.8-2.8 lens. That sensor size measures 13.1 x 8.8mm and only select smartphones can match it for size, such as the Xiaomi 14 Ultra – Canon's camera has the image quality edge, but not by a long way.

Canon's PowerShot G1 X Mark III has a bigger-still APS-C sensor that measures around 22.3 x 14.9mm, but it's a bigger camera, and its 3x optical zoom 24-72mm lens has a much more limited f/2.8-5.6 maximum aperture and inferior close focusing skills, making it less handy in low light or for macro photography. I remember testing the G1 X Mark III and wishing that I could open up the lens more.

Then there's the rumored PowerShot V1's Micro Four Thirds sensor, which would measure around 18 x 13.5mm. I reckon this is the sweet spot for image quality, camera size and lens design. I expect the suggested 3x optical zoom lens to measure up to the one found in the Leica D-Lux 8, a point-and-shoot camera that also has a Micro Four Thirds sensor, and which has a 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens.

That camera was a minor update of the D-Lux 7, and its tech is essentially based on the dated Panasonic Lumix LX100 II. The D-Lux 8 is one of a few high-quality compacts that you can buy today, but it costs around $1,595 / £1,450 / AU$2,790. Canon's PowerShot V1 is rumored to cost somewhere between $600-800. Even at that upper price end, there would no other compact camera to match the V1, assuming the rumored specs are true, in which case it's set to be an absolute treat.

And it could be joined by another new PowerShot later in 2025 – a modern-day successor to the aging PowerShot SX70 HS bridge camera. Canon Rumors is pouring cold water on the chances of another 65x optical zoom model, and suggests that the zoom range will be much less. Still, if the next PowerShot turns out to be in the mold of Panasonic's 'travel zooms', such as the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99, that would be no bad thing – and Canon would have an enviable compact camera lineup once more.

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Even by recent standards, there’s been an absolute deluge of products that have launched over the last week. And that can only mean one thing: even more top gear for TechRadar’s testing labs to put through their paces. So pull up a pew, kick back, and check out our recap of all the hottest gadgets we got our hands on this week.

First of all, we’ve been appraising Samsung’s astoundingly clever Galaxy S25 Ultra to see how its slick design, super-intelligent AI features, and much larger screen stack up compared to other premium flagships. In addition, we’ve been checking out how Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5080 powerful graphics card compares to the RTX 5090 and which is more worthy of your spend. And there’s way more where that comes from, so make sure you catch up below.

1. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra marks a real step forward for the brand’s premium flagship. It features a streamlined design that’s thinner and lighter than before and feels more like a phone than a phablet, despite still integrating an epic 5,000mAh battery and finding room to stow that S Pen. It also features the largest display to ever grace the Ultra and its cameras have had an, admittedly quite modest, boost, with the ultra-wide lens being upped to 50MP.

But inevitably – as we’re living in 2025 – the most noteworthy advances involve AI. It’s deeply baked into the phone at every level, offering an AI experience that barely any of the best phones can rival and blending Galaxy AI, Google Gemini and Bixby into a mostly seamless package, although some seams still show. Generative AI features are also seriously impressive; adding generative elements on top of your photos is a breeze, while whole-cloth image generation is impressive, even if some prompts still provoke odd responses. All in all, it’s an incredibly smart gadget that will likely reveal its true utility the longer you use it.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

2. Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 goes a long way toward making the Nvidia RTX 4090’s game-changing performance more accessible for the average gamer. Admittedly, it’s still not the cheapest GPU you can buy, and it’s not quite as ridiculous a powerhouse as the RTX 5090. Also, the biggest performance boost you’ll see will require DLSS 4 – the inclusion of which entirely relies on the game developer in question.

Despite this, the RTX 5080 is currently the best graphics card you can get your hands on in the mainstream consumer bracket. It offers impressive performance, a slimmer design, and more effective cooling, making it a great upgrade for anyone who couldn’t quite stretch to the previous gen’s top-tier GPU.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

3. KEF LSX II LT review

The KEF LSX II LT are a pair of highly competent hi-res wireless speakers that prove excellent sound neither requires bulk nor boxy design. Not only are they fun-size enough to fit on a desk or shelf, but they’re acoustically optimized to avoid parallel lines. As a result, they sound agile and utterly convincing, offering smooth yet pleasing reproduction across their full frequency range. Naturally, they can’t entirely fill a room with sound quite like a pair of floor standers, but they still offer plenty of low-end punch.

The LSX II LT also offers various connectivity options that rival some of the best wireless speakers. Setting aside dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, they provide HDMI ARC, digital optical and USB-C inputs, and a subwoofer pre-out. Although the lack of an analog input here does mean you won’t be plugging in a wired turntable – or any other non-digital source. Still, though, they can offer an excellent all-in-one (alright, two) streaming system that won’t eat up all your space.

• Score: 5 / 5

4. Dreame R20 cordless vacuum review

The Dreame R20 is a lightweight, easily maneuverable cordless stick vacuum that nonetheless offers impressive suction power and a wide selection of tools that rivals some of the best cordless vacuum cleaners. Not only does it function great on hard floors, with its 'intelligent dirt detection' system making short work of whatever grime we encountered, but it performs admirably on deeper carpets, too. And it’s easy to duck under furniture and weave around chair legs as needed.

It can occasionally sound a bit whiney, which may or may not irritate you based on your personal tolerance of such things, while it’s not always that easy to empty its bin when it’s filled with things like hair. Our main quibble, though, is its power trigger – it’s sensitive enough that we found it easy to accidentally switch it off during use, which can be occasionally frustrating. However, with its competitive price, it’s still a great value performer for the price.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

5. Canon EOS R1 review

The Canon EOS R1 is pretty much the fastest camera the brand offers, making it one of the best professional cameras you can buy when it comes to sports or wildlife photography. It offers staggeringly fast shooting speeds and autofocus, making it a snap to catch unerringly crisp shots of subjects in movement. Additionally, 6K Raw video capture is the icing on the cake, allowing you to shoot hi-res footage while you’re at it. Its solid build quality and new secure grip coating mean it should be at less risk of sustaining damage.

However, if you’re more interested in shooting static subjects, you may find the Canon EOS R1 has more cameras than you need. Not only do Canon cams like the EOS R5 Mark II offer higher resolution, they come in cheaper too, making it a more suitable choice for anyone who doesn’t have a need for speed. For action photography though, the EOS R1 simply can’t be beat.

• Score: 4.5 / 5

• Canon rumored to reenter the compact camera game with new Powershot V1
• Announcement of new camera tipped for March / April
• Recent viral model Powershot G7 X Mark III could be discontinued

Point-and-shoot digital cameras making a comeback wasn't on my 2024 bingo card – after all, smartphones pretty much killed off that market many years ago. However, several models went viral last year, none more so than 2019's Canon Powershot G7 X Mark III, so it seems there's life in the pocket snapper yet.

I'm all for it, but as I previously wrote about point-and-shoots for 2025, no leading brands are actually making new models, and so those looking to buy are left to choose from models several years old, increasingly secondhand. That's fine in a way – the quality of popular and well-reviewed cameras from years back still holds out today. But, let's be honest, new tech would be very welcome, too.

Now it appears that Canon will be the first of the big names to step up and recommit to making new point-and-shoots with meaningful upgrades after CanonRumors posted a couple of stories with a fair bit of info about what it says is an upcoming new Powershot V1. It's tipped to be announced sometime between March and May this year, with pretty exciting specs and an estimated price of $600-800 (around £650-850).

What's expected to happen concurrently is the discontinuation of the popular G7 X Mark III, and if that's the case, Canon must be all-in with a new and improved Powershot compact – why else discard a winning horse? Here's what's being said and why Canon recommitting to compact cameras makes sense.

A new dawn for Powershot?

It looks like Canon is set to start afresh with its Powershot compacts, ditching the G-series nomenclature to make Powershot V-series models. It already launched the Powershot V10 vlogging camera in May 2023 and showcased two Powershot concepts: a 360-degree camera and a 180-degree camera with VR capabilities. However, a new Powershot V1 will be a proper point-and-shoot for photographers, and I'd expected it to garner the most interest of all, especially if rumors of its specs and price turn out to be on the money.

Highlight features supposedly include a Canon-made 24MP CMOS sensor of a size 'close to Micro Four Thirds,' and a 3x optical zoom lens (16-50mm approx). It'll likely shoot 4K video with a slight crop and include Canon's C-Log3 and HDR PQ color profiles. Additionally, it might include a standard 3-inch screen, though it's not clear if this is a fixed, tilting, or vari-angle screen. There's no proper word on the rumored V1's design either, but mockups suggest a camera that looks similar to the G7 X III.

Much of those key specs tally with certain existing Powershot G-series cameras. So, will this just feel like a rehash, like Panasonic did with the recent Lumix ZS99 / TZ99? I hope not and that Canon will also put newly developed features from its mirrorless cameras in the V1, such as its latest autofocus system.

What's most exciting of all, though, is the prospect of Canon launching a new compact camera that's readily available to buy at a very reasonable price. There are simply not many high-quality options available today for the $600-800 mark. Sprinkle in a few new features, and I expect the Powershot V1 to be one of 2025's most popular cameras.

There's even some suggestions that Canon could spring a suprise reveal or two at CP+ in Tokyo at the end of February – might the Powershot V1 be the star of the show?

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• My photography resolution for 2025 is to keep a point-and-shoot compact in my pocket, and to actually use it!
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• A 410MP sensor smashes previous pixel records for full-frame, and is equivalent to a 24K resolution
• It's capable of 410MP stills up to 8fps, or 100MP up to 24fps
• It's designed for surveillance, medicine and industry applications, and unlikely to ever land in a consumer Canon camera

Try this for size – Canon has announced a new 410MP full-frame sensor that smashes any previous records for resolution. It packs 24,592 x 16,704 pixels to be precise, which is roughly equivalent to 24K resolution.

Canon points out in its global announcement that 24K is 12 times the resolution of 8K and 198 times the resolution of HD, and suggests that the unprecedented resolution "enables users to crop any part of the image captured by this sensor and enlarge it significantly while maintaining high resolution".

The newly developed back-illuminated stacked sensor is capable of a super-fast 3,280MP p/s readout speed, meaning it's possible to shoot those 410MP stills at up to 8fps, a rate that can be upped to 24fps by selecting a pixel binning function that reduces resolution to 100MP.

It's a staggering and presumably incredibly pricey sensor that, sadly, is unlikely to ever make it to consumers, even if a trickle-down effect from its tech is possible – Canon has positioned this lens for surveillance, medicine and industry applications, for which the capacity to heavily crop into highly-detailed images is paramount.

Do we need it in the age of upscaling?

In 2024, Sony impressed us with a new 247MP medium-format sensor that offers much more detail than any sensor found in a consumer camera. However, that's far fewer pixels, in a much larger sensor format, and Sony's sensor has now been put in the shade by Canon's newly-developed marvel.

More so, the best-in-class resolution for full-frame cameras available to consumers is 61MP, a sensor utilized by the Leica SL3 and Sony A7R V. This sensor isn't stacked like Canon's, and therefore can't match the readout speed – it's slower and less detailed. Put simply, we've not seen sensor tech like this before.

Recently, Canon has been pushing what's possible with camera tech. We loved its new in-camera upscale function that's capable of increasing image size by 400 percent. Upscaling debuted in the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and Canon EOS R1, and in the case of the EOS R5 Mark II it increases resolution from 45MP to 180MP, with impressive results.

I'm now imagining this upscale tech coupled with Canon's new 410MP sensor, we'd be talking a resolution of 1.64 gigapixels! That potential level of detail is mind blowing, but whether or not there are the necessary lenses with the optical quality to fully support this potential is another matter – and, sadly for my own curiosity, I'll unlikely ever see the new sensor in action.

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• Sony reveals a record 247MP camera sensor – and it could one day take medium format cameras to a new level
• I tested Hasselblad’s 100MP camera and it made my full-frame Nikon look ordinary
• 400% bigger images: how Canon’s new in-camera AI could end the megapixel race for good

In 2025, there are very few cameras that aren't extensively leaked before their official announcement. It's very rare that a camera launch takes us by surprise these days, due to the efforts of prominent leakers and social media disseminating key nuggets of info online.

That's not to say all rumors are accurate – many are to be taken with a pinch of salt; some are mere wishful thinking by fans, some are applied logic based purely on past events and existing products, while others turn out to be on the money. We've been in the camera rumors game long enough to spot the difference, and are often the first to share the latest news.

This camera rumors round up collects the most credible rumors for the most exciting upcoming cameras from leading names in photography, and separates the likely from the outright fiction.

Below you'll find the latest info about rumored cameras such as the DJI Mini 5, Sony A7 V and Nikon's RED cinema camera. And we update this page as more information is revealed, with links to the fuller stories, so if you're in the market for a new camera or simply curious about what's next to expect, do make sure to check in regularly.

DJI rumors for 2025

Despite the ever-present threat of a US sales ban on its drones looming overheard, high-flying manufacturer DJI seemingly has no intention of dialling back its 2025 production schedule. If rumors are to be believed, the Chinese company actually seems to be accelerating its plans. We've already seen the arrival of the DJI Flip, DJI Osmo Mobile 7 and DJI Mavic 4 Pro this year – and if information from industry insiders is accurate, we expect to meet more new DJI drones and action cameras before 2025 is out.

DJI Mini 5 or Mini 5 Pro

• DJI's next ultralight drone rumored to come with LiDAR sensors

The first concrete hints of an upcoming DJI Mini 5 (or possible Mini 5 Pro, if reported FCC filings are accurate) squeaked out in April, when DroneXL (run by serial and reliable drone news leaker Jasper Ellens) shared a set of grainy images appearing to show an ultralight DJI drone being tested in public on Chinese streets.

Late last year, Ellens had suggested the DJI Mini 5 would feature LiDAR sensors and stronger motors, and the images appeared to support at least the former claim due to the appearance of a pair of front-facing sensors above the camera. If true, LiDAR (which is now on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro and DJI Air 3S models but has yet to feature on a Mini series drone), would greatly boost navigation and obstacle avoidance on the Mini 5 compared to the Mini 4 Pro.

The existing DJI Mini 4 Pro, released in 2023, is an extremely impressive sub-250g drone that holds up very well today; it’s hard to see where big improvements might be made. Keeping the weight below 250g is a huge factor in its appeal, due to the way in which drones are legally classed, so DJI doesn’t have a great deal of wiggle room when it comes to adding features.

Stronger motors and LiDAR are certainly plausible upgrades, though. The former would probably mean improved aerial performance via more wind resistance and faster air speed, which could also translate into longer battery life.

Some leakers are also claiming that the Mini 5 will have a larger camera sensor: 1-inch as opposed to the 1/1.3-inch sensor on the Mini 4 Pro. That could mean better images in low light, wider dynamic range and potentially higher resolution (5.3K rather than 4K) video.

DJI Avata 3 and DJI Neo 2

• DJI Avata 3 FPV drone and DJI Neo 2 selfie drone teased by tipsters

DJI may have more drones preparing to launch, too. In May, Twitter tipster @Quadro_News posted a video of what appeared to be a DJI Avata 3 FPV drone about to be tested. The clip appeared to show a new propeller design, but aside from that it was to glean much about potential features. If we had to guess, we’d expect an improved camera at least. The Avata 2 was only launched just over a year ago, so an imminent update seems unlikely, but we wouldn’t be shocked to see an Avata 3 announced in the autumn of 2025.

The DJI Neo, meanwhile, may also be getting a successor sooner than we’d have guessed. The original Neo, a tiny and affordable drone designed primarily for automated flight and taking social media-friendly selfies and short clips, arrived in September 2024, but tipster @OsitaLV claims a Neo 2 (or “M400A” as he calls it) is coming, and it’s bringing “more radar and sensors”.

DJI Osmo Action 6, Osmo 360 and Osmo Nano

• Osmo Action 6 would take on GoPro and Insta360's flagship action cameras
• DJI's first-ever 360-degree action camera rumored for 2025
• Osmo Nano could be tiny modular action camera inspired by DJI Action 2

Beyond flying machines, DJI has established its status among the best action cameras: the Osmo Action 5 Pro ranks highly as one of our top alternatives to the GoPro Hero 13 Black. The Action 5 Pro only hit shelves in September 2024, yet new FCC filings indicate that we could see its successor before too long.

Spotted by @Quadro_News and Notebookcheck, regulatory papers refer to a “DJI Osmo Action 6”. Filings usually come shortly before a launch, which means we might see the next iteration of DJI’s action camera in the next few months.

The documents don’t reveal too much about what to expect from the Osmo Action 6, although they do list two battery capacities: 1,770mAh and 1,950mAh. That suggests we could get both standard and Pro versions of the new camera.

In our in-depth review of the Osmo Action 5 Pro, we described it as “a seriously feature-packed action camera”. One of the very few limitations on its spec sheet was its 4K maximum resolution, which is bettered by the GoPro Hero 13 Black (5.3K) and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 (8K). Whether this will be addressed for the Action 6, only time will tell.

There might be another model joining DJI's action camera stable in 2025, too: while GoPro continues to delay the follow-up to its Max model, rumors strongly suggest that DJI is poised to unveil a 360-degree camera to rival Insta360 X5. FCC filings first suggested that DJI had something in the works, and a cascade of leaks and speculation has followed in recent months.

Leaked images suggest the Osmo 360 will have a squarish body with a twin-lens design similar to the GoPro Max. Given DJI’s form when it comes to tackling new product categories, we’d expect a 360 camera from the company to be a real contender. A July 2025 launch date has been rumored.

And that's not the end of the DJI camera rumors, either. Also tipped for a July release is the DJI Osmo Nano, an ultra-compact action camera with a modular design said to be influenced by the DJI Action 2 (which launched back in 2021). The Osmo Nano been mentioned in FCC filings, so it's likely to be real – but as yet we've seen no leaked images, which is unusual for something reportedly launching so soon.

Canon rumors for 2025

Last year was a big one for Canon, with the launch of two of its most exciting models in a long time: the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II. With the dust just about settled on those flagship cameras, attention turns to Canon’s next releases. We’ve already seen the new PowerShot V1 vlogging compact, even if that has done little to cool off rumors of a second generation of the PowerShot V10 or a Canon gimbal camera designed to rival the Osmo Pocket 3. Likewise, the new EOS R50V has only whet the appetite for a higher-end R-mount hybrid with a video-focused design. So what's next? We think the most realistic prediction for Canon over the rest of 2025 is the arrival of three new R series mirrorless cameras.

Canon EOS R6 Mark III

• Canon's mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera offering that needs an upgrade to rival Nikon

The Canon EOS R6 Mark II landed in November 2022 as a full-frame mirrorless camera with the specs of a proper hybrid workhorse. As capable and popular as it is, the launch of the Nikon Z6 III last year means an updated version of the EOS R6 is now due, to keep Canon in the running for the best mirrorless camera crown.

Several well-known Canon leakers are confident that that’s exactly what the company is working on. The widely held consensus is that we’ll see the EOS R6 Mark III in the first quarter of 2025 – most likely to coincide with the CP+, taking place in Japan from February 27 to March 2.

• Canon EOS R6 Mark III: 5 huge upgrades the rumored full-frame camera could have – and needs

Early information suggests that the EOS R6 Mark III will be a refinement rather than a reinvention of the Mark II. Rumored improvements include an upgraded EVF and an entirely new OLED touchscreen with dual-axis flip-out and rotate movements, similar to the one seen on the Sony A9 III. This should make for easier framing at low angles and when tripod-mounted.

In terms of stills, we’d expect it to have relatively similar specs to the Mark II, including the same 24MP full-frame sensor and electronic burst speeds of up to 40fps. That said, we can also see a world where the EOS R6 Mark III gets a DIGIC Accelerator to boost continuous shooting performance, like the EOS R5 Mark II did.

It could also borrow that same camera’s advanced subject detection autofocus system, as well as its in-camera neural network noise reduction and upscaling tools. Together with likely improvements to 6K video recording and potential support for Canon’s Cinema RAW Light codec, the R6 Mark III looks set to give the Nikon Z6 III a good run for its money.

Canon EOS R7 Mark II

• Canon's successor to one of the best APS-C mirrorless cameras that could offer best-in-class performance

Another Canon EOS R series camera due for an upgrade in 2025 is the EOS R7. Launched alongside the EOS R10 in 2022, it was the first flagship APS-C camera for the R mount mirrorless line-up. All that really held it back was a lack of native lenses, an issue which has since been addressed: Canon finally opened its RF mount to Sigma and Tamron, while a quick look at our list of the best Canon RF lenses will show you how the that catalog has grown, especially for full-frame cameras.

Read around online and you’ll find plenty of sources talking about Canon doing something significant with its APS-C cameras in 2025. That something could well arrive with the R7 Mark II: it’s rumored to be the first Canon APS-C camera to ship with a stacked sensor.

• Canon EOS R7 Mark II rumored for 2025 with these significant upgrades – watch out Fujifilm

The first-gen R7 was already a rapid camera for sports and wildlife, with electronic burst speeds hitting 30fps. A stacked sensor would make things quicker still, potentially bringing the R7 Mark II up to the 40fps mark, to match the EOS R1. That sensor could also eradicate rolling shutter.

Canonrumors has suggested that the EOS R7 Mark II will be an “upmarket” camera and the presence of a stacked sensor would certainly align with this. At present, stacked sensors are only found in Canon’s top-spec full-frame models: the EOS R1, the EOS R5 Mark II and the EOS R3, while the rival Fujifilm XH-2S is the only crop-sensor camera with one.

Exactly what this sensor will look like isn’t clear. The EOS R7 has a 32.5MP CMOS sensor which can record uncrossed 4K/60p video. Some sources have mooted a potential increase in pixel count to equip the EOS R7 Mark II with 8K recording capabilities, but we think this might be overkill.

Rumors also suggest that Canon could introduce two new pro-tier RF-S lenses to pair with the EOS R7 Mark II. What these might look like – and, indeed, when in 2025 we can expect to see these new releases – is also a matter of conjecture.

Canon EOS RC

• Could Canon emulate Sony's success with a full-frame cine-focused mirrorless camera?

Alongside the global launch of the PowerShot V1 in March, Canon unveiled a video-focused iteration of the EOS R50, the crop-sensor EOS R50V, which presumably is the 'EOS RC' shared by Canonrumors.

The EOS R50V is a well executed beginner-level vlogging-friendly camera that we are in the process of reviewing. That model, with its design that bridges the gap between between Canon’s EOS hybrids and its Cinema EOS cameras, has left a taste for what could also be en route; a higher-end alternative to truly rival cameras such as the Sony FX30 and FX3.

There’s every chance that Canon is working on a camera to compete with Sony’s FX series, but other sources have suggested that Canon might go a completely different way with a would-be EOS RC. Rumors of a retro-style Canon mirrorless camera have been circulating for years. Could 2025 be the year it happens? Several accomplished cameras have proven that the retro recipe works, including the Fujifilm X100VI, as well as two cameras from Canon’s arch rival: the Nikon Zf and Zfc.

A couple of years ago, Canon conducted market research in Asia to find out which of its analog cameras customers would like to see made digital. So far, that hasn’t come to anything. Commenting on if and when we might actually see one would be a guess at best. But with the film revival very much in full swing, there’s almost certainly a market in 2025 for a Canon EOS R mirrorless camera with a vintage design.

Sony rumors for 2025

Sony’s imaging division had a relatively quiet 2024, with only one major new camera release: the admittedly superb Sony A1 II. Aside from a handful of lens reveals, the stunning full-frame flagship was all we got last year, but 2025 is shaping up to be an altogether busier affair for the electronics giant – and, if industry chatter is to be believed, we can look forward at least one huge new camera body launch, plus one or two other significant additions to the line-up before the year is out. Still, so far we've seen some more excellent lenses such as the 50-150mm F2 GM and the 400-800mm F6.3-9, but no new cameras.

Sony A7 V

• A successor to the popular but now dated Sony A7 IV would be one of 2025's biggest camera launches

Sony’s hugely popular and versatile A7 line of full-frame mirrorless bodies has had four iterations over the years, with the last being the A7 IV, announced way back in late 2021. It’s high time for an update then, and murmurings in the industry suggest that one could arrive within the first quarter of 2025; in fact, as Sony Addict reports, Sony has already registered a new camera body with authorities, which some believe to be the A7 V.

Of course, all this remains mere speculation until Sony holds an official launch, but a source told Sony Alpha Rumors that the Sony A7 V will feature a new 44MP full-frame sensor that supports 4K video capture at 120fps with no crop requirement; the same source said the A7 V would be priced at around €3000, which is similar to the A7 IV when it launched in 2021, but which is much cheaper now. Other chatter mentions a 20fps continuous shooting speed (a major upgrade on the A7 IV’s somewhat sluggish 10fps burst speed).

And, with AI currently the major trend in consumer electronics – or at least in consumer electronics marketing – we’d be foolish to bet against rumors suggesting the Sony A7 V will be billed as an ‘AI camera’ and come bristling with AI-enhanced features and functions. Examples could be improved autofocus subject recognition, and the same automatic video framing as seen on the Sony ZV-E1.

Sony A7S IV or Sony FX3 II

• What's next for Sony's full-frame mirrorless camera for filmmakers – an A7S IV or FX3 II?

If we’re talking about long-overdue updates to popular Sony camera lines, then the A7S series has got to be in the conversation. A variant of the A7 series with a lower-resolution sensor tailored towards sensitivity and therefore better low light and fast shutter speed work for video, the A7S’s last new iteration, the A7S III, launched way back in October 2020. It’s arguably high time for a new model, then – although some argue that Sony’s introduction of the video-first FX series has made the A7S series somewhat obsolete.

Like the A7S series, the Sony FX3 (introduced in 2021) has a low-resolution but highly sensitive 12MP full-frame image sensor (in fact, they share same sensor) that excels in challenging lighting conditions. Unlike the A7S III, the FX3 has a video-focused design which includes fan cooling, making it capable of recording long uninterrupted videos without risk of overheating. It lacks a viewfinder or mechanical shutter, however, which makes it less than ideal for stills photography.

What we might see, then, is a new Sony camera with a high-speed sensor (perhaps the ground-breaking 24MP global shutter sensor seen in the A9 III). It could be a hybrid A7S IV, or it might be a more video-centric FX series model which would likely be called a Sony FX3 II – but getting both seems unlikely. We've written about the 5 upgrades we'd like to see in a potential FX3 II.

Sony RX1 II / RX1R III

• 2025 could be the best time for Sony to resurrect its full-frame RX1 series of premium compact cameras

It’s getting on for a decade since Sony last introduced a new full-frame fixed-lens point-and-shoot camera (the outstanding RX1R II) and with Leica, Fujifilm and Ricoh all enjoying critical and commercial success with their own premium pocket cameras – the Q3, the X100VI and the GR III respectively – it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we’ll see a true successor to the Sony RX1 this year.

By pairing a larger format sensor with a high-quality lens and putting it all in an ultra-compact body, Sony could compete with the aforementioned brands, especially Leica, while offering smartphone photographers (or anybody that doesn’t want to lug around larger bodies and hefty lenses) a clear performance upgrade.

There’s little concrete evidence out there on this rumor beyond a general feeling that now would be a good time to offer an alternative to the likes of the Fujifilm X100VI or Leica Q3 43. We agree – but perhaps it’s just wishful thinking?

Nikon rumors for 2025

Following a string of releases, Nikon’s mirrorless line-up looks strong going into 2025. From the retro Zf to the flagship Z9, there’s a Z series option for everyone. With such a healthy range, there aren’t too many models in need of an upgrade. The Z6 III landed last year and took the top spot as our best mirrorless camera. We wouldn’t expect to see a successor to the excellent Z8 any time soon, either, while many believe that the Z8 has eliminated the need for a Z7 III. So what does that leave for Nikon fans to look forward to?

Well, Nikon has already taken action already updated its Z5 with the Z5 II that raises the bar for entry-level cameras and resurrected its dying bridge camera lineup with the refreshed Coolpix P1100. So what's left? There's a few possibilities...

Nikon Zr

• Rumored mirrorless cinema camera may come with RED technology

Nikon acquired American cinema camera maker RED in April 2024, and we could be about to see the first camera arising from this partnership. In mid-May, Nikon Rumors published a story stating that Nikon’s next camera release will be a full-frame Z-mount model packed with RED-derived technology.

Possibly called the Nikon Zr, this camera is rumored to come with a blocky design, very large LCD, no viewfinder and the same 24.5MP sensor we’ve previously seen on the Nikon Z6 III. This camera could be Nikon’s answer to the Sony FX3 or Canon EOS R5 C – a relatively compact, utilitarian mirrorless camera fitted out for professional filmmaking and videography.

Nikon Z9 II / Z9H

• Nikon's flagship mirrorless camera for sports and wildlife could get a powerful upgrade

Talk of a successor to the flagship Z9 has been circulating for several years. It launched late in 2021 as a mirrorless powerhouse for professionals, with a cutting-edge stacked 45.7MP sensor and bulky DSLR styling. Since then, Nikon has repackaged its guts in the more convenient body of the Z8, before Canon upped the ante again with the barnstorming EOS R1 last year.

The question now is whether Nikon will return fire. The evidence is presently pretty slim. Read discussions online and you’ll find that speculation broadly divides into two camps. The first says that Nikon is working on a global shutter specifically for high-speed sports and wildlife photography, and it will arrive with a model called the Z9H.

The second backs a Nikon Z9 II with an electronic-only shutter driven by a new Expeed 8 processor, for superlative burst speeds, video frame rates and subject tracking autofocus. In essence, everything the Z9 was capable of, but dialled up higher to rival the EOS R1.

We think the latter is the more likely of the two: the EOS R1 doesn’t have a global shutter – although the faster and physically smaller Sony A9 III does – so there’s little reason to think that Nikon would pour money into making one, at least for now. So we think a Z9 II with general upgrades is more likely, although it would still take a bold person to bet on either camera arriving for certain in 2025.

The Nikon Z9 already delivers shooting performance that’s sufficient for most professionals. Room for improvement is probably limited to burst shooting: at 20fps, the Z9’s maximum continuous rate for RAW stills is comfortably beaten by the EOS R1’s 40fps.

The question is whether that spec justifies Nikon developing a follow-up model, especially such a specialized one sitting at the top end of its range.

Nikon cinema camera

• 2025 could deliver the fruit of Nikon's RED Digital Cameras takeover – a new cine-focused camera

Nikon surprised the videography world last year by acquiring RED Digital Camera outright. Known for making some of the filmmaking industry’s favorite professional cameras, RED is also behind some legendary video codecs – which now belong to Nikon.

What this means for Nikon cameras isn’t immediately clear. Nikon already makes some stellar hybrids, and we rate the Nikon Z9 as our favorite 8K option among the best video cameras. But it’s fair to say that Nikon isn’t seen as a natural choice by many video professionals.

That could soon change. With RED now under the Nikon umbrella, the possibilities are broad. We’ve already seen support for RED LUTs arrive on Nikon cameras, including the Nikon Z50 II, but we’d expect the integration to go further. That could well mean support for RED’s R3D codec on future Nikon hybrids.

We’d expect to see a hardware crossover, too. Given the change in ownership, it’s pretty much certain that any future RED cameras will shift from using Canon’s RF mount to Nikon’s Z mount. But we could also see Nikon borrowing from RED’s component box: the global shutter in the Komodo 6K would certainly give Nikon a leg up in the race for performance supremacy.

We don’t know when we’ll see the first fruits of Nikon’s Hollywood acquisition, but we imagine they’ll make waves when they do arrive. You can bet that Nikon will be gunning for the cameras in Sony’s FX line, Canon’s Cinema EOS range and Panasonic’s top-tier Lumix video kit.

GoPro rumors for 2025

Despite the launch of two new cameras (the flagship GoPro Hero 13 Black and the ultra-compact GoPro Hero), 2024 proved to be a tough year for GoPro. Once the undisputed ruler of the action camera market, the American company has faced increasing competition from a slew of Chinese upstarts such as DJI and Insta360 – almost to the point where its future itself is under threat.

In order to save costs, it cut over a quarter of its workforce last year – and according to CEO Nicholas Woodman this restructuring, combined with growth in subscription income and subscriber numbers, has kept the company ‘sustainable and secure’. Woodman also suggested that future camera releases are on the way – and we have some thoughts on what they might be (besides February's refreshed and now cheaper GoPro Max).

GoPro Max 2

• GoPro's much delayed Max 2 360-degree camera could finally be unveiled years after its announcement

*update – GoPro relaunched the original Max on Feb 18, with a couple of hardware improvements; updated mounting and new Enduro battery, and a signficant price drop of around a third. The action camera giant also intrdocued a host of new 360-degree based edits in the GoPro Quik app.

We know that a GoPro Max 2 is coming soon, because the company’s CEO Nicholas Woodman revealed as much in an earnings call last year. Woodman informed investors that a new edition of the 360-degree action camera would be arriving in 2025. This is later than originally planned, it seems, because GoPro had previously estimated a Q4 2024 launch.

The original GoPro Max impressed us when it was introduced back in October 2019, offering 5.6K 360-degree videos with in-camera stitching, reframing and digital stabilization in a fairly compact camera compatible with existing GoPro mounts. In the five-plus years since, Chinese company Insta360 has seized the 360-degree action camera market with a series of excellent models including our current overall favorite, the Insta360 X4.

In order to compete with Insta360, GoPro will have to greatly improve the Max 2’s performance over that of its predecessor; it’s been half a decade, after all. And if rumors are correct and the Max 2 will cost $599 on launch, it’ll need to justify its price tag.

We’d expect a resolution bump for 360-degree video, probably to match the 8K offered by the X5; 360 Rumors posits that it could even be as high as 9.3K, if it were to make use of the same sensors used by the GoPro Hero Black 12 and 13. A purported leaked photo of the Max 2 showed prominent cooling fans, which suggests it’ll be processing a lot and creating a lot of heat – which you’d expect if it’s wrangling this many pixels. The Max 2’s supported framerates on offer may also be higher than the X4’s too, in order to differentiate it from its nearest rival.

The original Max already had impressive electronic image stabilization, but this could be improved also, and we may see automatic in-camera reframing – just the sort of time-saving feature that could set the Max 2 apart from competitors.

GoPro Hero 14 Black

• Strap in for the latest flagship GoPro action camera instalment, coming to you almost always in September

It’s only been a matter of months since the unveiling of the GoPro Hero 13 Black, so we’re not expecting a successor to emerge any time soon. If it does launch in late 2025, this new edition of GoPro’s flagship action camera will likely continue in the same vein as its predecessors – by making small, iterative improvements rather than revolutionary overhauls.

With the Hero 13 Black still relatively new, the rumor mill is deathly quiet on Hero 14 Black speculation. Our own prediction would be use of the same new (and likely powerful) processor we’ll see in the GoPro Max 2, boosting the maximum resolution to 8K from the 13 Black’s 5.3K and enabling more image quality-related features. It could also get a new, physically larger sensor to improve dynamic range and low light capabilities.

Another area for GoPro to explore and what could make its action camera stand out from rivals is additional auto-detected Lens Mods to the anamorphic, macro and ultra wide options currently available – we think this feature is now what truly sets the lineup on an exciting trajectory. What's most probable is a future Hero 14 Black's launch date – GoPro has unveiled the latest version of its Hero Black flagship action camera every year in September.

GoPro Helmet

• GoPro action cameras built into motorcycle helmets? That's a logical step

GoPro acquired the Australian smart helmet maker Forcite Helmets in early 2024, suggesting plans to move into the market for camera-equipped, tech-enabled motorcycle helmets.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop motorcyclists from attaching a GoPro camera to their helmets right now, but we suspect an actual integrated GoPro Helmet (or whatever it ends up being called) will feature a suite of additional tech like navigation, communications and safety alerts. A well-researched report at RideApart builds a strong case that GoPro and Forcite’s first smart helmet will arrive as early as 2025.

Insta360 / Leica / Panasonic / Pentax / Ricoh / OM System rumors for 2025

Leading camera brands don't have it entirely their own way – in 2025 there are compelling alternatives making superb mirrorless cameras, action cameras, compact cameras and more.

We've put the most exciting Insta360, Leica, Panasonic, OM System, Ricoh & Pentax rumors together in this section.

Leica M with an EVF

• A digital Leica camera with an EVF and Leica's M-mount

Here's a rumor with much to chew over: Leica is supposedly working on a completely new M-series camera that swap out the optical rangefinder experience that the series is famed for, in favor of an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Such a move would mark the single biggest design overhaul that Leica's M-series has ever seen.

Leica's analog and digital M-series cameras utilize an optical rangefinder to compose and manually focus shots. You'll need plenty of practice to master the technique, guided by a split-image to nail sharp focus on your subject. It's slow and inconvenient when compared to today's leading autofocus systems, but Leica's M-series rangefinders pack plenty of soul that you simply can't find elsewhere (besides the Pixii rangefinder).

If the post by Leica Rumors is accurate, then the new model will trade soul for practical convenience – an EVF can give exposure preview and the supremely helpful 'focus peaking' manual focus assist tool.

Rumors suggest this is not a next-gen Leica M12, but a potentially one-off model, that to me sounds to me a lot like a Leica Q3 premium compact (see above), but with interchangeable lens mount. I can get behind this idea, especially as it could make for Leica's smallest and cheapest M-series camera yet. But equally, if you're going down the EVF route, what will Leica offer that you can't find in cheaper alternatives like the Nikon Zf? One thing's for sure, a Leica M-series camera with EVF will polarize Leica fans.

Ricoh GR IV

• Seasoned photographers await an upgraded GR III premium compact camera that slips into the pocket

We expected the Ricoh GR IV to be in our hands last year, but sadly any rumors turned out to be false. What materialized instead was a niche version of the current GR III / GR IIIx models – the GR III HDF / GR IIIx HDF – identical in every way except it swapped out the original's built-in ND filter for a highlight diffusion filter. However, further rumors insist that a fourth-gen model will land in 2025, and this model will have plenty of photography enthusiasts excited.

The Ricoh GR series is a long time favorite with seasoned photographers wanting an every day camera – the latest models boast stand-out image quality thanks to a large APS-C sensor and sharp fixed lens, all packed into a truly pocketable compact body. The GR IIIx is one of our favorite premium compact cameras, persuading this writer to splash out on it instead of the latest iPhone. However, for all it desirable attributes, the GR III series is far from perfect and can be easily improved – we've written about the five upgrades we'd like to see in the GR IV, including a built-in flash and better autofocus.

We're a little cautious about GR IV rumors – there are still very few specs to go off, which means it could be some way off yet, if it is indeed en route at all. We're hoping a GR IV materializes and that it proves to be a proper upgrade, rather than a refined model of the five-year-old GR III. Compact cameras are increasingly popular once more, and the Ricoh GR III / GR IIIx is one of the few high-quality options remaining in the sub $1,000 / £1,000 price mark, so we really hope that a properly improved GR IV is just around the corner. It could tempt a few away from the like of the Fujifilm X100VI.

Hasselblad X2D 100C II

• Leaked image suggests the successor for premium 102MP medium-format camera is en route

Photo Rumors shared a Hasselblad FCC registration for a product named 'HB722', dated December 4, 2024, together with a photo that seemingly shows a top plate of an X2D II camera. This leads us to believe that the upcoming product could be a Hasselblad X2D 100C successor, and that it's coming soon.

Going off the rumored product name, we expect an iterative update, however, that's pure speculation, and there's still no leaked specs to go off.

We're fans of the current model, with its supreme image quality and design, but there are several key areas where it could be improved for a more rounded user experience; snappier and more reliable autofocus – especially subject and eye detection autofocus – together with faster frame rates, better weather sealing and improved battery life. Who knows, video recording might also feature too – the X2D 100C is a pure photography camera.

A new Pentax SLR film camera

• 2024 delivered a new Pentax half-frame compact film camera. 2025 might bring the next in the series, an SLR

Pentax delivered its first camera for the Pentax Film Project in 2024, the simply named Pentax 17. We weren't overly enamored at first, but the surprisingly easy-to-use half-frame film camera eventually won us over and proved to be one of the year's highlights. Naturally then, we're keen to see what might come next in the series. According to Pentax, the next film camera we can expect will be a proper SLR.

Pentax's Film Project was announced in 2022, and the first camera came two years later. It would be a major surprise if Pentax's new SLR film camera is delivered in 2025, although, of course, we hope to be proven wrong.

In the project's early days, Pentax Product Planner Takeo Suzuki said, "First, we'll develop a compact film camera. Then, while reviewing a range of technologies, we'll move on to develop a high-end compact model, an SLR model, and finally (and hopefully), a fully mechanical SLR camera".

That affordable compact film camera with a solid warranty was indeed the new Pentax 17. What will come next we don't know. but the fully mechanical SLR could be very exciting for serious photographers.

However, a more recent development was a blow to analog fans – Pentax itself has hit pause on the project the assess its viability going forward. The probability that another Pentax film camera seeing the light of day is questionable.

New releases for 2025

Many cameras in this rumors round up materialize for real. Below is a list of previously featured products that have since been officially announced in 2025, together with links to our coverage, in chronological order.

• Fujifilm X-E5 - lightweight mirrorless camera ideal for travel, June 12
• Sony FX2 - compact cinema camera with tilting EVF, May 28
• Fujifilm X half - tiny half-frame compact that's a ton of fun, May 22
• DJI Mavic 4 Pro - fantastic triple-camera flagship drone, May 13
• Insta360 X5 – the best 360 degree camera money can buy, Apr 22
• Polaroid Flip – neat instant camera with retro design cues, Apr 15
• Fujifilm Instax Mini 41 – affordable and charming instant camera with updated design, Apr 8
• Nikon Z5 II – a powerful, entry-level full-frame camera, Apr 2
• Canon EOS R50V – video-focused R-mount model with crop sensor, Mar 26
• Fujifilm GFX100RF – 102MP medium-format premium compact, Mar 20
• OM System OM-3 – delightful retro MFT model with computational smarts, Feb 27
• Sigma BF – a boldly minimalist premium full-frame camera, Feb 25
• Panasonic Lumix S1R II – flagship hybrid full-frame camera, Feb 25
• Canon PowerShot V1 – compact vlogging camera, Feb 20
• DJI Osmo Mobile 7 – gimbal for smartphones, Feb 18
• Nikon Coolpix P1100 – a refreshed bridge camera with 125x zoom, Feb 6
• OM System OM-3 – retro mirrorless camera with plenty of power under the hood and modern smarts, Feb 5
• Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo – premium instant camera, Jan 21

• Canon has launched a new app aimed at livestreamers
• It lets you control multiple iPhones and iPads from a single app
• Extra effects like graphics and overlays need a monthly subscription

An increasing number of people enjoy creating livestreamed video content, whether that’s hosting cookery lessons, teaching classes to students, unboxing the latest tech goodies, or something else. Doing that can be fiddly, though, especially if it’s just you and you’re trying to work with multiple camera angles at once.

To help, Canon has just launched a new app that it thinks will alleviate some of that hassle and offer a simpler alternative to the likes of OBS (Open Broadcaster Software). Called Live Switcher Mobile, the app for iPhone and iPad lets you manage several aspects of livestreamed content on the go, without needing other apps or equipment.

For example, Live Switcher Mobile lets you set a timer before the stream’s feed automatically switches to a different camera. Canon’s announcement says this helps content creators to create interesting shots “even when they are working alone and cannot manually operate multiple devices.”

If you want to add text or graphics to your stream, you can do that too with Canon’s app, and it will also display comments from viewers and let you directly interact with them. And if you want to stream your device’s screen – say, the game you’re playing on your iPad – and layer the feed from a second camera on top of your gameplay footage, you can do that too.

The full version isn't cheap

Livestreamed content has steadily grown in popularity over the last few years, but the barrier to entry has sometimes been high due to the need to have several cameras on the go if you want to shoot content at different angles. As well as that, it can be a fiddly affair as you try to manage all the different wires and connections that are part of your setup. And that’s without even working out which of the best streaming apps you should be using.

The idea with Live Switcher Mobile is that it simplifies the whole process. It’s definitely not a high-end solution – professional video creators will probably want to look elsewhere – but it could be a decent option if you’re just getting started, are working with a tight budget, or want to stick to using iPhones and iPads.

Right now, Live Switcher Mobile only supports video feeds from iPhones and iPads running at least iOS 16 or iPadOS 16, making it a decent option if you already own these devices and don’t want to buy expensive camera equipment to supplement your livestreams. Canon says that the app will also support digital cameras (including its own, of course) in the future.

Live Switcher Mobile is free to download and use from Apple’s App Store, although some features (such as most graphics) require a fee. Paying the subscription also hides ads and Canon’s watermark, allows zooming and image overlays, and more. According to the app’s App Store page, a one-month subscription costs a fairly hefty $17.99 (around £15 / AU$29), but you can trial the features for free for one month.

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• Sigma launches existing 16mm F1.4 and 23mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary lenses for Canon RF mount
• The lenses cost $439 / £389 / AU$617 and $549 / £479 / AU$817 respectively
• That makes six Sigma RF-S lenses, but none yet for full-frame

Sigma has launched two fast-aperture prime lenses for Canon mirrorless cameras; the 16mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary and 23mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary. They join four other Sigma lenses available for the Canon RF mount, all of which are designed for crop sensor (APS-C) models such as the Canon EOS R7 and Canon EOS R100.

The new lenses increase the total number of Sigma 'RF-S' lenses to six in all, and are the first wide-aperture primes; the 16mm lens has an equivalent 24mm focal length, while the 23mm lens has a 35mm equivalent focal length.

Both lenses offer popular focal lengths with fast f/1.4 apertures, ideal for working in low light and for creating shallow depth of field portraits – I personally relied on a 35mm f/1.4 Sigma lens for a number of years while doing documentary photography in East Africa.

Sigma has set the price of the 16mm F1.4 lens at $439 / £389 / $617, while the 24mm F1.4 costs $549 / £479 /AU$817. These are reasonable prices when you consider the proven optical performance from Sigma Contemporary lenses, plus the fact that Canon equivalents would likely be pricier – should Canon ever launch them.

6 and counting, but what about full-frame?

Canon kept its lens mount closed to third-party lenses makers longer than rival brands, a move that frustrated some fans, especially given how few lenses Canon has launched for its APS-C cameras. That all changed in April 2024 when Canon gave the key to its RF-mount door to Sigma and Tamron, and we have six existing Sigma lenses rolled out for the RF-mount already.

All of these lenses are for Canon's APS-C cameras, which somewhat addresses the biggest strike against beginner mirrorless Canon models like the EOS R10: limited lens choice.

Meanwhile, Canon has been very active in launching new lenses for its full-frame cameras, like our 2024 Camera of the Year, the EOS R5 Mark II. However, we're yet to see full-frame lenses from Sigma and Tamron.

To us, it looks like Canon is taking care of its full-frame lenses while leaving the APS-C lenses to third-party manufacturers like Sigma. That's not a bad approach; however, it's only a matter of time before Canon fans demand that the likes of Sigma start making affordable full-frame lenses for Canon.

You might also like

• Best Canon RF lenses 2024: the best lenses for Canon's mirrorless EOS R cameras
• Sigma is working on a unique telephoto lens that has "never existed before" – here's what it could be
• Sigma's first Canon RF lens is finally here – and it could be the best zoom for APS-C fans

2024 felt a lot like 1994. Back then it was the internet that was experiencing seemingly exponential growth: the worldwide web had only formally launched three years before, but by ’94 the first browsers and ecommerce platforms were in use, and websites were springing up everywhere.

I was a college student at the time, and it was all very exciting, albeit not yet something which impacted my daily life too much. But by the time I started work a few years later, it was inconceivable that I might do my job without using the internet constantly.

Substitute ‘AI’ for ‘the internet’ and you’ll have a pretty good idea of where we are right now. AI has been everywhere this year, like it was in 2023, but even more so. As you’ll read below, it’s infiltrating every aspect of our lives – and certainly every aspect of tech – and it will soon be impossible to imagine what the world was like before it.

Is that a good thing? That question makes no more sense than it would have if asked about the internet in 1994. The web has been great in many ways, terrible in others – but that’s more about how it's been used than any inherent goodness or badness.

And so it will be with AI. The simple fact is that artificial intelligence will have an utterly transformative impact on the world; the next few years will be a case of holding on for dear life, as our everyday lives are changed in multiple ways.

Of course, there was more to 2024 than AI, and we saw some massive stories elsewhere in the tech world. VR hardware and experiences continued to improve, even if Apple's Vision Pro didn't quite take off as we thought it might, while smartphones gained an extra fold, new and improved smart rings offered fitness tracking without the screen, and gaming handhelds proliferated.

Expect much more AI, and more of everything else, in 2025. Until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading TechRadar in 2024, and have a happy New Year!

My year in tech

AI advances apace, but vintage tech still charms

As a chronicler of technology, it’s only natural as the year draws to a close that big moments, larger trends, disappointments, and surprises fill my thoughts – and they are my thoughts, not those of the AI systems I expended thousands of words on.

Graham Barlow has more to say about AI below, but of all the things I wrote about artificial intelligence, it was the stories that showed just how fast these generative platforms have come in a relatively short time that gave me the most joy. When I first asked ChatGPT to help me code and it failed miserably, I hesitated to return to the task. Now I’m glad I did. ChatGPT, like other emerging systems, is now an incredibly effective coding assistant. It was the a similar story with other platforms: Sora can create believable video, image generators now know how to count fingers, and Google’s NotebookLM can replicate realistic-sounding podcasts.

When I wasn’t writing about AI, I was trying out the latest augmented-reality headgear, and if I had to choose a standout device it would be Meta’s Orion. This sunglass-like wearable isn’t consumer-ready yet, but it easily offers the most impressive AR experience to date – and, yes, it integrates AI. At the other end of the spectrum is the Apple Vision Pro; a year after launch, the most impressive wearable technology I’ve ever tried appears to be floundering.

This was also the year I dug into the tech archives and rummaged through drawers to rediscover some old favorites, including my 40-year-old Casio watch and an aging Pebble (an OG smartwatch if there ever was one). I also played on a refurbished Game Boy – that last experience was part of one of my favorite interviews of the year.

Other year-defining moments included the wild CrowdStrike outage, which should still serve as a warning to all people who worry about our infrastructure; new foldables, including one I test-drove in Paris (photographing a folding phone at the Louvre was a bucket-list moment); and capturing the solar eclipse with three smartphones at once – quite the challenge, but totally worth the effort.

The year in AI

If you think 2024 was wild, wait till you hear about 2029…

In 2024 Apple performed a spectacular U-turn away from AR and its Vision Pro headset, and went all-in on AI, doing its bit to push AI into the mainstream in the process.

While the rollout wasn't the smoothest, Apple Intelligence is sprinkled throughout Apple’s operating systems in the form of notification summaries, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence and, my personal favorite, Genmoji, for making your own emojis. Genmoji is a genuinely innovative use of AI, and has the potential to actually get people excited about the technology because it’s so usable and fun (you can base emojis on your friends and family).

While most of the big AI platforms launched in 2023, 2024 was the year they became established. Meta kept pushing AI to its various social media apps, and even added it to its Ray-Ban smart glasses. ChatGPT kept improving, OpenAI added Sora video generation and ChatGPT search, X gave us Grok, Google gave us Gemini 2.0, and AI image generators like Midjourney and Adobe Firefly went from strength to strength.

While Genmoji was a highlight, my favorite moment was my mind-blowing and occasionally unsettling interview with Dr Ben Goertzel, one of the leading thinkers looking to manage the advance of AI towards the smarter-than-human superintelligence known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI, aka the singularity.

Goertzel believes it’s only a matter of years before the machines become smarter than we are, and that we'd better get used to the idea. 2029 is his estimate, at which point all bets are off and AGI will either put an end to disease, aging, and potentially even death, or it might decide that humanity is just a nuisance, and The Matrix / The Terminator becomes a reality. I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords – I just really hope they like us.

THE YEAR IN PHONES

It's not the real deal yet, but AI will do it all eventually

Nowhere did AI dominate the landscape more than in mobile computing. With every phone launch I attended, every product I reviewed, and every Snapdragon Summit I climbed, AI was a foregone conclusion. The disconnect between what phone makers see and what phone buyers want has never been greater; although, that said, the new phones this year were great, in spite of (never because of) the looming presence of AI. We saw impressive new foldables from Samsung and Google, while Huawei went one screen better with the first mainstream tri-folding phone.

But this was AI's year. Just think, we started this year with Circle to Search on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and now we’re ending it with Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16 making up fake headlines in its news summaries. Look how far we’ve come! These AI features seem half-baked because they are. The real deal isn’t here yet, and I’m not even talking about artificial general intelligence; I’m just talking about a better Siri, or Bixby, or Gemini.

At Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit I saw it take a big leap in mobile processing power and power management with its new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a platform that has the potential to radically change what AI can do. Qualcomm’s vision, which is similar to that of most phone makers, is for AI to become an ‘agent’ that works as a middleman between you and your phone. You won’t need to worry about Settings, or your home screen, or even apps, really – you’ll just tell the AI what you want to do, and it will do the rest.

In the meantime, some of the AI features are already pretty good. Google’s Pixel 9 Pro does a great job of things like transcribing meeting notes or screening your calls. Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe uses AI for the best handwriting recognition ever. And even you’re not thrilled with Apple Intelligence and its summaries, at least we can all appreciate the way AI has pushed smartphone photography past its limits.

So, 2024 was the year for AI on mobile devices, and soon enough it won’t feel like gimmicks and parlor tricks – it will actually help us do the things we need with less effort.

THE YEAR IN COMPUTING

Finally, a reason to get excited about Windows laptops again

Apple has dominated the laptop scene for the past few years, releasing a series of brilliant MacBook models powered by its own chips that offer performance, battery life, and value for money that Windows 11 laptops from the likes of Dell, HP and Lenovo just couldn't compete with.

With the launch of the M3-powered MacBook Airs in March it looked like 2024 was shaping up to be another year in which MacBooks would be the laptops to beat. Instead, we got something of a renaissance in Windows 11 laptops, mainly thanks to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips.

Like Apple’s M3 (and M4, which came to MacBooks later in the year), the Snapdragon X series are ARM-based chips that, unlike traditional chips from Intel and AMD, have been created with efficiency and mobile use in mind.

The result is laptops that offer fast performance and long battery life, and we saw a wave of truly excellent devices, such as the Dell XPS 13 (2024) and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, that have challenged Apple’s MacBooks in our best laptops list.

This has made Qualcomm a major player in Windows world, challenging the two established titans Intel and AMD. While neither of those two have had a particularly good year, Intel in particular has had a rocky 2024, with CEO Pat Gelsinger standing down after a particularly poor set of results.

Both AMD and Intel have released new chips to take on Qualcomm, and from what I’ve seen so far Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 chips show a lot of promise, especially when it comes to battery life. However, there’s no getting past the fact that Intel – a company that was so dominant in the processor market for so long – ends the year in a precarious position.

As for 2025, I’m looking forward to seeing what Nvidia has in store. It's tipped to be announcing its next-gen RTX 5000 series graphics cards as soon as CES next month, and they could take PC gaming to new heights – though I do worry about the price tags they’ll come with.

THE YEAR IN TVS

The year that mid-range mini-LED TVs went mainstream

A few years ago, a new high-end technology that goes by the name ‘mini-LED’ launched as a high-end alternative to the best OLED TVs, promising dazzling brightness but with far superior contrast to regular LED TVs. Fast forward a few years, and while OLED TVs basically cost exactly the same as they did before, mini-LED is now taking over the more affordable end of the TV market.

At least, it’s taking over in our list of recommendations. The likes of the Hisense U8N, TCL QM851G, Hisense U6N and TCL C805 all offer amazing value for money at a huge range of screen sizes – those two companies really turned the screws on Samsung in the contest for places on our list of the best mini-LED TVs, and put a lot of pressure on next year’s more expensive TVs to really make a case for themselves.

One elite TV this year that successfully did just that was the Samsung S95D, which won our TV of the Year award, thanks to its new anti-reflection screen, which was a first on an OLED TV. OLED’s low brightness mean it’s prone to distracting reflections – no problem for dark-room movie viewing, but not so great for sports during the day – so Samsung solved this with a light-dissipating layer over the screen; and combined with the amazing picture quality and stunning design it made the S95D our most-talked-about TV of 2024. Samsung told us that this tech could come to more TVs if people like it – here’s hoping we’ll see more at CES 2025.

THE YEAR IN VR/AR

Apple’s Vision fades, but Meta may see real rivals soon

The year kicked off with the launch of what many believed would be the one headset to rule them all: the Apple Vision Pro. Alas, it came, it saw, and it failed to conquer. Once the initial hype wore off, early adopters – including our own Lance Ulanoff – found they simply weren’t using the gadget very often, as the expensive headset failed to offer a substantial productivity or entertainment upgrade over a MacBook or iPad, or feel sufficiently superior to the VR competition.

We also saw the Pico 4 Ultra, which boasts some super foot-tracking tech, and a PC/Standalone hybrid in the shape of the Vive Focus Vision. Unfortunately each device disappointed in its own ways, with a major issuing being lackluster software offerings that fail to compete with the excellent catalog you’ll find on Quest systems, which includes Batman: Arkham Shadow, which I hailed in my review as "an almost flawless VR experience".

As the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and this year saw Lenovo, Asus, and Xbox announcing their plans to build Horizon OS headsets – Horizon being the operating system Quest headsets use. This would presumably give those headsets access to the full suite of Quest titles, and while we’re yet to see the devices, their announcement may have been the biggest VR announcement of 2024.

Next in line in terms of major launches was probably the Meta Quest 3S, an affordable Quest 3 alternative with the same brain but a bulkier body and less-crisp displays (though I think the Meta Quest 3 is worth paying extra for), and the Meta Orion AR glasses – they may still only be a prototype for now, but they’ve already blown away many who've tried them, including the aforementioned Mr Ulanoff.

Slipping in just under the 2024 wire, Samsung and Google showcased their Android XR software platform, which will power new headsets and glasses. While what the duo is promising is reminiscent of Apple’s Vision Pro hype, I’m optimistic that their Android offering might finally give Meta some serious competition in 2025.

THE YEAR IN AUDIO

Sonos stumbles, and hearing health is the New Big Thing

2024 in the world of audio has really been about risers and fallers. Let’s start with the rise of open-ear headphones. These weren’t new in 2024, but they suddenly became the hottest category this year. At first, these looked like just a new option for runners, because the way they push sound into the ear yet don’t actually fit in the ear means you can still be aware of your surroundings. But then it turned out that lots of other people would prefer not to put things in their ear too, both for comfort and to protect their long-term hearing. Expect to see a lot more of these in 2025.

Speaking of open-ear buds, though, new AirPods arrived in two flavors. The basic and cheaper AirPods 4 are fine, but the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation are a very interesting option for iPhone users. Plus, the AirPods Pro 2 got a truly ground-breaking new hearing-aid mode, and we can expect to see, and hear, a lot more of this health-focused tech in the future.

Now we need a faller, and no one took a bigger tumble than Sonos. The company released a truly disastrous change to its app that threw all of its goodwill in the trash overnight, and cast a large cloud over the launch of its first headphones, the Sonos Ace. By the time the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar came out, it had barely clawed back any ground. It needs to have a really good 2025…
But there’s always space for a comeback story, after all, 2024 was the year we went loopy over a beautiful new cassette player and a stunning portable CD player from FiiO, and a lovely combo player from TEAC.

THE YEAR IN CAMERAS

The retro revolution looks like it's here to stay

Despite feeling like a relatively quiet year for leading camera brands, 2024 has actually served up some real treats. The Canon EOS R5 Mark II scooped TechRadar’s camera of the year award and with good reason – it boasts a speedy 45MP stacked full-frame sensor, incredible autofocus skills including Eye Control AF, plus an innovative in-camera 400% upscale editing function that could end the megapixel race for good.

DJI had another busy year, with its broad portfolio of new devices including drones, action cameras and vlogging cameras, and it consequently scooped TechRadar's camera brand of the year for the second year running – and for good measure it’s avoided a ban on its drones in the US, for now. Other honorable mentions go to Nikon and its 5-star Z6 III, and Insta360 for doubling down in the pocketable video camera space, in particular with its unmatched X4 360-degree camera.

The people's vote went to the Fujifilm X100VI – a pricey premium compact that nonetheless attracted huge preorder numbers, and which is still on backorder the best part of a year later. I found the highly anticipated retro camera a delight to shoot with at its Tokyo launch. 2024 was also the year that film made a comeback, with the Pentax Film Project delivering the legendary brand’s first film camera in decades, the surprisingly charming half-frame Pentax 17.

2024 was also the year that the humble point-and-shoot camera enjoyed a comeback, particularly with young audiences and thanks in no small part to TikTok. We never expected an old, mediocre and cheap Nikon compact’s popularity to blow up, but the Coolpix S6900 in pink did just that.

So what about 2025? As cameras, and AI image and video generation, get closer to perfection we might see increasing pushback, with demand for simple, flawed, disconnected, retro cameras continuing to grow. 2025 could well be the year that dumb cameras win out over smart tech.

The year in gaming

Sony’s mid-gen upgrade points to the future of consoles

Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro was the biggest gaming hardware release of 2024, and while it wasn’t unexpected – rumors had been building all year – it did give us a window into what future consoles might offer.

While it brings welcome boosts to storage and connectivity, Sony’s PlayStation Super Spectral Resolution is the headline feature, offering AI-driven upscaling that enables users to enjoy enhanced graphical fidelity and higher frame rates, at the same time. Is this what we might see more of in future console upgrades as the gap between fidelity and performance closes? Perhaps. The new console was supported by a strong lineup of games like multiplayer phenomenon Helldivers 2, and the absolutely joyous Astro Bot, making 2024 another robust year for PlayStation.

Xbox didn’t join the mid-gen-upgrade party this time around, and instead Microsoft iterated on its existing hardware range by offering a larger-capacity Xbox Series S 1TB and releasing a Digital Edition of its existing Series X. Games-wise, Microsoft finished the year much stronger than it started it with the release of the epic Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and action-adventure hit Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Nintendo continued to publish excellent games for the Switch, such as The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and while we did see new hardware, it wasn’t what we were expecting or hoping for: the Nintendo Alarmo! clock took us all by surprise, and you can now be woken up by your favorite Nintendo characters.

Returning to hardware, SteelSeries’ Arctis GameBuds became the new gold standard in what gaming earbuds can offer, Razer’s Wolverine V3 Pro became the new premium Xbox controller to beat, and Secretlab’s Titan Evo NanoGen Edition chair offered a new level of comfort.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be the biggest thing in gaming in 2025 – should it actually arrive, which feels very likely at the time of writing – but with rumors that Xbox and PlayStation are also looking at building new handheld gaming devices, next year could get very interesting.

THE YEAR IN FITNESS

Ringing the changes as time stands still for smartwatches

What a year 2024 has been. I said last year that I believe we'd reached peak smartwatch, with not much scope left for the form factor to innovate, and that this year's more interesting developments would come in other product fields, such as smart rings.

That prediction has largely been borne out. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra looked very similar to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, while the Apple Watch Series 10 and Google Pixel Watch 3 were, like their predecessors, fairly iterative updates, with slightly bigger and slightly thinner displays being the most significant changes. Outside of smartwatches, though, there’s been plenty of action: this has been the year we’ve seen the widespread adoption of previously fringe tech, from smart wearables to continuous glucose monitors (live broadcasting of your blood sugar!) to AI fitness coaches.

As elsewhere, fitness and wearables brands have been eager to embrace the potential of AI (in many cases, before it’s really ready). Strava’s Athlete Intelligence and apps like Runna have been quick out of the gate with AI-generated feedback and workout insights. We asked ChatGPT for workout tips, and Oura got in on the action with its Advisor, a health and fitness chatbot that lives in the Oura app.

Speaking of Oura, 2024 was the year smart rings hit their stride, with the release of the RingConn Gen 2, the Samsung Galaxy Ring and the Oura Ring 4. Fun functionalities like gesture controls, and automatic workout tracking for multiple activities, show how far the technology has come in such a short space of time: check out our best smart rings guide for more on the early leaders in the race to dominate the space.

Looking forward to 2025, I think we’ll see continuing move away from the traditional fitness watches and notification-based devices, and towards smart rings and screenless trackers. A WHOOP 5, anyone?

THE YEAR IN ENTERTAINMENT

Streaming giants entertain and enrage in equal measure

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Away from the on-screen action, Max, Disney Plus, Hulu, Paramount Plus, and Peacock all raised their prices, Netflix angered customers by scrapping its cheaper tier, Prime Video assailed us with ads unless we paid more, and the Disney Plus password crackdown once again made us feel like we were being taken for a ride.

On a happier note, this year's entertainment calendar was packed with global events that drew in large audiences to the best streaming services: from the Olympics and the Euros to Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ on Disney Plus and Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour concert special on Netflix. When it came to new movies, we were taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride dominated by sequels like Deadpool and Wolverine and Moana 2. Highlights included Pixar’s return to form, with Inside Out 2 becoming the highest-grossing animation movie of all time, while lowlights included Borderlands, which brought a run of impressive video game adaptations to a crashing halt.

On the TV show front, video game adaptations fared much better, with Fallout and Arcane season 2 picking up the torch from The Last of Us to become massive hits. Some of the other most-streamed shows of the year include True Detective: Night Country, Shōgun, The Boys, Bridgerton, Agatha All Along, and my personal favorite, The Penguin.

As we look to the year ahead, make sure to check back in with TechRadar, where we’ll bring you all the latest streaming news, recommendations and tips to get the most out of your services, including how to become more savvy by pausing your subscriptions.

The Year in Smart Home

Matter matters, but features matter more

It's been a middling year for smart home tech, with few major product launches or big developments, but rather lots of iterative improvements to the building blocks of smart-home technology. We've also seen the emergence of some interesting trends that could point to the future of how smart devices are integrated into our homes.

One important yet relatively slow-moving part of this story is the connectivity standard Matter. We've seen versions 1.3 and 1.4 roll out in 2024, introducing support for new device categories across energy management and new household appliances, as well as improvements to features like lighting control and Thread networks. Big news for smart home enthusiasts and product developers, yes, but not exactly a reason to stop the presses. Indeed, Matter continues to be something that matters, but only in the background.

Elsewhere, we've seen trends emerging in terms of user experiences. 2024 began with Samsung upgrading its SmartThings ecosystem with a new TV-centered experience, demonstrating a push to integrate smart home technology into appliances rather than using dedicated hubs like those built into some smart speakers. Much like the trends we've seen in AI adoption, it's becoming increasingly apparent that in order for smart home technology to take off, it has to be a feature, not a product. To that end, Samsung is also putting screens on more and more appliances, kitting each out with SmartThings for whole-home control.

Similarly, in a trend I've catchily labeled "stuff that does other stuff", we've continued to see a focus on multi-functional smart home devices. On the more bizarre end of the spectrum, we saw an air purifier with a mounted cat bed from LG at IFA 2024, a follow-up to its more sensible air-purifying table from a few years ago.

There's still no sign of Apple's long-rumored smart display, and Alexa's big overhaul has quietly been pushed to 2025, so there's plenty to be excited for in the coming year.

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It's not always the best-selling or most capable gear that lives in the memory, and if I'm to pick one particular camera highlight of 2024 it would have to be a surprising retro snapper that gave me the feels – the Pentax 17. Sure, it's not the best camera around, but hear me out.

The Fujifilm X100VI rightly grabbed 2024's headlines; it's the most pre-ordered camera in memory, and nine months later, it's still on backorder. It's an incredibly popular premium compact for all the right reasons, even if it was TikTok influencers that gave the series the leg up. I really, really enjoyed reviewing the X100VI at its launch in Tokyo – you have to experience it to appreciate it.

Canon's EOS R5 Mark II also blew me away, and deservedly gained a five-star review and TechRadar's Camera of the Year 2024 award – its Eye Control AF is a treat, as are its innovative in-camera editing skills.

Other personal highlights were the Nikon Z6 III full-frame all-rounder; the GoPro Hero 13 Black, with its new Lens Mods that are the future of action camera design; the Insta360 X4, which is a super-versatile 360-degree camera; and the DJI Mini 4K, which sets the bar for affordable beginner drones. Technically I was also still testing the powerful Sony A9 III in 2024 too, even though it was announced in November 2023.

All of those cameras were personal favorites in 2024. However, if you were to ask me what was the most memorable camera of the year, I'd have to go for that other charming snapper, the Pentax 17. It's the first new camera of its kind from one of the big names in film photography in decades – a half-frame compact film camera that was a Pentax Film Project labor of love.

I wasn't overly enamored at first, but the Pentax 17 won me over, and its charm has endured – here's why.

A simple compact film camera that'll win you over

The Pentax 17 isn't the best camera I reviewed in 2024; it's not even the best of its kind, nor is it one that I particularly liked at first. However, when you've spent years of reviewing the best camera gear there is, as I have, a camera has to be something special to stick in the memory months after you've used it – and that's the effect the Pentax 17 had on me.

Its launch was timed to perfection – a camera in tune with what people want today, especially young people (of which I am not one). For me, this was the first time I'd properly used a film camera in over a decade, and I'd have to go back another 10 years to the time when I was last regularly shooting on film, as a student.

Despite my past experience with film, and plenty of general technical know-how with digital cameras, I benefitted from the 17 being a simple model with automated features that helped to ease my way back into shooting on film.

Throughout my time with the Pentax 17 I shot virtually no frames that I had to discard due to exposure issues or questionable framing – the 17 has all the tools to help you get the shot, including auto exposure, framing assist, and zone focusing. Pretty much the only thing you need to concentrate on is capturing the moment.

Some of my favorite photos taken with the Pentax 17

You also get double the number of shots for your money on a roll of 35mm film – two vertical half-sized shots per frame – and given the high cost of film and development, that's a win in my book.

As a camera it feels cheap in the hand at first, and its functionality is limited. But oh boy is the 17 fun. It's also easy to handle, which isn't an easy thing for film cameras to be, given they're foreign to so many of us in 2024.

It was the camera that freed me from instant image playback in 2024; the camera that put the biggest smile on my face, and one that piqued the interest of friends and family the most.

It was the camera that got me curious to try film in other formats, and I consequently had a lovely time reviewing the Leica MP, an altogether different experience.

I can understand why the Pentax 17 isn't universally admired – it's fairly pricey for what it is – but I think Pentax has been really smart in launching this particular camera now. It's a film camera for today that's easy to use and produces lovely vintage vertical photos that are sharper than I expected. And although it feels overpriced, there aren't a lot of options at this price point for newbies and enthusiast photographers.

Crucially, the Pentax 17 is a new and reliable film camera, and Pentax says the necessary infrastructure is in place should you run into any issues and need support; you can't say the same for a cheap 30-year-old film camera that you picked up on eBay.

This is the first camera produced by the Pentax Film Project, and if the 17 is anything to go by I can't wait for the next installment – it's rumored that there could be fully mechanical film SLR in the pipeline!

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The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is a 17-inch inkjet that will interest both professional studios and amateur photographers wanting high quality wide-format prints from an accessible desktop design. Costing $1,300 in the US and £1,500 in the UK, it’s Canon’s new flagship photo printer and it improves on the already impressive Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 with reformulated pigment inks promising superior prints that’ll last 200 years.

This one is a little different to some of the best small business printers I've reviewed. As well as using twelve separate ink cartridges to create colorful prints up to 17 x 22 inches, its unique Air Feed system is able to hold large sheets of paper in place while precision spraying ink through 18,432 nozzles. Impressive. But can it justify the high running cost of a cartridge-based printer?

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Design and build

This lozenge-shaped 17-inch desktop printer looks pretty compact with its flaps folded, but it’s a little larger than its closest 17-inch competitor, the Epson SureColor P900 in all dimensions and it weighs a whopping 71 pounds. If you want to go larger than A2, you’ll need a freestanding roll printer like the 24-inch HP DesignJet Studio 24. The twelve individual inks take up some room, while the replaceable printhead is also quite a handful. With the front and rear flaps extended, the depth increases from 43cm to 115cm so it’ll require some room while in use. There are two paper paths, with the top tray taking anything from A5 to A2 sheets and the fatter rear tray able to take thicker paper from A4 to A2 size.

The textured black plastic of the bodywork gives the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 a rugged look, while the various plastic flaps also feel less flimsy than your average printer. And unlike most inkjets, the printhead is readily replaceable which suggests a machine that is built to last. The large power and cancel buttons are easy to find and the controls are responsive, but it’s a pity there’s no touchscreen interface. The old school three-inch LCD looks under spec on a machine costing over a grand. There’s no memory card slot or USB Host port either. Just the usual USB type B and Ethernet ports at the rear. The wireless connectivity, however, has been improved from the single-band wi-fi of the old model to auto-switching dual-band (2.4GHz/5GHz).

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Features & specifications

As Canon’s top-of-the-line photo printer, the imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 has an impressive specification and features not one, but two paper input trays capable of handling 17” x 25” (A2) paper. The top tray can take small formats like 6” x 6” papers or up to 150 sheets of plain paper. The manual tray at the rear with its flatter paper path can handle heavier paper and card up to 400g/m2, but only one sheet at a time. It can also print banners up to 129 inches (3.27 meters) long. There are twelve separate LUCIA PRO II inks so you can expect a very wide color gamut, while the Air Feed feature ensures your paper doesn’t slip while the ink is applied.

The maximum print resolution is given as 2,400 x 1,200 dpi (dots per inch), which is actually lower than that of the entry-level Canon PIXMA G650. The imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 achieves its superior image quality because it has more nozzles firing finer ink droplets so those dots are more accurate. While the cheap Canon squirts six inks through 2,304 nozzles, our PRO-1100 has twelve inks and 18,432 nozzles. And if any of those nozzles become blocked, it’s picked up by sensors and substitute nozzles step in. It's the mark of one of the best photo printers around.

It has 1GB of inbuilt memory, which is more than the average photo printer, and it supports Windows, Mac OS and Chrome OS. What the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 cannot do is accommodate a roll of paper and only one of its two input trays can only hold multiple sheets of paper. That’s a maximum of 150 sheets of thin plain paper. The given speed of six minutes to print a sheet of A2 is also rather slow, but in all other respects, its a strong spec sheet.

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Setup and operation

The quick start guide for the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is just a single page, because its really just a case of plugging in, turning on and following the on-screen prompts to complete the setup. The twelve ink cartridges slot in smoothly, but with this inkjet, you also have to install the printhead. It’s a similarly smooth operation with instructions shown on the display. Once in place, you have the opportunity to print a test sheet to ensure the inkjets are aligned and firing. If you download the accompanying iOS/Android app called Canon PRINT, you can use your phone to get the printer onto your wi-fi network. The only thing that would have made the setup process easier is a touchscreen.

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Performance

The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 prints slowly, but reliably and exceedingly well, which is the main thing. While this successor to the old Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 sees no improvement in print speed, the reformulated inks bring a real improvement in print quality, especially with difficult dark images and back and white photos.

I printed a wide range of test cards and photos on an equally wide range of paper types and was impressed every time. The detail resolution is consistently sharp, notably with A2, and perhaps that’s due to the Air Feed system holding the ungainly sheets of paper in its steady suction grip. The very wide color gamut and particularly realistic shading of images is certainly down to the twelve individual ink cartridges. With eleven pigments and one chroma optimizer to call on, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 has an advantage over its 17-inch rival, the Epson SureColor P900 with its paltry ten inks.

On high gloss photo paper, the colours pop in exactly the way you want your holiday snaps to do when you have them professionally produced. And these prints are probably more durable thanks to the industry-leading light and abrasion resistance of Canon’s pigment inks. Switching to matt photo paper or Canon’s tactile rough art paper and you can better appreciate the remarkable deepness of the black inks. And with both a photo black and a matte black the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is particularly good at printing monochrome photographs.

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Consumables

As this is not one of Canon’s MegaTank printers, there are no refillable ink reservoirs and you’re locked into buying Canon’s LUCIA PRO II cartridges, which each cost around $60 for 80ml. And by the way, you’re going to need twelve of them. At least you can replace the cartridges individually as they run out and they are no more expensive than the old LUCIA PRO cartridges. There are actually eleven pigment inks and one chroma optimizer, which costs very slightly less for the same 80ml. The improved pigment inks claim to have deeper blacks, richer blues and the ability to withstand light damage for 200 years. I’ll have to get back to you on the light damage, but I agree that the black and blue performance is especially strong. Its prints also passed our smudge and scratch tests easily, which makes the longevity claims seem plausible.

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Maintenance

Being an inkjet, there’s a possibility of the printhead clogging, or drying out when left unused for long periods. It has inbuilt sensors to detect blockages, but you may need to run one or more cleaning cycles if necessary. This could be as easy as ordering a maintenance routine via the Canon app on your smartphone. The chroma optimizer cartridge is likely to need replacing before the pigment inks, so watch out for that. You can also replace the whole PF-10 printhead very easily, but with the cost for a new one being US$414 or £550, you’d probably rather not. You may have noticed that the dollar/pound figures I have quoted in this review are not currency conversions, they’re the current prices on the Canon US and Canon UK websites, which means Brits are expected to pay thirty percent more for the exact same printer. Ouch.

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100: Final verdict

If you need studio quality prints on large paper formats, the uncompromising Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 will not disappoint. It’s a solid and evolved design that puts image quality first. The absence of a touchscreen interface or an input drawer capable of holding a stack of blank paper are minor inconveniences compared to the advantage of having twelve separate ink cartridges or an air feed system for holding the paper steady while printing. The print speed is rather slow, but the results are worth waiting for. Photos look realistic thanks to a very wide color gamut and superb detail resolution, while black and white photos really benefit from the inclusion of two types of black ink. It handles large sheets of paper effortlessly, including banners up to 129 inches long. Of course the consumables cost has to be a consideration, especially when there are twelve cartridges to replace, but the excellent LUCIA PRO II inks are no more expensive than other inks in this category.

For more devices, we reviewed the best home printers around.

• ^ Back to top

It doesn't look like your standard camera but then there's really nothing quite like the Canon PowerShot V10 on the market.

It's shorter than an average modern smartphone, albeit thicker, and has been designed for vlogging on the go – which it does marvellously. We called it "quirky" and "fun" in our Canon PowerShot V10 review, and while it's not quite perfect, it's hard to argue how well it works when all you want is some great 4K video clips while out and about. It will take stills too if you want, but video is where it shines.

The good news is that you can pick one up from Amazon for just AU$499, although this fantastic low price is only on the black colour option.

So, here's what's unique about the Canon PowerShot V10 – it's far removed from any other vlogging camera available today. Other options, like the Sony ZV-1 or Sony ZV-E10, even the Panasonic Lumix GH6, Nikon Z30 or several others on our best camera for vlogging buying guide all have a similar form factor – they look like any other photography camera with the many buttons, dials and menu systems that complicate matters.

The PowerShot V10, though, has been purpose-built for vlogging. It's about the size of a deck of cards and tips the scales at just 210g. That's lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max!

There are minimal buttons on the rear and just one big one on the front to start recording, sitting just where your thumb would naturally rest if you were holding the PowerShot V10. It even has a built-in kickstand, so you don't need to find something to balance it against when you're working solo.

While its form factor is fresh, the tech inside is not quite so new. However, it uses a sensor that's been tried and tested in the Canon PowerShot G7 X III. Despite being from 2019, it's still an excellent 1-inch sensor, but here it's been optimised to work with the fixed 18mm f/2.8 lens, much like in the Sony ZV-1F.

As dated as this sensor might be, it's definitely better than using a smartphone if you want sharp, detailed results. That's exactly what you get in good lighting conditions, but we found that the PowerShot V10 can struggle a little in low-light conditions. A recent firmware update has added better image stabilisation when shooting video, so footage will be smoother than what it could produce just after launch a year ago.

It's ready to start shooting straight out of the box... well, after you fit it with a microSD card, but there's no need to fiddle around with menus if you don't want to. Straightforward wireless live-streaming also enhances the camera’s vlogging chops.

In short, it's the easiest vlogging camera to use. If you don't want to take our word for it, our colleagues at Digital Camera World think that the PowerShot V10 is revolutionary.

Admittedly it can't compete with the likes of Sony's vlogging cameras or more dedicated hybrid cameras, but it's the perfect choice for beginners looking for a pared-back, pocketable snapper that makes it as simple to as pointing and shooting.

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• Arcane's creators have admitted that the animated show is rewriting League of Legends (LoL) history
• However, they "aren't troubling" themselves with what's considered to be canon
• Their response comes after some major character revelations in Arcane season 2 act 2

Full spoilers follow for Arcane season 2's first six episodes.

Ever since Arcane made its Netflix debut in November 2021, League of Legends (LoL) fans have fiercely debated whether what happens in the animated series is considered canon in Riot Games' hugely popular videogame franchise.

Three years on from the emergence of those online discussions, we have a definitive answer: yes, but only kind of. That's the verdict of the hit show's creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee who, in an exclusive TechRadar interview that took place before Arcane season 2's initial launch on November 9, they admitted that Arcane is officially rewriting elements of League's history.

However, the pair also stated they aren't concerning themselves with the definition of what's canon or not. Instead, Linke and Yee chose to describe the alterations to LoL's mythology as what "should be considered to be the truth" at this point in time.

The duo's comments come as act 2, comprising episodes 4 through 6 of Arcane's second and final season, makes some massive changes to the canonicity of LoL, such as the revelation that the monstrous, wolf-like LoL champion known as Warwick was created by Singed using Vander's corpse.

Another notable admission is the reveal of Vi and Powder's mom Felicia, her ties to Vander and Silco, and how she was a key driver in the latter pair's determination to create the undercity state of Zaun to ensure it's governed independently of its aristocratic neighbor Piltover. Then there's everything surrounding the 'will they won't they' pairing affectionately dubbed 'CaitVi' by Arcane's fanbase and that huge season 2 moment involving Caitlyn and Vi that we waited years for.

By far the biggest lore alternation, though, concerns the aforementioned alchemist known only as Singed. Season 2 episode 5, titled 'Blisters and Bedrock', confirms a long-standing fan theory that Singed is not only the scientist/inventor formerly known as Doctor Corin Reveck, but also the father of another LoL champion called Orianna, aka The Lady of Clockwork. For those interested in learning more about these changes, my Arcane season 2 act 2 ending explained piece provides more information.

This isn't the first time Arcane, one of the best Netflix shows, has reshaped what LoL fans thought they knew about the mythos surrounding Riot's most popular game. Arcane's first season made subtle changes to the way Jayce and Viktor's friendship is depicted in LoL, revised Vi and Jinx's backstories to make them blood relatives, and introduced new champions like Ambessa and Mel who weren't part of LoL history prior to their appearances in the show. Netflix's animated adaptation of Riot's biggest game, then, hasn't been shy about modifying its established lore.

Despite these changes, Linke and Yee are unmoved about the prospect of potential fan backlash over what was previously accepted as League canon. Yes, they still hope these tweaks "feel true" to fan expectations for these characters and Runeterra – the world Arcane and LoL are set on – but they're not worried about the complexities associated with what's canon and what isn't.

"We want to tell stories that feel true to the expectations of fans," Yee replied when I asked if Arcane's events are now considered canon in LoL. "This question of canon – to me, it's like 'what is canon [as a definition] but the thing we say it is for now'? So, I guess I'm not necessarily troubling myself with it too much."

"We set out to tell the stories of these characters," Linke added. "I mean, it should be considered to be the truth. That's the most important thing."

There you have it, folks. Arcane is officially reworking what we knew about LoL, but it's not defined in the traditionally canonical sense if that makes, well, sense. Anyway, as we prepare for the arrival of Arcane season 2's final batch of episodes, read more from my chat with Linke and Yee, plus my wider season 2 coverage, below.

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The most lucrative photo contest in the world has awarded its top prize – an eye-watering $200,000 – to Liping Cao of China for his monochrome image of a distant wind farm on the shores of a freshwater lake in Australia (see below).

The judges of the HIPA Sustainability, which is now in its thirteenth year, and which this year put up a record-high $1 million prize pot to be shared among the winners, chose Quiet Power, which depicts a wind farm in 2021 on a then-dried-out Lake George in New South Wales, Australia, as the overall winner.

What's most surprising about Liping's feat is the camera he used to take his winning photo – a Canon DSLR.

The camera in question is not even one of the best DSLRs, but a 12-year-old Canon EOS 5D Mark III – a full-frame DSLR that you can pick up secondhand from around $300 from the likes of KEH in the US or around £325 from MPB in the UK, though you'll pay a little more if you want one that's in excellent condition.

Liping paired the EOS 5D Mark III with the EF 24-105mm F4L IS USM, a versatile zoom lens that back in the day could be purchased with the camera as part of a kit – a combination that's easily affordable for enthusiasts.

The winning image was shot in color and then converted to black and white because it "shows more levels of detail and is more suitable for experiencing environmental impact,” said Liping.

DSLR for the win

Canon confirmed some time ago that it's no longer developing DSLR cameras, and is instead going all-in with its mirrorless cameras, but Liping's winning photo, taken with a Canon camera that's been consigned to the past, reminds us that you don't always need the latest and greatest cameras to get top results.

The full-frame EOS 5D Mark III packs a 22.9MP sensor, which practically matches Canon's modern-day mirrorless equivalents for detail, such as the EOS R6 Mark II, which shoots 24MP photos and which is much costlier.

And while I recently came to appreciate the advances in mirrorless camera tech when I used my old Nikon DSLR for the first time in years, this win for Liping shows there's still life in the old DSLR yet.

If you're interested in the best DSLR options you can check out our guide to the best DSLRs. And if you're a newcomer who's confused by the jargon, you'll want to read our mirrorless vs DSLR explainer.

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• New TechRadar Pro survey shows many people don't own a printer
• Despite this, HP has cornered a significant portion of the market
• Japanese brands are the most popular to own

The role of home printers might seem to be diminishing to many, as cloud storage, document sharing, and mobile devices, are quickly replacing the many tasks once reliant on physical prints.

However, for millions of people, printers remain an essential tool for everything from school projects to remote work and small business operations.

A recent survey conducted across our WhatsApp community revealed intriguing insights into printer ownership trends. With a sample size of 3,676 respondents across nine brands, the survey’s single question — “What printer do you have?” — yielded both expected and surprising results.

HP and Japanese brands lead the pack

HP emerged as the clear leader in this survey, with 38% of the total sample stating that they own a printer made by the company.

HP’s sheer market dominance is particularly interesting when compared to those who do not own a printer, which accounted for 21% of respondents. While HP has cornered a significant portion of the market, a growing number of people are either opting for alternatives to personal printing or simply choosing not to own a printer at all.

What’s perhaps even more intriguing is the dominance of Japanese brands within the top four. Brother, Canon, and Epson collectively account for 37% of the total, showing the significant influence that Japanese technology has in the global printing market.

Brother in particular commands 11% of the total share, with Canon at 14%, and Epson close behind at 12%. The remaining brands, Kyocera, Oki, Ricoh, Xerox, and Lexmark, collectively make up less than 5% of the responses. This indicates that these brands have their niches but have limited awareness or availability among respondents.

The number of people forgoing printer ownership might also reflect urban living conditions where access to printing services is readily available through libraries or office supply stores. In such environments, individuals may find it unnecessary to invest in personal printers.

Furthermore, high ongoing costs associated with ink cartridges and maintenance might deter potential buyers from investing in printers.

Another recent survey by TechRadar Pro reveals that while the shelf price of many printer cartridges is less than $20, in the long run, printer owners will have to spend between $5,000 to $10,000 per liter of ink.

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Windows 11, Microsoft's latest operating system, has been slowly gaining popularity among users for its sleek interface and improved functionality. However, when it comes to setting up peripherals like printers, some users might find themselves scratching their heads.

But adding a printer to Windows 11 is actually a straightforward process, whether you're dealing with a brand-new wireless printer or an older model that's been sitting in your closet for years. The key is knowing where to look and what steps to follow.

Let's explore the various methods available for adding a printer to Windows 11, covering everything from automatic detection to manual setup. I'll also share a few ways you can troubleshoot printer connections and make the most of your printer on Windows 11.

Looking for instructions for Windows 10 instead? Here’s how to add a printer in Windows 10.

Option 1: Using automatic printer detection

Windows 11 comes with a built-in feature that can automatically detect and install most modern printers. This is usually the easiest and most straightforward method for adding a printer to your system.

Here's how to use automatic printer detection:

1. Ensure your printer is powered on and connected to your computer (if it's a wired printer) or to the same Wi-Fi network (if it's a wireless printer).
2. Open the Settings app by pressing Windows+i on your keyboard or by right-clicking the Start button and selecting "Settings."
3. In the Settings window, click on "Bluetooth & devices" in the left sidebar.
4. On the right side of the window, click on "Printers & scanners."
5. Near the top of the Printers & scanners page, click on "Add device."
6. Windows will now search for available printers. This may take a few seconds.
7. If your printer is detected, you'll see it in the list. Simply click on it and then click "Add device."

Windows 11 will now automatically download and install the necessary drivers for your printer. In my experience, this process works seamlessly for most modern printers, especially those from major manufacturers like HP, Canon, and Epson.

Option 2: Adding a printer manually

If your printer doesn't show up in the automatic detection process, don't worry! You can still add it manually. This method is particularly useful for older printers or those with unique connection requirements.

Here's how to add a printer manually:

1. Follow steps 1-5 from the automatic detection method above.
2. If your printer doesn't appear in the list, click on "Add manually" at the bottom of the window.
3. You'll see several options. Choose the one that best describes your printer:
   1. "My printer is a little older. Help me find it." (for directly connected printers)
   2. "Add a Bluetooth, wireless or network discoverable printer" (for wireless printers)
   3. "Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings" (for advanced setups)
4. Follow the on-screen prompts. Depending on your choice, you may need to:
   1. Select the port your printer is connected to (e.g., USB, LPT)
   2. Choose your printer's manufacturer and model from a list
   3. Provide a name for your printer
   4. Decide whether to share your printer on your network
5. Once you've completed all the steps, click "Finish" to complete the installation.

I've found that this manual method is particularly helpful for those stubborn printers that just won't show up automatically. It gives you more control over the installation process and can often solve connectivity issues.

Troubleshooting printer installation

Sometimes, even with the best instructions, things don't go as planned. Here are some troubleshooting tips if you're having trouble adding your printer:

1. Restart your computer: It sounds simple, but a quick reboot can often resolve many issues.
2. Check connections: Ensure all cables are securely connected and that your wireless printer is on the same network as your computer.
3. Update your system: Make sure your Windows 11 is up to date, as newer updates often include improved printer support.
4. Download manufacturer drivers: If Windows can't find the right drivers, visit the printer manufacturer's website to download them manually.
5. Run the printer troubleshooter: Windows 11 has a built-in troubleshooter that can often identify and fix common printer problems.

Productivity tips for using a printer on Windows 11

Now that you've successfully added your printer, here are some tips to enhance your printing experience on Windows 11:

• Set a default printer: If you have multiple printers, set your most-used one as the default to save time.
• Use the Print Queue: Familiarize yourself with the print queue to manage and cancel print jobs easily.
• Create printer shortcuts: Add printer shortcuts to your desktop for quick access to printing options.
• Explore printer-specific software: Many printer manufacturers offer additional software that can unlock advanced features of your printer.
• Use the Windows + P shortcut: This handy keyboard shortcut quickly opens the print dialog in most applications.

We’ve also covered the best home printers.

Canon has announced four new lenses for its mirrorless cameras, three of which are touted 'hybrid', meaning that they are designed for video and still creators. They are the RF 24mm F1.4L VCM, RF 50mm F1.4L VCM and the RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z.

The two pro-grade primes and zoom are made for Canon's full-frame cameras and join two recently announced lenses of the same kind, the RF 35mm F1.4L VCM and RF 24-105mm F2.8L USM Z – the latter being quietly launched alongside the RF 200-800mm monster wildlife lens – bringing Canon's range of hybrid lenses to five in all.

In addition to the hybrid lenses, two of which are the long-awaited 24mm and 50mm F1.4 primes that finally get the treatment for mirrorless, Canon also unveiled a new stereoscopic lens for spatial video – the RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM DUAL for APS-C – which is currently only compatible with the EOS R7. Those four new lenses increase the number of Canon's RF system lenses to 52 in all – that's a super-impressive achievement in six short years of the RF-mount.

The RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z lens costs $2,999 / £3,449.99 / AU$5,399 and is available in white or black from November 14. Meanwhile, the sales start date for the RF 24mm F1.4L VCM and RF 50mm F1.4L VCM lenses is December with a specific date TBC – they're priced at $1,499 / £1,679.99 / AU$2,699 and $1,399 / £1,539.99 / AU$2,429 respectively. The RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM DUAL comes in at $449.99 / £519.99 / AU$799 and will go on sale some point in November.

A new dawn for Canon's professional lenses?

Canon seems set on video and still creators if its latest lenses are anything to go by. It says its RF mount "reflects the changing needs of the professional as the demand for a lens without compromise drives them to step into both worlds", although we don't know if this is the type of lens design we can expect going forward for its professional mirrorless cameras.

The RF 70-200mm F2.8 IS USM Z will sit alongside the existing RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM as a pricier alternative for hybrid users, adding a smooth aperture ring, 11-blade aperture, internal zoom, and minimal focus breathing. It's compatible with 1.4x and 2x teleconverters and comes in white (with a thermal barrier) or black – the latter could prove popular with filmmakers who need to be discreet on set.

And like the RF 24-105mm F2.8L USM Z, which is virtually the same size and weight being a little over 1kg, it is compatible with the same Power Zoom adapter for smooth and precise video zooming. Together, the two lenses cover off focal lengths from 24mm to 200mm.

Just like the new 70-200mm, the new RF 24mm F1.4 L VCM and RF 50mm F1.4 L VCM lenses are practically the same size and weight, and sit as a trio with the existing RF 35mm F1.4 L VCM. They also offer a video-friendly design with aperture ring and minimal focus breathing. However, these are entirely new for the RF mount, finally realizing the extremely popular 24mm and 50mm F1.4 primes for Canon's DSLRs in Canon's RF-mount for mirrorless cameras.

Given Canon's research, which says that 65% of professional photographers are now shooting video as some part of their work, and the changing needs of professional photographers, hybrid seems like a fair bet going forward. This trio of lenses could represent a new dawn for Canon's lens design, and we're all for it, even if the price of these lenses is expensive even by Canon standards.

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Our TechRadar Choice Awards 2024 winners include some seriously strong cameras this year, a few of which had a chance to land our coveted Camera of the Year award. Honorable mentions go to the Nikon Z6 III and the wildly popular Fujifilm X100VI, but if there’s one camera that stood above them all, it’s the Canon EOS R5 Mark II.

Put simply, the EOS R5 Mark II is Canon’s most versatile camera ever, and the camera giant’s most exciting launch of 2024 by a long shot. In fact, it made TechRadar's Managing Editor seriously regret switching from Canon for the Nikon Z8.

The EOS R5 Mark II upgraded the already excellent full-frame EOS R5, delivering an all-round speedier performance, smart autofocus features, better video, plus a few AI tricks thrown in for good measure. This is a highly capable camera for any kind of professional photographer or filmmaker.

We got hands-on with the EOS R5 Mark II ahead of launch and completed an in-depth review but there was still a sense that we were only scratching the surface of what it can do. It really is one of the best professional cameras we've ever used.

The Canon camera that does it all

The EOS R5 Mark II shoots super sharp 45MP stills, especially when paired with one of Canon’s pro L-series lenses, but its sensor is now the stacked type, with a faster readout that minimizes rolling shutter effects, meaning this is also a great camera for high-speed photography and for video in general.

There’s also a second processing engine that delivers incredible high-speed performance, including 30fps burst shooting with a respectable buffer memory. During our testing, it didn’t quite sustain sequences as long as the EOS R1 could, but for a high-resolution camera the EOS R5 Mark II is super-impressive.

This speedier performance is backed up by near flawless autofocus and subject tracking features – for example, through Action or People priority modes, you can pick from a number of sports for optimized autofocus, plus select a specific person using face detection for the camera to focus on, such as a player in a sports games or the bride at a wedding. Our hit ratio of sharp focus on a specific player on a basketball court was ludicrously high.

Eye-control autofocus also impresses. The viewfinder has internal cameras that can detect where you’re looking in the frame, using your eyes as a guide for the focus point, in conjunction with subject tracking. To put it simply, in this mode the autofocus takes its cues from your attention. It doesn't fully replace the best autofocus systems, but eye-control AF did make us feel more at one with the EOS R5 Mark II.

We also tested the new AI-powered in-camera editing features, which includes an upscale function that increases the size of your pictures by 400%. It utilizes Canon’s neural network and is optimized for the EOS R5 Mark II: you select one of your pictures from the memory card and it’ll increase the resolution 4x to 170MP for incredible detail.

The potential for Canon's upscale tech is huge. Rather than high-res shot modes in most other cameras which essentially combine multiple images and can’t handle scenes with movement, the EOS R5 Mark II’s upscale function works on a photo you’ve already taken, and the results are majorly impressive. For us it's the greater scope for cropping into your 170MP pictures that's particularly helpful.

All in all, the EOS R5 Mark II is Canon’s most versatile professional camera yet. If you’re not nailing the shot once you’ve got to grips with its pro-features, especially its complex autofocus system, you should probably consider another career.

When it comes to printers, the price of ink cartridges often becomes a major factor for both home and office users. While a cartridge might appear affordable at first glance, the real cost lies in how much ink you’re getting for your money.

The price of an ink cartridge can be deceptive - as a cartridge that costs $20 may only contain 2ml of ink, which might print around 100 pages. In contrast, a $50 cartridge could contain 20ml of ink, enabling you to print 1,000 pages. While the $20 cartridge seems cheaper, it may end up costing more in the long run due to the need for frequent replacements.

To help shed light on the true cost of printing, I surveyed 100 ink cartridges using publicly available information from the official websites of four major brands: HP, Canon, Epson, and Brother.

The hidden costs of Ink cartridges

To accurately analyze the long-term cost of printing, we assessed the price per litre of ink rather than focusing on the upfront cartridge cost. This approach provides a clearer picture of how much users will spend over time, as it factors in the volume of ink and the total number of pages each cartridge can print.

Among the 100 cartridges surveyed, 31% were classified as cheap (< $1000 per litre), 51% as affordable (between $1000 and $5000), and 18% as expensive (> $5000). Interestingly, Canon and Epson each held a 35% share of the cheap ink data, with HP making up the remaining 30%. This suggests that all three brands ensure they have affordable options available.

However, Canon emerges as the leader in affordability, offering the world’s cheapest original ink by the bottle.

The Canon GI-290 stands out with a price of only $171.29 per litre, making it the most affordable option on the market. Additionally, Canon’s GI-25 series sells for just $9.99 per cartridge, translating to a price of $270 per litre making it also one of the most affordable in the surveyed data. These low prices highlight Canon's focus on providing cost-effective printing solutions, especially for consumers who print frequently and want to minimize their ink expenses.

While HP is often perceived as a cheap brand, the data tells a different story when you look at the cost per litre of ink.

HP dominates the affordable ink category, with 53% of its cartridges falling between $1,001 and $5,000 per litre. Canon follows with 43% in this range, while Epson and Brother contribute just 2% each. Interestingly, 18% of the surveyed inks are expensive and HP takes the entire 18%. This means that the American tech company produces some of the most expensive ink cartridges in the world.

Although HP cartridges often sell for between $20 to $60, the price per litre can be extraordinarily high, making these cartridges some of the most expensive to use over time. For example, the HP 65 and 67 Tri-Colour cartridges have a staggering price per litre of $9,995 and $9,495 respectively, the highest in the entire dataset.

While some cartridges may seem expensive upfront, they can offer significant savings for users who print in high volumes.

Cartridges like the HP 32XL and Canon GI-290 have an exceptionally low price per page, effectively bringing the cost down to $0.00 in some cases. These cartridges are ideal for consumers who need to print large quantities of documents or photos, as they reduce the need for frequent cartridge replacements and save money in the long run.

High-capacity cartridges such as the Epson T636100 and Canon PFI-1000, which hold between 700ml and 800ml of ink, are also excellent choices for high-volume users. Though these cartridges have a higher upfront cost, their large capacity reduces the frequency of replacements and minimizes long-term costs.

Another interesting trend from the data is that black ink cartridges generally offer a lower cost per page and per litre compared to color cartridges.

Black ink is more commonly used for everyday document printing, which explains its lower cost. However, consumers who require color printing, such as for photos or graphics, face a much higher price per litre. For instance, color cartridges like HP 902 and Canon CL-276 have a much higher price per litre, especially for magenta, cyan, and yellow inks.

Users with frequent color printing needs may want to consider brands like Epson, which offers more affordable options for color ink. The Epson T664220-S cartridges in cyan, magenta, and yellow, for example, are priced at around $177 per litre, making them a reasonable option for those needing a balance between black and color ink costs.

The analysis reveals distinct strategies among the four brands: HP offers products across all three price categories—cheap, affordable, and expensive—but its high price per litre for some cartridges indicates a focus on short-term affordability at the expense of long-term savings. Canon, on the other hand, prioritizes cheap and affordable inks, making it the best choice for cost-conscious consumers. Epson primarily targets the cheap ink market, while Brother plays a smaller role overall, offering fewer options across the price spectrum.

If you print large volumes of document or you run a small business that requires heavy printing, then ink tank printers are the way to go. They are designed for designed for large volume of printing, offer lower costs per page and you do not need to refill regularly.

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