I’m someone who likes the idea of taking a dedicated camera with me wherever I go, in the hopes of capturing higher quality shots than what I can manage with my iPhone 15 Pro. I already have an OM System OM-D E-M10 MKIV, but I’ve taken it away with me on holiday exactly one time, where I used it exactly one day.

Despite being quite small (at least compared to many full-frame alternatives), I found it to be too bulky to fit in a sling bag, especially when spare lenses were thrown into the mix.

It was with this in mind that I actually used a Fujifilm Instax mini camera during my recent trip to Europe. Not only was it easier to fit into my bag, but it made me carefully consider compositions, and I love the fact I now have physical, printed photos to admire.

I can still admit digital is more convenient however, which is why I’ve been keen on the Panasonic Lumix S9, and now it’s 42% off ahead of Prime Day, now is a great time to snap it up.

Now, as I’ve just mentioned, the Lumix S9 is definitely geared more towards videographers, due to its support of open gate 6K video, which benefits from the full height and width of the 3:2, 24.2MP full-frame sensor. The Lumix S9 also boasts one of the best image stabilisation systems when shooting video that we’ve come across.

Unfortunately, this capability would be lost on me, as a videographer I am not. I’m far more interested in the S9’s picture-snapping credentials, and based on our Panasonic Lumix S9 review, I’m in for a treat if I hit the ‘buy now’ button.

That’s because the 24.2MP sensor — which is essentially the same as the one found in the Lumix S5 II — takes great still images, with superb noise control and dynamic range, meaning it can capture detail in darker areas.

Also, its bigger sensor is better suited to low-light photography compared to my E-M10 Mark IV’s micro four thirds one, although the latter does still take lovely images.

The S9 also employs real-time LUTs (look-up tables) which, despite being recommended for videos, allow you to use a range of colour profiles to help enhance images, although I am a little intimidated by the fact that Panasonic doesn’t make this the easiest of options in its photography menu system. I’m still keen to try this feature for stills.

And then there’s how the camera itself looks. I’m pretty infatuated with the S9’s aesthetic — it’s compact and minimal, two qualities I adore. However, one of the biggest gripes we had in our review is the fact there’s no viewfinder. On paper, this won’t be a huge deal for me if I’m not using the camera constantly but, clearly, I have to point it out. The screen does extend and tilt though, which will help when composing shots.

Another advantage that the S9 has is based on Panasonic’s L-Mount Alliance membership, which allows you to use any full-frame L-mount lens from other members, like Leica and Sigma — although this particular offer comes included with an 18-40mm kit lens. If you’re keen to know more, our friends at Digital Camera World have put together a guide to the best lenses for the Lumix S9 to help you on your way.

All in all, I think this is a superb camera, although I did baulk at the AU$3,299 RRP, which is why I held off buying it for this long. Thankfully, the 42% discount fixes that in a big way. Less than two grand for a very capable full-frame shooter? Count me in.

• Though mostly known for photo lighting equipment, Godox has announced a small 'transparent viewfinder camera' that weighs just 65g.
• It features a transparent(ish) window for composition that also doubles as a settings display — and it can also function as a light meter.
• We don't yet have information on key internal specs like sensor size and resolution (but you can expect them to be low).

Very cheap cameras are back in vogue these days, so I wasn't necessarily surprised to see another one released — but I was surprised to see it coming from Godox.

The Godox C100 is a 'transparent viewfinder camera', announced by the Chinese firm who heretofore have been better known for producing the kind of high-end lighting equipment you'd find in the studios of professional photographers, as well as more affordable flashguns. However, with an announced price of just ¥199 (equivalent to about $29 / £22 / AU$42), the C100 is considerably more affordable than anything else on the Godox books.

As you can see, the C100 is built around quite an unusual form factor. A palm-sized rectangle, it doesn't feature a display exactly, but instead a transparent window that you use to compose your images. This window is also able to display key information like exposure settings and battery life.

Now, I said 'unusual' form factor, not 'unique'. This is because, as a few people have already observed, the Godox C100 looks a lot like a camera that debuted at CP+ in 2025, the Escura InstantSnap. The Godox version looks a bit more advanced, offering a few interesting features that the Escura version doesn't. But we can make a few inferences — the Escura camera produces images at a resolution of 1.3MP, and I'd be surprised if the Godox offered a great deal more than that.

The Godox C100 features a USB-C connection for charging and file transfer, and it accepts 128GB micro SD cards for storage. It also records video and can do so continuously for up to 1.5 hours, and offers shooting in a number of different aspect ratios: 16:9, 4:3, 3:2 and 1:1. There are a couple of physical buttons for shooting and changing settings, and it weighs just 65g.

A handheld light meter

At first glance, the Godox C100 looks like another cheap novelty camera in a market beginning to be saturated with them. However, there was one feature announced that really caught my attention, since I'm an avid film photographer — the C100 can also act as a light meter.

Like any good handheld light meter, Godox C100 can read the levels of brightness in a scene's central area, and provide the optimal exposure settings with which to capture a balanced image. Once hugely invaluable tools, light meters have been rendered mostly entirely redundant in the digital age. However, anyone who habitually buys a lot of old film SLRs will tell you that the metering system is always one of the first things to go. I have several beautiful Pentax SLRs in the drawer beside me that still shoot and wind on beautifully, but can't meter a scene because the electronics are shot.

So, the idea of an elegant little pocketable device, costing just $29, that I can carry everywhere with me and use to quickly meter a scene, and maybe even use to take a couple of comparison shots for reviewing alongside my developed and scanned frames — that interests me.

Granted, the metering functionality is only going to be of interest to a small percentage of users. But still, I wouldn't be surprised if the Godox C100 is a huge hit, if and when it eventually arrives at international retailers (it's currently only announced in China). Tiny cameras have been big hits of late, most notably the keyring-sized Kodak Charmera, and screen-free cameras that offer a purer, more immersive shooting experience have also seen success, the poster child for the movement being the Camp Snap.

People like cute cameras. People like cheap cameras. And the Godox C100 is both! I'm sure once we get hold of it for a review we'll discover that the image quality is no great shakes — but did that stop the Kodak Charmera? No, it did not.

If you're like me, you've probably made the shift from the best DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, which we were promised would be smaller, lighter and faster. But while my Canon EOS R6 Mark II is undoubtedly lighter and smaller than the DSLRs I owned before it, it's not exactly pocketable.

But it's for this reason that my 'proper' camera gets left at home when I’m on holiday, because they’re just a bit too big and bulky to carry around when I’m being a tourist on holiday and taking snaps.

The best camera is the one you have with you and that's a pedigree which often falls to my phone, but a premium compact camera is what I really need – something I can slip easily in a pocket but with more powerful features, manual modes and better quality than my phone, so I can still get the shots I need when the inspiration strikes.

I’ve tried many of the top models over the years, including the Sony RX1R III, the Ricoh GR IV, the Fujifilm X100VI and the Panasonic Lumix L10. However, I think the Canon PowerShot V1 has gone under the radar. It packs some incredible features into a small compact body — even better, it’s currently on sale ahead of Amazon Prime Day — available now for just $849 at Amazon US or £829 at Amazon UK.

A rocket in your pocket

It’s no secret that the ‘V’ in the PowerShot V1 stands for ‘video’, but it's a very capable camera for stills photography, too. Considering the V1 weighs just 0.94lb / 426g and easily fits in a coat or baggy trouser pocket, the PowerShot V1 fits in a brilliant 1.4-inch CMOS 22.3MP sensor, 8x larger than the 1/2.3-type found in many cheap compact cameras and phones. This provides much better dynamic range and shallow depth of field abilities.

Its zoom lens retracts to make the camera portable when not in use, but in action it gives users a full-frame focal length equivalent of 16mm at the wide end and 50mm when zoomed in — that's a 3.1x optixal zoom, with a bright maximum aperture of f/2.8. This is perfect for holiday snaps where you can capture everything from wide-angle vistas to close-ups and portraits.

Dual Pixel CMOS AF II is employed for instant focusing on subjects and smooth tracking. Plus it features a built-in 3-stop ND filter to block out light. While an ND filter is fantastic for shooting video in bright light, it’s also great for still photos, too – here the ND can be used to block out light and extend shutter speeds to create expressive motion in moving clouds or rushing water within your frame.

For still photos I love that the V1 features all the usual creative ‘PASM’ exposure modes for taking control over key settings for ISO, aperture and shutter speed, plus it’s also capable of shooting 15fps with its mechanical shutter or a blistering 30 fps with the electronic one.

The PowerShot V1 is an excellent choice for video, too. The built-in fan keeps things cool and you can record unlimited 4K 60p with a 1.4x crop — your battery will drain or memory card fill up before the camera ever overheats. The vari-angle screen makes travel vlogging a cinch, and the microphone provides high quality audio.

The Canon PowerShot V1 is more recent than the popular PowerShot G7 X Mark III, so it features newer features yet is significantly more affordable, so for me it’s a bit of a steal! It’s also on sale ahead of Prime Day and you can currently save up to 17% on its listing price with savings of up to $180 / £130, which you could put towards your next vacation!

Today's best Canon PowerShot V1 camera deal (US)

Today's best Canon PowerShot V1 camera deal (UK)

Camp Snap 2: two-minute review

From a simple idea, Camp Snap is building an empire. The concept of an ultra-cheap point-and-shoot digital camera with no screen — meaning you can’t see the photos you take until you download them after the fact — proved to be a massive hit, and the original Camp Snap camera has since been joined by the video-focused Camp Snap CS-8, and the upgraded CS-Pro, which doubles the resolution from 8MP to 16MP. And now, we have the Camp Snap 2.

The makers are clearly keen not to mess with success, because the Camp Snap 2 keeps the feel and concept of the original camera very much intact. This new model keeps an 8MP sensor, and it once again has no screen, just a small panel with a running shot counter, a fixed-focus lens, and an LED flash. So, you might ask, what actually is new?

A few things, but the most significant is the new ‘Filters’ button, which allows you to select from a series of vintage-style looks for your images. This was an idea already explored on the CS-Pro, but the Camp Snap 2 ups the ante with six filters rather than the Pro’s somewhat paltry four. While you have to invest some time into learning which filter is which and what they look like (since you can’t check your images mid-shoot), this makes the Camp Snap 2 a more varied and versatile camera to use than the original, adding greater scope for creativity.

This is an important addition, given that there's little room for creativity elsewhere — the lens is fixed-focus and there’s no settings control. Furthermore, the Camp Snap 2 adds a tripod mount, a 33.5mm filter thread on the lens and lugs to attach a strap (though one isn’t supplied). These additions combine to make the Snap 2 feel a bit more like a proper camera than the original ever did. Its image quality is still no great shakes, but the Camp Snap 2 offers more scope and variety without sacrificing its identity as a camera that basically anyone can use — like the original, it’s very kid-friendly.

I’ve taken the Camp Snap 2 everywhere with me for a couple of weeks, and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The newly slimmed-down body makes it easy to slip into a pocket and pull out for quick grab shots here and there, and with no screen, you can’t spend time fussing over them after the fact.

Normally, when a successor camera is this iterative and minor an upgrade, we reviewers tend to say things like 'If you already own the original, save your money.’ But this is a bit of a different situation. Because the Camp Snap 2 is so cheap, I’d say that if you already own, like and use the original Camp Snap — hell yeah, you might as well upgrade. The filter button adds depth and variety, and one of the most irritating features of the previous model — the shutter lag — has mostly been dealt with.

I’d also go so far as to say that for many users, this is probably a better buy than the more expensive CS-Pro. You get a more pocketable camera for a lower price, and for the types of people who are shooting with Camp Snaps, I don’t think an extra 8MP of resolution is all that useful, particularly when the sensor is not especially larger. The main reason you might prefer the Pro is that its filters are more dramatic and distinctive, though there are fewer of them.

So, if you like the original Camp Snap, and like the sound of the Camp Snap 2 — yes, I feel comfortable recommending you buy it too. At this price, why not?

Camp Snap 2: price and availability

Camp Snap hasn't got carried away with its success, and the Camp Snap 2 is still very attractively priced indeed, launching at $69.95 / £53 (around AU$130). This is at about the same level as the original Camp Snap, and comes in way less the CS-Pro, which goes for $99 / £90 (around AU$180).

Snap 2 is currently available from the Camp Snap website, and I expect before long it’ll also make its way to major retailers, the way the original Camp Snap has.

Frankly, this pricing is perfect. For a fun, knockabout digital camera that doesn’t offer much in the way of image quality and is all about the ultra-simple point-and-shoot vibes, nobody should be paying more than this. It’s a camera that pretty much anyone can instantly pick up and use, at a price that lots of people can afford.

Camp Snap 2: design

• Even slimmer and lighter than the original, just 3.8z / 108g
• All-plastic build with LED flash and fixed-focus lens
• Point-and-shoot operation, but adds button to switch filters

The original Camp Snap was already slim, but the Camp Snap 2 is even slimmer — around 15% slimmer according to the manufacturers. It is genuinely pocketable in a way that not all cameras that make ‘pocketable’ claims actually are, and at 3.8oz / 108g it’s a true featherweight. The body is all-plastic, of course, but the front has a nice textured surface for a bit of extra grip, and there’s an indentation on the rear panel for your right thumb to rest. On the sides there are lugs for attaching a strap, though no strap is supplied with the camera.

On the top you have just a single button: the shutter. This is of course a point-and-shoot, so you won’t be fiddling with settings dials. On the front you have the LED flash and the fixed wide-angle lens — and, a new addition, a 30.5mm filter thread on the lens. Though this was on the CS-Pro, it wasn’t on the original Camp Snap, and it allows you to attach screw-on filters to imbue your images with specific effects — as one reader suggested, a good fit for the Camp Snap would be a mist filter to enhance the lo-fi, retro feel of images. Camp Snap has also not-so-subtly hinted that Camp Snap-branded filters will be coming in the future.

At the rear you have the simple screen, which displays a shot-counter and lets you know which filter you currently have selected. As well as the aforementioned thumb groove, you also have the power switch, which doubles as a flash toggle, and the tinny speaker that plays the stock ‘shutter release’ sound effect. The viewfinder is a perfectly serviceable optical type — if you’ve ever used an old-school disposable, it’ll be familiar. It’s nothing special but it does the job.

To the right of the screen, there’s the new filter select button. Pressing this button allows you to cycle through the filter selection. It can also be held down for ten seconds to activate ‘Camp Lock’ — which locks the button to make the camera more useable for children (negating a scenario in which they accidentally take all their pictures in black and white). Hold down for ten more seconds to unlock. Also, while testing this, I inadvertently discovered that tapping the filter button twice in quick succession will cause the camera to take two photos. Not sure why, but there you go.

At first it seems like the Camp Snap 2 doesn’t have a battery indicator like the four LEDs on the CS-Pro. In fact, it does, but you could be forgiven for not noticing it. When you boot up the camera, the screen will briefly display a number between 0 and 100, before reverting to your current shot counter. This is, I believe, a percentage-based battery indicator. It’s not exactly advertised, and easy to miss given that your shot counter will likely be a quite similar number, but it is there.

Color-wise, the Camp Snap 2 is available in a selection of standard shades — green, black, white, yellow and brown. However, it can also be bought in a selection of rather stylish translucent ‘jelly’ colorways, evoking the early-millennium trend for translucent tech. I’ll admit that I think these versions are pretty cool, and my partner (who isn’t into cameras) independently showed me them on Instagram because she liked the look of them. I suspect they’ll be very popular.

Camp Snap 2: performance

• Image quality is a bit scuzzy, but it's part of the lo-fi charm
• Operation is very easy, and the shutter lag from the original has been dealt with
• New filters add creative options, but aren't as striking or distinctive as those on the CS-Pro

As mentioned, the Camp Snap 2 uses the same sensor as the original, so raw image quality is identical. You still get 8MP images with limited dynamic range. Blown-out highlights are a fairly common sight, as are muddy and indistinct shadows. In the latter situation, the LED flash can be helpful, though it’s nowhere near as powerful as a proper Xenon flash (which the CS-Pro has).

The new filter dial really does add some welcome creative depth. You have six options — first there’s the Standard (S) look, which produces naturalistic but warm colors. Then you have Vintage 1 to 3 (V1, V2, V3). V1 ups the saturation and has a slight purple tint; V2 is almost identical to Standard, but slightly cooler; V3 has a distinctly sunny yellow cast.

Next, there’s the black & white mode (BW), which delivers decent contrast for striking monochrome. And lastly there’s the interestingly named Analog (A). I was expecting this to be covered in artificial film grain, something that Camp Snap experimented with on the CS8. But in fact, it’s the warmest look of the bunch, with muted colors and a slight magenta cast, and it proved to be my favorite.

I was surprised by how subtle the filters were, especially coming off the back of the CS-Pro, in which they are very striking. Someone looking for a dramatic image effect might come away a little disappointed; V2 in particular is so similar to Standard that I questioned the point of having it. I think in practicality, most users will probably just figure out which is their favorite and stick with it, occasionally switching to BW when the moment calls. I can't exactly picture myself agonizing over whether this pub garden sunset deserves V2 or V3.

One oft-criticized aspect of the original Camp Snap was its shutter lag — the appreciable delay between the user pressing the shutter button and the photo actually being taken. This was significantly improved in the CS-Pro, with a more powerful processor, and in the Camp Snap 2 it seems to have been somewhat improved.

However, I would note that the lag seems to be mostly confined to the cosmetics — the shot counter and the shutter release sound effect. On a few occasions, I pressed the shutter and then heard the MIDI ‘clunk’ half a second after moving the camera away, and chastised myself for missing a shot through impatience. But later, when I reviewed the image, I seemed to have gotten away with it. And I can live with the sound effect being slow if I still have the shot in the bag.

It’s also worth noting that the Camp Snap 2 has a new feature called QuickDraw. After a period of inactivity, the camera sleeps to save power, but you can press the shutter button while it’s in this state, and it will wake and quickly take a picture. Note that I said ‘quickly’, not ‘instantly’ — it does take a moment to bestir itself. I’ve seen a few comments online complaining about shutter lag, and I actually think this is probably what they’re referring to. When the camera was awake, I experienced no real shutter lag issues.

Should I buy the Camp Snap 2?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Camp Snap 2

• I received a loan unit of the Camp Snap 2 for testing
• I have taken it out on a number of photo excursions, as well as to a sporting event and to a concert
• I’ve shot in variable light conditions throughout June, though with mostly very bright and sunny weather

I received a review sample of the Camp Snap 2 from the manufacturers, and had it in my pocket and about my person for a couple of weeks. I took it on excursions around London, as well as on trips south to Bradford-on-Avon, Frome and Bath, during which time I used it to capture more than 100 photos using all of the filters, in a range of weather and lighting conditions.

First reviewed June 2026

Kodak PixPro WPZ2: One-minute review

The Kodak PixPro WPZ2 is a budget waterproof camera aimed squarely at adventurers who want to take their photography somewhere a smartphone or regular point-and-shoot can’t follow.

It costs a fraction of what you’d pay for a premium rugged compact like the OM System Tough TG-7, and the trade-offs are exactly what you’d expect at this price: a fairly basic feature set, modest image quality and 1080p/30fps video recording that feels pretty old-school in 2026. But after spending some time with it at my local beach, I found plenty to like.

For one, it certainly looks the part. The WPZ2’s yellow-and-black color scheme, chunky G-Shock-esque lens barrel and prominent rivet-like screws on the front give it an appropriately ruggedized aesthetic. It’s also smaller than it looks, and I managed to squeeze it into my jeans pocket, protruding lens barrel and all.

Build quality feels solid, and the double-locking battery and card compartment is a reassuring design choice that should prevent any accidental pop-opens while you’re underwater. I tested it in saltwater rock pools and have no reason to doubt Kodak’s 15m waterproofing claim. There was no lens fogging when transitioning between underwater and above-water shooting, either. One note of caution: the front element doesn’t appear to be noticeably hydrophobic, so water droplets will cling on after submersion. My advice? Pack a microfiber cloth or two.

There are some usability niggles, though. The rear screen is small and dim – even at maximum brightness I found it difficult to gauge exposure or compose shots with any confidence. The zoom rocker requires a very firm press to register, which is understandable given the waterproofing demands, but isn’t much fun with wet hands. And getting a microSD card in and out of its deeply-recessed slot in the battery chamber is really fiddly, to the extent anyone with larger fingers is going to struggle.

Image quality is in line with what the specs would lead you to expect: JPEGs that lack saturation, contrast and dynamic range, with some over-sharpening and noticeable corner softness. That said, the macro mode produced some impressively sharp results in my testing, with good central detail and pleasing colors.

The 4x optical zoom is a useful range to have, but engage the digital zoom beyond the optical and quality falls straight off a cliff. Low-light shooting is another weak point, though the built-in flash does keep the camera functional after dark.

Video maxes out at 1080p/30fps, which feels like a big limitation in this day and age. My underwater rock pool footage looked fine for casual use, but above-water clips suffered from the same flatness and over-processing that characterizes the still shots.

Battery life is one of the more pleasant surprises. The CIPA-rated 200 shots held up well in real-world use, and USB-C recharging felt reassuringly quick. For a day’s casual shooting, you’re unlikely to run dry.

Oh, and a small bonus if you’re a music fan: the five-note power-on chime is an uncanny dead ringer for the opening of Prince’s “Diamonds and Pearls.” Not a reason to buy, obviously, but I enjoyed it every single time.

The WPZ2 certainly won’t trouble the OM System TG-7 or Ricoh WG-8 in a straight image quality fight. But as an affordable way to get a camera into the water without worrying too much about the consequences, it fits the brief well.

Kodak PixPro WPZ2: Price and availability

• Priced at around $189 / £149 / AU$279
• Available in three color finishes

The Kodak PixPro WPZ2 is available now, priced at $189 / £149 / AU$279, though you may find it slightly cheaper (or pricier) depending on where and when you look. It comes in three colorways (yellow, red and blue) and is widely available through major retailers including Amazon, Best Buy and B&H Photo in the US, and their international equivalents.

As well as the camera and a single battery, the box includes a wrist strap and USB-A to USB-C charging cable. Note that a microSD card is not included, and with only 8MB of space on the camera's internal memory, you'll need one.

At this price it sits well below the premium rugged compact options on the market. The OM System Tough TG-7 commands around $400, so the WPZ2 undercuts it by a significant margin. The more relevant question is whether you’d be better served by choosing a similarly-priced action camera instead — and that probably depends on whether you're primarily shooting photos or video.

Kodak PixPro WPZ2: specs

Kodak PixPro WPZ2: design

• IP67-rated rugged build
• 176g weight and pocketable size

Pick up the WPZ2 and the first thing that strikes you is how proudly it wears its ruggedness on its sleeve. Where most compact cameras at least try to look sleek, this one leans into the industrial; the visible screws on the faceplate, the thick black grip and the chunky lens housing all read less “camera” and more “piece of heavy equipment.”

The Caterpillar digger-style yellow-and-black colorway I tested reinforces that impression, but red and blue options are available if you’d prefer something that looks a little less like it came straight off the construction site.

Despite its bulk-suggesting aesthetics, the WPZ2 is actually very small and manageable in the hand. It slipped into my jeans pocket without much protest, which is more than you’d expect from something that looks so burly. At 176g / 6.2oz it’s light enough that you’ll almost forget it’s there between shots, too.

The double-locking mechanism on the battery and card compartment is one of the smarter design decisions here. It takes a deliberate two-step action to open, which inspires confidence that it’s not going anywhere mid-dunk. Less impressive is the microSD slot itself, which sits so deep within that compartment that swapping cards becomes a two-handed exercise in patience. Larger fingers will find it particularly trying.

On the back, the controls are straightforward enough. This is very much a point-and-shoot in its operational philosophy, with no pretensions toward manual control complexity.

The main frustration is the rear LCD, which is both small and insufficiently bright; even cranked to maximum, it struggles in daylight conditions, making exposure assessment and framing more of an educated guess than a precise exercise. The zoom rocker, necessarily stiff to maintain its watertight seal, demands a firmer press than feels natural, which is something I noticed most acutely when my hands were wet.

Kodak PixPro WPZ2: Performance

• Camera performs best in good lighting
• No raw shooting option and video limited to 1080p
• 4x optical zoom

The WPZ2’s natural habitat is somewhere sunny, shallow and wet, and that’s precisely where it performs best. My rock pool testing on a bright day returned some pleasing results, particularly in macro mode, where the camera locked on with decent accuracy (if not much speed) and rendered the finer details of shells, barnacles and seaweed with more sharpness and color fidelity than I was expecting at this price point. Keep the light on your side and you’ll come away with shots you’re happy to share.

Step outside those ideal conditions, though, and the limitations become harder to overlook. The JPEGs have a processed, over-sharpened quality to them, and what the camera gains in apparent edge definition it loses in natural color rendition; images tend toward the flat and undersaturated rather than the vivid. Dynamic range is modest, so high-contrast scenes (bright sky against dark water, for instance) will test it. Corner sharpness drops off noticeably, too, which is worth bearing in mind if you’re framing wide shots.

The 4x optical zoom covers a useful range for a camera of this type, but treat the digital zoom as decorative – image quality deteriorates the moment you engage it, and by the time you reach the maximum combined 24x, you’re looking at something closer to an impressionist painting than a photograph.

Low-light shooting is perhaps the WPZ2’s most significant imaging weakness. Without a flash, the results are soft and noisy, and the camera gives you no shutter speed readout when shooting manually, which makes managing camera shake largely a matter of luck. The flash rescues things for indoor and after-dark shots, but don’t expect miracles.

Video maxes out at 1080p/30fps, a spec that would have felt reasonable a few years ago but stands out as a limitation today, when even mid-range smartphones routinely shoot 4K at 60fps. My underwater footage of the rock pools was perfectly watchable for casual use, but the above-water clips exhibited the same flatness and over-processing that characterises the stills. There’s no optical stabilization either, only digital, so handheld video isn't particularly smooth.

Battery life is one of the more pleasant surprises. The CIPA-rated 200 shots held up well in real-world use, and USB-C charging felt reassuringly quick. For a day’s casual shooting, you’re unlikely to run dry.

Should you buy the Kodak PixPro WPZ2?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Kodak PixPro WPZ2

• Test sample purchased from Amazon UK
• Tested in and outdoors on English coast
• All images and videos shot at highest quality settings

TechRadar purchased the Kodak PixPro WPZ2 from Amazon UK for my testing purposes.

I tested the camera over several days, using it primarily at a local beach where I shot stills and video in and around saltwater rock pools. This gave me a real-world sense of its waterproofing credentials, image quality in both macro and wider shooting scenarios, and general handling in wet conditions. I also tested it indoors and in lower-light situations to assess flash performance and the limits of its low-light capability.

All sample images and video were shot using the camera’s highest quality settings.

First reviewed June 2026

• The Kodak Charmera returns in a new Y2K-inspired 'Millennium Edition'
• It comes in six new colorways, with additional photo filters and frames, but is otherwise the same mini digital camera
• As before, the Charmera costs $35 / £35 / AU$55 — and you don't know which version is in the box

In a predictable but highly welcome product launch, the wildly popular Kodak Charmera returns in a new 'Millennium Edition'. It's essentially the same 30g / $35 digital toy camera as last year's '1987' edition, but this time the design is Y2K-themed.

The Charmera Millienium Edition comes in six new Y2K-inspired colorways, plus it's equipped with additional photo filters and frames that pay homage to the tech of that era, including camcorders and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.

Otherwise, it's exactly the same digital camera with a 35mm f/2.4 lens and tiny 1/4-inch CMOS sensor, which shoots some of the worst-quality 1.6MP JPEG photos and 1440 x 1080pixel 30p video you'll see — which oddly is part of the charm.

Pricing is the same as the original, too — a single Kodak Charmera costs $34.99 / £34.99 / $54.99 and comes in a 'blind box', meaning you don't know which colorway you're getting. The 'Whole Set' box, which includes all six varieties, costs $209.94. That's not so much as a dime of a discount versus buying a Charmera individually, but it does ensure that collectors get each version.

As before, there's a limited-edition seventh look, which in this case is a shiny silver version (the uppermost camera in the image below), but you have a one-in-49 chance of getting one of those.

That's another era checked off

Tech nostalgia is big business in 2026, and the renewed interest in film photography, vintage compact cameras — and, indeed, the Charmera itself — proves it.

The original Charmera was a marketing masterstroke, and sold out on the day of its November 2025 release. It inspired a wave of low-cost miniature alternatives, including the even-cheaper Photo Creator Mini Digital Camera series 3, so it's not surprising to see Kodak to return with a fresh offering.

Building on the '1987' edition, Kodak has pinpointed Y2K nostalgia with Charmera 2.0, the Millennium Edition, doubling the varieties available from 6 to 12 in one swoop (14 if you include the limited-edition versions of each model).

Something tells me the Millennium Edition isn't the last we've seen of new Charmeras — and I wonder which era Kodak will celebrate next. It could, perhaps, take inspiration from the quirky Fujifilm Instax Evo Cinema — a 3-in-1 instant camera which has a unique Eras dial, with a unique setting for every decade spanning the last 100 years, including the 2000s.

There's really no need for Kodak to improve the specs and features of future editions. People aren't buying the keychain Charmera for its capabilities as a camera, but for the vibe — and its retro style, novel size and low cost are clearly a winning combo.

That said, Kodak might eventually need to tweak the form factor to mimic other types of camera, like the Chuzhao Mini TLR, depending how far back in time it goes.

Deals for nostalgia-inducing cameras

Mini cameras are in. So much so, that I recently rounded up 9 of the most eye catching models, which all cost under $50 / £45. But even at such as low price, are they still worth the money?

I've already tested popular models such as the Kodak Charmera and Fujifilm Instax Pal, and they're clearly not a patch on the best compact cameras. In fact, I called the Charmera the 'worst camera I've ever used', but in a way that made me like it all the more.

To that extent, I couldn't resist checking out what is probably the cheapest and smallest digital camera I've ever seen online, the Mini Digital Camera series 3 by Photo Creator (also known as Canal Toys), which is currently available for £9.99 at Very (was £12.99). It's currently pricier in the US, being $22 at Amazon.

It's so cheap in fact (in the UK at least), that you can pick up all four varieties of the miniature, fully working digital camera for the price of one (and a bit) Charmeras. And get all four is exactly what I did.

A lo-fi bargain

There was no need for me to test each of the four cameras — they have identical specifications, and the only difference is the style, including; Retro (silver), Pro (black), Compact (pink) and Instant (white). Cast your search wider, and there are additional styles, including Instant Camera. I divvied up the cameras one each between myself and three TechRadar colleagues, and got to testing my pink version.

How small is the camera? Well, mine measured just 1.8 x 1.2 x 1.0in (W x H x D) — a Lego figure is taller (see below)! Truly miniature.

The camera is fitted with an understandable tiny 150mAh battery and charges by USB-C, records onto micro SD (not included), and features what is possibly the smallest LCD display I've ever seen in a digital camera, a 16:9 screen measuring approximately 1-inch on the diagonal. Bizarrely, the image is stretched from a narrower 4:3 aspect ratio to fill the display.

There are only four buttons on the camera and they each double up to maximize the camera's functions. A press and hold of the power button turns the camera on or off. Press it again (while the camera is on), and you enter image playback.

A shutter button takes photos, which you hold down to record video (complete with audio thanks to a built-in mic). Up / down buttons on the side scroll between 14 various picture effects, including color filters and overlays — these are applied directly onto your 3MP photos and Full HD videos.

Hold down the up button and you enter the camera's menu. Do the same with the down button and a dinky LED torch light is activated — handy for low light snaps, but it is very low-powered.

A keychain comes in the box and I fitted it to mine, hooked the camera up to my keys and slid it into my pocket for everyday snaps.

Like the Charmera, battery life is poor, even for a camera that consumes very little power. It pays to carry a USB-C powerbank to top up the charge on the go.

Almost every time I've taken the camera out of my pocket and got snapping, I've had various banter with the people around me who have found the camera hilarious / cute / weird / all of the above. It's certainly an icebreaker and gives licence to take pictures around you. If only the 3 megapixel JPEGs where better quality, then. They are about as lo-fi as digital cameras go, and of similar quality to the pricier Kodak Charmera.

In a way, Full HD video quality is more pleasing — yes it's of the same quality (with horrible audio to boot), but it has a Super 8-like feel to it.

There's really little else to say about my experience using the Mini Digital Camera series 3. For £10 and the novelty factor, there's absolutely nothing to lose here. The Photo Creator Mini Digital Camera series 3 is a fun gift for kids or the lo-fi tech lover in your life. If anything else, it's a novel keychain accessory.

Photo Creator Mini Digital Camera series 3 deal sample gallery

Today's best Photo Creator Mini Digital Camera series 3 deal

The fabulous Fujifilm X100VI is a major success story, being the most preordered camera in history, with a waiting list that stretched well beyond its first 12-months. Not bad for a fixed-lens premium compact camera that costs more than the latest flagship iPhone.

It was arguably the catalyst for a compact camera revival that saw a 35% surge in sales in 2025, the biggest yearly uptick in camera shipments since the dawn of smartphones, and the launch of the Panasonic Lumix L10, which was a surprise unveil at the 25th anniversary of Lumix event in May this year.

Just to be clear, Panasonic has long had skin in this premium compact camera game too. The new L10 is very much a spiritual successor to 2018's popular Lumix LX100 II. It's no mere refresh, mind you, but very much a camera for 2026, fitted with Panasonic's latest sensor, processor and autofocus.

The Panasonic Lumix L10 and Fujifilm X100VI serve the same market; premium compact cameras with retro design and high-end features, but both take a different swing at it. So which of the two is best for you? Let's take a run through the key features.

1. The lens

• Lumix L10: 24-75mm (equivalent) f/1.7 to f/2.8 with OIS
• X100VI: 35mm (equivalent) f/2.0, built-in ND filter

A major difference is the built-in lens that each camera uses. The X100VI has a fixed 35mm lens with a maximum f/2 aperture, while the Lumix L10 has a 24-75mm zoom lens with a maximum f/1.7 aperture at 24mm, which drops to f/2.8 at 75mm.

Zoom versatility wins for most photographers — the Lumix L10 is equally at home for portraiture and macro photography as it is, like the X100VI, for travel and everyday photography. During my lengthy review period with the Lumix L10, I was regularly drawn to its 75mm telephoto setting, and overall, I picture myself using the L10 more often than the X100VI.

The X100VI, to be fair, has twice the number of pixels and a handy digital crop mode. Punch in 1.4x to an effective 50mm focal length, and the resolution is still 20MP, matching the L10. The 2x digital crop mode offers the equivalent 70mm focal length at 10MP. The Lumix L10 also has digital crop settings, mind you.

A lot can also be said, however, for sticking with a single focal length, like what the X100VI offers. Not only are prime lenses typically sharper — the prime lens quality versus zoom lens versatility choice — but they can help users develop a style and an instinctive way of seeing, which is especially helpful for the likes of quick-fire street and reportage photography. If you typically stick with a single focal length, why go for a zoom?

One final note relayed to the lens is the X100VI's built-in ND filter, which is rated up to 4-stops, whereas the L10 doesn't have one. It's an especially handy feature for using the maximum aperture in bright sunlight and for video recording. For the Lumix model, you'll need a separate ND filter (43mm thread size).

2. Sensor

• Lumix L10: 26.5MP Micro Four Thirds (20.4MP effective)
• X100VI: 40.2MP APS-C with 5-axis stabilization up to 6EV

If it's photo quality you're after, there is seemingly little contest between the two cameras; the X100VI has a larger APS-C sensor with significantly more pixels.

Photo quality isn't, however, purely down to sensor size and pixels. For one, the pixels in the Lumix L10 are in fact 55% bigger than those in the X100VI, despite its smaller sensor — that's a 4.74µm pixel pitch to 3.04µm. Bigger pixels do in theory gather more light, which better supports low light photography.

Depth of field is also a consideration — a larger sensor gives you greater control assuming you're wanting to achieve a shallow depth of field and subject separation. Set the Lumix L10 to 35mm and its maximum aperture is f/2.3 to the X100VI's f/2 and the Lumix sensor is smaller — you can get blurrier backgrounds with the X100VI. However, the L10 can shoot at the 75mm focal length and f/2.8, at which setting you can get nice-looking portraits.

There's another major difference between the two sensors; the X100VI's is stabilized (in-body image stabilization aka IBIS), while the Lumix L10's is not. The X100VI is in greater need of enhanced stabilization because it has more pixels, which means softness in detail would typically be more obvious when shooting handheld. However, IBIS also enables slower shutter speeds for more creative shooting effects and working in low light.

The perceived strengths of each camera are countered by weaknesses, so there's really not a clear winner in the sensor department.

Another major consideration regarding image quality is the lens, which I've covered above, especially since both cameras have a built-in lens rather than being interchangeable lens cameras.

3. Handling

• Lumix L10: 504g, 127.1 x 73.9 x 66.9mm (W x H x D), not weather resistant, battery life up to 420 shots, hotshoe, delayed start up
• X100VI: 521g, 128.0 x 74.8 x 55.3mm (W x H x D), weather-resistant, battery life 450 shots (OVF) or 310 shots (EVF), hotshoe, quick start up

Held side by side, the cameras are essentially the same size and weight, meaning there's no reason to pick one over the other in this regard. Both are majorly attractive cameras too, but it's the X100VI that has the edge for build quality, retro goodness, plus it's weather-resistant.

Control layouts vary and, honestly, again, it's hard to recommend one over the other just from having a feel for each one. I like the Lumix L10 lens and its external controls, while I appreciate the X100VI's shutter speed /ISO dial and AF joystick.

Battery life is pretty similar between the two cameras, and above the typical average, depending on which mode you use the X100VI in. You see, the X100VI has a hybrid viewfinder (more on this, next), and a better battery life when using its optical viewfinder. Personally, I'm a fan of the X100VI's OVF, but most X100VI users I know typically stick with the electronic viewfinder (EVF), which results in lower battery life — much lower compared to the L10's.

Both cameras feature a fully functional hotshoe, making them compatible with accessories such as an external flash. The X100VI goes one step further and offers a built-in flash, but it's a modest LED type.

If you're looking for a quick draw camera, the X100VI is the better bet. From turning the camera on and it being ready to shoot, you're looking at somewhere between 0.5 and 1.0 second, whereas the L10 is easily double that because of its collapsible lens, which takes time to extend on powering up. This very fact makes the X100VI a more suitable street photography camera if you need to be ready to shoot at any given time.

4. Viewfinder and displays

• Lumix L10: 2.36m-dot 0.39-inch OLED EVF with 0.74x mag, and a 3-inch 1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen
• X100VI: Hybrid viewfinder; OVF or 3.69m-dot 0.5-inch EVF with 0.66x mag, and a 3-inch 1.62m-dot tilting touchscreen

Both cameras pack a viewfinder and rear display, making them easy to use in practically any situation, but there are distinct differences between the two.

The Lumix L10 arguably has the better LCD — it's a vari-angle type with greater pixel density, whereas the X100VI's is a tilt-only touchscreen. Which display type is better for you depends on what you typically photograph; a tilt-only display can be better for waist-level shooting and discreet street photography, whereas the L10's vari-angle screen flips out to the side and can be rotated for selfies.

The X100VI has a unique hybrid viewfinder that offers both optical and electronic displays. I'm a fan of the optical display — it shows outside the frame of your final picture, which can be truly helpful for timing shots, say if you're waiting for the action to literally enter the frame. It's less helpful than an EVF if you simply want to know how your picture is going to turn out.

I marginally prefer the quality of the X100VI's EVF to the L10's; however, it's not enough reason to pick the Fujifilm model over the Lumix.

5. Video and autofocus

• Lumix L10: 5.6K 60p 10-bit, 5.2K 30p open gate, slow motion recording up to 240fps
• X100VI: 6.2K 30p 10-bit/ 4K 60p, slow motion recording up to 240fps

Both cameras are photo-centric by design, but they can both shoot highly detailed and attractive video, too.

The X100VI has the edge for resolution, being able to shoot 6.2K video at 30fps in 10-bit color depth. However, the Lumix L10 can shoot 5.6K video up to 60fps (the X100VI 4K 60fps), and 5.2K video up to 30fps in the versatile open gate (that's the full height and width of the 4:3 aspect ratio sensor), also with 10-bit color depth.

And there's nothing to split the cameras regarding slow-motion recording, since they can both shoot 240fps in Full HD.

Autofocus impresses in both cameras; hybrid phase detection autofocus offers a range of modes, including subject tracking for photo and video. I've not run direct comparisons yet, but the initial verdict among other trusted reviewers is that the L10's autofocus is, overall, more reliable, which is no surprise given that the L10 inherits the same autofocus skills, sensor, and processor as the excellent Lumix GH7.

6. Color

• Lumix L10: Real Time LUTs, Log, wide range of color profiles including Leica looks
• X100VI: Fujifilm film simulations, film recipes, wide range of color profiles

Fujifilm has rightly built up a name for its attractive color profiles, which mimic actual Fujifilm film stock, such as Veliva (vivid) and Provia (standard). But it's the film 'recipes' where photographers got really excited. These recipes are essentially customized versions of the film simulations, created and shared by Fujifilm users, and are a rapid way of getting the look you want with no editing required.

It would be easy to write Panasonic off, then, but the Lumix L10 enjoys Real Time LUTs profiles in addition to the wide range of in-camera profiles that include several 'Leica' looks. Real Time LUTs are a bit like film recipes, and there are plenty available for (free) upload from the Lumix Lab app.

Ultimately, color preference will always be creatively subjective. But in my experience, I find Real Time LUTs even more versatile for photo and video.

7. Price

• Lumix L10: $1,499 / £1,299 / A$2,599
• X100VI: $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,899

I'd hardly call either camera a great value or unreasonably expensive. Both cameras are certainly premium in terms of pricing, but the Lumix L10 costs less than the X100VI. The price difference varies depending on your region — being $100 / £300 / AU$300 less. As you can see from the prices noted above, it looks like the UK gets the best value for the Lumix model.

Two years since its launch, the X100VI costs the same as, if not more than, it did before. It has remained a popular camera, and it will hold its value very well. Lumix cameras do not tend to hold their value, but the L10 could be an exception if it's as popular as I expect it to be.

There have also been pricier limited edition versions of each camera, including the Titanium Gold special edition Lumix L10, which costs an additional $100 / £100 (but is not available in all regions) and comes with various extras, including an auto lens cover, leather shoulder strap, and custom lens cloth.

Another Lumix L10 alternative is the excellent Ricoh GR IV, which costs $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,199 — that's roughly the same price, depending on where you live. Like the Fujifilm model, it's a premium compact with APS-C sensor and sharp fixed-lens. Being much smaller, it's the only genuinely pocketable camera of the three, but it's overall performance is somewhat behind the other two models.

Conclusion

The Lumix L10 and Fujifilm X100VI sit in the same premium compact camera category; they look alike and are pretty much the same size. That's about where the similarities end.

The X100VI wins for prime lens quality, resolution, in-body stabilization, premium build quality, quicker start-up, and next-level retro aesthetics.

However, the Lumix L10 brings home a versatile zoom lens, exceptional Real Time LUTs profiles, while its burst shooting, autofocus, and video performance have the edge, plus it costs much less.

When listing pros and cons, I'm swayed to the X100VI — there are more areas where it wins. However, having used both cameras extensively, I feel like I'd get more use out of the Lumix L10. It's not an easy decision between the two!

I've covered the key features, and there are too many other little details that impact the overall user experience with each camera to sensibly include here. Have you used either camera? What do you particularly like about it that I haven't mentioned in this versus article? Which camera sounds best to you? Let me know in the comments below.

I've been snapping away with the Panasonic Lumix L10 for weeks, ever since it was announced on May 12.

You can learn more about the Lumix L10 in my in-depth Panasonic Lumix L10 review, but because I've taken so many photos and videos with the premium compact camera, I thought it apt to share more of my favorites in this extensive photo gallery.

I've included a range of my favorite photos, and they really show what the Lumix L10 is capable of, but they're also simply for you to enjoy (the timing of cute kittens joining our family couldn't have been better)!

For its gorgeous design and powerful features, the Lumix L10 ranks among the best compact cameras. And with its versatile and bright zoom lens, the L10 is, for me, a compelling alternative to popular fixed-lens compact rivals such as the Fujifilm X100VI and Ricoh GR IV.

As the spiritual successor to the LX100 series, and a camera that's packing the latest Lumix tech, I predict the Lumix L10 will be one of the most popular Panasonic cameras in years — it's available in Black, Silver or limited edition Titanium Gold, and I've provided links to today's best deals below.

That's enough about the camera — let's get to the pictures...

Panasonic's latest autofocus

I had to start with the kittens, which were rescued after being found in a neighbor's cupboard (a stray had entered the house, given birth, and left), and which my family is currently nursing!

The Lumix L10 features Panasonic's latest hybrid phase-detection autofocus with subject detection, including humans, animals and more, and it can be fine-tuned for certain species such as cats, with pose detection. The camera pretty much nailed the focus every shot.

A versatile zoom

Unlike other popular premium compact cameras with a fixed lens, the Lumix L10 features a 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 optic. That's a 3.1x zoom, and I often found myself at the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Below I've included a series of five shots of the same scene at key focal lengths: 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm and 75mm. A switch on the camera's lens can be assigned as a stepped zoom for quick access to three of the six recognized optical focal lengths, or beyond for digital zoom settings.

Macro focusing

The Lumix L10 can focus as close as 3cm, which sounds super-impressive. However, that's just for the wide-angle 24mm setting of the lens — which is not the perspective I typically go for with macro photography.

With the lens zoomed in to 75mm, the minimum focus distance increases to 30cm, which isn't nearly as impressive. However, the camera can still focus nice and close.

An everyday and travel camera

The beauty of a compact camera like the Lumix L10, which only weighs around 500g, is that it can be with you at all times. It excels as a travel and everyday camera; however, one drawback makes me cautious recommending it for street photography, and that's its start-up time.

The camera itself is lightning-quick in operation, but it features a collapsible lens. That means from starting up, to the lens extending into position, and the camera being ready to shoot, there's a good 2-3 seconds delay, which is fine for many scenarios but less helpful for quick-fire street photography.

Portraiture

The 3.1x zoom lens covers popular focal lengths for portrait photography, while its maximum f/1.7 (24mm) to f/2.8 (75mm) aperture can provide a shallow depth of field to separate subject and background.

With a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor, the full-frame effective depth of field is like having a f/3.4 to f/5.6 aperture. Still, with the right framing, and distance between the camera and subject, and the subject and background, it's pretty easy to get attractive portraits.

Bokeh is nice and smooth most of the time, but if the scene has strong background sunlight I've noticed the unattractive onion-ring effect in bokeh at times, rather than it being smooth (I've included a couple of backlit wildflower photos to give you an idea of bokeh quality). The lens is far from being a specialist portrait optic.

Color profiles and Real Time LUTs

Fujifilm has a solid reputation in this department, but don't overlook Panasonic. A combination of in-camera profiles — which include numerous 'Leica' looks and some new profiles including L.Classic Gold (most of the images below are shot with this new profile) — and Real Time LUTs, which can be downloaded via the excellent Lumix Lab app and used for photo and video, make the Lumix L10 a color powerhouse. As I said in my review, I've never been more tempted to shoot JPEG-only.

Panasonic Lumix L10: Two-minute review

Panasonic marked the 25th anniversary of Lumix cameras by announcing the attractive Lumix L10 premium compact camera. If it looks familiar, that's because its retro design cues are taken directly from the popular LX100 series — the most recent being the Lumix LX100 II from 2018 — while its form factor brings to mind the popular Fujifilm X100VI.

Unlike other recent Lumix compact cameras, such as the ZS300 / TZ300, there are genuine upgrades in the Lumix L10 — it's fitted with Panasonic's latest 26.5MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, processor, and autofocus system, a higher-capacity battery, and it even has a viewfinder!

The 24-75mm f/1.7 to f/2.8 Leica Summilux lens with 3cm macro focusing is based on the lens in the LX100 II, with Panasonic saying it's been refined for the L10's higher-specced sensor. How exactly, is unclear, but the user experience is essentially the same, for better or worse; the sharp detail and bright aperture are a major boon, but it's not weather-sealed, and it slows the camera's startup and shut-down time.

In the hand, the Lumix L10 is a joy to use, and it's quickly become one of my favorite compact cameras. Beyond its charming retro design there's a decent 2.36m-dot OLED viewfinder, a bright 1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen, and a proper hotshoe for accessories such as a flash.

The lens is beautifully crafted, and offers direct aperture control, a zoom ring and a customizable switch, with a choice of functions including a stepped zoom, Real Time LUTs, and aspect ratio selection.

Speaking of aspect ratios, it's a cinch to switch between 4:3, 16:9, 1:1 and 3:2, which aids composition for various outputs including social, but the drawback is that not all of the sensor's pixels are usable because of the imaging circle of the lens. 4:3 stills get you the highest-resolution stills at 20.4MP, while 1:1 is an oddity in that it technically doesn't use all of the pixels that it could (based on the imaging circle of the lens).

If you compare the L10 to the older Lumix LX100 II, the latest model is feature-packed and snappier in operation, while video performance is in another league, with 5.7K recording, Log color profile, and Real Time LUTs downloadable through the Lumix Lab companion app. Lumix Lab, by the way, is one of the best apps around, with new features regularly being added, the latest being raw editing. (You can shoot raw with the L10 without needing editing software such as Lightroom.)

Battery life is better too, with a larger and higher-capacity battery slotted inside the grip. The downside is that the L10 is notably bigger than the LX100 II, which is a real shame if you like your cameras extra-small. That being said, the size and form factor are a good fit in the hand, and already-available extras further improve the camera's handling — I had the excellent the SmallRig thumb grip and hand grip for my review.

Overall, the Lumix L10 is exactly the kind of camera Panasonic fans — and, indeed, any compact camera fan — needed. There's no other model like it with such a heady mix of powerful features, large sensor, versatile 3.1x optical zoom, in an attractive retro body.

I'm not convinced the L10 is totally for me — I like my sensors big and bokeh extra creamy, meaning I'm in the "please Panasonic announce a full-frame Lumix S9 with a viewfinder" camp — but the L10 should be the one for many photographers hoping for a powerful everyday and travel camera that's simply enjoyable to use. The zoom-lens versatility is the real winner.

Panasonic Lumix L10: price and release date

• Announced on May 12 2026 to mark the 25th anniversary of Lumix
• Available in black or silver versions for $1,499 / £1,299 / A$2,599 from June 2026 
• The Titanium Gold Special Edition (pictured) costs $100 / £100 more and comes with extras, with limited availability from July 2026

The Lumix L10 costs $1,499 / £1,299 / A$2,599, which feels about right for this type of camera, and one with such powerful features, and the current market conditions. That's a full $400 / £300 less than the Fujifilm X100VI, which has a fixed lens, but which overall feels a little more premium.

If it's a purely compact package you're looking for, then another option is picking up a full-frame Lumix S9, which body-only costs hundreds less. Add the tiny new 40mm F2 or the collapsible kit zoom lens, and the package is around the same price as the Lumix L10. You'll miss out on a viewfinder, but you will have an L-mount camera with a powerful full-frame sensor, and a wider choice of colors.

The Lumix L10 pictured throughout this review is the Titanium Gold Special Edition, which costs an additional $100 / £100, and is available through select outlets, namely Panasonic's store (and it's not available in every region). You're not paying a premium just for the color — the kit also includes a titanium-colored auto lens cap, a Lumix-branded leather strap, and a dedicated L10 lens cloth. The menus of the camera are suitably monotone to match the warm tones of the camera, and the camera model name is etched onto the camera's lower right-hand side on the back.

• Price score: 4/5

Panasonic Lumix L10 specs

Panasonic Lumix L10: design

• The prettiest Lumix in years, available in silver, black or a limited-edition Titanium Gold
• Roughly the same design as the Lumix L100 II, which also has a 24-75mm f/1.7-f/2.8 lens, but overall it's bigger
• There's a flip-out touchscreen and a handy EVF

Design-wise, the Lumix L10 is very much the spiritual successor to the Lumix L100 II, which remains a popular and versatile everyday camera for keen photographers.

And if it ain't broke, don't fix it; there's essentially the same control layout, 24-75mm f/1.7-f/2.8 lens, vari-angle 1.84m-dot touchscreen and 2.36m-dot EVF, and every part works perfectly well for casual photo and video use.

One key difference is the size and weight of the 2026 model — the L10 is noticably bigger and a little heavier than the L100 II, with a strikingly similar profile to the Fujifilm X100 VI.

A chief reason for the larger body is that the L10 is fitted with a larger battery — the same kind used in Panasonic's mirrorless bodies such as the Lumix GH7. Of course, a bigger battery means better battery life, and it's also better able to support more powerful features.

The actual difference in battery life isn't so much as you might imagine, though; the L10 runs for up to 420 shots compared to the L100 II's 350 shots. However, the L10 also packs better-quality video, and video capture is more demanding of power.

The lens is a defining feature of the camera — it's a versatile 24-75mm optic which is improved from the Lumix 100 II's, although Panasonic hasn't made clear how, besides describing it as being fine-tuned for the L10. It's impressively sharp, and the maximum aperture is bright throughout the zoom range, and able to produce reasonable subject and background separation, especially using the telephoto setting.

Macro focusing is down to 3cm, but that's at the wide-angle end of the lens. Zoom in to 75mm and the minimum focus distance is more like 30cm, which is hardly 'macro' — see my comparison photos below to get an idea of how close the camera is able to focus at either end of the zoom range.

The lens still isn't weather-sealed — and users of the LX100 series have reported dust ingress in the lens, so that's very much a possibility with the Lumix L10. And with a slightly plasticky feel in parts, it's a camera that probably needs to be looked after, rather than tossed into a bag or used in extreme conditions.

Besides the lack of an AF joystick, there are plenty of external controls at your fingertips, most of which can be customized to taste, and it certainly pays dividends to take the time assigning the L10's custom controls to your regularly used settings.

Take the switch on the lens, which can be used to control anything from aspect ratio to stepped zoom or Real Time LUTs color profiles — that's a handy range of controls.

Despite its decent video credentials, the L10 is very much the stills-oriented camera by design. Yes, there's a mic jack, but no headphone or HDMI. The camera can be charged via USB-C.

The rangefinder-style 2.36m-dot OLED viewfinder and 3-inch 1.84m-dot vari-angle screen make viewing and composing images a cinch in just about any scenario — even if both units are a little dated now.

Overall, I have no major complaints about the L10's design. It's highly enjoyable to use, and it's a very attractive camera too, which made me want to use it all the more.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Panasonic Lumix L10: Performance

• Panasonic's latest 26.5MP MFT sensor and processor, but the sensor is not stabilized
• Snappy and reliable hybrid phase-detection autofocus with subject detection
• Startup / power down time is slowed by the lens extension / retraction

The L10 is an altogether different kettle of fish compared to recent Lumix compacts (which were basically re-releases with USB-C added, but, annoyingly, with the viewfinder removed). It's a genuine upgrade from the eight-year-old LX100 II, equipped with Panasonic's latest sensor, processor and autofocus system.

Throughout my three weeks and counting of testing, the camera has never missed a beat; it happily rattles through 11fps burst shooting sequences, and records high-resolution 5.6K video with no lag and minimal rolling-shutter distortion.

Autofocus is snappy and reliable, and includes subject detection for humans and animals (including pose recognition), plus vehicles and more. At times, however, I missed having a joystick for quick and easy manual selection of autofocus points. The camera offers this control through two steps: pressing the autofocus mode option on the D-pad, then pressing down on the D-pad, at which point the pad can be used to shift the autofocus points in play.

If there's one drawback in using the Lumix L10 for everyday and street photography, it's the retractable lens design. From powering up, there's around a two-second wait for the lens to extend before the camera is ready to shoot, and around the same time for it to retract when turning the camera off.

We get the same 26.5MP MFT sensor as used in recent mirrorless cameras such as the Lumix GH7, but with one major difference: the sensor isn't stabilized (the lens is), which can limit the camera's handheld use, especially in low light or for creative long-exposure photography, for which you'll want a support for the camera.

Rival cameras including the Ricoh GR IV and Fujifilm X100VI have in-body image stabilization (IBIS), as do most MFT mirrorless cameras at this sort of price point, including the OM System OM-5 II and Lumix GH series.

Overall, however, there are few cameras that are able to perform as smoothly as the L10 while offering such processor-intensive features — inside that retro body is some serious grunt.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Panasonic Lumix L10: Image and video quality

• Multi-aspect stills up to 20.4MP, from the 26.5MP sensor
• The lens is sharp and bright
• A wide range of color profiles, including Real Time LUTs

I've had more than enough time with the Lumix L10 to get a feel for its capabilities and image quality, and it's really grown on me.

When I started writing this review, I was ready to table my request for a fixed-lens Lumix with full-frame sensor instead, or a Lumix S9 Mark II with a viewfinder; but I've come to appreciate the versatility of the L10's 24-75mm lens, which I value more than prime-lens image quality for everyday photography (see the range above).

The lens is impressively sharp, and crucially its maximum f/1.7-2.8 aperture is plenty bright. This is a camera that's as comfortable with street photography scenarios as it is for macro photography or portraiture.

Lens distortions are kept to a minimum — there's only an occasional touch of chromatic aberration in out-of-focus areas, and rainbow flare when shooting towards bright sunlight, while sunstars are crisp (check out the gallery below).

The unfortunate drawback to the camera's design is that the imaging circle of the lens cuts into the sensor area, meaning that not all of the sensor's 26.5 megapixels are usable — the maximum photo resolution is 20.4MP.

That's still a big resolution bump from the LX100 II, which had an effective 12MP resolution, but some way behind high-resolution alternatives such as the 40MP Fujifilm X100VI.

The low-light quality of a Micro Four Thirds sensor is also limited compared to larger-sensor alternatives, especially since there's no IBIS which would otherwise enable users to use longer shutter speeds when shooting handheld.

Detail across the aperture range is surprisingly sharp for a zoom lens, and you'll struggle to find a better-equipped compact camera for video at this price point — just what I would expect from a modern-day Lumix.

And then there's the unsung highlight of a photographer's life with a Lumix camera: attractive color profiles and free Real Time LUTs uploads from the always-improving Lumix Lab app.

I've easily paired the L10 with the Lumix Lab app to remotely control the camera and view scenes, and upload Real Time LUTs profiles directly onto the camera (remember there's a switch on the lens which can be assigned as direct access to these profiles). These profiles can be used for photo and video.

Put simply, it's straightforward to get the look you want for photo and video in-camera, minimizing time needed with editing software. I've never been more tempted to save space on my memory cards and shoot JPEG-only.

Panasonic Lumix L10 sample gallery

• Image and video quality score: 4/5

Panasonic Lumix L10: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Panasonic Lumix L10?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Panasonic Lumix L10: also consider

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix L10

• I've had the Lumix L10 since its global announcement, meaning 3 weeks and counting at the time of writing
• It's been by my side daily, capturing every day moments and travel scenes
• I've compared image quality at various aperture settings and focal lengths, and experimented with various color profiles

Panasonic handed me the Titanium Gold Special Edition of the Lumix L10 one day ahead of the camera's global announcement, together with the limited edition accessories plus a thumb grip and hand grip made by SmallRig. I've used all of these accessories for my review.

The camera has been slung over my shoulder a lot of the time throughout the three weeks and counting that I've had it, during which time I've been on two trips and also used the camera to capture every day moments, day and night.

I've tried the various aspect ratios, color profiles, video settings and fully tested the lens's capabilities across its various aperture settings and focal lengths, plus its macro focusing skills. I continue to fine tune the camera settings to my own preferences. I've made sure to assess battery life and autofocus performance too.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read more about how we test

• The Camp Snap 2 is the latest screen-free digital compact camera, designed to provide a simple experience and film-like feel
• It adds a new filter button, similar to the dial on the CS-PRO but with even more options for giving images a vintage look
• The shutter has also been upgraded for faster responsiveness and instant quick-draw shooting

Camp Snap, producer of affordable retro-styled digital cameras, has announced the successor to its mega-viral original Camp Snap camera — the Camp Snap 2.

The original Camp Snap came somewhat out of nowhere to become an unexpected hit. An ultra-affordable compact camera with a tiny sensor and no screen, meaning you couldn’t see your images until after you’d shot them, it proved hugely appealing to consumers looking for a simpler photography experience that evoked some of the feel of shooting film without the ongoing expense.

Since then, we’ve also seen the Camp Snap CS-8, a video camera aping Super 8 camcorders, and the CS-Pro, a slightly upgraded Fujifilm X100-styled version of the original Camp Snap with a higher-resolution sensor and filter dial. But now, we have the mainline sequel to the original camera that started it all: the Camp Snap 2.

So, what’s new? At first glance, not much — this is still a screen-free digital compact with a small 1/3.2-inch sensor that has a resolution of 8MP. Once again this is paired with a fixed-focus wide-angle lens (26mm equivalent), in a camera with fixed exposure settings, a small optical viewfinder and an LED flash. All these things were true of the original Camp Snap.

However, once you dig in a bit further, there are a few upgrades that I really like the sound of. And with the price still tantalizingly low ($69.95 at launch, equivalent to about £52 / AU$97), I think it’s quite possible that Camp Snap is going to have another hit on its hands. I have the camera on my desk now and will be testing it out fully over the next few weeks — but here’s a quick rundown of the key new features.

More filters, faster shooting

The Camp Snap 2 adds a new filter-toggle button, similar to the dial on the CS-Pro but with even more options: six filters by default rather than four. You get: Standard, Vintage 1–3, Analog, and Black & White. I’ll be interested to see exactly what ‘Analog’ means (I suspect it’s going to be grainy). This button comes locked by default as part of the ‘Camp Lock’ feature-set designed to make the camera suitable for children; this is also why the memory card door is screwed in.

Elsewhere, the shutter has also been upgraded. Shutter lag was a common complaint about the original Camp Snap, and the manufacturer promises that the button has been redesigned for an instantly responsive shooting experience. Also, Camp Snap says that while the camera will power-off after a period of inactivity to save battery, you can still quickly draw it and shoot to get the next shot without needing to power-up first.

This, I really like the sound of. One of my gripes with a lot of film-style digital compacts — I discussed it in my RewindPix review — is that auto power-off functionality means they don’t recreate the always-on readiness of analog compacts. If the Camp Snap 2 has fixed this issue, I’ll be very pleased.

Camp Snap says this new version is even lighter than the original Camp Snap, to the tune of a 15% weight reduction (it weighs a slender 108g). It now has a screw thread on the bottom for tripod mounting, and a 30.5mm filter thread on the lens for attaching screw-on filters.

The CS-Pro also has a filter thread, and in my review I was a bit dismissive of the idea that a Camp Snap user would bother to attach a screw-on lens filter. Naturally, someone immediately popped up in the comments to prove me wrong and explain how they bought a cheap mist filter and it really helped enhance the lo-fi filmic look of their images. So, that’s taught me to be a bit more open-minded about how people are using these cameras.

Furthermore, in the release material for the CS2, Camp Snap also not so subtly hints that it’s working on producing its own filters for the cameras. I’m interested to see what comes out.

The Camp Snap 2 is available now in a range of colorways, priced $69.95. I have the natty Sunbeam Yellow version with me now, and I’m looking forward to putting it through its paces for a full review coming soon.

Camp Snap CS-Pro: two-minute review

Forget your high-resolution mirrorless camera, your beautiful full-frame sensors — 2026 is the year of the cheap compact camera! Retro-styled, ultra-affordable cameras are back in a big way, following greatly exaggerated rumors of their death at the hands of the smartphone.

The original Camp Snap, released in 2023, was one of the big beneficiaries of this trend. A digital compact costing around $59 / £65, its USP was a feature that it didn't have – a screen. By removing the LCD, the camera evoked the feeling of shooting with an old film disposable — you literally could not see the images you'd taken until you downloaded them onto your computer, just as you couldn't see your images from a disposable until they came back from the development lab.

The Camp Snap CS-Pro, or Camp Snap Pro, is an upgrade of the original, adding a few improvements and gaining a refreshing visual makeover that calls to mind premium compacts like the Fujifilm X100VI. The core concept hasn't changed, though; it's still a screen-free digital compact camera, with a small sensor that's going to produce images that are almost certainly less detailed and high-quality than the ones produced by your phone. But if you're looking for top-notch quality, you are very much missing the point.

The guts of the camera are built around a 1/3.06-inch sensor with 16MP of resolution — double the pixel count of the 8MP original Camp Snap. This sensor is paired with a fixed-focus lens with an equivalent focal length of 22.5mm — nice and wide to fit plenty in the scene — and a fixed aperture of f/2.2. Just as with the original Camp Snap, there's nothing in the way of settings controls; you point, you shoot.

Well, not quite nothing. The CS-Pro adds a dial to its top plate, which provides access to a number of filmic looks. As well as the Standard (STD) look, you also have VTG-1 and VTG-2 ('VTG' meaning 'vintage'), which are stylized color filters that give your image a distinct and decidedly retro-style look. VTG-1 provides an overall warm tone, while VTG-2 pumps up blues and yellows for a hyper-saturated look (think Kodak Ultramax film). Finally, you have the monochrome 'B&W' dial.

So, it's not a reinvention of the Camp Snap wheel. Far from it. Having used the CS-Pro on a few photographic excursions over the past few weeks, I can safely say that if the original Camp Snap wasn't your cup of tea, the CS-Pro won't be either. The resolution upgrade adds a bit of detail and definition, but the small 1/3.06-inch sensor still limits its dynamic range and ability to handle contrasting light situations. It's going to get blown out of the water by even your smartphone, never mind a compact with a proper-sized sensor like the 1-inch chip in the new Panasonic Lumix TZ300 / ZS300.

But again, quality isn't the point. The Camp Snap was a knockabout hit of nostalgic fun for a generation raised on disposable film cameras and cheap digital compacts, and the CS-Pro is all those things too. Once again, the screen-free design serves to create a relaxed shooting experience, and adds a sense of anticipation that recalls the good old days of waiting for your film to come back from the chemist. And if some of your shots turn out to be a bit crap (and they will) — who cares? It's all part of the fun.

I'm glad that Camp Snap didn't let success go to its head and come out with too expensive a camera. By keeping its price to two figures, the CS-Pro sits firmly in the realm of fun, a camera so simple that a child can use it, but with enough retro charm and style to appeal to adults.

Camp Snap CS-Pro: price and availability

The CS-Pro is available from Camp Snap's website. Its initial launch price is $99 / £90 (around AU$180), but discounts are frequent — in the UK, at time of writing, it's currently sitting at £68. This is a little more expensive than the original Camp Snap, but not by much – Camp Snap are clearly aware that affordability is a big part of their camera's USP and aren't messing with it. This was the main mistake I felt the firm made with its Super 8-aping CS-8 video camera — at a starting price of $199 / £152, it was just a bit too expensive for a low-quality camera whose main attraction was its novelty factor.

Even with the slight uptick in price, the CS-Pro is one of the most affordable options in the retro-styled digital compact arena. It's cheaper than the more complex and sophisticated RewindPix, which offers a huge range of film-style filters via its app-based digital darkroom.

Camp Snap CS-Pro: design

• Styled after popular premium compacts like the Fujifilm X100
• All-plastic build, lightweight and doesn't feel too robust
• Point-and-shoot operation, with dial for selectable retro filters

As mentioned, the Camp Snap CS-Pro looks at first glance a lot like a premium retro compact in the Fujifilm X100 series, with its black body and silver trim. However, if you were to actually hold both cameras side by side, this illusion would fall apart very quickly. Fujifilm's cameras are gorgeous, all-metal things, their build reflecting their four-figure price tags. The CS-Pro, meanwhile, consists of nothing but plastic and more plastic. It feels cheap, because it is cheap, and doesn't even pull the RewindPix's trick of adding internal metal weights for a bit of extra heft.

Interface-wise, on the top plate you have just the shutter button and the dial with the selectable film filters, the latter of which also functions as the on/off switch. On the rear you have a simple LCD panel that provides a running shot counter — useful if you're a forgetful sort and aren't sure when you last offloaded your pictures.

Beside the screen, you may notice two rows of small holes — amusingly, these are actually for a speaker, which plays recorded stock sounds when the camera is turned off and on and when the shutter is fired. These tinny, generic 'clunks' sound like they were downloaded from a website with a name like 'freemidisoundfx.com', and for all I know they probably were. Unnecessary, but harmless — and you can turn them off.

In the bottom corner is a row of four LEDs which serve as battery indicators — and I must say, I've been shooting with the Camp Snap for weeks without charging it once, and my battery level is still very healthy. Camp Snap rates the battery to 500 shots, and I believe it.

In the top-left corner is the optical viewfinder. It's a tiny thing — a far cry from the big, lovely viewfinder on the RewindPix — and the fact that it's both above and to the left of the lens means what you see through it bears only a passing resemblance to what your captured image is going to look like.

On the front, beside the viewfinder, there's a flash. One of the common complaints about the original Camp Snap was the rather weak-beer effort of its piddly LED flash, and the manufacturer has compensated in spades by throwing in a powerful Xenon flash. I'll talk more about this in the next section, but for now it's worth noting that a switch on the front allows you to toggle it between 'Off', 'Auto' and 'Forced'.

Also, surprisingly, the lens on the front has a 37mm filter thread, meaning you can attach protective UV filters, NDs, polarisers or special-effects filters if you have them in the corresponding size. I'm going to be honest — I think the crossover between 'Camp Snap buyers' and 'lens-based filter enjoyers' is vanishingly small, and I find it hard to imagine many people using this feature. But I'm not complaining.

There are lugs for a strap, but no strap is included in the package — no pouch or case either, though Camp Snap did at least find room to pack in a USB-C cable for charging. The port is located on the bottom of the camera, along with a screw thread for mounting on a tripod, and a screwed-on panel that houses the built-in 4GB micro SD card, which you can unscrew to access directly if needed.

Camp Snap CS-Pro: performance

• Images are bright and punchy, but fine detail is lacking, and it can't handle high lighting contrast
• While fixed-focus lens makes operation easy, it can be creatively limiting, and there's no close-up ability
• Xenon flash is ludicrously overpowered — you can thankfully stick with the sensible 'Auto' setting

I'll say it straight out — I find my images from the CS-Pro to be very likeable. Are they high-quality? Absolutely not. They do not stand up to close scrutiny on a pixel level, and I would not make prints from them. But in good light, the CS-Pro produces images with bright, punchy colors — vivid blue skies, pleasant greens, and rich, golden sun.

The wide lens allows you to reliably fit plenty into the frame. Running a few shots helps you get used to finding the sweet spot of distance from your subject — being too close gets you a blurry mess. As a rule, if you're trying to capture an image of a specific object, animal or person, you want at least a meter's distance. Close-ups are a no-no, and you're not going to get creative effects like shallow depth of field.

The extra megapixels on the sensor has definitely improved matters compared to the original Camp Snap, with landscape-style images in particular looking much better thanks to greater detail for delineating distant subjects. However, the small size of the sensor means that dynamic range is still an Achilles' heel. Contrasty light situations are pretty much a no-go – you're all but guaranteed to get blown-out white highlights, or murky impenetrable shadows, or if you're really up against it, both. There's just a physical limit to the kinds of shooting situations the CS-Pro can handle.

However, one thing that can help matters here is the filter dial. Giving your images a retro glow with VTG-1 or VTG-2 can be a handy way to make a blown-out highlight look like an artistic choice, rather than a technological limitation. Indeed, I am generally a fan of the filter dial, even if I do think offering just three options other than the Standard look is rather tight-fisted.

VTG-1 is lovely and warm — great for sunny evenings. I can see it getting a lot of use in pub gardens and the like. VTG-2 is bright and saturated, giving your images just a bit more zing; like Kodak Ultramax, I'd take it to a day at the beach. And the B&W filter delivers a nice level of tonal contrast for moody monochrome, ideal for days when the weather is overcast and uninspiring. Dull light makes Camp Snap images very dull indeed, and the B&W filter is an excellent way to get around this.

As mentioned, a few more filters would have been nice by default — though there is a library of community-made filters to explore, as well as the option to create your own, so that does have the potential to extend the camera's lease on life. Camp Snap also sells its own downloadable add-on packs of filters, which goes some way to explain why there are so few to begin with.

I was excited by the idea of the Xenon flash, but having tested it out, I feel that a hammer is being used to crack a nut here. It is an incredibly powerful unit, much more powerful than the CS-Pro needs, frankly, and every time I have set it to the full-power 'Forced' mode, I have ended up with a blown-out, overexposed mess of an image. Thankfully, the 'Auto' mode does much better, providing balanced exposures that illuminate the subject well.

It also merits mentioning that the shooting experience of the CS-Pro is nice and brisk. One of the common complaints about the original Camp Snap was that it had some truly deleterious shutter lag. This has been corrected for the CS-Pro thanks to an upgraded processor. While there's no burst mode per se, I was able to fire off successive shots at a rate of about 1 per second — the only feature that fell behind, amusingly, was the artificial free-midi-download shutter-release noise. And I can live with that.

Should I buy the Camp Snap CS-Pro?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Camp Snap CS-Pro

• I received a loan unit of the Camp Snap CS-Pro for testing
• I have taken it out on a number of photo excursions in London and on a short rural mini-break
• I’ve shot in variable light conditions throughout April and May, with a mixture of bright and overcast weather

So far, I've used the Camp Snap CS-Pro to capture more than 100 images, over a period of several weeks, during which time I took it on several days out in London as well as on a countryside mini-break in Gloucestershire, UK. The weather was quite variable during my time with the camera, though predominantly bright and sunny. I used the CS-Pro indoors and outdoors, and aimed to capture a broad range of subjects and situations.

First reviewed May 2026

It sucks to be a DJI fan in the US, what with the Chinese camera manufacturer's ban. There are currently no new DJI products hitting US soil at launch, including the recent DJI Osmo Pocket 4, which I rate as the best compact vlogging camera.

I have some good news, however, and that's a record-low price for its predecessor, the Osmo Pocket 3, which is a DJI product you actually can buy, now for just $419 at Adorama (was $499) during Memorial Day — the same deal is available at Amazon.

The Pocket 3 Creator Combo is also on sale for just $539 (was $629) at Adorama and Amazon, which also includes a wide-angle lens, DJI Mic 2, battery handle, mini tripod and carry case — both are stand out deals in the Memorial Day sales.

Yes, the Pocket 4 is a polished successor, but I described it as a modest upgrade where headline specs are concerned, so you might not be missing out on much by opting for the older and readily available Pocket 3 instead.

And just to give you an idea on how good the current Pocket 3 pricing is — one year ago it was hiked from $519 to $799 as uncertainty around DJI product availability grew. At the turn of the year, however, pricing returned and since then it has steadily dropped, now to a new record-low.

• View Amazon's full Memorial Day sale

Today's best DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Memorial Day deals

Should you still buy the Pocket 3 in 2026?

We don't know if the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 will be directly available in the US, nor the recently teased dual-lens Osmo Pocket 4P. The latter 'pro' model adds a 3x telephoto camera to the mix, a formula which is also found in the new Insta360 Luna Ultra, which I am testing ahead of its full unveil.

We don't know too much about the Pocket 4P and Luna cameras but they will cost much more than the Pocket 3.

I've shared my full review of the Pocket 4, and it is indeed a polished upgrade. For many users, however, the improvements such as built-in memory, better battery life, fill light accessory and 4K 240fps slow motion recording won't be worth the upgrade / spending more for. I've unpacked 7 noteworthy upgrades in my Pocket 4 vs Pocket 3 article.

So should you still consider the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 today? Absolutely! Besides it being your only DJI option that's currently available, the tiny vlogging camera still packs a 1-inch sensor and shoots crisp 4K video with 3-axis gimbal stabilization, and is supported with a swivel monitor for vertical or horizontal shooting and single push selfies.

Yes, it might be over two years old, but the Osmo Pocket 3 remains a top compact vlogging camera, available for much less than the Pocket 4 and almost certainly upcoming dual-lens models.

You'll get 4K video up to 60fps and up to 120fps slow motion, seamless connectivity with one of DJI's wireless mics for pro audio (remember the Mic 2 is included in the Creator Combo), that neat swivel touch monitor which cleverly switches between horizontal and vertical recording, plus a gimbal-mounted camera that switches from front to selfie recording at the push of a button.

So while the Pocket 3 has lost its top position to the Pocket 4 in my best vlogging cameras guide, I can still heartily recommend it in this Memorial Day deal.

More of today's best Memorial Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $369
• Saatva: up to $550 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $1,600 off appliances
• Target: 30% off clothing, patio & furniture
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 50% off furniture, grills, rugs & more

Insta360 might be the dominant force in 360 cameras, but the brand just stepped out of its lane in a major way — and muscled into DJI territory — with its first vlogging camera, the Luna.

The Luna rivals DJI’s unique Pocket series of gimbal-stabilized 4K vlogging cameras. With no obvious competition, the DJI range has sold by the bucket-load for years. But with Insta360 adding its own unique features, could DJI see some proper competition at last?

I’ve been testing the Luna ahead of its official launch, and while I can’t share everything I know about the Luna yet, nor any sample footage I've taken, there are a few details I can reveal. First up, Luna comes in two varieties, the single-lens Luna Pro and the dual-lens Luna Ultra, which are clearly set to rival the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 and the recently teased / soon-to-be launched Pocket 4P respectively. Both Luna versions are available in black or white colorways, and the pricing is yet to be confirmed.

I’ve been using the dual-lens Ultra version which, like the Pro version, features a 1x main wide-angle f/1.8 lens and 1-inch sensor — that’s the largest sensor in an Insta360 yet, and matches DJI — but also adds a 3x telephoto camera.

Users can punch in with that telephoto camera for a 6x lossless zoom — meaning that there should be no obvious degradation in image quality — and up to 12x with a digital zoom, a total of five zoom steps.

We don’t have concrete details of the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P yet, but from the early teasers it seems as though DJI is taking the same dual-lens approach as the Luna Ultra, so the rivalry is about to get real. Who gets there first with a world-first dual-lens vlogging camera, we’ll have to wait and see.

Naturally, the Luna cameras are supported with 3-axis gimbal stabilization like the Pocket cameras. In another first for Insta360, they offer 10-bit color depth and an I-Log color profile, again matching the specs of the DJI Pocket (though which one has the better-looking footage is another matter).

All of the above suggests that Insta360 is ready to go toe-to-toe with DJI, but that’s not even the most exciting part about the Luna.

The feature that DJI wishes it had

The Luna has a modular design party trick that DJI wishes it had: a multi-function removable screen, and it’s brilliant. You simply press in buttons on either side of the screen to release it from the camera body, and then you can see what the camera is seeing remotely, complete with the record, zoom and joystick controls.

Here’s where things get really clever — the Luna’s removable screen features a built-in microphone, so you can use it to remotely view yourself, compose the shot, and present to camera.

What’s more, the Luna features subject tracking. With a double tap on the screen of your intended subject, the camera will then track them, keeping them centered in the frame as they move about.

Pair those features — a removable screen with microphone and subject tracking — and you truly can be a one-person show, gaining the impression of a cameraperson tracking you as you walk around the scene (though of course you will need to find a suitable surface to rest the camera body on or mount it to a support).

The removable screen is such a neat feature, especially for solo creators, but also when you’re traveling with friends or family and would like to take selfies.

What makes the Luna even more compelling as a DJI Pocket alternative is that Insta360 has recently launched new accessories, including the recent Mic Pro wireless mic (see above), which we awarded a maximum 5 out of 5 rating in our review. These excellent accessories mean that you don’t need to mix and match brands to get top quality video and audio — Insta360 now has its own complete ecosystem for vlogging.

Yes, DJI has been making vlogging cameras for longer than Insta360 and I expect it to continue dominating the space for some time — reports suggest the Pocket 4 took a huge 72.5% of total video camera sales in Japan last month, despite it being launched in the third week of the month — in the same way that DJI launched its own Osmo 360 to rival Insta360, but Insta360 still has almost 70% total market share. However, the Luna might just do things differently enough to persuade first timers or DJI fans to switch.

I’m excited to share more Luna details with you when the full embargo lifts. But what do you make of the features I have been able to share — game-changer or gimmick? How does the Luna look compared to the Pocket 4? Have your say in the comments below.

RewindPix: two-minute review

It's 2026, and retro is in. To be fair, retro is never not in — the definition of what's currently 'retro' just changes. Right now, in photography, the current retro hotness is the idea of a digital camera that 'takes pictures like film'. This is a very popular idea at the moment, and many cameras have tried to deliver it, from Fujifilm's expensive analog love letter the X half, to cheaper offerings like the screen-free Camp Snap.

Into the cheaper end of this arena steps the RewindPix PS135. Funded on Kickstarter, it's the brainchild of former tech worker Xiao Liu, who had grown frustrated with what he viewed as the poor quality of most analog-like digital cameras, and set out to create the new benchmark for a digital camera that feels like shooting film. The camera that I've been out shooting with over the past couple of weeks is the result.

At first blush, it might not be obvious what's different about the RewindPix. It's a plastic-bodied digital compact, equipped with a 13MP Sony-made sensor, a fixed 35mm equivalent lens, a flash and a viewfinder. So far, so standard, besides a cutesy wheel that you have to wind on between photos.

The real trick comes in the RewindPix companion app. Through this app, you have access to a huge number of film-like filters to imbue your images with specific look. Color-rich looks simulating slide stocks like Fujifilm Velvia; crunchy black & white looks; smooth-toned color looks that put one in mind of Kodak Portra; intense pink- and purple-hued looks that resemble specialist Lomography films – there's a lot in there.

From the selection, you can pick three of these looks, 'load' them into your camera as a 'roll' of 36 shots, and switch between them as you shoot. Once you've hit your 36, you reconnect to the app to 'unload' your shots and see what they look like (remember, the camera has no screen). From there, you can reload with three new film stocks, and repeat.

It sounds a bit nuts. And it kind of is. But honestly – it works.

Having spent a considerable amount of time with the RewindPix, I'm not completely without my reservations, but I am quite charmed. One aspect of shooting film that none of the film-like digital compacts have managed to recreate for me is the excitement – that nervous anticipation of loading a new stock, and seeing what the results will be. Not even a beautiful piece of premium kit like the Fujifilm X100VI can give you that.

The RewindPix is as close as I've ever come to that feeling with a digital camera. That film-look selection screen is incredibly addictive; I genuinely felt like a kid in a candy store, and was carefully considering my choices every time I went back to reload. The shots certainly aren't perfect, and I came away with a share of duds as well as images I liked – but that's what happens when I shoot film, too.

Lightweight and well-designed, with a considerable fun factor, the RewindPix is a winner for the price. And with the potential for more film looks to be added to its repertoire via app updates, I can see it having long-term appeal, too.

RewindPix: price and availability

The RewindPix is still in pre-release, following a mind-blowingly successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter where it incinerated its initial $15,000 (£11,214) funding goal to the tune of more than $1.1 million (more than £800,000) at time of writing. You can still pledge a minimum of $119 (about £89) to secure yourself a camera, though shipping timelines are still to be confirmed.

I think this is a good price, pretty much exactly where a retro-styled digital compact should be pitched. It's a little more expensive than the Camp Snap, though offers considerably more functionality, and is much cheaper than the overpriced Fujifilm X half.

RewindPix: design

• All-plastic build, but has a satisfying weight to it
• Beautiful big optical viewfinder
• Operates like a real film camera, complete with wind-on wheel

Those who aren't immune to a bit of retro kitsch (guilty) will likely be very charmed by the look of the RewindPix. It physically resembles the old-school analog compacts it's aping, with a simple rectangular body design that's centered around a big, round fixed lens in the versatile 35mm focal length. The lens also has a 43mm filter thread.

On the top plate of the camera is a big, honking, unmistakeable red shutter-release button (swappable to other colors), next to a shoe mount for attaching flash units if desired. The RewindPix does have its own built-in flash, and it's a proper Xenon flash, not an LED, meaning it fires with the proper level of intensity. You activate it via the sliding switch on the front of the camera body. On the bottom there's also a standard screw thread for use with a tripod.

Sitting at the top left is one of my favorite features: the big, beautiful optical viewfinder. So many new compacts — digital and analog — come equipped with tiny, boxy, fiddly viewfinders that are awkward and unsatisfying to compose an image with. Not so with the the RewindPix. You get a beautifully clear view of your scene, marked with framing lines. Of course, the fact that it's offset from the lens means that it only semi-accurately represents what your image is going to look like — but that's the case with all compacts in this mode.

Elsewhere, there's a genuine wind-on wheel, just as you'd find in a real film compact, and you do actually need to wind it on between frames. The RewindPix isn't the first digital camera to tap this well — the X half did the same thing with its wind-on lever, but personally I find this level of kitsch a lot more endearing in a $119 camera than I do in an $849 one.

In the center of the rear of the camera is a small LCD screen that tells you which film filter you're using and how many shots you've taken, and next to it is the sliding 'C' switch that lets you toggle between your three loaded filters. On the bottom left is the Wi-Fi button for connecting the camera to your phone, and on the bottom right is the 'M' button that switches to 'In-camera' mode if you don't want to fuss with the filters (more on that later).

Despite its all-plastic build, the RewindPix has a surprising amount of heft to it. There's a reason for this: two metal weights have been placed inside the body. According to RewindPix, this is for stabilizing the camera and balancing its weight, and is not an attempt to make the camera feel more premium than it is — but doing the former does still accomplish the latter.

The design is charming, and meets the brief of what it needs to be almost perfectly. If someone described the RewindPix to you then asked you to sketch what you thought it looked like, you'd probably end up drawing something that looks almost exactly like the real thing. It's what it needs to be! Nothing wrong with that.

I do have a gripe. I've listed all the buttons and controls on the RewindPix's body, and the observant among you may have noticed that I didn't mention a power button. That's because it doesn't have one. You turn the RewindPix on by winding the shot-advance wheel, and it turns itself off after a period of inactivity.

Now, one of the reasons I enjoy shooting with analog compacts like the Olympus XA2 is that I can always be ready. I can walk around with the camera in one hand, my finger on the shutter button, and the second I see something to capture, I can raise the camera, shoot, then wind on to be ready for the next. Many, many times, I raised the RewindPix and fired the shutter button to capture a moment, only to discover it had turned itself off.

Sure, most digital cameras have an auto power-off feature – but most offer a quicker startup solution than winding a geared wheel (and will also let you turn that feature off if desired). If the RewindPix is going to pretend to be a film compact, I'm going to use it like one, and the ability to be 'always-ready' is one of an analog compact camera's chief advantages, in my opinion. If RewindPix are taking update requests, a way to disable the auto power-off is top of my wishlist.

RewindPix: performance

• App-based selection of films is brilliantly addictive
• Image quality is decent, if unspectacular – film-based filters do much to punch up images
• Settings are fixed, which is great for ease of use, but can be creatively limiting

The RewindPix is unavoidably a bit fiddly, the way all phone-interacting cameras are. You have to connect to the camera's independent Wi-Fi network to load your film selections, then disconnect to shoot, then connect again to unload. I was using a beta of the Android version of the app (the full version has since been released), and it was mostly stable – though I did experience a connection drop that caused an image to disappear during the unloading process.

The app is the only way to fully engage with the film-simulation process. The camera has 4GB of pre-installed memory, and you can access your shots by plugging it in via the USB-C cable; however, the majority of film looks are stored in the app and applied there, so you need to use the app to get the full experience.

Image quality is firmly in the realm of good enough. The 13MP sensor is a tiny 1/3.06-inch type, and the lens has a fixed f/2.2 aperture with four glass elements and two plastic ones. The level of detail is good enough for Instagram and other forms of online sharing, but isn’t at the level where you’ll be making prints from your images. Dynamic range is okay but not the best — blown-out highlights and murky shadows are a common sight. A well-chosen film look can help this look like artful choice rather than a technical limitation.

A stroke of design genius was the decision to allow you to load three films at a time, rather than just one. Having to complete the unloading and reloading process every time I wanted to try a new filter would have been a tedious chore; but having three at once is thrilling. It makes you much more flexible, with options for different lighting conditions, versus when shooting actual film where you must pick one roll of film at a time — I’ve been out with B&W film loaded while the light is rich and golden, or out with expensive color film on a muted day of drab, nothing-y light.

Whereas with the RewindPix, you can swap from one to the other with a simple switch of the ‘C’ slider. I found my preferred load out was generally to set C1 as a standard colour film look, C2 as a crazy or dramatic color look such as infrared or purple tint, and C3 as a B&W look. This made me feel well-equipped for all shooting situations – good and poor weather, indoors and outdoors.

The RewindPix does have the option of the ‘In Camera’ mode, activated by pressing the ‘M’ button on the rear of the camera. This allows it to function more like a conventional compact – there’s no requirement for a phone connection or a limited ‘roll’ of 36. It just shoots indefinitely, with three filter options: Sunny Warm, Breezy Cool and Simply Mono. (Pro tip: if the app-based functions aren’t working and you can’t figure out why, it is possible you have activated In Camera mode by mistake. I learn these things so you don’t have to).

Shots taken using In Camera mode can be accessed directly from the card, and will have the filters applied, meaning the camera can function without a phone. Though honestly, this mode is a lot less fun, and removes most of the RewindPix’s key USPs.

As this is a point-and-shoot compact, settings are not user-controllable. The shutter speed is variable — the specs say it can go as slow as 1sec, though RewindPix’s promotional material says it’s fixed at a sensible minimum of 1/60sec. This is slower than normal for point-and-shoots (a fixed setting of 1/125sec is more common), and is perfectly fine for handheld shooting, but does mean you have to take a little more care that you’re holding the camera steady; a few of my more optimistic one-handed grab shots came out blurry and useless. I think the trade-off is worth it, as 1/60sec gives the camera a bit more latitude in low light, but it’s worth being aware of. Like any tool, you have to get used to its quirks.

Ultimately, the RewindPix is unadulterated fun. It really is. The anticipation that builds up between loading the film looks and seeing how they come out, for me, is as close as digital photography has ever come to the excitement of waiting for film scans to come back from the darkroom. I shot more images than I needed to for this review, purely because I was enjoying myself, and because I wanted to see what the different film filters looked like. (What the hell is ‘The Hotel’? Only one way to find out!)

Can I see myself using it long-term, or does it feel like the novelty will wear off? I’m not sure, though I am still enjoying the camera after a couple of weeks’ of heavy use. The fact that RewindPix will be able to add new film looks via firmware updates to the app promises to extend the camera’s lease on life, as will the option to create your own filters. This requires upgrading to ‘Pro’, though you’ll be relieved to learn that this requires only a one-time cost of $9.90, not a subscription.

The small sensor, fixed-focus prime lens and lack of a settings control all place limits on the quality of images you can create with the RewindPix, as well as the types of images (you won’t be able to shoot portrait-style images with a shallow depth of field, for instance). However, I think the camera is sensibly priced for its type, and the huge groundswell of support for RewindPix on Kickstarter demonstrates that there is clearly an appetite for the idea.

Only time will tell whether the RewindPix sees mass adoption, and whether the many people who have been charmed by the concept are still using the camera years down the line. But I’d say if you like the sound of what I’ve described here, you have very little to lose by heading to RewindPix’s Kickstarter and securing a camera to try out for yourself.

Should I buy the RewindPix?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the RewindPix

• I received a loan unit of the RewindPix for testing, and used a beta version of the app, which has since released officially.
• I’ve run three 'rolls' of film through the camera, as well as taking a number of images using the 'In Camera' mode.
• I’ve shot in variable light conditions and have taken the camera to several locations around London.

I've used the RewindPix to capture more than 200 images over a period of two weeks. I've used a beta version of the RewindPix app to apply several choices from the selection of film looks available, and have also spent some time shooting in the simpler 'In Camera' mode. I used the camera in various areas of London, predominantly focused on Hackney and the City, during which time the weather changed frequently between bright sunshine and overcast with showers.

First reviewed May 2026

The Kodak Charmera keychain digital camera was a marketing masterclass and a huge hit for 2025. The tiny camera came in one of six retro varieties, delivered in a mystery blind box for just $30. It sold by the bucketload (and now costs a still-reasonable $35).

It popularized miniature cameras, both those that came before, such as the Tamagotchi-like Fujifilm Instax Pal, and a wave of Charmera-inspired alternatives that followed. Some aped traditional styles, like the Chuzhao TLR-style digital camera with its waist-level screen design, while others majored on the miniature.

All of those cameras can be picked up for under $50, and if you don't mind a non-branded mini camera, there are many options that are cheaper still and will cost less than your lunch. Examples include the Aries Charmsnap (a Charmera knock-off) and the Polaroid Camera Keychain (a novelty non-working camera).

If your budget stretches further, an altogether different proposition is the premium Insta360 Go 3S. This is the world's smallest 4K camera, and it shoots 12MP stills, features a magnetic back, and is now available in a cutesy Retro Bundle edition for $300.

Every camera in this collection is truly tiny and can slip into a pocket or clip onto your belt / bag. But if you're seeking a purely cheap camera regardless of size, check out my top digicams under $100 guide for additional options.

Mini cameras — US links

Mini cameras — UK links

Based in the UK? I've pulled together some picks for you too...

How do you celebrate 25 years of Lumix cameras? Well, releasing a stunning, premium compact camera like the Panasonic Lumix L10 feels suitably apt if you ask me.

Preorders are now live for this latest model ahead of a June release date, and you can check out all the places to buy the L10 below. I've included both US and UK retailers, as well as details on the stunning limited edition 'Titanium Gold' version.

As an overview, the L10 starts at $1,499 / £1,299, which puts it firmly in Fujifilm X100VI territory. Coincidence? I think not — and the L10 is definitely a fantastic alternative to the much-hyped Fuji if you're struggling to get your hands on it.

Unlike the X100VI, the L10 features a built-in Leica 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens, which gives you a flexible zoom that covers a wide range of focal lengths. You also get Panasonic’s latest 20.4MP sensor, support for 5.7k 10-bit video, an OLED viewfinder, and a handy vari-angle (flipout) touchscreen.

The Lumix L10 also adds newer creative tools such as Real Time LUTs and updated monochrome and color profiles, which further lean into Fuji-esque 'straight out of camera' approach.

Where to buy the Panasonic Lumix L10

When is the Lumix L10 being shipped?

The earliest I've seen retailers estimate shipping is late May — see the Park Cameras link above, for reference. However, the camera officially launches with its black and silver finishes in June 2026, so that's a more realistic estimate for when it will actually be delivered.

How can I get the Gold version?

If you've got your eye on the Titanium Gold Special Edition, then that's due to arrive sometime in July. From what I've seen, there are no third-party listings for this particular variant, so going via the official Panasonic site might be the only way to get your hands on this stunning camera.

Note, the Gold Special Edition camera is due to retail for $1,599, which is $100 more expensive than the standard Black and Silver versions.

Panasonic Lumix L10: what you need to know

• Familiar premium range-finder style body
• 20.4MP stills, 30fps burst, 5.2K 10-bit video
• Built-in Leica 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens

The Panasonic Lumix L10 almost feels like a love letter to fans of the brand's rangefinder-style Micro Four Thirds bodies. Inspired heavily by the discontinued LX100 series, the new model keeps the same minimalist and compact design philosophy, but modernizes the internals with Panasonic’s latest imaging tech.

While the exterior closely resembles the older models (and the S9, for that matter), the Lumix L10 gets major hardware upgrades under the hood. It features Panasonic’s latest 20.4MP Micro Four Thirds sensor alongside a newer processor borrowed from higher-end Lumix models, enabling features like 5.2K 10-bit video recording, 30fps burst shooting, and vastly improved 779-point phase hybrid autofocus.

The built-in Leica 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens also returns, alongside a vari-angle touchscreen and OLED viewfinder. Unlike the similar S9, Panasonic has managed to squeeze that viewfinder in here, which makes it a much more versatile option for photography.

Panasonic has also expanded the creative and connected features significantly. The camera now supports Real Time LUTs color profiles, custom photo styles, and integration with the Lumix Lab smartphone app. As with the Fujifilm X100 series, you've got plenty of options here to get fantastic results right out of camera — from film-esque JPEGs to stylised video.

• Panasonic marks 25 years of making Lumix cameras with the new Lumix L10
• It's a modern day upgrade of the iconic Lumix LX100 series, with Panasonic's latest micro four thirds sensor and photo and video skills
• The L10 is available in black or silver from June 2026, or a Gold Titanium Special Edition version from July 2026

Panasonic has marked 25 years of making Lumix cameras with a new premium compact camera, the Lumix L10. And if it looks familiar, that's because its design cues are taken directly from the popular LX100 series.

The Lumix LX100 II was the last in that much-admired series, being launched in 2018, and has been discontinued for years. The news of the Lumix L10 will delight fans of the micro four thirds compact cameras, especially since this is no mere relaunch, like recent Lumix travel zooms such as the ZS300 / TZ300.

No, Panasonic has put its latest micro four thirds sensor and processor in the Lumix L10, which means it has the 20.4MP photo and 5.2K video-making skills of the Lumix GH7, and the processing grunt of the full-frame flagship Lumix S1 II, complete with the latest Real Time LUTs photo styles.

There are three colorways to choose from: black or silver cost $1,499 / £1,299 / AU$2,599 and are available from June 2026, while the Titanium Gold Special Edition (which you can see in my hands-on pictures) costs $1,599 / £1,399 / AU$2,999, and is available from July 2026. The special edition includes various extras, including the lens cap (pictured) and a leather strap.

I've had a few hours using the compact camera at a 25-year anniversary celebration event in Japan, and it has reminded me how much I enjoyed the LX100 series all those years ago. Let's take a quick run through of the key features.

A premium compact camera with all the ingredients to be a hit

I've read many a comment on camera forums wishing for the return of the LX100 series, and today that day has come — only with a new name: the Lumix L10.

The 2026 remake has many of the same design cues; a 1.1lb / 508g body, built-in 24-75mm f/1.7 to f/2.8 Leica Summilux lens with 3cm macro focusing, 2.36m-dot OLED viewfinder and a 1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen.

But if all is familiar on the outside (which is a good thing in my book — the series has always been lovely to use and much missed), the inside brings the series into the modern day with Panasonic's latest sensor and processor.

It's a 20.4MP micro four thirds sensor that is capable of 11fps burst shooting (mechanical shutter) and 30fps (electronic shutter), 10-bit video recording up to 5.2K, plus the handy MP4 Lite video codec supported by Panasonic's latest processor, and 779-point phase hybrid autofocus — making it all-round much snappier than 2018's LX100 II.

There's also Panasonic's powerful Lumix Lab app in the picture now, with a suite of useful remote features, reliable high-speed image transfers to smartphone, and the capability of adding custom Real Time LUTs color profiles to the camera.

Panasonic Lumix L10 photo samples

Those LUTs can be assigned to a switch on the lens which is by default set to control various aspect ratios, but which can also be customized to a stepped zoom.

Panasonic has also added a new Photo Styles, with Leica Monochrome joining an arsenal of black and white profiles, plus new three 'L-Classic' color profiles — I'm already a fan of the gold version (see above).

I'll share more details once I've had more time with the camera — do look out for my upcoming in-depth review. What I will say now though, is that I'm happy to see Panasonic's much-loved premium compact camera make a comeback through the Lumix L10, and I can already see it being a popular everyday camera. Have your say in the comments below!

• Nikon is being tipped to release a fixed-lens full-frame compact camera
• It could have a similar form factor to the Nikon ZR, meaning no viewfinder
• That's despite it supposedly being for photography, with no video capabilities

Nikon could be working on a fixed-lens compact camera to rival popular models such as the Fujifilm X100VI, Ricoh GR IV, Sony RX1R III, and Leica Q3, and its rumored specs make for, let's just say, interesting reading.

That's according to Nikon Rumors, which suggests that Nikon will launch a full-frame compact this year, having changed tack from earlier this year when it was suggesting that a photography-centered variation of the Nikon ZR mirrorless cinema camera was en route.

The post then goes on to detail a surprising list of features, which, when combined, make for curious reading. It's the potential omission of a viewfinder that has sparked a strong reaction among fans in the comments section.

One Nikon fan reacted by writing, "It's not a stills-oriented camera if it doesn't have a viewfinder", while another simply wrote, "No viewfinder, no deal".

I'm still intrigued by Nikon's potential fixed-lens full-frame compact and believe it could fill a gaping hole in the premium compact camera market. Here's why...

The gap

Ever since premium fixed-lens compact cameras trended, thanks in no small part to the Fujifilm X100 series, I've been keeping my eye out for Nikon to get in on the action, especially knowing how good value it can be.

It also has a lesser-known history in this space — its (long-discontinued) Coolpix A was a tiny fixed-lens compact with 28mm f/2.8 lens and 16MP APS-C sensor, similar to the Ricoh GR series (I attended the product launch in 2013, long before my TechRadar days).

The latest rumors suggest my wait for a modern-day Nikon fixed-lens compact could soon be over, and it could be a full-frame model.

That would give it a sensor size advantage over the Fujifilm X100VI and the Ricoh GR IV with their APS-C sensors, and I predict an affordability angle over the Sony RX1R III and Leica Q3, which are extremely pricey full-frame compacts.

All those premium compacts are wildly popular and fabulous — I should know, I've tested them all — but there's an obvious gap that I believe Nikon could fill: an affordable full-frame option. I predict that this rumored camera could come in at up to half the price of the Sony and Leica cameras.

The rumored features, however, leave me with mixed feelings. I like the sound of a high-resolution full-frame sensor (perhaps the current 45MP one found in the Z8 and other models, but not the stacked type?). Also, a slimline body measuring somewhere between 22-25mm in depth sounds positively tiny (though presumably the built-in lens will protrude).

I'm less excited, however, by the prospect of no in-body image stabilization and no viewfinder. And most surprising of all is the suggestion that this mystery camera won't have video recording.

Let that sink in. This could be a photography-only camera, yet one without a viewfinder. In a recent poll about viewfinders, I asked our readers if they would buy a camera without a viewfinder, and the majority said no.

That being said, rumors suggest that a hotshoe will feature, and it will accept, an optional EVF accessory. It seems that Nikon could be prioritizing compact dimensions and a low price over certain built-in features, instead offering them as optional extras, such as a removable EVF.

There could also be a tilt touchscreen, which, for me, is preferable over the fixed screens in the Ricoh GR IV and Sony RX1R III. For all my concerns, I'm still excited by the rumored camera's potential.

What do you make of the Nikon fixed-lens compact camera rumors? Is this the kind of camera you'd be interested in trying? Let me know in the comments below.

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: two-minute review

Eight years ago, and before my time as Cameras Editor, TechRadar called the Lumix ZS200 / TZ200 "the most advanced travel zoom camera" and gave it a near-perfect 4.5 / 5 rating in its review — and that discontinued model now has a surprise successor, the Lumix TZ300.

Like the 2018 original, the Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 packs a stabilized 24-360mm f/3.3-6.4 lens and large 1-inch sensor, shooting 20MP stills and 4K video — a tempting cocktail of quality and versatility, all in a truly pocketable body.

Despite the years, there's very little between the two cameras; in fact, I can tell you the key differences in a single sentence: the 2026 model gains USB-C charging, but loses a built-in viewfinder. That’s it.

It’s great to see the once-popular travel zoom compact readily available again — I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the older model long before my TechRadar days — and it's now compliant with common charger EU laws thanks to its USB-C port, and ready to compete for a spot on my best compact cameras round-up. However, in a way the 2026 version is a pricier downgrade.

Will Panasonic's decision to strip the Lumix TZ300 back, without seemingly compensating with new features, come back to bite it?

The fact is, compact camera shipments are on the up again, and right now the Lumix TZ300 still has little competition, so Panasonic might just cash in anyway — I don’t think it needs to improve is flagship travel zoom compact to maximize sales, just make it available again, which is what it's done.

Removing the viewfinder no doubt cuts costs down (not that those savings are passed onto the consumer), and could be a reflection on how people tend to rely on screens more in 2026. For me, it doesn’t feel like a dealbreaker — the EVF in the original model wasn’t the best in any case.

What bothers me more is that the new version offfers no compensation — there’s just more plastic in place of where the viewfinder once was — and it feels dated in other areas. For example, in the absence of a viewfinder, I would have loved for Panasonic to install a tilt mechanism for the 3-inch rear display for easier viewing from awkward angles, but we again have a fixed screen.

Nor do we get Panasonic's latest features seen in other recent cameras, such as its improved autofocus and Real Time LUTs color profiles.

So what are we to make of the Lumix ZS300? There is seemingly enough of a compact camera resurgence to merit Panasonic bringing the range back to life, but not enough competition or consumer desire (or both) for Panasonic to feel it was worth producing a truly new and improved model — the quality was already there eight years ago to satisfy today’s demands.

The bottom line is that I’m happy to see the popular Lumix travel zoom return — I just wish for a little more camera.

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 specs

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: Price and availability

• Announced in March 2026 and available from the start of May
• Costs $899 / £869 / AU$1,599
• Available in black or gray

The Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 is expected to hit stores in May 2026 and cost $899 / £869 / AU$1,599. It comes in two varieties — the gray version that Panasonic sent to me for this review, and an all-black version.

That price pits the Lumix TZ300 against the likes of the Canon PowerShot V1, which is a vlogging camera with a bigger sensor, superb autofocus and modern video skills, but a narrower standard zoom range. Given how much new tech is in Canon’s compact, it feels like better value (and there's rumored to be a travel-zoom version on the way which could rain on the Lumix parade).

The same money could also get you a small beginner mirrorless camera with kit lens, such as the excellent Fujifilm X-M5. Overall, the Lumix TZ300 feels like okay value at best.

• Price score: 3/5

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: Design

• Small and compact, with a foldaway / extending lens
• Finally, USB-C charging
• No viewfinder, detail-rich fixed 3-inch touchscreen

I’ll cover the core specs of the Lumix TZ300 in this review, but most of what you need to know about the camera’s design and performance has already been covered in our Lumix TZ200 review.

The Lumix TZ300 is still a tidily packaged camera that slips easily into a pocket, with a reassuring weightiness — it feels like a quality piece of kit.

There are rubberized front and thumb grips for a firm hold, and every control is nicely dampened but also responsive, as is the 3-inch touchscreen.

The lens folds neatly away when the camera is powered off, and extends smoothly as you move through the zoom range, either using the ring around the lens or the touchscreen — it’ll depend on which shooting mode you’re using.

It’s easy enough to set the camera to auto and let it take care of the settings based on the scene you're photographing, but there are also enough manual controls to satisfy discerning photographers, including manual exposure and auto ISO with the ability to set a minimum shutter speed (my go-to setup with my professional camera).

A pop-up flash is squeezed into the body, and is a handy feature for party portraits and creative low-light photography, especially since it’s possible to manually adjust its strength and swap between first and second curtain flash sync (the point at which the flash fires during exposure).

I really appreciated how slick the touchscreen function felt, and the detailed 1.84m-dot display itself, but a pronounced bump serves to highlight how its fixed design could have easily been upgraded to tilt without increasing the camera’s footprint.

Although the original viewfinder wasn’t the best in terms of the viewing experience, it was positioned smartly at the top-left, and felt easy to bring to the eye. I did miss having the option in the new version of the camera.

As mentioned, with the viewfinder having been removed I would have liked to see a tilt-screen upgrade to further assist viewing in bright light and at awkward angles; as it is, there's just plastic where the viewfinder was on the previous model.

• Design score: 3.5/5

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: Performance

• Versatile 15x optical zoom and decent stabilization performance
• Decent photo quality, dated video specs
• On-the-go charging is handy for traveling

For such a versatile and small camera, the image quality from the Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 is surprisingly good. Naturally, you lose a little sharpness at the telephoto end of the zoom, but it’s still decent enough.

What you also lose as you zoom in is light sensitivity. That’s because the maximum aperture is reduced from f/3.3 at the 24mm wide-angle end to f/6.4 at the 360mm telephoto setting.

Long-exposure photography isn't well served — the minimum possible lens aperture is f/8, and there's no practical way to utilize an ND filter besides physically holding one in place in front of the lens.

Still, the 1-inch sensor knocks the socks off the much smaller one in Panasonic's other recent travel zoom compact, the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99, a camera that majors on versatility and value, less so on quality. For me, this new Lumix, like its predecessor, strikes the right balance between quality and versatility.

In addition to Panasonic’s usual color profiles, there are filter effects including cross process and toy camera. These effects have been around for years, and in an age of Real Time LUTS profile and flat LOG profiles for video recording, they feel a little dated.

And, if it wasn’t already obvious, none of Panasonic’s current Real Time LUTs or LOG profiles are present, which also means no access to customizable LUTs as you get with the Lumix S9 mirrorless camera.

There’s nothing new under the hood, which means we’re getting an old processor, limited continuous shooting speeds, and dated autofocus performance compared to other cameras at this price point.

The autofocus system did feel dated to me. Yes, subject tracking and face / eye detection was a thing back in 2018 and we still have it here, but Panasonic’s recent mirrorless cameras have much more responsive autofocus performance.

Is having similarly good autofocus too much to ask for in a compact camera? Maybe, but look at Canon, which has bestowed excellent autofocus features on its PowerShot V1.

There is a particularly versatile macro focusing mode, mind you. Close focusing is so effective, in fact, that you can effectively be touching your subject with the end of the lens and it’ll still be in sharp focus.

Battery life is decent enough without standing out. The 1,025mAh unit can capture up to 360 shots on a full charge according to its CIPA rating, which felt about right based on my use.

And on-the-go USB-C charging, a boon for traveling, is a big upgrade in the new Lumix TZ300 over its predecessor, which doesn’t offer it.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300: testing scorecard

Should I buy the Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix ZS300 / TZ300

• I took the Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 traveling for a couple of weeks
• I tested all of its photo and video modes
• I checked battery life and USB-C charging

Panasonic loaned me a Lumix TZ300 for two weeks to complete my review. I was fortunate to be traveling in China during this period, and was therefore able to use it for the scenarios it’s designed for, taking video and photos of ancient towns, portraits, wide vistas and more.

I shot the same photo sequences spanning the zoom range of the lens, shoot photos in raw and JPEG format, and video in 4K and 1080p with the various frame rates.

For a lot of the test I was in changeable weather conditions at high altitudes. I kept track of battery life, counting how many photos I could take on a full charge, plus how long it took to recharge the camera.

• First reviewed April 2026

Lomography Lomo MC-A: two-minute review

New additions to the ranks of the best film cameras are a lot more common in 2026 than they were a few years ago, with offerings arriving from the likes of Kodak, Rollei and Pentax.

Into this increasingly competitive market steps the Lomography Lomo MC-A. With a sleek metal chassis, this compact film camera looks and feels like a premium product. It puts a reassuring amount of weight in your hands, and a welcome degree of control at your fingertips. This is no simple point-and-shoot — the Lomo MC-A is something much more sophisticated.

Let’s run through the basics. The Lomography Lomo MC-A is a compact analog camera that takes 35mm film. It sports a 32mm Minitar-II lens with a five-element construction and a maximum aperture of f/2.8, and offers control of key settings like aperture (running up to f/16) and shutter speed (1/500 sec to bulb). It can read DX coding, meaning it can automatically detect a loaded film’s ISO speed, and it also has a flash, an exposure compensation dial, and a multiple-exposure mode.

Also key to its appeal is the autofocus — something of a rarity on analog compacts. The Lomo MC-A uses a zone-based focusing system, with focal distance settings for 0.4m, 0.8m, 1.5m, 3m and infinity. You can select your zone manually, or make use of the LiDAR-based autofocus system, which will analyse the scene and judge the correct zone to use.

While it's not going to give you anywhere near the level of responsiveness and accuracy of the autofocus systems in new digital mirrorless cameras, this system still makes the MC-A a much more photographically versatile camera than a simple fixed-focus point-and-shoot, allowing you to home in on a specific subject in the frame for dynamic imagery.

In a world where cheap film cameras are not hard to come by, the $549 / £499 / AU$799 Lomo MC-A might sound like a bit of an ask. But it has the potential to give you much better images than a point-and-shoot like the $99 Kodak Snapic A1, or than the $60 point-and-shoot from the 1990s you found at a garage sale.

Of course, the flip-side of this is that it makes the camera a little trickier to get to grips with. With the ability to focus comes the ability to mis-focus; and with the ability to control exposure comes the potential for misjudging it.

However, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time with the Lomography MC-A, and in my opinion it’s the best new film camera you can buy. It’s more versatile than the cheap point-and-shoots, and provides better value for money than the overpriced half-frame Pentax 17.

It’s not without its quirks and issues, which we'll get into, but it consistently delivers great-looking imagery on beautiful 35mm film — and can you ask for much more than that? In my view, this is now the benchmark for new film cameras to meet.

Lomography Lomo MC-A: price and availability

As mentioned, the Lomography MC-A is priced at $549 / £499 / AU$799. That puts it about on a par with the Pentax 17, and given that it’s a better-made camera offering full-frame quality rather than half-frame, I think it offers better value for money.

You also get plenty in the box in addition to the camera itself: a glass UV filter, a lens cap, a protective fabric wrap, a leather hand strap, colored gel flash filters, a CR2 battery rechargeable via USB-C, a Splitzer lens attachment (for creating split-effect multiple exposures), a book of inspirational images, and a sticker sheet.

Lomography Lomo MC-A: design

• Sturdy metal build feels hefty and premium
• Viewfinder is a little cramped
• Top LCD is neat, but practically not that useful

Your first reaction to picking up the Lomo MC-A will likely be to marvel at its heft. It's not a heavy camera in the grand scheme of things — you can use it one-handed without issue — but at 332g its metal-based build is substantially weightier than most modern point-and-shoots (which tend to be nothing but plastic). While I wouldn't risk dropping it, the MC-A feels reasonably tough, and I don't worry about it when it's in my bag — the supplied fabric wrap is also a help here.

Film-loading is simple — once the roll is secured in place, you simply make sure the leader is sitting with the perforations aligned to the teeth, and then close the back and you’re ready to go. The first time you load it, you might be a little dubious as to whether the film has actually taken, but the camera will warn you if it hasn't — and you can triple-check by winding on one frame and checking whether the rewind crank on the camera's base rotates as you do so.

The top LCD screen provides a counter of how many shots you’ve spent, as well as flash setting, focus setting and battery level. When you half-depress the shutter button the screen switches to displaying exposure information, though you’ll likely rarely see this, since when you half-depress the shutter button you’re almost certainly looking through the viewfinder.

The optical viewfinder does the job, but personally I find it quite small and cramped. A bigger viewfinder — maybe even one big enough for a readout of exposure information — would go a long way towards making composition feel more comfortable. There are two in-viewfinder LEDs, a blue one to let you know focus is locked, and an orange one to warn you if you’re getting a slow shutter speed that will likely cause image blur.

I find these lights a bit distracting and oblique, especially when the real-estate of the viewfinder is so small to begin with. A bigger viewfinder with room to display the exposure information displayed on the top LCD screen would have made much more sense to me.

Winding on film is done manually, via the delightfully retro-felling mechanical lever that springs back with a satisfying snap. The lever itself has quite a lot of travel, and you want to make sure you pull it all the way to the end with every frame – some users have reported a little bleed between frames, likely caused by the lever not being quite cranked far enough and the camera allowing the exposure anyway. In all my time with the MC-A, this only happened to me once, but it's worth being aware of.

Control of exposure is achieved via the dials on the top plate and the tiny aperture ring around the lens, which pops out from the front very slightly when the camera is activated. Settings can be dialed in manually or set to automated program mode, and in most situations, the camera will judge well enough that you can use the latter.

The tiny lens comes with an absolutely darling little lens cap. This is, I am embarrassed to report, incredibly easy to accidentally leave on — and the Lomo MC-A lacks a handy feature like the Pentax 17's ability to detect when the cap is on and refuse to capture an image until it's removed. If you're going to be taking the camera in and out of your pocket all day to capture little moments, I'd consider using the supplied clear UV filter as a lens protector instead. Just... trust me.

Overall though, the Lomo MC-A is a nicely designed object. Its premium metal build puts a reassuring weight in your hands, and the satisfying snap of the wind-on lever never gets old.

Lomography Lomo MC-A: performance

• Autofocus works well once you're used to it
• Lens is nicely sharp, though has a vignette
• Exposure metering is solid

Ultimately, the image is the important thing, and I really liked a lot of the images I got back from the Lomo MC-A. The 5-zone autofocus system allows for the creation of much more dynamic and varied images than are possible with a fixed-focus compact.

You have to maintain some distance, as the camera isn’t one for close-focusing; the minimum claimed distance is 0.4m, but I would give it even more latitude than that. In general, it will probably take running a roll to get used to the ins and outs of the autofocus. Your first scans will likely have a fair few blurry misfires, until you get in the habit of slowing down, taking a breath, and waiting for that blue LED to turn solid before firing the shutter.

Once you get the hang of it though, you can capture images with a sharp main subject and a nicely defocused background, and even moving subjects as long as they're not too speedy. A striding pedestrian is perfectly possible to capture in a sharp image, but a speeding bike is a bit more of an ask.

Images offer a good level of detail. The 32mm lens allows you to fit plenty in the frame, without being so wide that the perspective becomes distorted and non-naturalistic, and its quality is sufficient to hold up to a bit of cropping if you want to hone in on your subject in editing.

There is a pronounced vignette to the lens, noticeable when you capture an image with a lot of empty space, like a big blue sky. It can also flare a little when shot into direct light, producing pronounced optical effects. I don’t mind these quirks, personally — I think they rather add to the low-fi feel. But if you’re looking for optical flawlessness, it ain’t here.

If I'm adding to my wishlist for the next MC-A, or future accessories for this one, a teleconverter for the lens could be an interesting way to expand its versatility.

Realistically, you probably won't want to manually dial in your aperture and shutter speed for every single shot — and the good news here is that the Lomo MC-A's auto exposure modes generally do a commendable job.

I shot the majority of my test images using Aperture Priority mode – setting the aperture myself, and letting the camera handle shutter speeds. Exposures came back mostly well-balanced; I did notice a mild bias towards overexposure, particularly when the sun was out in full force, so you may want to consider dialing back half a stop using the exposure compensation dial if you think an image might run the risk of heavy glare.

Naturally, the look of your images is going to be predominantly dictated by the film you load. On my recent outings with the Lomo MC-A, I ran through some Kodak Gold 200, Kodak ColorPlus 200 and Lomography's own Lomo 400, the results of which you can see on this page.

I had the shots professionally developed, with scans at a resolution of 3130 x 2075, producing file sizes of around 5-7MB. I think the MC-A's lens is sharp enough that you could scan at higher resolutions than this.

Should I buy the Lomography Lomo MC-A?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Lomography Lomo MC-A

• I received a loan unit of the Lomography MC-A for testing, though I've since purchased one for myself.
• I’ve run a total of five rolls of 35mm color film through the camera over about three months.
• I’ve shot in variable light conditions and have taken the camera to a number of locations, mostly around London.

I’ve now rattled through five rolls of film with the Lomography MC-A, making for a total of around 180 frames. I’ve tried my hand at street photography with it to test the autofocus system, have shot landscape-style images from landmarks like London’s Primrose Hill, and have used both the auto and manual focusing and exposure modes. I’ve made it my main driver for several days out, as well as taking it on dedicated photo walks.

First reviewed March 2026

In my review of the Kodak Charmera, I described the retro keychain snapper as 'the worst camera I've ever used', so what on earth is possessing me to buy it over and over again?

For one, the price – it costs just $35 / £35 at Amazon (though it started out life at $30 / £30 before going viral). That's such an attractive price for a fully working digital camera with LCD screen.

Sure, the Charmera only shoots 1.6MP stills and 1440 x 1080 video (with a choice of seven filters and four animated borders), the worst quality I've seen in many years, but where else can you find a camera so cheap?

It also scratches that retro tech itch; being inspired by a 1980's Kodak design, it's a dinky, colorful creation. In fact, it comes in one of six colorways, in a mystery 'blind box', so you don't know which version you'll get.

Or you can buy the whole set to guarantee getting each colorway, but for a full price-per-camera of $210 / £210 for all six varieties. I've actually considered buying that set for the family, so everyone gets a different one.

Buy the Kodak Charmera at Amazon

Sure, it's not discounted in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, plus it has gone up in price since its September 2025 launch, but the Charmera is back in stock for 2026 and available with next-day delivery for Prime members, and it's still an unmatched low-cost retro camera gift.

• View the full Amazon Big Spring Sale

When I first saw the Charmera, I lost count of the number of people I know who would be charmed by it. My petrolhead niece? She can whack it on her car keys. My rough and tumble daughter? She has free rein with hers.

The Kodak Charmera is the camera that keeps on giving as an original idea gift, so long as you embrace its fully retro qualities.

More of today's best Amazon Big Spring Sale deals

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks, Echo & tablets from $18
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• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Easter: gifts under $50 for all ages
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Toys: 57% off Lego, Tonies & board games
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

• The Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 updates 2018's Lumix ZS200 / TZ200
• Both feature a 15x optical zoom, 1-inch sensor and 20MP stills
• USB-C charging is added, but a key feature is removed

Following on from last year's Lumix ZS99 (known as the Lumix TZ99 outside of the US), Panasonic has brought back another of its classic travel zoom compact cameras — the premium Lumix ZS300 / TZ300.

It updates the Lumix ZS200 / TZ200 from 2018, which we gave a 4.5-star rating and labelled "the most advanced travel zoom camera you can buy right now". That was eight years ago, mind you — so what's new in the 2026 update?

Not much, is the simple answer. The Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 has the same core specs as its predecessor, headlined by a stabilized lens with a 15x optical zoom for an effective 24-360mm range, and a 1-inch sensor for 20MP stills and 4K video recording.

To be fair, those specs still rival other, much newer compact cameras. And USB-C charging has been added, which is a super-handy feature for traveling, and which brings Panasonic's premium line of compact travel zooms into compliance with today's common charger rules in Europe.

But, as with the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99, where one feature is gained, another is lost — Panasonic has done away with the electronic viewfinder.

The classic is back, but it's missing something

To be fair, in our review of the ZS200 / TZ200 we described the feature as "cramped". Nevertheless, keen photographers tend to like the option of a viewfinder, especially in bright light when screens can otherwise be hard to see clearly.

As mentioned, Panasonic made the same move with the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 (which updated the Lumix ZS80 / TZ95). It's likely a cost-cutting exercise, and / or a reflection of how most people now tend to rely on screens to compose images.

What's striking though, is that with very little added to differentiate it from an eight-year-old model, the new Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 still looks like a compelling choice today.

In addition to the aforementioned core specs, it shoots 120fps slow-motion video in FHD, has a macro setting with close focusing down to just 3cm, 22 creative filters for on-the-go in-camera effects, plus wireless connection to a smartphone via the Panasonic Image App.

The Lumix ZS300 / TZ300 is available in black or gray colorways (see below) from the beginning of May 2026, and will cost £869 / AU$1,599 — I'll update this page with US pricing and availability when I get that information.

Would I have liked to see some of Panasonic's latest features included here, such as its improved autofocus and Real Time LUTs? Sure — Canon is one brand making truly new products in this space with modern features, such as the PowerShot V1. That said, I'm glad this Lumix line is back and available to buy once more — I think the design and feature set of the ZS300 / TZ300 will appeal to plenty of people.

I attended The Photography Show 2026 this week, the 'UK's leading event for any photographer, filmmaker & content creator', and I had the chance to stop by the Ricoh stand, where I got my first look at the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome.

It's a premium compact camera that couldn't be more niche, shooting photos and video in black and white only, through a fixed 28mm f/2.8 lens and 26MP APS-C sensor.

Nevertheless, having already reviewed the Ricoh GR IV, which enables you to shoot in color and monochrome, but is otherwise the same camera, and concluded that it delivers the best image quality you can get from a truly pocketable camera, I was keen to try the Monochrome version — until I saw the price.

The Ricoh GR IV costs $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,199 (up from 2019's GR III by around 20%), whereas the GR IV Monochrome, with its optimized sensor and red filter, costs $2,199 / £1,599 / AU$3,249. True, a limited production run will always result in a premium price, but that price difference stings, especially if you're in the US.

However, that price hike for the niche version of an already niche camera hasn't seemed to have put people off. I spoke with Ricoh's Marketing Manager for EMEA, Adrien Uden, at the Ricoh stand, and he told me "we've got 12 months of orders".

That's right — if you're in Europe, the Middle East or Africa, and haven't pre-ordered a Ricoh GR IV Monochrome yet, you potentially face a year-long wait to get your hands on one.

The curious case of premium compact cameras

2026 has been a quiet year so far for new cameras, save for the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema and Ricoh GR IV Monochrome. They're two incredibly niche compact cameras, but both are sold out in many regions.

We've seen such situations before; the Fujifilm X100VI broke pre-order records, and remains a popular premium compact two years after its launch.

And here we are once more with the GR IV Monochrome, which comes hot off the heels of the even pricier Leica Q3 Monochrom. It's Ricoh's first black and white-only GR compact, and it seems there's no price too great to deter fans, many of whom no doubt see it as the ultimate street photography camera.

For me, its optimized quality for black-and-white photography is desirable. However, it's a camera that I'lI likely let pass me by at this price, though I'm still tempted to add the regular GR IV to my GR IIIX as an everyday carry.

What about you? Are you in the GR IV Monochrome queue? Is a camera that's optimized for black and white photography worth the extra cost? Let me know in the comments below.

Compact cameras are trending in two distinct categories – pricey premium models and cheap point-and-shoots, with little in between. Naturally, it's the low-cost models selling big, but the likes of Amazon are flooded with models simply not worth your time. So which models do I recommend for retro digicam vibes?

The Kodak Charmera has sold by the bucket load, and I'm not surprised — it might be the worst quality camera I've used in years, but the 'blindbox' keychain camera is so bad and so retro that people love it!

Equally, the Chuzhao TLR-style digital camera is hamstrung by poor image quality, but maxes out on retro vibes with its waist-level screen and quirky video recording design.

If you want a tiny camera that your friends will love, the Instax Pal scores on charm, complete with an interactive app — it's as close to a Tamagotchi as cameras go. But if you'd like a few more features for your cheap camera, the Kodak PixPro C1 is a decent value pick, as is the screen-less Camp Snap CS Pro.

All these cameras fall under $100, some even way below $50. But if your budget stretches further, the ultimate retro digicam right now has to be the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema — a 3-in-1 digital camera, video camera and instant camera with a super cool Super 8-style body and an Eras Dial for looks that span the last 100 years!

Whichever option you pick below, you can expect big vibes and retro quality, and a remedy for your ‘smartphone face’ fatigue.

7 of the best cheap toy cameras for a digicam vibe

Though Fujifilm didn’t have much in the way of new cameras or lenses to showcase at CP+ 2026 in Japan last week, what it did demonstrate was intent. The company has enjoyed a lot of success in recent years by embracing a new generation looking to move beyond their phones for photography, even if that doesn’t mean seeking out the most technically-impressive camera on the market.

The Fujifilm X100VI has continued to sell in incredible numbers, with film recipes being a huge appeal of the camera for users, and that’s before discussing the success of the Instax line of instant cameras, which recently expanded with the Mini Evo Cinema.

The aim is to make photography fun by giving new, easier and different ways for people to engage with the artform. Which makes sense when you look at trends of younger generations becoming interested in photography more deeply by investing in analog and vintage digital cameras to get that retro feel in their memories.

But how do these shifting consumer expectations impact Fujifilm and its approach to designing new cameras and features? That’s exactly what I asked Theo Georghiades, Fujifilm’s General Manager for Imaging Solutions in the UK, when I had a chance to speak with him on the show floor of the CP+ 2026 event at Pacifico Yokohama in Japan last week.

Stepping away from smartphones

For Fujifilm, getting people to engage with photography beyond their phones centers on accessibility. Not everyone has the money to get the best technology, or the time and ability to edit a raw photo. And so, it has worked its roots in film into digital film recipes for its ever popular and evolving digital cameras, which has proved to be a key way in getting general audiences into the act of using a traditional camera for photography.

“ Film simulation is basically giving people a gateway to upgrade from their phone to a camera,” explains Theo. “It’s helping people to realize that it's actually not daunting to shoot with a camera.

“It’s not just opened things up to a wider audience – we’ve also seen a lot of photographers take a step back, where at one point they used to shoot RAW and now feel they don’t need to all the time anymore. Instead, they do it [use film recipes and simulations] so they can spend more time sharing photos and trust that they’ll get the right photo straight from the camera and the color recipes.”

In a lot of ways, this mentality reflects how photography is as much about the process as it is the end result. These film recipes are being rolled out to all new Fujifilm X cameras, and in some of the latest models there’s even a dedicated dial for direct access, such as in the new X-T30 III.

Fujifilm also notes the design of these cameras and the process of taking the photo, especially those emulating the exterior aesthetic of a retro camera, are most appealing to broad audiences. “ People don't want to rely on their phone to do everything any more,  and the younger generation in particular now likes having multiple devices that do cool things.”

Making cameras fun again

It’s clear that retro design extends across Fujifilm’s entire line of cameras – Fujifilm’s CP+ 2026 booth included a showcase of its top-of-the-range digital cameras such as the X-T5, a large promotion for the recent X half camera, the Instax line, plus a look at vintage film cameras, including the now 40-year-old QuickSnap disposable cameras.

Particularly in Japan, the Instax lineup of instant cameras has mass appeal; from families and friends all the way to music artists using it for personalized photography to share with fans, and the Mini Evo Cinema took center stage at CP+.

The Evo Cinema is a unique entry in the Instax lineup, offering a hybrid mix of digital and analog via its digital sensor capturing still images that can be printed and even video. Numerous filters represented by decades can be chosen using a dial that adds filters to the footage, and alongside saving digitally, these can be printed onto Instax film with a QR code that allows the footage to be downloaded from the company’s website. All this, housed inside a shell emulating a Super-8 film camera.

The intent is making it fun to shoot with, most of all. “With this camera, the R&D team went through and chose video filters that defined the ways in which video shooting evolved during that era. It’s why the earliest years are in black and white, we have scanlines in the 1980s, the look of VHS, then going into more HD looks in the newest years", says Theo.

"Plus, you can look at the screen, but the idea is you are going to use it more like a Super 8 camera, which is just a lot more fun to do than shooting a video any other way. It’s always a balance between design, operability and fun, and I think design is one of Fujifilm’s best attributes.”

A business sweet spot

It would make sense, looking at Fujifilm’s focus on making cameras from cheap instant film and disposable cameras to top-of-the-range digital cameras with a focus on image quality and the experience of taking a shot, that the company would be in tune with the ways in which people’s relationship with photography has evolved in recent years.

Compact camera shipments are on the rise and a growing number of Gen Z are buying digicams from the 2000s to achieve that Y2K and retro aesthetic. With that in mind, could Fujifilm’s discontinued FinePix line of compact cameras make a comeback to cater to this new audience?

Not so, according to Theo. “Thinking about the old FinePix, it’s great that people are embracing these old pieces of the Fujifilm lineup again and we’ve seen a resurgence in them, but we’ve also seen a resurgence in traditional compact cameras, like the X100VI. We’ve started building back up our compact lineup based on those demands. Will we ever see a new FinePix? Unlikely. I think we’ve gone past that era, but it’s great that people are embracing it. Because if people are embracing these older technologies, eventually they’ll want to upgrade to the latest version.

“Pricing is the big challenge for that. People are picking up these old cameras for $100-200, and the economies of scale mean we’re never going to be able to make a compact camera for that price anymore, so we can’t compete with that.

“Instead, we have to push our ideas around design, operability and versatility with film simulations and connectivity that make it worth that extra money… we never would have thought a $1,600 X100VI would be the sweet spot of our range because that’s a lot of money for a lot of people, but it is our most popular camera, so it’s about finding what works for people.”

The modern camera market is being defined not solely by perfection, though the best lenses and cameras will always have their professional place. A market that caters to the desires of an audience instead seeking an experience that resonates, will bring in a general audience most of all. The diverse audiences at the Fujifilm’s CP+ booth and recent success stories shows it must be doing something right.

Kodak Snapic A1: one-minute review

The Kodak Snapic A1 is a 35mm analog film camera designed and manufactured by Hong Kong-based Reto Production – the same company behind other licensed Kodak analog models like the Ektar H35N and Charmera. Priced from just $99, it's one of the more affordable ways to dip your toes into the world of film photography, and it comes loaded with enough retro charm to justify that novelty appeal.

The design is immediately striking. Available in off-white or dark gray, the clean-lined plastic body has just enough Kodak orange on the shutter button and logo to feel authentically branded without going overboard. It's a look that calls to mind the retro-futuristic aesthetic of classic science fiction movies rather than a straightforward throwback, and in my book that's a good thing. It slipped into my jacket pockets with ease, and the included neck strap and protective pouch are welcome additions that more budget-focussed cameras often skip.

Feature-wise, you get a three-element glass lens at 25mm with a fixed f/9.5 aperture and 1/100s shutter speed. There are two manual focus settings, plus an auto flash with red-eye reduction, automatic film advance and rewind, and a double-exposure shooting mode. A small but practical OLED panel on top displays battery life, remaining exposures, and current settings. It's basic by design, but thoughtfully put together.

In good outdoor light, I found that the Snapic A1 delivers characterful, grainy 35mm shots with that all-important analog look. Vignetting and some chromatic aberration are present, but these feel like features rather than flaws. Indoors, however, the flash struggles; it lacks the reach and power to properly illuminate subjects beyond a few feet, making indoor shots a more hit-or-miss experience, particularly with slower film.

The main practical gripes are minor but worth flagging. The Mode button sits awkwardly on the left edge of the top plate, and it's easy to accidentally trigger it depending on how you hold the camera. There's also no lens cap, which makes the pouch essential rather than optional. And while the price is genuinely affordable for the hardware, film and processing costs ramp up fast. A single 36-exposure roll and a set of digital prints can run close to $40 / £30, meaning the ongoing cost of ownership is considerably higher than buying the camera itself.

Taken as a whole, I think the Kodak Snapic A1 is a fun, well-designed entry point into analog photography – and one of the best new film cameras for the money. It won't satisfy anyone looking for creative control or technical precision, but for casual shooters who want a stylish, pocketable film camera that just works, it hits the mark at a price that's hard to argue with.

Kodak Snapic A1: price and availability

• $99 / £99 / AU$179
• Ongoing costs of 35mm film and processing

The Kodak Snapic A1 is available to buy now, and refreshingly cheap at just $99 / £99 / AU$179.

Also supplied in the box are two handy accessories: a soft microfiber drawstring pouch for keeping the camera protected when not in use, and a corded strap that's long enough to fit around the user's neck or shoulder. Kodak could have shipped this with just a tiny wrist strap, so I was impressed with the extras.

You will, however, need to supply your own batteries (2 x AAA), and there are the added costs of 35mm film, its development and potential printing to consider as well. This can quickly add up: buying a roll of 36-exposure Kodak ColorPlus film and getting some medium-quality digital prints costs me almost £30 in the UK (around $40 / AU$ 57). So, despite the affordability of the hardware, the Snapic A1 isn't a particularly cheap camera to own.

Kodak Snapic A1: specs

Kodak Snapic A1: design

• Small, stylish and built from sturdy plastic
• Just 120g in weight and 118 x 62 x 35mm in size
• Film is easy to load thanks to large rear door and auto wind

Kodak (or Reto, to be precise) has kept things pleasingly nostalgic with the styling. The camera body is ABS plastic but built to nice sturdy standards, and its clean lines and ivory white front (it's also available in a dark gray color finish), with a couple of flashes of classic Kodak orange on the shutter button and logo, bring to mind the retro-futuristic production design of something like 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's not just another 1950s or 60s-esque camera, and I really like that.

At under 120g and just 118 x 62 x 35mm in size, the camera is genuinely pocket-sized and I found it very easy to bring along to social events and out on hikes. There's no lens cap to protect the glass front element, which makes the included protective pouch all the more valuable.

While the Snapic A1 is fairly bare-bones in terms of features and functions, it does have some interesting design touches. By flicking a switch underneath the lens, for instance, I could toggle between close-up (0.5 to 1.5m) and far-off (1.5m to infinity) focus. And, up on top, there's an OLED panel that provides at-a-glance info on remaining exposures, battery life and the current flash and focus settings. It's monochrome and tiny, but easy to read and perfectly equipped for its job.

My main gripe with the design is the placement of the Mode / M.E. button, which sits right on the left edge of the top plate, curving around to the left side of the camera. Often, when I was gripping the camera and about to take a shot, my left forefinger would hit this button and change the shooting mode. Depending on how you hold the camera, this may never become an issue for you, but it forced me to adjust the way I took photos, which I found a little annoying.

Getting film in and out of the camera is easy thanks to a large, easy to open rear door that provides plenty of room to work. There's a tiny plastic window on the door so that you can instantly see whether or not any film is inside. And, in a nice user-friendly touch, film winds on automatically between shots and will fully rewind once a roll is complete.

Kodak Snapic A1: performance

• Strong, characterful 35mm photos
• Flash isn't particularly powerful
• Solid battery life

Most cheap 35mm cameras use plastic lens elements, but the Kodak Snapic A1 has a three-element glass lens. It has a wide-angle 25mm focal length and a rather narrow fixed aperture of f/9.5, along with a fixed shutter speed of 1/100s.

There's the two-stage manual focus I mentioned above, as well as a flash (which can be set to automatic, on or off, and has a red-eye reduction mode), but other than that there's no way to control your exposures. This is very much a point-and-shoot camera, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing – simplicity is welcome – it does mean you need to know its limits if you want to get the best out of it.

I shot using Kodak ColorPlus 200 speed film, with which the camera performs well outdoors in the daytime. I managed to capture some striking snaps that I'm very happy with, and I love the grainy look of those images. Indoors, however, I found that the flash doesn't have the reach or power to illuminate subjects more than a few feet away. It may fare better with 800 or 1600 speed film, of course, but in my experience my most successful indoor shots were all close-up portraits, where the flash could do its job properly.

Are the Snapic A1's photos "high quality" by today's standards? Not really – if you pull out a 10-year-old smartphone it'll take sharper, cleaner images than these; there's noticeable vignetting around the edges, particularly in the corners, and some chromatic aberration too.

But I don't think quality is ever really the point with a cheap 35mm camera – the look and feel of analog photos can't easily be replicated by digital filters and algorithmic tweaking, and you buy an old-fashioned camera like this for, ironically, the novelty of shooting on film. Yes, its photos aren't noise-free or razor-sharp edge-to-edge, but they have real texture and character.

If you do want to get a little more creative, the Snapic A1 can capture double exposures – just hold down the Mode button to select it, and the OLED panel will make it clear whether you're shooting the first or second exposure.

Battery life feels pretty solid to me. After shooting a 36-exposure roll of film on the camera, the battery indicator still showed as full, and according to Kodak users should be able to shoot around 10 rolls of 24-exposure film on a single pair of AAA alkaline batteries. Your mileage, of course, may vary depending on which batteries you're using and how frugal you are with the flash.

Should you buy the Kodak Snapic A1?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

How I tested the Kodak Snapic A1

• Used over a few weeks in different lighting conditions, indoors and outside
• Tested with Kodak ColorPlus 200 film
• Film sent to Analogue Wonderland for processing and development

Testing a film camera is a much slower process than reviewing a digital camera, because you can't look at the photos right away. In fact, I reviewed the Kodak Snapic A1 (a sample of which was sent to me by a PR rep) over a period of well over a month, taking it with me to various parties, hikes and events and snapping a photo or two until my 36-exposure roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 film was spent.

I made sure to use the camera in all kinds of conditions – indoors and outdoors, day and night, bright and overcast – testing out the flash and focus controls.

I then sent the film to UK-based online film retailer and developer Analogue Wonderland for processing. They created digital scans for me to download – I opted not to pay extra for physical prints.

• 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!

• CIPA's 2025 numbers highlight a great year for compact cameras
• Shipments are up 29.6%, and value up 49.8%
• DSLR shipments are now just 11% compared to mirrorless

If you didn't already know it, there's a compact camera revival. Viral popularity of the Fujifilm X100VI, Nikon Coolpix S6900 and Canon PowerShot G7X Mark III have certainly helped, as have cheap Kodak point-and-shoots and Gen Z's fascination with lo-fi tech. Nonetheless, 2025 numbers recently published by CIPA are especially surprising.

CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) is a voice of authority, determining industry testing standards for the likes of camera battery life – at TechRadar, we base our review numbers on CIPA ratings. Its data can be taken seriously.

And it has now published shipment numbers and value for compact cameras for 2025 (that is, those with a built-in lens, irrespective of size), plus DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. The report is based on information provided by camera companies in Japan – which covers most of the leading brands, including Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, OM System, Sigma and Panasonic, but not Leica and Hasselblad – with numbers broken down and packaged into handy visuals courtesy of DPRreview forum member funtrail.

Let's just say these are good days for compact cameras, the end of days for DSLRs, and positive times for mirrorless. Let's take a look at the numbers...

Premium compacts on the rise

When smartphones took off around 2010 and compact camera sales nosedived in the following years, most industry folk predicted the complete demise of pocketable point-and-shoots. However, 15+ years later, sales are growing once more, as TikTok trends spike interest, especially in retro gear.

We've been closely following the changes in this space, ever since the X100VI went viral in 2023, driving up interest and prices.

Now, three years later, compact camera shipments are up 29.6% year-on-year (2.44 million vs 1.88 million), while value sees a disproportionate growth of 49.8%, meaning that pricier compacts are in fashion.

I can't say that I'm surprised. Following the Fujifilm X100VI, which was the most preordered camera in history, other premium models are typically sold out, including the Leica Q3, Ricoh GR IV, Sony RX1R III (above) and Fujifilm GFX100RF. All of these cameras have price tags in the thousands.

They are different beasts to cheap point-and-shoots, of course – with quality to match serious mirrorless cameras. Even still, sub-$200 models have grown in popularity too – the Kodak PixPro FZ55 tops global camera sales lists.

To keep things in perspective, these are year-on-year numbers, and compact camera shipments are still not a patch on pre-pandemic days.

As for interchangeable lens cameras, mirrorless shipments are up 12.5% year-on-year, with shipments totaling 6.31 million units – a steady growth since 2020 when shipments were 2.93 million.

New DSLR shipments are at an all-time low of just 691,000 units (down 30.8% year-on-year), and the average value of shipments suggest most units are beginner-level models. Overall, year-on-year shipments for compact, DSLR and mirrorless cameras are up 11%.

For a camera enthusiast like me, these market trends are encouraging, and I hope this results in new and exciting models for me to review this year and beyond. Surely it's time for the likes of Sony, Nikon and Panasonic to reinvest in developing new compact cameras, while enjoying the fruit of years of R&D in mirrorless.

What do you think? Will we see new premium compact cameras from some of the big players? Which new models and features would you like to see? Let me know in the comments below.

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

• The new Ricoh GR IV Monochrome is the first B&W-only model in the series
• At $2,199 / £1,599, it costs at least 25% more than the regular Ricoh GR IV
• Besides being optimized for B&W photography, it's otherwise essentially identical

Ricoh has actually just done me a favor. You see, I was so excited for the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome – the first in the series of premium digital compacts that's optimized for black-and-white photography – that I was ready to buy it. However, it has been launched today with a shocking price bump, and the deal is off. So I guess that's a saving.

Let's be clear – I've not used the GR IV Monochrome but, even still, I know I wanted it. You see, I really do love black-and-white photography and I'm a fan of the Ricoh GR series.

I recently published my Leica Q3 Monochrom review – which unpacks the gains and pitfalls of a black-and-white only camera – and my first-hand experience with that premium compact, coupled with the regular Ricoh GR IV too, only whet my appetite for the GR IV Monochrome.

I count the GR IV a decent upgrade from my GR III – I have the 'x' version of the GR III which I've used regularly for years. Again, there was a price hike there from the GR III, but the GR IV's new 26MP sensor with five-axis stabilization, improved lens, better battery life and increased internal memory add up to make the regular GR IV worth it.

Even still, when I heard about the monochrome version ahead of its announcement today, I thought that's the camera for me, given that I tend to shoot a lot with my own Ricoh GR IIIx in black-and-white.

I expected a small bump in price given how incredibly niche this black-and-white-only version if the GR IV is, and the presumably shorter production run. That's true of the Leica Q3 Monochrom, which costs more than the regular Q3. However, I was thinking a sub 10% increase, not a whopping 25% in the UK (and more in the US)!

At $2,200 / £1,600, I could pick up a Fujifilm X100VI instead of the GR IV or, more temptingly, a Nikon Z6 III – and that's a serious mirrorless camera.

I love black-and-white photography, especially with a Ricoh GR camera, and I really, really like the GR IV – size to quality, it's the best compact camera available – so I was banking on the GR IV Monochrome being my next camera.

However, I don't think those incremental gains of a model optimized for black-and-white photography are worth this extra outlay. If anything, my attention is back on the regular GR IV instead, which feels like a wiser choice now.

Charting the price of the Ricoh GR series

I purchased the Ricoh GR IIIx back in 2022 for £1,000 in the UK (the 'x' version in the GR series features a 40mm f/2.8 lens rather than a 28mm f/2.8 lens), at which point the original GR III (launched in 2019) cost $1,100 / £900. I counted that price as fair.

Given its popularity, GR III cameras saw a small price bump over the years. Then came the Ricoh GR IV at the end of 2025 for $1,500 / £1,200. I initially thought that price hike was unfair, but the upgrades in that model just about merited the bump, which didn't exactly favor those in the US hit by additional tariff-related price increases.

Now we have the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, which costs $2,200 / £1,600. In the US, that's twice the price that the GR III was and $700 more than the Ricoh GR IV. It's a 25% increase in the UK. Let that sink in.

You've got to really, really love black-and-white photography to buy the GR IV Monochrome over the GR IV. I expect many people still will, because what optimized alternatives are there? The Leica Q3 Monochrom costs much more (but it is much more camera).

I'm now in for the GR IV instead. But what do you make of the new monochrome version? Is it worth the extra cost? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Kodak Charmera: Two-minute review

It took me a while to get my hands on the Kodak Charmera – such is the viral popularity of this $30, 30g keychain digital camera, that it sold out on its release day late last year (with what felt like minimal advertising), and it only came back in stock as I publish this review a month later. Who knows, it might be out of stock again by the time you read these words.

And I can see the appeal – the Charmera is cheap, tiny, retro, it’ll easily fix to your keyring, and it’s an actual working camera with a screen.

What's more, there are six 1980s-inspired colorways, plus a limited edition see-through version, and you don’t know which version you’ll get since it comes in a 'blind box'. That’s got gift idea written all over it.

When I unboxed mine, cue disappointment – the black version with rainbow frontage – the one pictured on the box that appealed to me the least. Still, inside the box, a nice poster, a collector card, and a small charging cable.

I charged the Charmera up and slotted the thumb-sized camera into my pocket where it would live for the following weeks.

The Charmera shoots tiny 1.6 megapixel JPEG photos and HD video (1400 x 1080p at 30fps) through a fixed 35mm f/2.4 lens, has seven photo filters and four animated borders to choose from, stores onto micro SD (which needs to be purchased separately), and has a (predictably) tiny internal battery that is recharged through USB-C.

There’s a tiny 16:9 LCD screen with live view that in practice is even smaller given that images are captured in 4:3, a miniscule LED light that illuminates closeup subjects, and possibly the smallest viewfinder I've ever used, which is novel and in a way works.

Honestly, that’s about all the features and design aspects worth knowing about, but what is the Charmera actually like to use?

Menus are simple enough to navigate; turn the camera on, and you select either photo, video, or set date using the three buttons on the rear, with the playback button doubling as select.

The power button doubles up as a back button, and then there's the shutter button to shoot photos and video. It takes barely a minute to figure this all out.

Everything about the Charmera is tiny: a tiny thumb-sized body, tiny screen, tiny images. And it's actually kind of fun to shoot with...in the moment. I was certainly charmed by the Charmera, and I think many others will be too.

It's when you plug the camera into a computer or hook up the memory card to view any images taken with the Charmera that the warm fuzzy feeling quickly vanishes.

The Charmera's photo quality is about the worst I've seen from a digital camera in my lifetime – and I've been shooting digital since consumers could, when 16MB memory cards existed (yes, megabytes).

With a resolution being a truly retro 1.6MP and a barely existent dynamic range, photos are more impressions than anything else. A collection of pixels, pieced together.

And that's me commenting on the regular color profile. Use any one of the monotone filters, and things get super abstract.

Photos are like one of the novel, abstract filters you get with a decent digital camera. I guess such dated quality could charm some. For me, it screams short-lived novelty; for others, it could be the camera they always have with them.

My own gripes aside, I also think that the Charmera is so small and so distinct, that I'll keep it on me every day for the months to come.

It's a conversation starter. A whimsical capturer of moments (assuming it's tiny battery isn't flat when you pull it out of the pocket – that'll happen).

The Kodak Charmera certainly ain't good quality. But that's hardly the point, is it? This is a cheap, charming retro gift for the photography lover in your life, that should get more use than a foot spa or marmite-scented deodrant (the UK's most unwanted Christmas gift for 2025). That's the hope from me as someone who hates waste.

The Charmera is far from being one of the best compact cameras, even the best cheap compact cameras, but I don't expect that to slow down its sales.

Kodak is killing it right now with multiple best-selling cheap cameras – like the recent Ektar H35N half-frame film camera, and the PixPro C1 – and the Charmera could just be the pick of the pack in terms of concept (not quality). It's a marketing masterstroke. Who knew a keychain camera could be so popular?

Kodak Charmera: price and availability

• Announced in November 2025 and sold out in a day
• Priced at $30 / £30 / AU$54.95

The Kodak Charmera costs $30 / £30 / AU$54.95 for a single 'blind box', or you can buy the whole set of 6 for $180 / £180 to guarantee getting each colorway. There's a 1 in 48 chance of scoring the limited edition transparent version.

Scalpers have been selling the Charmera for extortionate prices, and some retailers have bumped the price a little, but you should be able to pick up the Charmera for its fair, original price through one of the links below.

Kodak Charmera: specs

Should I buy the Kodak Charmera?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Kodak Charmera

• I got the Charmera last year and it's mine to keep
• I've used it sporadically over a couple of months
• I've tried the various color filters and animated borders

I'm not going to dig into technicals of how I've tested this novel point-and-shoot camera. In short, I've rattled off hundreds of photos in good light and bad, played with the various color filters and shot short video clips. Image quality is predictably bad, but short battery life is particularly unfortunate.

First reviewed January 2026

Leica Q3 Monochrom: two-minute review

Money no object, I'd probably pick the Leica Q3 as my favorite compact camera. It's a fabulous 61MP full-frame camera with an extremely sharp, fixed 28mm f/1.7 wide-angle lens, and the ultimate everyday carry.

I'm also partial to black-and-white photography, especially on sunny days when light and shade are the stars of the show. So it was a delight to kick off 2026 by getting out and about on frosty mornings in the UK, with the low-lying sun illuminating my surroundings and the Leica Q3 Monochrom in my hand – it's identical to the original Q3 in practically every way, except that it only shoots in monochrome.

This camera is as niche as they come, and for many it also begs the question: why would you pick a camera that only takes black-and-white images when you can simply select a black-and-white color profile in a regular camera, like the original Q3, which also shoots in color when you want to? Why restrict yourself? That was the focus of my testing over the course of three weeks with the Q3 Monochrom.

For me, the reasons I would opt for a camera like this are twofold – one technical, and one creative. The creative reason is simple: its restricted parameters. I can't switch to color. I'm seeing the real-time image in black and white, and it helps me to truly appreciate light and shade, form and composition.

Shooting in black-and-white can be a great exercise to help you elevate the quality of your photography in general, should you bring color into the equation at other times. You can, however, get this experience with a 'regular' camera by using a black-and-white color profile, so that by itself is not enough reason. The second technical reason is, though – and that's increased light sensitivity.

In simple terms, all sensors in digital cameras see in black and white. To produce color images, a color filter array is placed in front of the sensor, the most common of which is the Bayer pattern with red, green and blue pixels (RGB – with twice the number of green pixels).

The drawback is that a color filter array reduces light sensitivity, leading to an increase in noise and decreased sharpness. In short, it reduces image quality by a small amount, which is seen more clearly in challenging light conditions.

So – and particularly if you mostly like to shoot black-and-white images anyway – a color filter is more of a hinderance than a help. With those image quality drawbacks, it's like watering down juice when you could otherwise enjoy the full flavor straight from the source.

A monochrome-only digital camera offers the purest form of black-and-white photography you'll get from a digital camera; and from my experience with the Q3 Monochrom, there's something a little extra about the quality of the black-and-white images it produces. A subtle improvement, a pleasing grain rather than noise, and filmic quality. Highlight clipping is, however, a major drawback to this kind of sensor.

Yes, the Leica Q3 monochrom is as niche as they come, and it costs a pretty penny too at $7,790 / £5,800 / AU$12,090. But, if you love black-and-white photography, it's the ultimate everyday carry, and one of the best compact cameras around.

Leica Q3 Monochrom: price and availability

• Announced on November 20, 2025 and available now
• Priced from $7,790 / £5,800 / AU$12,090

Leica unveiled the Q3 Monochrom in November 2025 and it went on sale immediately, costing $7,790 / £5,800 / AU$12,090. That's a mark-up of about 5% over the Q3, which was launched in 2023.

The Q3-series models use the same BP-SCL6 battery, while Leica sells a variety of accessories at its online store, including a leather half case, thumb supports, and carrying straps.

Leica Q3 Monochrom: specs

Leica Q3 Monochrom: design

• Same design as the Q3, save for Monochrom logo
• Divine lens quality and handling
• Awkward tilt touchscreen

The Q3 Monochrom essentially has the same premium, minimalist design as the original Q3, save for its suitably monochromatic logo. That means it operates in exactly the same way as the original model, for good and for bad.

The 28mm lens is the star of the show, not only in terms of the images it produces, but because of how it handles; it's equipped with decent autofocus, but is designed in a way to please manual-focus fans, with autofocus activated via a well-hidden button on the manual-focus ring.

It also looks just like a manual-focus-only lens. There are focus distance markings, and a macro mode that's activated by turning a dial which reveals new focus distance markings – a design masterstroke.

Other design features are the same, too. We have a decent 5.76m-dot viewfinder, plus a crisp 1.84m-dot tilt touchscreen. I'm not a fan of the tilt design, though – it protrudes from the back of the camera and it's awkward to grip and pull out for waist-level shooting. For the next Q installment, Leica should take notes from Fujifilm and others.

Every touch screams premium quality, from the knurled control dials with just the right amount of resistance, to the pop-out battery and the viewfinder's pop-out diopter adjustment. The memory card door design could do with a little tweaking because it feels like one weak point, but quality-wise I can't otherwise fault the Q3 Monochrom.

For a deeper dive into the design of the Leica Q3 Monochrom, check out my Leica Q3 review.

Leica Q3 Monochrom: features and performance

• High-resolution 61MP sensor with digital crop modes
• Reasonable autofocus performance and precise manual focus
• Average battery life

There's no change from the original Q3 regarding features or performance, either, save for the monochrome-only images, which is what I'll double down on in this section.

To summarize the other aspects first, the Q3 Monochrom's startup time is rapid, battery life is average at best, autofocus accuracy and speed are good, while in-body image stabilization performance is only okay, but certainly welcome in a camera capable of capturing such high-resolution photos.

And with 61MP to play with there's huge scope for cropping into images to emulate the look of tighter lenses – a feature that can be accessed directly using one of the two buttons above the LCD screen (the gallery below shows a selection of digitally cropped images using the maximum in-camera crop setting, then the full un-cropped version for comparison). The other button above the LCD switches from stills to video, with 8K video recording once again present.

The macro setting of the lens reduces its close-focusing distance, making it possible to capture flowers and other small subjects in exquisite detail – that's another string to the bow of the Q3 series (see the gallery directly below).

I also love how the maximum aperture of the lens is nice and bright at f/1.7. Pair that with the image stabilization, and Q3 cameras feel more versatile overall than the stunning Fujifilm GFX100RF, even if that camera has an even sharper lens – check out my Q3 vs GFX100RF real-world test to see how those premium compacts compare.

The 28mm lens also produces some of the crispest sunstars I've seen (check out the backlit tree image two galleries down); again, for more details, check out the Q3 review.

Now, let's get on to black-and-white image quality. Firstly, there are three main monotone profiles to choose from: natural (which is the profile I used for most of this review), plus a sepia and a blue-tone look.

I was surprised and disappointed to see how limited the customization options are for these profiles, though. For example, contrast can be tweaked for these presets, but you can't apply a filter effect, as you can to, say, Fujifilm and Ricoh alternatives.

That said, it's possible to upload LUT profiles to the camera from the Leica app for other creative styles, or of course attach a physical filter to the 28mm lens. I like using an orange filter to create dramatic skies with an infrared-type look, while a green filter can emphasize skin tones.

I've taken photos with the Q3 Monochrom in a wide range of scenarios, shooting all images in RAW (DNG) and JPEG. When comparing the two, the natural profile brightens shadows, at the cost of rich contrast.

In all images detail is seriously sharp, with a pleasing fine grain – kind of like an ISO 50 film photography feel.

Sadly, I didn't have the original Q3 at the same time as the Q3 Monochrom to make direct comparisons. However, I have prior experience for such comparisons, and so I know that images shot in black-and-white on a color camera have more pronounced noise, and detail is slightly softer.

I've since done a little research, and found that YouTuber Florian Froschmayer has posted a really useful video which shows the ins and outs for each Q3 model, with comparisons that back up my experience.

His video also hammers home a major warning for using a monochrome-only digital camera: highlight clipping is unforgiving. If you were to overexpose an image – that is, with highlights blown out – you wouldn't be able to recover this detail to nearly the same extent as with a color model, like the original Q3.

Already knowing this, I factored in underexposing when shooting with the Q3 Monochrom. To a degree, this approach can offset the image-quality benefits of its better light sensitivity, but the fact remains that its images are sharper and cleaner than the Q3's when viewed closely. If you're into black-and-white photography, with a good handle on exposure, the Q3 Monochrom's black-and-white image quality exceeds the Q3's.

Should I buy the Leica Q3 Monochrom?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Leica Q3 Monochrom

• Leica loaned me the Q3 Monochrom for three weeks
• I used it as my everyday carry, shooting images in a variety of scenarios
• I shot all images in RAW and JPEG, and used the macro setting and all focus modes

I spent three weeks using the Leica Q3 Monochrom as my primary camera, shooting all photos in RAW and JPEG. I've used the macro setting for close-up photography, tested the digital crop mode, and swapped between manual and autofocus modes.

When editing, I've looked at shadow and highlight recovery, and taken a close look at the quality of detail, especially in low-light photos where this type of sensor excels.

First reviewed January 2026

Ricoh GR IV: two-minute review

I'm already a fan of the Ricoh GR series of premium compact cameras, having purchased the GR IIIx several years ago. There really is no other camera this small that can shoot photos that look this good – and that's why I've featured it in my best compact camera and best point-and-shoot camera guides.

My GR III series camera is far from perfect, though. It's prone to damage, its autofocus can be really sluggish at times, and it could do with a built-in flash. I'd also love a tilt screen – oh and poor battery life is another gripe among users.

Despite these limitations I still carry my Ricoh with me most days, but I've been keeping a keen eye out for the arrival of its successor, in the hope it could deliver particular upgrades and become my perfect compact. Well, the Ricoh GR IV is finally here, six years after the GR III, and I've had my hands on it for around three weeks, with the new camera in one pocket and my GR IIIx in the other.

So is the GR IV my dream upgrade? Not quite... but it is a better camera in many other ways. I'm disappointed that the build quality is mostly the same (besides what Ricoh says is better sealing on the new lens), in that it isn't technically weather-sealed and so will need looking after, even though its feels decent in the hand.

On the plus side, I was already happy with the image quality from my GR III, but Ricoh has introduced a new 26MP sensor and refined the lens to further improve quality, while the sensor has improved 5-axis stabilization.

As mentioned, I was hoping for a built-in flash this time around, but the GR IV doesn't have one; ditto a tilt screen. I also wanted much better autofocus performance, but I'm not seeing enough of a difference.

On the flip-side, again, the GR IV delivers some significant upgrades that I didn't see coming: internal storage is bumped up from 2GB to 53GB, there's a new bigger battery with approximately 20% better capacity, and the body is even slimmer, with a refined grip making the camera feel even better in the hand.

You get the picture – the GR IV is a decent upgrade for certain users, but one to skip for others. I for one can't see a good enough reason to splash out, but I understand why others would. And for those who are new to the series and looking for a premium compact, you won't find a better one at this size.

One final, and significant, entry for the 'cons' column is that the list price has been hiked by around 20% over the GR III's, depending on where you live (the GR III originally cost $999 / £899 in 2019). I firmly believe that $1,150 / £1,000 is a much fairer price for the GR IV than $1,500 / £1,200 / AU$2,200.

What has caught my eye, however, is Ricoh announcing that a GR IV Monochrome is in the pipeline, which would be the first black-and-white-only camera in the series. I'm a fan of the black-and-white profiles in these cameras, and I shoot the majority of my pictures in monochrome, so this niche version could well be my next camera purchase.

• 🇬🇧 The Ricoh GR IV costs £1,199 at Park Cameras

Ricoh GR IV: price and availability

• Launched on August 20, 2025
• Announced alongside the new Ricoh GF-2 flash
• Priced at $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,199

The Ricoh GR IV was first unveiled in May 2025 and went on sale from August, with a launch price of $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,199. That's an approximately 20% mark-up over the GR III, depending on which region you live in.

I wish the GR IV had a built-in flash, but in its absence Ricoh has done the next best thing, launching a new GF-2 flash that sits in the GR IV's hotshoe and is suitably tiny. It wasn't available to me while I was testing the camera, so I'm yet to use it, but it's also compatible with GR III cameras (with reduced funtionality) so I expect I'll be buying one.

Ricoh GR IV: specs

Ricoh GR IV: design

• Slim body and refined grip give a secure and comfortable single-hand hold
• Easily slips into a pocket
• Still no built-in flash or weather sealing
• Internal storage upped from 2GB to 53GB
• Fixed touchscreen can be hard to see in bright light

The GR IV might look largely the same as the GR III, but there are design tweaks to the new camera that add up to improve the overall handling.

Its width and height are essentially the same, meaning the GR IV will still easily slip into a trouser pocket – the same can't be said for the bulkier Fujifilm X100VI. What's new, and seriously impressive, is that Ricoh has slimmed down the GR IV compared to the GR III, while keeping the grip depth the same.

The GR IV immediately felt different in the hand to me, having been so used to the GR III – the slimmer body and refined grip give a secure and comfortable hold with just one hand, however you're holding the camera. It's a tiny design tweak that makes a big difference – I often want to shoot with one hand using my GR III, but to do so comfortably I've had to attach a separate thumb grip.

Ricoh has reverted back to the ± button that was on the GR II, but dropped from the GR III. This can control the likes of exposure compensation, and overall it's a welcome return, even if I found myself tapping the button all too easily.

Three of my top wishes as a GR III user interested in this successor sadly remain elusive – there's no built-in flash, tilt screen, or weather sealing. Those upgrades alone would have had me reaching for my wallet.

A built-in flash would be supremely helpful for portraits at parties – without one, I wouldn't really use the GR IV in such scenarios. Ricoh has, as mentioned, announced the tiny GF-2 external flash, which is an accessory I will absolutely look into purchasing.

I find the fixed touchscreen of my GR III hard to see clearly in bright light, and it doesn't make low-angle shooting easy. A tilt screen would help no end, but sadly this is another potential upgrade that didn't materialize.

However, it's the lack of weather sealing that's the real kicker for me. I've taken my GR III in for minor repairs twice in the years I've had it – cheap repairs for seized buttons, caused by moisture ingress – while the pop-out lens is beginning to struggle on start up. Ricoh says there is better sealing in the new lens, but besides this, build quality is the same. As such, I'd be conscious of the need to look after the GR IV, which is something I don't want to think about with an everyday camera that's in my pocket.

To Ricoh's credit, there are other upgrades. The internal storage has been upped from 2GB to 53GB, and there's a larger-capacity battery inside too, even if this has necessitated a switch from SD card to micro SD, which is a fiddly card slot on the GR IV.

Ricoh GR IV: features and performance

• New 26MP sensor with improved 5-axis stabilization
• Speedier start-up time and longer battery life
• (Unchanged) 1080p video is an afterthought

If you're unfamiliar with the Ricoh GR series of digital compacts, then you'll probably struggle to spot meaningful upgrades in the GR IV over the GR III – and the former camera is six years old now, having been released in 2019.

For those like me that are familiar, however – and I suspect that's many of you reading this review – the headline upgrade is the new 26MP sensor.

Sure, a 2MP bump from 24MP to 26MP is hardly worth mentioning, but the improved 5-axis stabilization certainly is, and in my opinion it's a key improvement. The GR III has less effective 3-axis stabilization.

I was able to shoot handheld images with a shutter speed as slow as one second, and for most shots at half a second, and detail still looked sharp. This offers the potential for creative long-exposure effects and can improve low-light image quality, assuming you don't need to freeze movement. Check out a few long exposure effect images in the gallery above.

The GR IV isn't short of color profiles either. I'm a fan of the hard monotone profile which produces punchy black-and-white images with an infrared photography-like effect (see the punchy sky images in the gallery above). At other times, I was drawn to the cinema color profiles for a gritty effect which suited nighttime images across London. In the gallery of images below, I've used a range of these color profiles.

There's a macro photography setting, which reduces the minimum focus distance and enables proper close up photography. This, as like with GR III cameras, is another string to the GR IV's bow.

Start-up time has been improved too, not that the GR III was a slouch. I had the GR III and GR IV side by side and turned the cameras on at the same time, and the GR IV was ready to go a fraction quicker – it makes a real difference for an everyday camera with which you'll often want to be ready to shoot quickly. If this was a wild west showdown against most other cameras, the GR IV would be busting open the saloon doors and demanding a victory whiskey.

I can't say the same for autofocus performance. Ricoh has improved autofocus speed and reliability from the GR III, but not by much. The AF assist light helps in low-contrast lighting, as do additional focusing modes added to the series via firmware updates in recent years, such as new zone-focusing options, but it would be generous of me to Ricoh to say better autofocus is a reason to upgrade here.

Battery life sees a decent improvement. There's a new larger-capacity unit inside which delivers a 20% bump in shot life. Still, where the GR III has poor battery life at around 200 shots, the GR IV's is only less poor at 240 shots. Personally, though, I think limited battery life is completely forgiveable for such a small camera, and it's impressive that Ricoh has squeezed a better battery into what is actually a fractionally smaller camera.

Overall, there are some decent improvements in the GR IV, depending on how and what you like to shoot.

Should I buy the Ricoh GR IV?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Ricoh GR IV

• Park Cameras loaned me the camera for several weeks
• I shot 1,000-plus photos in RAW + JPEG
• I carried the camera every day, using it in a range of scenarios

I used the Ricoh GR IV regularly for around three weeks, with thanks to Park Cameras (UK) for the loan. During this time I took over 1,000 photos, documenting everyday life and of course playing with the various color profiles and creative techniques possible with the GR IV.

I pushed the limit of the camera's stabilization, taking handheld long-exposure photos. I shot photos of the same scenes at different apertures to assess the quality at each setting, and checked for lens distortions.

I noted how many photos I could take with a fully charged battery, and in general I've looked after the camera rather than push it in adverse conditions. I bring several years of experience with the Ricoh GR series into this review, most recently as an owner of the GR IIIx.

First reviewed November 2025

• Lomography announced the Lomo MC-A in October
• It features a glass lens with autofocus, and a metal body
• Available for pre-order, and costs $549 / £449 / AU$799

I've tried my fair share of Lomography cameras down the years, and it's fair to say that the film camera maker majors on the characterful over outright quality.

From the experimental Sprocket Rocket 35mm panoramic film camera to the toy-like Lomourette and build your own Konstruktor SLR kit, novelty is generally on the menu. Recently, however, Lomography served up a different kind of film camera which sits in a new 'Classic' range: the Lomo MC-A.

I've since had a brief hold of the MC-A, which one of my colleagues at our sister site Digital Camera World is reviewing, and the promo shots don't do it justice.

There's a real weight to the MC-A, and that's because it's a high-quality camera with glass lens and metal body. My first thought was 'Wow, has Lomography finally made a proper 35mm film camera?'

And why not? If any brand has consistently poured itself into making gear for film photography fans over the last decade, it's Lomography. But if you're already familiar with Lomography cameras like I am, you need to forget everything you know – the MC-A is an altogether classier offering, Lomo’Instant Wide Glass notwithstanding.

Mind you, its price should be a telltale sign – the MC-A costs $549 / £449 / AU$799 from the Lomography website, where it's available for pre-order in silver or black versions, with shipping due to start in January.

A proper Lomography camera for 35mm film photography fans

So what features can photographers expect in the Lomo MC-A? I've already mentioned the compact metal body, while the lens is a 32mm f/2.8 retractable multi-coated glass optic, complete with autofocus and zone-focusing from 0.4 m. That retractable lens makes quite the sound when it's engaged – you've been warned!

Users have exposure control with options for fully automatic, aperture priority (f/2.8-16) or manual (there's a 1/500 to 20 sec shutter speed range, plus bulb), while the built-in flash offers creative flash modes, with additional accessories included.

The MC-A takes 35mm film and can shoot multiple and long-exposure images, as well as including a self-timer mode and tripod mount. Your shot count, focus and exposure modes can all be displayed on the dinky top LCD panel.

It's true, there's no shortage of point-and-shoot cameras in a similar mold to the MC-A that shoot 35mm film or half-frame, such as the Pentax 17, the Analogue aF-1 and the Rollei 35AF, but I'm particularly enamoured by the MC-A nonetheless. Perhaps it's time to take Lomography seriously.

Compact cameras took a major hit when smartphones came to prominence, but many years later they're making a comeback. And I'm all for it. Take the models that I've put together in this best compact cameras guide – they possess a wonderful mix of style, quality and camera phone-beating features. What's even more important – they offer focused creativity.

I should know – I've personally tested the majority of the cameras in this list and TechRadar's previous faves over the last 15 years, and indeed many of today's best camera phones. There is still a compelling case for compact cameras – especially retro snappers like the Fujifilm X100VI; with its classic looks, clever hybrid viewfinder, sharp 40MP sensor and film simulations, it’s become the poster child for premium compacts.

There are also other models that shine in different ways and I've included my nine favorite compact cameras for different use cases and budgets below – every recommendation is based on in-depth testing in the kind of real-world scenarios you’re likely to encounter. Whether you need a powerful optical zoom, genuinely small pocketable body or full-frame quality, you'll find the right pick below, with additional options which didn’t make the cut further below.

Why you can trust my judgement

Every compact camera in this guide has been thoroughly tested by me or one of TechRadar's expert reviewers in real-world scenarios. Our dedicated team has decades of combined experience in both professional photography and technology journalism.

We test all types of compact camera, ranging from affordable point-and-shoots to film cameras and premium models with flagship features. Photo quality is a key area of focus (and video where relevant), but we also look at the overall user experience and the value offered by each model.

Real-world tests are the most revealing way to understand the best compact cameras' performance, quirks, and features. So, along with standardized tests for factors like ISO performance, I take every camera I test for a spin to see how it fares in real-world scenarios.

I'll use it both handheld and on a tripod to get a sense of where its strengths lie, and test its startup speed. I also use a formatted UHS-1 card and shoot in both raw and JPEG (if available), testing its burst shooting and buffer performance.

For autofocusing, I use the different autofocus modes on hand in single point, area, and continuous modes. Naturally, I take a look at how accurate and reliable its metering is, how well it handles noise, and how well it minimizes things like fringing and distortion. Its video shooting skills are tested as well by shooting some test footage at different frame-rates and resolutions.

Of course, I also look at the camera's design, handling, and user interface while getting a sense of what kind of photographer it's most ideal for. Battery life is tested as well over the course of the day with the screen set to the default settings. Once the battery has reached zero, I'll then count the number of shots to see how it compares to the camera's CIPA rating.

Once all is said and done, I take all this data and everything I've learned about the compact camera and compare it to its price tag to see if it offer great value for your money.

Meet the team

My team of reviewers has amassed many years of camera experience and testing, covering all of the latest and greatest cameras in the last 20 years, and can all appreciate the benefits of a dedicated camera like a digital compact versus simply using a smartphone.

Today's best compact cameras

Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best compact cameras in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

The best compact camera for most people

Fujifilm X100VI sample images

The Fujifilm X100V went viral for its retro design, pocket-friendly proportions, hybrid viewfinder and fixed 23mm f/2 lens. The X100VI takes the same concept and upgrades it again, boosting resolution to 40MP and adding in-body image stabilization for the first time. It also borrows the class-leading autofocus from the Fujifilm X-T5. In our review, we found results pin-sharp across the entire sensor, with the increased pixel count offering greater flexibility when cropping. Together with impressive subject tracking autofocus and effective stabilization, we think it’s an even more rounded compact for street shooting.

Our tests also revealed the X100VI to be a more capable filmmaking tool, courtesy of 6.2K 10-bit video support. The fixed focal length will still be a limiting factor for some, as will the single UHS-I SD card slot. You need an adapter for full weather-proofing, too. Given the sold-out demand for the X100V, it’s also unsurprising that Fujifilm has increased the price for its successor. But from our time living with the X100VI, we think it’s the pinnacle of the X100 series, and the best premium compact for everyday use.

Read our in-depth Fujifilm X100VI review

Best alternative...

• Fujifilm GFX100RF: Love the Fujifilm look and have a larger budget? The medium-format GFX100RF is the best quality compact available, period.

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The best pocket compact with zoom

Sony RX100 VII sample images

In many ways, the RX100 VII is still best compact around right now. Its autofocus system, we found, is comfortably ahead of any other pocket camera, tracking moving subjects with great reliability and making clever use of its Face and Eye AF, even in video mode. Video quality is superb, while image quality is also stellar. But all of this comes at a huge price, and for many people that could be a deal-breaker.

Still, we can't avoid including it in this guide, as it's one of the best options around. If your budget allows, then you won't find a more powerful compact than the Mark VII. But if you're happy to sacrifice some of the latest autofocus features and a microphone jack, check out the RX100 VI, which offers most of its performance but costs a little less.

Read our in-depth Sony RX100 Mark VII review

Best alternative...

• Panasonic Lumix LX100 II: situated a few entries below, the LX100 II is another high-quality compact with versatile standard zoom lens.

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The best compact video camera

Sony ZV-1 sample images

If it's mainly video rather than stills that you're looking for from a compact camera, then the Sony ZV-1 is the one of the best options around. Not that it isn't also very capable at shooting still photos – it has the same sensor and processor as Sony's latest RX100 series cameras, after all – but the ZV-1's main strength are its video powers. That includes its class-leading autofocus powers, which helps it tenaciously lock onto people and moving objects in your frame. During testing, we found it to do an excellent job of keeping moving subjects in focus and tracking our eyes across most of the frame. Of course, the video quality from its 20.1MP 1-inch sensor is nothing short of impressive as well.

These are backed up by a 3.5mm mic port for boosting audio quality with an external microphone, and a hotshoe to help mount the latter. Its bright 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 doesn't give you the same reach as the RX100 VII, but it does ensure that you get lovely background blur in both stills and videos – perfect if you mainly shoot portraits or vlogs. Sony has since released the ZV-1 II, but for us the successor was a puzzling update that in real world use offered little extra than the ZV-1 to justify its pricier tag.

Read our in-depth Sony ZV-1 review

Best alternative...

• Canon Powershot V1: the PowerShot V1 is a powerful upgrade of the trendy G7X Mark III, with larger 1.4-inch sensor, versatile 3.1x zoom, and Canon's best autofocus performance in a PowerShot to date. It takes decent 22MP stills, too.

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The best small compact camera

Ricoh GR IV sample images

Ricoh's GR point-and-shoot lineup has earned a devoted following among photographers (me included!) who appreciate its genuinely pocket-friendly design paired with impressive image quality. This newest model, released in 2025, stays true to that formula, packing a superb 5-axis stabilized 26MP APS-C sensor into its diminutive frame while delivering welcome upgrades like extended battery performance and a generous 53GB of onboard storage. Thanks to its fixed 28mm lens and near-instantaneous power-up, this camera excels as a go-anywhere companion for street photography and travel shooting.

That said, it won't be the right fit for everyone. The autofocus feels noticeably slow, there's no built-in flash, and video recording maxes out at 1080p. The lack of weather sealing also stands out as a puzzling omission for a camera that otherwise seems designed to be your faithful, ever-present travel companion. Still, here's what matters most: you simply won't find another camera this small that delivers photographs of this caliber.

Read our in-depth Ricoh GR IV review

Best alternative...

• Ricoh GR IIIx: The GR IV's direct predecessor has many of the same advantages and drawbacks, but the 'x' version with 40mm lens offers photographers a different, tighter perspective – and as an older model, it's a cheaper too.

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The best Panasonic compact for keen hobbyists

Panasonic LX100 II sample images

Compact cameras with sensors larger than 1-inch in size are typically limited to fixed-focal-length lenses, which is great for quality but less so for flexibility. But not the Panasonic LX100 II; it manages to marry a 17MP Four Thirds sensor – the same size as those found inside Panasonic's G-series mirrorless cameras – with a zoom lens equivalent to 24-75mm in 35mm terms, proving that sometimes you can get quality and flexibility at once.

We found its Leica-badged lens to be very impressive, capturing very good levels of detail that's worthy of pricier APS-C cameras, and its exposure metering system more than reliable. Our tests also show that it handles noise pretty well and produces natural-looking images with faithful colors. The original LX100 was something of a landmark camera for offering something similar, and this latest iteration takes the baton, with a nippy AF system, robust body, clear 4K videos and a useful electronic viewfinder among its highlights.

The only caveat here is that the LX100 II is discontinued, so your buying options are either secondhand or a lucky find at an independent retailer. If you want pretty much the same tech but in a camera that's available new, check out the pricier Leica D-Lux 8.

Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix LX100 II review

Best alternative...

• Leica D-Lux 8: essentially the same camera but in Leica clothing, the D-Lux 8 is a recent release, but packs a lot of the same tech as the older D-Lux 7.

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The best full-frame compact camera

Leica Q3 sample images

Compact cameras can be cost-effective alternatives to interchangeable lens cameras but that doesn’t mean there aren’t superb high-end options. Take the stunning Leica Q3: a full-frame monster that comes complete with the exceptional Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH fixed lens. Calling the Leica Q3 compact may be a slight stretch – it's around the same size as the Panasonic Lumix S5 II with a pancake lens – but it is the full package if you’re looking for superlative image quality and almost unparalleled build quality.

It’s this latter point that allows the Leica Q3 to stand out from the competition and smartphones. Put simply, the Leica Q3 offers a premium tactile shooting experience that even the best camera phones can’t hope to match. And, price aside, the Leica Q3 is an excellent performer. Unlike the well-known M-series rangefinders from the brand, the Q3 is fully autofocus capable, which makes it an excellent everyday carry for the well-heeled. Sure, the autofocus performance doesn’t quite match the best systems on the market right now but the Leica Q3 is the brand’s easiest to use camera yet - and one that scores full marks on style points.

Read our in-depth Leica Q3 review

Best alternative...

• Sony RX1R III: With the same 61MP sensor, Sony's RX1R III has a 35mm f/2 lens, incredible autofocus and a more compact design, but a lot of the RX1R II's features remain, which was disappointing. If you like the sound of an even tighter lens to the Q3's, there's also the Leica Q3 43.

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The best optical zoom compact camera

Panasonic Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 sample images

I'll be straight up from the off – the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 was a disappointing upgrade of 2019's discontinued Lumix ZS80 / TZ95 which it replaces. Not only are there no real upgrades besides USB-C charging, but it is arguably a downgrade following the removal of the handy built-in viewfinder. However, the fact it still features in my best compact camera guide proves just how little competition there is in 2025 – no other leading brand is making sub $500 / £500 compact cameras, especially one with a powerful 30x optical zoom and useful touchscreen which can flip up 180 degrees for easy selfies.

Yes, there's plenty going for the 4K video 20MP stills-shooting ZS99 (known as the TZ99 outside of the US), not least of which that 30x zoom which can pick out tiny distant details, making it the ideal travel camera for everything from city breaks to safaris. That said, with such great versatility comes compromises – don't expect the same image quality as some other premium compacts in this guide, even the RX100 VII. Credit to Panasonic though – it's back in the compact camera game with one of the most affordable options available.

Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 review

Best alternative...

• Panasonic Lumix TZ200: the TZ200 has half the optical zoom range at 15x, but a larger 1.0-inch sensor for better image quality. However, it has been discontinued, so chances are that secondhand is your only option.

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Best vlogging compact camera

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 sample images

We were already big fans of the DJI Osmo Pocket 2, yet its successor takes quality and convenience for vlogging to a whole new level. It equals the video quality of larger models like the Sony ZV-1, yet still has an incredibly compact form factor. The improvement in video and image quality, now up to 4K 120p, is enough to pick the Pocket 3 over your smartphone for vlogging, as is the super smooth footage achieved thanks to the three-axis gimbal. It's also a massively convenient device, comfortably slipping into a pocket, with decent audio quality and compatibility with remote mics.

There's also a new trick up the Pocket 3's sleeve: multi-aspect video recording. Taking a leaf out the GoPro Hero 12 Black playbook, the Pocket 3's 1-inch sensor is squarer than your traditional 16:9 aspect, so you don't unnecessarily lose detail when switching between horizontal and vertical formats. The rear LCD screen touchscreen even rotates to instantly switch between those formats. Little wonder that the Pocket 3 is now our top recommendation for most vloggers.

Read our in-depth DJI Pocket 3 review

Best alternative...

• Canon PowerShot V10: costing even less, the Powershot V10 is purpose-built to make content creation as easy as possible. However, despite its refreshing design, the tech inside is both dated and limited, and there aren’t too many reasons to pick it over your smartphone unless you really want a different user experience.

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The best film compact camera

Pentax 17 sample images

A compact film camera might seem outdated, but analog is all the rage right now. Designed for the smartphone generation, we think the Pentax 17 is the best film camera you can buy. In our review, we found that it gives all the joy of analog photography: from the optical viewfinder to the lovely, tactile film crank, this is a really fun camera to shoot with. It’s neatly packaged, with dimensions that make it an easy thing to travel with, while the point-and-shoot setup makes it easy to capture sharp stills on film.

From our in-depth tests, we do think the plastic body could feel tougher, given the high price tag. If you’re happy shooting with a second-hand film camera, you’ll find better build quality and value elsewhere. That said, we still think this is a fantastic compact film camera that makes it simple to enjoy analog photography. Thanks to the half-frame format, you get twice as many exposures from a single roll, and its vertical prints are Instagram-ready.

Read our in-depth Pentax 17 review

Best alternative...

• Kodak Ektar H35N: at around 1/10th of the price, the simple H35N is a much cheap half-frame film camera alternative.

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Also consider

I and my team have reviewed a whole range of compact cameras, which means there are plenty more that almost made it into this list. Here are a few honorable mentions to consider, some of which I've aligned to their obvious rivals in the dedicated entries above.

Best travel zoom – Panasonic Lumix TZ200: A travel zoom camera with a versatile 15x optical zoom range, a 1.0-inch sensor and a whole lot of features, we rate the TZ200 as the best point-and-shoot camera you can buy. It produces great image quality for its size, surpassing most smartphones. However, it has been discontinued, so you might find it a challenge to buy new.

Best alternative premium – Leica Q3 43: Like the Leica Q3 above, the Q3 43 is an ultra-premium compact with incredible build quality and gorgeous handling. What’s different about it is the 43mm focal length, which offers a natural field of view to mimic the human eye. Stills are pin-sharp, as you’d expect for the price.

Best Canon – Canon Powershot V1: Forget the trending PowerShot G7X Mark III, the PowerShot V1 is a powerful upgrade with large 1.4-inch sensor, versatile 3.1x zoom, and Canon's best autofocus performance in a PowerShot to date. It takes decent 22MP stills, too.

Best cheap Leica – Leica D-Lux 8: The D-Lux 8 is a modest refresh of the D-Lux 7, packing a lot of the same tech as the Panasonic Lumix LX100 II. These cameras are still a capable today, but we wished there were more meaningful upgrades in the new D-Lux 8. That said, it's still a lovely premium compact that, for a Leica, isn't bad value.

Best tough – OM System Tough TG-7: If you want a family camera that can survive a bit of rough and tumble, we highly rate the TG-7. Stills quality is beaten by most smartphones, but its compact yet durable build makes it a really practical camera that’s easy for anyone to shoot with.

Best all-rounder – Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II: A well-built compact that’s ideal for everyday shooting, the G5 X Mark II handles well and offers a solid set of specs. Its 24-120mm f/1.8-2.8 lens covers a useful range and image quality is impressive. It was relatively expensive at launch and you’ll have to hunt around for one online now.

Best premium – Fujifilm GFX100RF: Taking image quality to new heights, the GFX100RF packs a 100MP 44x33mm sensor – that's larger than full-frame – pin sharp f/4 lens, plus a raft of neat features including an aspect ratio dial. If the limited maximum aperture isn't a dealbreaker, this could be the ultimate every day carry.

Best digital compact for film fans – Fujifilm X half: If you're after a healthy dose of photogeaphy fun, the charming X-half could be the ticket. It's inspired by half-frame film cameras, adorning a unique twin screens; one vertical, the other mimicking a film cannister window, while the film roll mode is a love letter to film. Don't take it too seriously and the X-half could be your favorite camera purchase this year.

Best gift – Kodak Charmera: The 30g, $30 / £30 keychain digital camera comes in six colorways in a blind box so you don't know which one you'll get. It's truly tiny thumb-size build, retro looks and awful image quality are already proving a hit – stock of the Charmera sells out fast.

Upcoming compact cameras

While new compact cameras don’t arrive as frequently as they once did, there are signs that the category is enjoying a quiet revival. The runaway popularity of models like the Fujifilm X100VI has reignited interest in premium compacts which some brands are starting to captialize on.

I reviewed the pricey Sony RX1R III (above) – a powerful 60MP full-frame shooter with fixed 35mm f/2 lens, which was a surprise release 10 years after its predecessor. It doesn't quite live up to the Leica Q3, but it is a fair bit smaller.

The Fujifilm X half and GXF100RF were two polar opposites, being a fun half-frame inspired compact and serious medium-format snapper respectively. Canon revived its PowerShot range with the V1 vlogging camera too, while Leica pleased black-and-white photography fans with the optimized Q3 Monochrom.

That's the tail end of 2025 wrapped up, so where does that leave us with potential new compact cameras for 2026? Well, it could be a quiet year new for releases from the leading brands, but I'm hoping for some surprises and of course will update this guide with the latest news stories of what's coming up.

There will no doubt be more cheap Kodak cameras, even if not to the extent of the Charmera keychain camera. DJI looks set to announce the Pocket 4, while Canon might launch a PowerShot V3 – a travel zoom compact like the V1 but majoring on a big optical zoom. Check out my 12 most exciting cameras for 2026 article to find out more.

How to choose the best compact camera for you

Best compact camera FAQs

If there’s one camera that I’ve particularly looked forward to getting my hands on over the last couple of years, it has to be the recently announced Ricoh GR IV. After all, the Ricoh GR IIIx is my every day carry (an alternative version of the GR III with 40mm lens) and it was overdue a successor.

I’m familiar with the Ricoh GR series’ strengths and weaknesses, and there’s a reason why I’m one of many keen photographers who can look beyond its limitations, knowing how powerful and discreet a tool it can be in the right hands.

Besides my phone, my GR IIIx has been my choice tool for documenting life – I’ve become familiar with it and developed a way of seeing and shooting style that has become instinctive.

So when the Ricoh GR IV was announced, some six years after the GR III, I was hopeful it could be the upgrade I dreamed of and my next premium compact camera. And thanks to the good folks at Park Cameras in the UK who loaned me the GR IV to have a play – I now feel like I have a good grasp of the latest model.

A step in the right direction

I can only speak for myself, but my wishlist for improvements comprised a tilt screen, built-in flash, better build quality and smarter autofocus. And I wanted all of those upgrades in an equally compact, pocketable body.

Besides slightly better autofocus – and emphasis on the slightly – the GR IV fails to deliver, and it’s significantly pricier. So surely it’s an upgrade to skip, right? Those were indeed my first thoughts, but after some use I have been pleasantly surprised in other ways.

There are subtle design tweaks that make it a better camera to handle overall: a slimmer body combined with a larger grip make single hand use in horizontal and vertical formats a breeze. With my GR IIIx, I’ve added a thumb grip for a secure hold, but that’s not needed here.

The USB-C door is much easier to open and close (see above), whereas the one in GR III cameras is frustratingly fiddly.

A rear rocker above where your thumb rests is now a full control wheel, which makes it infinitely more versatile, while the ± switch on the thumb grip – which was in the GR II and makes a return – makes exposure compensation adjustments a breeze (even if accidental pushes are common). Put simply, each component of the exposure triangle – shutter speed, aperture and ISO – can be controlled directly with assignable controls.

Yes, the even smaller dimensions (body depth) are an upgrade in my book. We also get a bigger and better battery with 20% improved CIPA rating, plus more internal storage, up from 2GB to 53GB. And there’s one upgrade to the internals that has me hooked if my photos taken are anything to go by.

A surprising and addictive new feature

Once again we get a large APS-C sensor squeezed into a genuinely tiny body, but the sensor is upgraded. Resolution gets a small bump from 24MP to 26MP – hardly enough to write about – but crucially its stabilization is now five-axis instead of three-axis, meaning the effectiveness of stabilization has been improved.

Put simply, image stabilization is better. Factoring the 28mm lens, I would expect that it’s possible to get sharp handheld shots with shutter speeds as slow as one second, and my repeated experiments with long exposure photography have proven it so.

I have regularly got sharp handheld photos with a 0.5 second shutter speed, with creative motion blur effects such as moving traffic and people (see above). And given I commute to London – one of the busiest cities in the world – I have had plenty of chances to experiment with this technique.

In fact, if I’m to look over my image gallery – and I'm over 1,000 and counting – I can say I have been somewhat addicted to long exposure photography, which is now way more possible with the new sensor, as is shooting in low light.

It’s also clear that I gravitate to black-and-white photography, often opting for the punchy, infrared-looking 'Hard Monotone' color profile. With that in mind, I’m especially interested in the recently teased GR IV Monochrome, which will supposedly launch next year.

Rioch GR IV – first impressions

I’m not about to upgrade to the GR IV from my GR IIIx – although having both would be nice!

Even within two weeks using the GR IV, I can already see that I will run into issues regarding its build quality, which feels practically the same as the previous model. The reality check is that I’ve had to take my GR IIIx in for a fix on two occasions – fortunately low-cost fixes to frozen buttons – and I expect the same will be true should I get prolonged use with the GR IV.

You might operate differently to me, but this is not a camera that I want to wrap in cotton wool. I want to slip it in my pocket without a bulky protective case, ready for action when called upon. Without a doubt, my top wish remains better build quality in a future version. However, I'm still tempted by the GR IV, and the upcoming monochrome version now tops my wishlist.

Sure the GR IV is seemingly not the upgrade I hoped for, but it is also a surprising improvement that unleashes new creative styles, in an even more compact body that’s easier to handle. Its a baby step in the right direction rather than one giant leap, but it might just be enough.

• Captures 60MP photographs and up to 8K video
• 28mm f/1.7 Summilux fixed lens
• Dust- and splash-proof IP52 rating

It turns out the rumors were true: Leica has today unveiled the Q3 Monochrom, a dedicated monochrome-only edition of the existing Leica Q3 fixed-lens full-frame compact.

Because the Leica Q3 Monochrom's sensor is dedicated to black-and-white imaging, it need capture only brightness data. There's no color filter array here to get in the way of the process, which reduces noise even at higher ISO settings and delivers exceptionally rich, finely detailed photos even in low light conditions.

As our writer James Abbott noted in his Leica Q2 Monochrom review a few years ago, "once you see quality of the images from a camera that has no color array filter and no need for an interpolation algorithm, you'll quickly realize why the Q2 Monochrom makes sense. Even if it means sacrificing the option of shooting in color."

The Q3 Monochrom is built around a fast Summilux 28 f/1.7 ASPH lens and a 60MP full-frame sensor (which can also capture images at 36MP and 18MP, thanks to its Triple Resolution Technology) with an ISO range of 100 to 200,000. It can also record black-and-white video at up to 8K resolution. For shooting close-up subjects, the selectable macro mode reduces the minimum focus distance to 17cm, while the digital zoom enables users to zoom/crop all the way up a focal length equivalent to 90mm.

As you'd expect from a premium Leica camera, the Q3 Monochrom is built in Germany to the brand's exacting standards and aesthetic. The all-metal body is finished in black (with grey touches and, of course, that iconic red dot logo) and rated to IP52 standards, making it protected against dust and splashes of water.

The camera features a 5.76MP OLED viewfinder and tilting touch screen, as well as micro HDMI, USB-C, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and compatibility with Leica's FOTOS mobile app. It's also the first Q-series camera to offer images with Content Credentials, the digital signature certifying a photo has not been tampered with.

Form an orderly Q, shoppers

And now for the painful part. As you might expect from a premium Leica camera, the Q3 Monochrom is expensive – priced from $7,790 / £5,800 / AU$12,090. The good news – for those with the necessary funds at least – is that it's available to order from today, November 20 2025 at Leica Stores, the Leica website and authorised dealers. A number of accessories, including a handgrip (which includes wireless charging), carrying straps and a red filter, also go on sale today.

For me, the Q3 Monochrom sounds like a brilliant – perhaps even a perfect – street photography camera. Not only should it offer impeccable image quality in pretty much any lighting conditions thanks to the lens and sensor combination (and, let's face it, the fact that it's a Leica camera), it's also compact, discreet and rugged – all things I'd look for in a camera I was using for quick, on-the-hoof compositions and candids. Now I just need to find the money to buy one…

• The original Camp Snap screen-free compact can now be personalized
• You pick the colorway, text color and up to 10 custom characters
• It costs $85 / £66, up from $70 / £52 for the original

It's retro, it's cheap, and now it's personal – the charming screen-free Camp Snap compact camera has evolved since the 2023 original impressed me. This time, in the build-up to the Christmas shopping season, its makers have added a personalization service which further adds to the retro point-and-shoot's appeal.

You can pick a camera body color, a text color, and then personalize your Camp Snap with up to 10 characters (letters only). One-of-a-kind gift done. I was going to buy a soccer jersey for one of my kids with his name on the back, but now I'm having other ideas…

I picked up an original Camp Snap (in black) in 2023 and still have it today. It's a perfectly executed lo-fi concept which rode the retro camera wave, and deservedly holds a place as a best option for kids in my best point-and-shoot cameras guide – especially since it's screen-free and super-cheap.

It's basically a digital version of the single-use film camera – so don't get your hopes when it comes to image quality – with USB-C connectivity and space for 2,000 8MP photos. However, it's simple retro design, which doesn't include a screen, is refreshing – here it's a case of shoot now, view later.

Camp Snap is the lo-fi concept that keeps getting better

It was already possible to buy the original Camp Snap in a range of colorways – plenty of styles have come and gone over the last two years and currently there are 12 eye-catching versions on the brand website.

But adding a name on the camera? That's such a smart gift idea which I expect to be extremely popular for the upcoming holidays, especially for the super reasonable price of $85 / £66 at Camp Snap. For context, the original, non-personalized version costs $70 / £52 at Camp Snap.

It has been a good moment for cheap cameras – the new Kodak Charmera keyring camera is a solid alternative at just $30 / £30. You can't personalize it, but it comes in a mystery box so you don't know which of the six retro designs you'll get.

Between Camp Snap and Kodak, we have two working cameras that are novel gift options for camera lovers. I feel like I can skip the Black Friday sales and just pick these up at full price because they are so cheap already, and that makes me happy!

Half-frame cameras have garnered a bit of a cult following – enough for Pentax to make the Pentax 17 half-frame film camera (which we love) and for Fujifilm to make the X half, which is more of a digital ‘tribute’ to half-frame cameras than a faithful replica.

Film cameras have become a big thing among photographers trying to recapture the feel and mood of analog media, and the camera designs that went with it. Check out our guide to the best film cameras to see a long list of all the new film cameras on the market, and some classic oldies that are definitely worth seeking out on the used market. If you're new to all this, we also have a guide to camera film sizes and types.

The basic principle of a half-frame analog camera is that it uses regular 35mm film, but instead of capturing images horizontally using the 24mm height of the film and a horizontal width of 36mm, it captures images vertically, so they're 24mm high and 18mm wide (or 17mm if you allow for the extra gap between the half frames).

You get twice as many shots on the roll as they're roughly half the size – and the camera takes vertical rather than horizontal photos (of course, you can rotate the camera to swap from vertical to horizontal if you need to).

You do get twice as many exposures on a roll of film, which sounds like a cost saving, but then you have to find a lab that will do half -frame prints, and printing will cost more because there are more prints.

But by a strange twist of fate, half-frame cameras are particularly well suited to social sharing because they match the vertical orientation of mobile devices in a way that camera makers of old could never have anticipated.

Back, then, to the Kodak Ektar H35N. This is an improved version of the Ektar H35 we reviewed in 2024, replacing that camera's plastic lens with a glass one. We weren't over-impressed with the Ektar H35 at the time, but since then we've been swept along by a huge surge of interest in analog photography, so maybe this improved point and shoot Kodak deserves a second look.

Where half-frame cameras have so far been a somewhat expensive hipster fad, the Kodak is about as cheap as it’s possible for a camera to get. It’s also extremely crude, and is essentially no more sophisticated then a disposable single-use film camera.

The difference is that you can open the back to load and unload film, and you can swap out the single AAA battery for the flash. If you don’t use the flash, you don’t need the battery.

And in case you’re wondering what kind of exposure system it has and how the focusing works, it doesn’t really have either. It relies on the huge latitude of analog negative films to capture images in daylight ranging from bright sun to heavy overcast, and indoors you simply have to use the flash and stick to close-range subjects. The harsh flash look is really trending right now for its retro vibes, and this little Kodak does it brilliantly.

The focus is fixed. The lens has an aperture of f/11, so it has enough depth of field for distance of 1m and beyond, depending on how much sharpness you expect. This camera is all about the look, not technical precision.

This may not sound like the kind of camera you could be even remotely interested in, but hold on. You do have to shoot in the right kind of light (daylight or with flash), and you do have to trust your film to deal with degrees of overexposure and underexposure which would send a digital sensor into a tailspin. But you adapt surprisingly quickly. It’s a simple camera designed to do a simple job, and it does it brilliantly. If you could even contemplate using an Instax, this is cheaper and gives you much bigger and better prints with all the same character and more.

Bottom line? I started out in film photography and I know the limitations of analog film and its particular charm. The Kodak H35N took me straight back to simpler times and simpler cameras. I thought I would hate it, but I loved it.

Kodak Ektar H35N: price

• $64.99 / £67 (around AU$98)
• Factor in the cost of developing and printing – half-frame is more specialized and expensive

The Kodak Ektar H35N is a cheap camera! Its price is a million miles from the (expensive) sophistication of the Pentax 17 half-frame camera. The Kodak is also very basic. In fact, you can think of it as a bit like a disposable camera that you can re-use. It's available in a variety of colors and styles, and at a typical price of $64.99 / £67 (around AU$100), it’s a cute, inexpensive buy.

It’s crude, but at this price you probably won’t care. Do factor in the cost of developing and printing, though. You’ll need to find a lab that will process film from half-frame cameras, and the cost of prints will double – after all, there are twice as many per roll of film!

Kodak Ektar H35N: specs

Kodak Ektar H35N: design

• Plastic build but looks smart
• Simple controls (well, no controls really)
• No issues with film loading, shooting and rewinding
• Small but effective optical viewfinder

The Ektar H35N might be lightweight plastic, but the front panel has an attractive metallic finish that looks rather smart. Kodak has a knack for making cheap cameras look rather better than they are.

The lens is surrounded by a switch to activate the flash mode. This was extremely stiff on my review sample, so not exactly as convenient as it should be. To one side of the lens there’s another switch for the built in ‘star filter’. Is this useful? Possibly.

On the top, there’s not much to see at all. There’s a big shutter release, a cable release socket for bulb exposures – so you can actually do night shots if you don’t mind estimating how long you need to hold the shutter open for – and there’s also a frame counter to let you know how many shots you’ve taken.

Round the back it’s all semi-matte black plastic. There’s a somewhat stiff and vague switch at the side for opening the back to load and unload film, but you do not want to open the back accidentally, so it’s no bad thing if it is a little fiddly.

Once the film is loaded you use a thumbwheel at the bottom left to advance the film. In standard film camera style, you can’t take a shot until the film is wound on and the shutter is cocked – and once you’ve taken the shot, you have to wind on again to re-cock the shutter. It’s foolproof. And, plastic or not, the film advance and shutter release worked perfectly.

Even film loading is straightforward. I had to pull out just a little more of the film leader to engage properly with the take-up spool, and then I did my usual thing after the back was closed, which is to take up the tension on the rewind crank and check it’s turning as I advance to the first frame. It worked fine.

You know when the film is at the end because you can’t wind on any further, so you press a button in the base to disengage the film transport mechanism, and wind it all back into the film canister with the crank handle.

The Ektar H35N might be cheap, but mine worked fine, with no film jams, no accidental double exposures, and no dramas at all.

Kodak Ektar H35N: performance

• Good picture quality
• Surprisingly tolerant to changing light
• Nice vintage flash look
• Good colors and contrast (I used a good lab)

I started out in film photography before switching to digital right when digital cameras first came in – and there are a few things I'd forgotten about shooting with film.

First, there's nothing quite like opening a pack of prints from the photo lab and looking through them. It doesn’t matter what kind of monitor you have on your desktop – I have a 27-inch 4K BenQ – or what kind of phone or tablet; a digital display is simply not the same as holding a stack of prints in your hand and going through them one by one. Maybe you don’t care – that’s fine – but for me it was a reminder of just how much value simple physical objects can have.

Of course, you can get your digital camera or smartphone images printed too. But they don’t look like this. Digitally-captured images are so technically superior that there’s almost no comparison. By contrast, my images from the Ektar H35N were softer, with crushed shadows and a faint ethereal glow characteristic of analog color negative films. I review photo-editing software as well as cameras, and I haven't yet found a film simulation or plug-in that can give quite the same look.

And here’s the thing. Imperfect and murky as they sometimes are, the photographs from this camera are just like the ones in the photo albums of your mum and dad, your aunts and uncles. The Kodak's images have a kind of connection with these old photos.

Have you noticed that we’ve all got pictures separated by a great digital divide, when digital cameras took over from film? Your digital photos have a clinical ’now-ness’ that separates them from these older analog photos. Does that make sense? The Kodak H35N, for all is cheapness, crudeness and its limitations, shoots in that older style, and fits right in with your analog family archives.

No, I’m not going to shoot with it every day. My photography is digital now. But that doesn’t stop me from appreciating just what this cheap little Kodak does, and what it brings back that perhaps we'd forgotten.

Should you buy the Kodak Ektar H35N?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

How I tested the Kodak Ektar H35N

• I tested it in different lighting conditions, inside and out
• I checked the flash illumination in low light
• I assessed how well it coped with subjects near the camera
• I also checked that the film transport/rewind worked properly

I took the Kodak H35N on a series of days out and family outings, as well as testing it out in different lighting conditions at home. I used it on bright sunny days, overcast days, the gloom of late afternoon in October and even at dusk with flash.

It’s not like a digital camera where you can check to see what’s worked straight away. Instead, you have to trust in the inherent latitude of color negative film, and a big part of this test was to find out just how many prints I would lose, which makes a difference when you’re paying for developing and printing.

I tested how easy it was to load and unload films – a key point for novice analog users – and the reliability of the film advance/shutter release mechanism. I also tested the in-built flash and even the ‘star filter’, choosing shots with the sun in the frame or showing through trees.

I chose typical ‘snapshot’ subjects that families might shoot, but also the kind of compositions made popular by Lomography and its legions of analog fans. Could you really use a cheap camera like this for this kind of anti-mainstream retro-graphy?

• Leica's black-and-white only version of the Q3 could land this year
• Without a color filter array in the sensor, noise is reduced
• It will likely also have a monochrome design, but otherwise be identical to the Q3

Leica is no stranger to niche and collectible cameras. Just this week it launched the 'Reporter' version of the powerful SL3 – and next up, according to Leica Rumors, could be the Q3 Monochrom.

As its name suggests, the Q3 Monochrom would be a black-and-white only version of the Q3 fixed-lens premium compact, and a follow-up to the Q2 Monochrom.

I declared the original Q3 my favorite camera of 2023, thanks to its premium design, incredible 28mm f/1.7 lens and highly detailed 60MP stills.

And despite the introduction of the stunning 102MP Fujifilm GFX100RF since then, I still rate the Q3 as my favorite compact, having compared the two ultimate fixed-lens shooters directly.

However, a monochrome version of the Q3 has me even more excited than I was for the original. I expect it to be prohibitively expensive, but I can still dream...

Monochrome magic

Despite plenty of experience reviewing Leica cameras, I don't own one. To get my premium fixed-lens compact camera fill, I opted for the more affordable Ricoh GR IIIx a few years ago, and still use that today as my everyday carry.

One thing I've noticed regularly while using the Ricoh is that I gravitate to black-and-white photography, especially for street and documentary subjects. There's something to be said for developing a way of seeing the world through a fixed focal length lens, and moreso with a particular style – in this case, monochrome.

I was particularly excited to learn that Ricoh is developing a GR IV Monochrome, and I can see that model going into my shopping basket when it lands. That's less likely to be the case with the rumored Leica Q3 Monochrom, given that it'll have a predictably high price, but I can't wait to try it out for TechRadar if and when it's announced.

Why not just select a black-and-white color profile in a regular Q3 / GR IIIx, and keep your options open for color and monochrome in a single camera, I hear you say? That's a fair question. These profiles do the job – for example, I know that the monochrome 'Acros' look is particularly popular with Fujifilm users.

I've got my reasons though. For one, there are image quality benefits. Technically speaking, a digital camera's sensor 'sees' in grayscale, but the use of a color filter array delivers color images, although at the cost of various image-quality drawbacks, such as reduced light absorption.

As James Abbott wrote in his TechRadar Q2 Monochrom review; "once you see quality of the images from a camera that has no color array filter and no need for an interpolation algorithm, you'll quickly realize why the Q2 Monochrom makes sense. Even if it means sacrificing the option of shooting in color."

If you're mainly a black-and-white photographer, but using a camera that shoots in color and opting for a black-and-white profile, you're reversing the color filter array's effects, which could be an unnecessary step.

James goes on to say, "the Q2 Monochrom's sensor configuration makes it possible to shoot at extremely high ISO settings with significantly less high-ISO noise visible than standard color shooting cameras.

"Noise levels are so low, in fact, that it’s completely safe to use Auto ISO set to a maximum setting of 6400 for everyday shooting and not worry about noise – it’s that good."

I've also personally used monochrome digital Leica cameras in years past, and the richness in those images is next level. Where noise is present at particularly high ISOs, its image have a pleasing, analog-photography like quality.

If I'm going to shoot in black and white most of the time anyway when using a premium compact, why not elevate the quality for the majority of my photos by making it a monochrome-only model?

I'm pretty sure that such a camera will be my next purchase for personal work, even if like for most people the Q3 Monochrom will be beyond my budget. I can dream though...

Kodak knows how to make a camera that sells, and its Charmera is doing just that! On its September release, the cheap digital keyring camera sold out in a day, and over a month later it is currently on pre-order.

I can see the appeal. Just $30 / £30 / AU$45 for a tiny, functioning digital camera that can easily attach to a keyring, that's made in six retro colorways, and is packaged in a 'blind box' so you don't know which one you'll get – it's got gift idea written all over it.

Chris George, Content Director of our sister site Digital Camera World, agrees – in his Charmera review he says, "This miniature digital camera will be the ultimate fun-and-affordable gift for photographers this Christmas".

The Kodak Charmera could just be the Black Friday antidote we need – no hunting around for camera deals – just pick up the Charmera at its affordable full price.

While there's no guarantee when stocks will be replenished, there are plenty of leading retailers taking preorders, and placing an order quickly will increase your chances of getting one (or more) before the holidays.

I've included the best places to preorder a Kodak Charmera, below.

Where to buy

There are six versions of the Kodak Charmera – all bold, throwback colorways. However, when buying a Charmera, you don't know which version you'll get – it comes in a 'blind box' (see below). Personally, I think this approach only adds to the appeal.

Retailers which we recommend that are taking preorders include the following:

US
Adorama: $29.99

B&H Photo: $34.99

UK
Amazon: £29.99

London Camera Exchange: £30

Wex: Pre-order £30

You should note that orders of the Kodak Charmera from any site are non-refundable.

Top alternative – the Camp Snap camera

Not convinced by the Charmera and its preorder status? I can't personally vouch for it yet until I've completed a review, though I'm already in for one myself.

My other cheap camera gift idea suggestion, that is available now, is Camp Snap – a screen-free digital reimagining of the single-use camera, which costs around $55 / £50 (see below).

Camp Snap comes with an inserted micro SD memory card that holds up to 2,000 pictures, and USB-C for image uploads. It's available in a huge range of colors, too.

Recently, Camp Snap also launched a personalization service, whereby you can customize the camera with a name on it, up to 10 characters long (see above).

A personalized Camp Snap costs $85 / £67 at Camp Snap.

Kodak PixPro C1: Two-minute review

Compact cameras are suddenly trending, including simple pocket-sized point and shoot cameras, and Kodak is riding the wave with the PixPro C1. It’s pretty, it’s cheap and it looks like the perfect antidote to complex mirrorless cameras or expensive smartphones. But can a camera this cheap be any good?

Sadly, it doesn’t take long to answer that question. The PixPro C1 is pretty plasticky, as you would expect at this price, but it looks the part and it has a flip-up selfie screen and a basic but effective set of controls that makes it easy to use. It’s what’s inside that’s the problem.

The C1 uses a very small 13MP 1/1.3-inch sensor of unknown vintage that exhibits all the characteristics of old point and shoot cameras that we’ve conveniently forgotten, with image quality that’s OK in good light but rapidly disintegrates if you need to use a higher ISO in low light or if you use the digital zoom.

Yes, it’s a digital zoom not an optical one. The tiny sensor’s image quality is already stretched to the limit in perfect conditions, so the digital zoom just magnifies its limitations. At the maximum 4x zoom setting you get photos that might look OK on a phone screen, but not so much on a tablet and definitely not in a print. You really are better off sticking to the native focal length, and at 26mm equivalent, this is pretty wide, much like the main camera on a phone.

This camera’s other major issue is its slow response. The single (center) point autofocus can take half a second or a second to lock on, and when you press the shutter release there’s a further delay of a second while the screen goes black… and then you get the shutter sound. It’s very difficult to time your exposures with moving subjects, and the Kodak’s slim, slippery shape makes it difficult to keep it steady – there’s no image stabilization.

So from the outside the Kodak PixPro C1 is quite smart, but inside it uses tech that could have come straight from an old phone or a very cheap point and shoot compact from ten years ago. It’s very disappointing.

Kodak PixPro C1: price

• Priced at $99 / £79 / AU$154
• USB cable and wrist strap included
• Available now

The Kodak PixPro C1 sells for around $99 / £79 (about AU$154). That doesn’t sound much for a fully-functioning pocket-sized digital camera, but it’s quite a lot to spend on something that you end up not using because your smartphone is so much better. That price doesn’t include a memory card, though our sample included a microSD card and card reader, so bundles may vary.

Kodak PixPro C1: specs

Kodak PixPro C1: design

• Slim, light, smart styling
• Plasticky feel but solid enough at the price
• Memory card slot exposed in the base – no door
• Phone-style LED ‘flash’

We forget how small point and shoot cameras used to be! The Kodak PixPro C1 will easily slip into a shirt pocket or a trouser pocket, and because it weighs just 115g, you’ll hardly know it’s there. It’s available in a black or tan or brown finish – mine came in brown, and it does look pretty classy.

It does feel plasticky when you pick it up, however, especially round the back where the screen and the controls are. The top edge of the screen has a hinge so that you can flip it up to face forward for selfies, and to the right you’ve got a four-way controller, menu, playback, mode and record buttons, plus a rocker for the zoom.

You can shoot in full auto mode, switch to program mode for a little more control, or use a small selection of ‘scene’ modes. The menu button displays options for picture styles, metering pattern, resolution (just in case you want less than 13 megapixels!), white balance and continuous versus single shot mode. The menus are basic but clear.

There is a built in flash – well, sort of, as it’s actually a phone-style LED, but that’s fine. Underneath, in the base of the camera, you’ll find the memory card slot, which takes microSD cards. There’s no door or cover of any sort – the card just pushes into the slot, where it’s flush with the base so you can still stand the camera on a flat surface.

It’s all very basic but effective, and exactly what you would expect from a cheap camera. It’s not too daunting for beginners, either.

Kodak PixPro C1: performance

• Sluggish shutter action
• Poor image quality at higher ISOs
• Digital zoom not worth using
• Autofocus struggles/fails in low light

Physically, the PixPro C1 is pretty decent at this price. It’s the performance that’s disappointing. You could argue that you shouldn’t expect much for this money, but there comes a point where a product just isn’t good enough to use, regardless of how cheap it is, and the PixPro C1 sails pretty close to the wind here.

Before you even get to look at its images, its operation feels very vague and sluggish. The AF is not particularly quick, but the worst part is the shutter action, which takes about a second to complete and only makes a shutter sound at the end. This is not a camera for fast action or grabbed shots. Not only that, the rear screen gets quite hard to see in bright light.

As for the pictures… well, it depends on what you are expecting. The resolution, dynamic range and noise are just what you would expect from a small sensor of the old days, and not a patch on what a modern smartphone camera array would produce. In good outdoor light where you don’t need a higher ISO and there’s little risk of camera shake, the images are OK. But in poor light at higher ISOs the detail smudges and object edges become hyper-processed and things aren’t good at all.

If you do use the zoom, you quickly realize that the 13MP sensor really can’t stand a lot of cropping. Or any cropping, to be honest.

I did try the ‘flash’ indoors. There’s nothing wrong with the illumination it provides, but it only comes on when the camera has focused, and in my tests the autofocus struggled if it was too dark, and without sharp focus the flash wasn’t much help.

Should you buy the Kodak PixPro C1?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Kodak PixPro C1

• I tested it over a period of two weeks
• I tried it with a variety of subjects and lighting conditions
• I also assessed its responsiveness and ease of use

I’ve had the Kodak PixPro C1 for a couple of weeks, which has given me the chance to try it out in all kinds of situations where a camera like this might be used, including outdoor shots, close-ups, indoor scenes and pet pictures. I wanted to give it every chance to show what it could do and how it would react to typical point and shoot situations.

Obviously I wasn’t expecting top image quality, just pictures that were good enough for the purpose. I did feel the Kodak needed to prove it was better than a smartphone or at least as good. Most poeple already have a smartphone with a decent camera, so the Kodak did need to bring something else to the table.

It’s not just the image quality that’s important, but overall handling, usability and responsiveness, and that’s how I approached the PixPro C1.

• First reviewed November 2025

Two-minute review

The Lomography Lomourette is a compact half-frame camera built for the fun of film photography. Lightweight, inexpensive and simple, it strips the analog shooting experience down to its creative essentials. With a fixed f/8 plastic lens, manual focus dial and two-position shutter speed lever, it’s all about finding the joy and beauty in imperfection.

In the hand, it feels every bit a toy camera. The build borders on cheap and there’s little in the way of refinement, with no aperture control or metering. What you’re getting here is a cheerful camera that embraces experimentation. The film advance wheel, for example, is independent of the shutter release, which allows for intentional or accidental double exposures.

Then you’ve got the half-frame format itself. Doubling the image count from 36 to 72, it allows you to squeeze twice the entertainment from a single roll of 35mm film, by shooting two vertical stills that sit side-by-side in the same area as a standard photo.

In use, the Lomourette can be both delightful and unpredictable. When you nail the exposure and focus distance for a given scene, it produces pleasantly grainy stills with realistic colors and surprisingly good contrast. Shot on Kodak Ultramax 400, images benefited from natural skin tones and the genuine haze of analog nostalgia, rather than a stylized recreation. The 24mm lens isn’t the sharpest, but it’s still capable of rendering impressively crisp detail and edges.

But shooting with the Lomourette also requires patience and a sense of humor. Loading film is fiddly, the focus adjustment dial is crude and the viewfinder doesn’t exactly match what the lens sees. Framing errors, light leaks and accidental overlaps are all part of the creative ride. You’re guaranteed to lose exposures along the way, usually due to under- or over-exposure. The pay-off is that the good ones capture memories with a rich, attractive look, while the happy accidents have a distinct charm of their own.

That’s not to say there aren’t frustrations. The detachable Diana+ flash is inconsistent, sometimes refusing to fire even when the ready light glows. Exposure control is entirely manual, so you’ll need to choose film that suits your shooting conditions: ISO 200 or 400 is best for bright daylight, while the Bulb mode can be used for long exposures if you’ve got a steady hand.

Ultimately, the Lomourette isn’t for perfectionists. It’s aimed at those who value spontaneity over total control. This is a budget plaything for film newcomers, experimental shooters and anyone who wants to rediscover the joy of photography without the pressure of technical mastery. It’s a low-stakes way to play with film and embrace the magic of analog unpredictability.

If you’re after a dependable film camera that delivers consistently sharp, perfectly exposed images, you’ll want to look elsewhere. But if you like the idea of a pocketable, characterful camera that makes every frame a small surprise, the Lomography Lomourette is a refreshingly care-free reminder of what makes film photography fun.

Lomography Lourette: price and availability

The Lomography Lourette costs $69 / £65 and is available now, in multiple colorways, through the Lomography website and other retailers. The Diana+ flash is bundled with the camera, as are colored gel filters.

Lomography Lomourette: specs

Lomography Lomourette: design

Compact, bright and light, the Lomography Lomourette feels more like a toy than a serious photography tool. That’s entirely the point: this is a playful analog camera that comes in on a tight budget. Like the original Diana camera of the Sixties, the Lomourette’s body and lens are made of plastic, with no frills to sweeten the deal.

There’s some rounded detailing up top and a textured effect on the main body, but little about the Lomourette feels premium. It weighs next to nothing and there’s a sense of bargain basement about the assembly. That said, it also somehow feels robust enough to survive at the bottom of a family backpack. And if it doesn’t, the low cost means you’re unlikely to lose sleep over it.

Controls here are kept deliberately simple. There’s a shutter speed lever to toggle between normal (1/60sec) and bulb for long exposures, alongside a shutter release lever to the photographer’s right. On the front of the lens is a rotating dial which can switch focus between four subject distances: 0.6m, 1-2m, 2-4m and infinity. What you don’t get is any control over the aperture. Unlike other Lomography cameras, the lens here is fixed at f/8.

On the top plate, you’ll find a mount for the Diana+ flash attachment, as well as a film advance wheel. The latter operates independently from the shutter. That means you can fire off multiple exposures on the same frame, intentionally or otherwise. It’s a creative feature, but also one of several quirks that can trip up beginners. If you don’t want fully or partially overlayed exposures, you’ll need to make sure you’ve fully wound on between shots.

The flash itself is a detachable unit powered by a single AA battery, its two prongs slotting neatly into their dedicated holes. In keeping with the camera’s pared-back personality, the flash doesn’t feature any kind of exposure or intensity control. It’s either on or off, although you do at least get a ready indicator and the option to test-fire first.

Everything is easy enough to find your way around with your fingers, even if the amount of play in the controls is testament to the cost cap. Bigger digits may also find it difficult to rotate the focus distance dial: rather than gripping the outer edge of the lens, you need to get your tips into the inner section and twist, which is easier said than done.

Loading film can also be tricky. Due to the small size of the teeth on the take-up spool, getting the film leader to catch can take a few tries. Likewise, the rewind lever needs to be perfectly aligned with the canister before the back panel and main body can be latched back together using the door switch. It all becomes a bit easier once you’re familiar with the process, but it’s a reminder that loving the Lomourette requires a little patience.

As you’d expect from a budget film camera, the viewfinder isn’t linked to the lens. This makes it easy to accidentally shoot with the lens cap still on. Even when it’s off, the viewfinder only gives a modest window for your eye to work with, and what it shows doesn’t perfectly reflect what’s being framed by the lens.

These are just some of the facets which increase the margin for error when using the Lomourette. They arguably add to its character: you can’t use it expecting the precision of a digital camera or the sophistication of a more advanced film compact. Instead, the Lomourette rewards a relaxed approach, where missed exposures and happy accidents are part of the creative process.

The half-frame format is a perfect fit for this fun-first ethos. It doubles your exposures from 36 to 72 on a standard roll of 35mm film, splitting each frame into two portrait shots. That makes it great for storytelling in pairs or simply getting more value from your film. It also makes the resulting images half the size, which helps to hide any shortcomings in the optical quality.

Lomography Lomourette: performance

Like many of Lomography’s cameras, the Lomourette is more about feel than fidelity. Yet despite its plastic lens, many of the stills it produces are real keepers. While its image quality was never going to rival that of a more serious film camera, I was pleasantly surprised by how much contrast and clarity it captured.

Shoot in bright daylight and you’ll find that the Lomourette often delivers an attractive balance of realism tinged with nostalgia. Shadows and highlights are rendered with more depth than expected, while colors come through with a surprisingly natural hue, particularly skin tones.

Shooting on Kodak Ultramax 400, I found that stills have the quality of real memories from the mind’s eye: not too tinted, just an honest – if slightly warm and fuzzy – record of the scene. It stops short of the rose-tinted romanticism you encounter with some of the best instant cameras, leaning instead into the honest, grainy character of film.

The Lomourette’s 24mm lens doesn’t resolve a huge amount of detail, but it’s not as soft as you might expect. Nail the focus distance and you can get clean, defined edges. I shot stills sharp enough that text on clothing or the rim of a coffee cup stood out clearly, even through the haze of film grain. Zoom in and there’s enough detail to crop a single half-frame for sharing or use as a phone wallpaper.

That said, consistency isn’t the Lomourette’s strong suit. Exposure can vary wildly between frames, especially when lighting conditions change. Some shots are washed out, others underexposed. That’s just part of the deal. Without a light meter, it’s down to you to read the scene and shoot according to your film and the available light. ISO 200 or 400 is a good starting point. The ‘normal’ shutter speed of 1/60sec is just about fast enough for handheld shooting in daylight. Indoors, you’ll either need to use the flash or shoot a long exposure with the bulb mode.

My hit rate was probably 60%, with the rest affected by errors. Many of these were simply too dark or blown-out to be usable. But other shots with technical issues proved to be unexpectedly artistic. For example, overlapping frames produced layered compositions that felt intentional even when they weren’t, with shadows and light streaks crossing the border between stills.

Focus adjustment is fiddly but functional. The four-step dial is imprecise and tricky to twist, but it works well enough. Even when the focus isn’t perfect, gentle blurring adds to the lo-fi aesthetic. Soft fuzz provides a patina that complements the richness of the results, with slight barrel distortion adding further character. This is a camera that celebrates imperfection.

The only real frustration was the flash. When it fired, the detachable Diana+ flashgun produced a burst of light that gave life to low-light stills, particularly close-up indoor portraits. But despite testing its functionality and ensuring the ready indicator light was lit, there were several occasions where it simply didn’t fire, resulting in wasted exposures.

For such a simple camera, the Lomourette gets you thinking about film speed and shooting conditions. It would be easy to feel frustrated by the shots lost to errors. Yet playing with it isn’t meant to be about technical perfection. If you’re willing to surrender to the process and celebrate the attractive analog shots it does yield, the Lomourette is a lot of fun to shoot with.

Should I buy the Lomography Lomourette?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Lomography Lomourette

• Tested over two months
• Shot 1.5 rolls of film
• Used in different lighting

I used the Lomography Lomourette for two months to get a proper feel for its quirks and creative potential. During that time, I shot a full roll of ISO 400 and a partial roll of ISO 200 film. To mirror how most people are likely to use the Lomourette, I tried it both indoors and outdoors, in a variety of lighting and weather conditions.

I threw the Lomourette in a backpack for several family outings, to see how its build stacks up in everyday use. I also handed it to a six-year-old for a true test of how intuitive it is for anyone to pick up and shoot with.

I made sure to work my way through every one of the camera’s controls and settings. That meant loading it up with film and winding it on, then doing the reverse when the roll was finished. It also meant experimenting with the Diana+ flash attachment, using the camera’s bulb setting for long exposures and exploring its four-step focus to see how accurately the distance measurement affected subject sharpness in the resulting exposure.

After having the negatives developed and scanned, I reviewed every frame to evaluate color accuracy, exposure consistency and overall image quality. This approach – both analytical and holistic – gave me a genuine picture of how the Lomourette performs in the real world.

First reviewed October 2025

• Ricoh announces the development of the GR IV Monochrome and HDF variants
• The GR IV HDF is a direct replacement for the Ricoh GR III HDF
• Ricoh GR IV Monochrome removes the color filter array for superior noise and detail in black and white images

Ricoh has announced that it is working on two new additions to its family of high-performance compact cameras, the GR IV Monochrome and GR IV HDF.

The Ricoh GR IV was launched back in September 2025 to mixed reviews, replacing the already fan-favorite GR III. Featuring an APS-C format sensor, the camera employs a 25.74MP resolution, a 28mm equivalent lens, a 5-axis image stabilizer, and RAW file support. It is set to become a staple of many street photographers’ kitbags, thanks to its compact size, low weight, and powerful image-making engine.

Although compact cameras had slowed at the start of the decade, largely due to the best camera phones and affordable mirrorless cameras that have entered the market over the past few years, they are experiencing a bit of a renaissance.

Brands like Ricoh obviously see that there is a gap here that can be filled by a pocketable powerhouse, complete with many features previously only seen in professional or enthusiast-level interchangeable lens cameras.

Therefore, it wasted no time in following up on the standard GR IV with two variations, one that will be predictable to long-time devotees of the product line, and another that is a little more unexpected.

The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome and GR IV HDF go all-in on stylised images

Ricoh's cameras have long been considered among the best compact cameras. The Ricoh GR IV HDF (which stands for Highlight Diffusion Filter) directly replaces the Ricoh GR III HDF, launched back in March 2024. The GR IIIx, which features a slightly longer focal length lens, also received an HDF variant, so we could probably have seen this move coming.

The camera uses a 23.5 x 15.6 mm APS-C sensor, just like its predecessor, capable of outputting images measuring 6192 x 4128 pixels. It also enjoys 5-axis IBIS and Full HD video shooting at 60 frames per second. Meanwhile, the Highlight Diffusion Filter referenced in the name can be used to apply a unique diffusion effect for a soft and dreamy atmosphere, captured in-camera. This filter replaces the built-in 2-stop ND filter found in the standard GR III, GR IIIx, and GR IV bodies.

The biggest differences from the GR III HDF are a modest step up in resolution to almost 26 megapixels from 24MP, a wider sensitivity range that stretches up to 204,800 instead of 102,400, and two extra stops of image stabilization, compensating for up to 6EV rather than 4EV. You’ll also find 53GB of internal image storage compared to 2GB. These specs are, of course, also found on the standard GR IV.

Meanwhile, the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome will be welcome news for black and white photographers. Following a trend seen in cameras like the Leica Q2 Monochrom and the Ricoh family’s own Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome, this body is built without the usual Color Filter Array that sits above the imaging sensor in most digital cameras.

The CFA enables the capture of full color images via a process of demosaicing (a fancy term for digital processing), but it does result in a loss of light-gathering capacity and detail. By removing this component, the GR IV Monochrome can only capture black and white images, but with the potential for up to a full stop of superior noise performance and increased resolution of fine textures.

In a press release, Ricoh mentions that the camera will also feature “Image Control options specialized for black and white photography to deliver the expressiveness and depth unique to monochromatic images”. Exactly what these will be is unclear at this stage, but we can expect them to include additional or further developed black and white modes, like the already well-received ones on the GR IV.

We are yet to be given precise release dates for either model, other than “winter 2025” and “spring 2026” for the GR IV HDF and GR IV Monochrome, respectively. Have you used a Ricoh compact? Would you choose the standard GR IV or one of these two exciting new variations? Let us know in the comments.

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• The Analogue aF-1 is an all-new point-and-shoot 35mm film camera
• It features a 35mm f/2.8 lens, LiDAR autofocus, and a GN8-rated flash
• Pre-orders are live for €449 / £399 (about $550 / AU$800)

With the resurgence of film photography, there's been no shortage of new point-and-shoot film cameras spanning the last couple of years.

We've enjoyed cheap models like the Kodak Ektar H35, Pentax's return to film with the half-frame 17, and pricey love letters to cult classics like the reimagined Rollei 35 AF.

Now there's a new model built from the ground up by photographers and creatives at Analogue – a camera shop and focal point of a film photography community in Amsterdam, Netherlands – the Analogue aF-1.

What catches my eye immediately is the 35mm film point-and-shoot's sliding lens cover, which takes me back to the Olympus Mju I loved decades ago – it's an iconic design touch.

On top of its classic looks, Analogue hopes that the aF-1's (supposedly sharp) 35mm f/2.8 lens, auto exposure, LiDAR autofocus and proper built-in flash will seal the deal for film camera fans.

And I'm sold – those smart auto features should ensure that no frames are wasted, while the aF-1's spec sheet suggests greater versatility against the pricier Rollei 35 AF.

The Analogue aF-1 was teased a while back, but only this week was the prototype unveiled on its creator's social platforms (see below), while pre-orders are now live for €449 / £399 (about $550 / AU$800).

Just another compact 35mm film camera?

There's no shortage of 35mm film cameras, old and new. However, the Analogue aF-1 seemingly strikes the right balance between classic looks and modern features, for an attractive price which suggests decent quality.

For me, design is key and I'm loving the look of the Analogus aF-1, not least of which that sliding lens cover, even if it's a little blocky otherwise.

Then there's the standout feature – LiDAR autofocus, with a 0.5m to infinity range. I would expect decent autofocus performance even in low light with such tech on board.

The 'Renaisson' lens is nothing I haven't seen before, it's a compact 35mm f/2.8 design comprising six elements. For relatively close up portraits, I'd expect detail to be impressively sharp – the aF-1's makers certainly think so.

Other stand out features include a proper GN8-rated built-in flash (with 0.5 sec recycle time) and a 4 sec to 1/1000sec shutter speed range – that's a whole lot more versatile than the limited range found in comparable 35m film compact cameras.

Photos can be composed using the simple reverse Galilean viewfinder, while there's auto film loading and rewind and auto exposure, which all point to an accessible, high quality 35mm film camera – more sophisticated than the Pentax 17 which is a tad pricier.

I'm in touch with the good folk at Analogue, and hope to have a sample of the aF-1 to review – it's certainly a camera I'm excited to try. With pre orders live, Analogue projects the first deliveries of the AF-1 will land in Q1 2026 – bring it on!

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• Realme announces strategic partnership with Ricoh Imaging
• A new GT 8 Pro smartphone will be launched on October 14
• 'Co-created with Ricoh, the GT 8 Pro will be 'powered' by Ricoh GR tech

Xiaomi and Leica. Oppo and Hasselblad. Yes, 'strategic partnerships' between Chinese smartphone makers and well-regarded camera brands are nothing new, but the latest marriage – that of Realme and Ricoh Imaging – arguably feels like the most logical of the lot.

The self-proclaimed world's fastest-growing smartphone brand announced today that its long-term strategic partnership with Ricoh Imaging, which was four years in the making, will officially kick off on October 14 with the launch of the GT 8 Pro smartphone, co-created with Ricoh.

In a launch video, Realme Vice President Chase Xu says, “People are getting tired of the same ‘perfect style’ photos. More and more, everyone wants to show their own style, instead of copying the same look.”

In a bid to co-promote authentic street photography culture, the GT 8 Pro "offers an unprecedented imaging experience, achieving groundbreaking innovations in optical capabilities, color algorithms, imaging tones, and a tailor-made UI design that mimics the feel of a Ricoh GR camera... carrying the tradition of conventional camera into mobile photography."

This all sounds promising, especially for a Ricoh GR fan like me.

The smartphone / camera partnership of all partnerships?

I personally carry a Ricoh GR IIIx with me everywhere, grabbing everyday moments such as street photos and family candids. It's one in a long line of premium compact cameras by Ricoh with a devoted fan base, culminating in this year's GR IV, which I'm yet to test.

Known as the street photographer's camera with a genuinely pocketable design, Ricoh's GR series feels like an obvious pick for an increasingly popular smartphone brand to piggyback.

The recent Xiaomi 15 Ultra with Photography kit somewhat reminded me of my GR IIIx user experience, but the new GT 8 Pro could be next-level – heck, it even has 'Camera powered by Ricoh GR' written on its back.

We don't know the tech specs of the GT 8 Pro yet, nor anything beyond the few words in the Realme press release. But I'll be tuning in on October 14 to find out more, and I'm excited to get my hands on the GT 8 Pro. It might just offer the authentic camera phone experience that enthusiast photographers have been looking for.

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I was thrilled when Canon announced the PowerShot V1 in February this year. It meant a comeback of Canon's compact cameras, with the Japanese manufacturer bringing back what our reviewer called a "supercharged PowerShot G7X Mark III" – and I was big fan of the older compact.

The supercharging is what should put the PowerShot V1 on your radar if you're thinking about getting into video content creation or you need a new (upgraded) camera. The best part is it's price very well, even at its RRP of AU$1,449. However, it's just dropped to a record-low price, and the October Prime Day sale hasn't even started yet!

It's down to AU$1,049 on Amazon ahead of Prime Big Deal Days, and I think that's superb value for money when you look at its performance and spec sheet.

You can take a look at our in-depth Canon PowerShot V1 review for a full rundown of how this compact performs in the real world, but I think calling it a "well-rounded package for aspiring vloggers" should say it all.

And it begins with the sensor inside. It's a large 1.4-inch light-capturing surface that takes things up a notch over the standard 1-inch sensors most other compact cameras use. The sensor is coupled with Canon's Digic X processor that has powered the company's higher-end cameras, so processing is speedy for smooth performance. Of course, there's also Canon's trusty Dual Pixel AF II technology to support both eye and face detection – this works for humans, dogs and cats. I reckon future firmware updates might expand it to more animals, but I've used Canon cameras for over 12 years – face detection always works, even if the spec sheet is being rather specific.

One thing that some vloggers will appreciate is the wide-angle 16-50mm lens, which translates to a 3.1x zoom. That beats Sony's 18-50mm lens on its compact vlogging cameras.

That's not the only thing it outdoes Sony on. The PowerShot V1's sensor is stabilised which, trust me when I say this, comes handy when you're capturing footage while walking around town. It also has a maximum continuous shooting speed of 30fps, which is a touch faster than Sony's 24fps.

Its video specs are stock standard – 4K/60p capture – but there's 10-bit Canon Log 3 support for easier editing post capture. I appreciate its Review Mode because it helps when you're trying to showcase specific products in your content, as well as the tally lamps.

There's also an integrated cooling fan in that compact form factor to keep overheating at bay for as long as possible.

I think people will also find the included wind muffler when shooting outdoors (I'm thinking travel vlogging here). That's also when the automatic horizon corrector could be a huge help too, but using this feature will mean image stabilisation will be disabled and the focal range changes to 17-52mm at a reduced resolution of 18.7MP.

That really isn't a deal breaker at all and, honestly, that's a lot of prowess for a camera that currently costs a touch over a grand on Amazon. Will this become cheaper when Prime Big Deal Days starts on October 7? That's anyone's guess, but I'd recommend this camera at this price easily enough.

• Canon updates one of its cheap point-and-shoot PowerShots from 2016
• Key features include a 12x optical zoom and compact design
• The 2025 version is, in fact, a pricier downgrade

Canon has revived one of its cheap PowerShot point-and-shoots from 2016 with an updated model, the new PowerShot Elph 360 HS A – which is known as Ixus 285 HS A outside the US.

The almost 10-year-old original is one of a few trending compact cameras that are practically impossible to find after going viral (Kendall Jenner shoots with one, don't you know).

So, the new 'A' version of the camera is good news for many empty-handed fans – there should be plenty of stock of the 2025 point-and-shoot with 12x optical zoom.

Canon will surely hope it has acted swiftly enough to ride that TikTok wave, with fresh availability of the Elph 360 HS A / Ixus 285 HS A set for October.

Trust me though, any success the 2025 version has won't be because of its abilities. I can't call this an upgrade – it's practically a carbon copy of the original model, which wasn't even one of the best compacts in the mid 2010s.

Worse still, there are a couple of downgrades, plus it's limited to just black or silver colorways (the original came in purple too). There's a higher price tag to boot, up from $359 to $379 (UK and Australia pricing TBC).

Power shoot again

Like the PowerShot Elph 360 HS / Ixus 285 HS, the new 'A' version packs a tiny 1/2.3-inch sensor with 20MP stills and 1080p video, plus a 12x optical zoom with a 25-300mm f/3.6-7 range.

All key features are essentially the same, meaning that in terms of photo quality, the only real draw to the point-and-shoot over your smartphone is its optical zoom. You'd think at the very least the new model would come with USB-C charging, but nope, we're still on micro USB. Yes, it's 2025.

Version A also switches from SD card media to micro SD – that's a downgrade in my book, even if users are unlikely to spot any impact on performance. A refresh to today's Wi-Fi standards also sees users miss out this time on Wi-Fi image transfers / direct printing to a PC. A second negligible downgrade, but a downgrade nonetheless.

Still, by reviving a now-popular point-and-shoot into a trending market, Canon is acting where most other brands are watching on from the sidelines. The truth is, Canon didn't really need to upgrade the new model – it could cash in by simply making its point-and-shoot PowerShot available again.

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The Ricoh GR IV is the premium compact and Fujfilm X100VI rival that many keen photographers have been waiting for. This week, finally, preorders went live.

You'd think I'd be happy, but as a (mostly) satisfied Ricoh GR III user for several years, I was sorely disappointed when I saw the specs and first product images – the GR IV looks like a really minor upgrade.

I put together my Ricoh GR IV wishlist a long while back, and it looks like I'm going to have to hope and pray that the next generation delivers.

Yes, my top wish for the new model was that it remained as small as its predecessor. Ricoh went one better by making the GR IV even slimmer... fractionally. However, keeping something the same is hardly a reason to upgrade, is it?

Better autofocus was another wish of mine. I've not used the new GR IV yet, but the first hands-on video by a Ricoh ambassador suggests autofocus is slightly quicker, but only by baby steps. Again, not enough of a reason to upgrade.

And here comes the real sting in the tail – Ricoh has hit fans with a huge price hike, especially for shoppers in the US. The new GR IV costs $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,099. Ouch.

There's simply no way that a camera with updates this minor can merit such a price increase (of around 20-35%, depending on where you live).

The sensor only sees a small resolution bump – from 24MP to 26MP. There's a new 28mm f/2.8 lens, but it's unclear to me yet if it is noticeably better.

I wanted a tilt screen, but we still have a fixed one. I asked for a built-in flash, but again, that's a no. Better build quality? You guessed it – nope.

Yet here we are with a steep price increase that pushes the new model into a category with much fiercer rivals, such as the powerful (if bulkier) X100VI.

The GR series has comfortably sat around the $1,000 / £900 for years (with a slight price increase due in part, no doubt, to demand). That price feels fair.

If the price of the new model were around the same as before, I'd be tempted. But if I'm buying anything this week, it's going to be Ricoh's shiny new GF-2 external flash ($119.95 / £99 /AU$ TBC).

The new flash gun slots into the camera's hotshoe and is appropriately tiny, plus it's compatible with my GR III (although at the time of release, auto exposure isn't supported for older models – Ricoh says that'll come via a firmware update).

I'd rather the flash be built into the camera, but at least there's a good external option now.

With the GR IV, I think Ricoh has been stingy and greedy in one fell swoop, even if I'm delighted it has kept the series alive.

Want my advice? If you're keen on the GR series – and you should be, the GR III is one of the best point-and-shoot cameras with top image quality from a genuinely pocketable compact – then I suggest saving some cash by buying the older Ricoh GR III instead of the GR IV. You'll need to hurry to grab one while stocks last, though. Ricoh has discontinued it.

That being said, I'm still looking forward to reviewing the Ricoh GR IV. Perhaps I'll have a change of heart after hands-on time.

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