The Black Butte tiny house uses some clever interior design ideas to create an open and storage-packed layout that still makes room for some nice touches, including a bathroom with a freestanding tub.

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Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors

Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home

For years, machines have navigated the world color-blind. LiDAR sensors – the laser-based eyes of self-driving cars, industrial robots, and inspection drones – build precise 3D maps of their surroundings, but everything is built of monochrome geometric shapes. Ouster's new Rev8 sensor family aims to change that, not by bolting a camera onto a LiDAR unit, but by fusing color directly into every point of data the sensor captures.

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Category: Technology

Tags: LIDAR, Colors, All-in-one, Chips

Nikon Z9 | Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 800mm | F7.1 | 1/4000 sec | ISO 720
Photo: Alan Randle

Alan Randle, known as AJR Images in the forums, has been capturing striking images for decades, with a particular passion for fast-paced subjects. Originally from the UK and now based in Southern California, he has built a body of work that spans airshows, surfing, wildlife and more. Over the years, his photography has evolved from early film experiments to high-precision digital work with top-tier equipment, allowing him to get in close and capture subjects with remarkable clarity and detail.

If you are interested in air show photography, check out Alan's work below.

This story is part of our What's in your bag? community spotlight series. The series showcases the diverse gear and photography of our community, and shares their stories of how that gear helped them to capture the perfect shot.

Have your photography featured on the DPReview homepage! Find out how.

Nikon D5 | AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 @420mm (35mm equivalent) | F8 | 1/1600 sec | ISO 400
Photo: Alan Randle

Home base: Southern California, USA

"I've been taking photographs since the early 1960's, but more seriously for the last 15 years. I moved to California from the UK in 2000, and am now lucky to have great subject matter and good light. I've been fortunate enough to acquire some of the best equipment and now like to get in close to my subjects with the use of long telephotos."

Favorite camera and lens: Alan primarily shoots with Nikon Z9 bodies. For airshows and wildlife, he relies on super-telephoto lenses like the 400 F2.8 TC, 600 F4 TC, and 800 f/6.3 to capture subjects up close with exceptional detail. For travel or more general photography, he uses a Z6III with a 24–120mm F4. Alan values this setup for its versatility and reliability, allowing him to adapt quickly to different environments.

• Primary cameras: Nikon Z9, Nikon Z6III
• Lenses:
  • Nikon Z 400mm F2.8 TC ("I love the Nikon Z 400TC. A fabulous lens with the versatility of two focal lengths.")
  • Nikon Z 600mm F4 TC
  • Nikon Z 800mm F6.3
  • Nikon Z 400mm F4.5
  • Nikon Z 180–600mm F5.6
  • Nikon Z 70–200mm F2.8
  • Nikon Z 24–70mm F2.8 SII
  • Nikon Z 14–24mm F2.8
  • Nikon Z 105mm F2.8
  • Z6III with 24–120mm F4 (for travel)
• Support gear: Spare CFexpress cards and batteries, Gitzo and RRS tripods, monopods, and heads (rarely used; prefer handholding). Multi-tool and water bottles for long shoots.
• Camera bags: Think Tank and Gura Gear roller bags, backpacks, and shoulder bags, chosen for durability and to accommodate large telephoto lenses.

Photo: Alan Randle

"I was a professional aerospace engineer for nearly 50 years, so I keep up my interest by attending airshows around Southern California. I’ve been fortunate to acquire some of the best super telephoto lenses over the last few years and have practiced honing my panning skills to the point where I can capture sharp images of aircraft with good prop blur. I look back at some of my older images, and certainly modern equipment has made it easier to get great images."

"Oh yes. I started out with a Praktica camera and then an Olympus OM2 system, but got serious when I bought a Nikon F4S in the 1980's. I then moved from F to D to Z systems. Since investing in Nikon Z9s and Z lenses, my output has improved to no end."

Nikon D4S | AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED II @420mm (35mm equivalent) | F5.6 | 1/4000 sec | ISO 320
Photo: Alan Randle

"I also enjoy shooting zoo animals. I like to take portraits rather than the whole of the animal, again making good use of my telephoto lenses. Carrying big equipment around a zoo can be tiring. I’ve even been asked by staff if I want to check my 'luggage.'"

"Living close to the beach, I shoot championship surfing (people and dogs). You need to take care of your equipment in this environment of saltwater and sand. I’ve seen photographers so engrossed in the action that they miss a rogue wave that drowns their equipment. Electronics and salt water don’t mix!"

"In the past, I’ve shot motor sports, tennis, and cycling. Unfortunately, as sports become more commercialized, it’s getting harder and harder to get good images unless you are credentialed. Not only are you kept further away from the action, but there are often limits as to the equipment that can be taken into a venue."

Nikon Z 9 | NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S @400mm (35mm equivalent) | F5.6 | 1/6400 sec | ISO 900
Photo: Alan Randle

"I try to understand the type of subjects I'll be shooting, like typical aircraft maneuvers, animal behavior, the way that sports are played, and so I try to get 'ahead of the game.' Knowing how the subject will react at any moment keeps my fingers on the right controls. On that point, do learn how to use your equipment. Read the manuals and understand what all the controls do so that setting up becomes second nature."

Alan really enjoyed writing the content for this spotlight article and would be grateful for you to join him in discussion in the forums. Thanks, Alan, for being featured!

If you'd like to share your photography, tell us about your main camera, lens choices, key settings and strategies. Your photos and story could be featured in the next article!

Editor's note: This article continues a series, 'What's in your bag?', highlighting DPReview community members, their photography and the gear they depend on. Would you like to be featured in a future installment? Tell us a bit about yourself and your photography by filling out this form. If you're selected for a feature, we'll be in touch with next steps.

Submit your photos and story to be featured in 'What's in your bag?'

Last month, Thypoch announced that it was working on the Voyager 24-50mm F2.8 AF, the first full-frame autofocus zoom lens from a Chinese manufacturer. Now, the company has revealed the full details of it, including its price and full specifications.

The former is perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of this lens. When we interviewed Thypoch's Go-to-Market manager for this lens, we were told the company was aiming to price it similarly to a prime. It turns out that meant $649, pretty much half of what Sony charges for its 24-50mm F2.8.

Despite being a very similar offering, the lens isn't a clone of Sony's. The most noticeable difference is that Thypoch's is an internal zoom design, while Sony's extends. And while both lenses have 16 elements in 13 groups, the formulas are different: the Voyager has two aspheric lenses, three ED lenses and three HR elements, while the Sony uses one aspheric and two EDs. According to our interview, the company hasn't used any software distortion correction in its design, so it has to do everything optically, a limitation Sony doesn't have.

Another difference between the two lenses is minimum focusing distance. Both are 0.3m (11.8") at the long end, but at the wide end Sony's can get as close as 0.18m (7.1"), while Thypoch's is still at 0.3m

The Voyager 24-50mm F2.8 has a 10-bladed aperture, and a clicked ring to control it, complete with an "A" setting that lets you control it using a command dial on your camera instead. It also features a customizable function button, and an AF/MF switch.

At 450g (15.9oz) and 92mm (3.6") long, it's fairly compact for a full-frame lens, making it relatively easy to carry around. We appreciate that, as we've found this kind of lens to be great for travel, given its size and ability to get wide shots to capture everything in front of you, without giving up the ability to get in a little closer. Thypoch also claims that it's sealed for dust and moisture resistance.

Optically speaking, we found the lens to be relatively sharp. While there's some vignetting, it's not more than we'd expect from other budget lenses with a focus on being compact. Where it fell down a bit was in flare resistance; Thypoch says the lens has its "Epoch" coating, but there were times where we found that bright lighting outside the frame would result in a washed out image, even when we were shooting with the included lens hood.

The flare from the window above the cat has substantially washed out this image.

Sony a7R V | Thypoch 24-50mm F2.8 | F2.8 | 1/50 | ISO 1000

Autofocus performance was mostly fine. We tested the lens with a Sony a7R V, and it was usually able to lock onto a subject and follow it, even if it was moving. Still, there were a few instances where it had to hunt in lighting conditions that we'd have expected an own-brand lens to handle without any issues. But given that this is the company's first autofocus lens, period, and that it doesn't have an official E-mount license, its performance was quite impressive.

While there's a lot to recommend the Thypoch 24-50mm F2.8 on its own, it’s also hard not to feel like this is the just start of something exciting. Obviously, third-party autofocus zoom lenses are nothing new; we’ve seen them from Sigma, Tamron, LK Samyang, and others. But it’s hard to ignore what happened with primes, where Chinese lens makers came in, started competing, leading to a flood of especially interesting, or affordable (or sometimes, both) lenses. That wave has also coincided with similarly exciting lens releases from the major manufacturers, too. If the same thing happens with zoom lenses, the next few years could be very interesting, and we may finally get some options that we haven’t had before.

The Thypoch Voyager 24-50mm F2.8 will available for Sony E-mount starting in June. The company says it's running a special launch promotion, selling the lens for $619.

For more impressions on this lens, you can watch our video on it below. You can also check out our sample gallery to see how it performs for yourself.

Buy now:

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.

Thank you to Sony for the loan of an a7R V to capture this gallery. All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with no vignetting correction applied.

Press release:

The first full-frame autofocus zoom developed by a Chinese optical brand, in a constant f/2.8 internal-zoom design

Shenzhen, China, May 14, 2026. Thypoch today announced the Voyager 24-50mm f/2.8, the first full-frame autofocus zoom developed by a Chinese optical brand and Thypoch’s first AF lens. Built for Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras, the Voyager uses an internal zoom mechanism that holds physical length fixed across the focal range, with a constant f/2.8 aperture from 24mm through 50mm.

Three Primes in One Lens

A photographer working with primes typically carries 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm. Those three focal lengths cover the working distances that define documentary, reportage, environmental portrait, street, and event photography. The 24mm captures a full scene when there isn’t room to step back. The 35mm sees roughly the way the eye sees, which is why it remains the working perspective of reportage and documentary photography. The 50mm isolates a subject without flattening the space around it.

The 24-50mm range was chosen as a balance of size, design, and price point. It covers the focal lengths working photographers reach for daily. The Voyager fits an internal zoom mechanism, holds f/2.8 across the range, and stays compact enough to live on the camera all day.

The Voyager is designed to deliver image quality comparable to a dedicated prime across the zoom range, whether the working perspective is the breadth of 24mm, the reportage view of 35mm, or the subject isolation of 50mm. The result is one lens that does the work of three primes, in the size and weight of one.

Fixed Length, Constant Aperture

A fixed-length zoom that holds f/2.8 across the range removes two of the most common interruptions in fast-paced shooting: rebalancing a gimbal between focal lengths, and recalculating exposure as the aperture shifts.

The Voyager’s internal zoom mechanism keeps the barrel length constant from 24mm to 50mm. The center of gravity stays in place during a take. The fixed barrel is also more mechanically stable in the hand than an extending zoom, which translates to a steadier grip during handheld work.

The f/2.8 maximum aperture is held throughout the zoom range. From dim interiors and twilight streets to backlit portraits, f/2.8 delivers the brightness and subject separation that working photographers need when light is scarce. Exposure stays consistent across focal lengths. The lens stays out of the way of the shot.

The fixed barrel also eliminates lens creep when the camera is stowed, and removes the extending external moving parts that complicate weather sealing on conventional zooms.

A First for Chinese Optical Engineering

The Voyager is the first full-frame autofocus zoom developed by a Chinese optical brand. Combining autofocus, full-frame image coverage, and zoom architecture in a single lens requires coordinated development across optical design, mechanical engineering, AF systems, and electronics.

The Voyager’s autofocus system is designed for fast and quiet operation. Thypoch built the AF unit to stay out of the way of the shot, with response speed intended to keep pace with documentary, street, and event shooting, and quiet operation suited to video work and sound-sensitive environments. The lens features native Sony E-mount autofocus, with support for eye AF, AF-C tracking, and in-camera and lens-side AF/MF switching.

The lens has been tested with current-generation Sony Alpha bodies including the ZV-E1, A7C2, A7CR, A7IV, A7V, A7RIV, A7RV, A7SIII, A9III, and FX3.

Built for Bokeh

Rendering character is where Thypoch has built its reputation, and the Voyager carries that priority into autofocus. The optical design uses 16 elements in 13 groups, including 2 ASPH (aspherical) elements, 3 ED (extra-low dispersion) elements, and 3 HRI (high refractive index) elements. The formula is designed to control aberrations across the frame at all focal lengths.

The 10-blade rounded aperture holds its circular shape across most of the working aperture range, producing rounded out-of-focus highlights at mid apertures and sunstar rendering at smaller apertures.

Optical, Not Digital

The Voyager’s out-of-focus rendering is built into the glass, not added in software. Optical bokeh behaves naturally at the edges of the frame, around specular highlights, and in the transition zones that digital blur tends to flatten. The result is depth that holds up at full resolution and on close inspection.

The transition from sharp focus to background blur happens gradually, the way a lens with character renders rather than the way a lens that’s merely sharp does. Subjects sit forward in the frame with weight and presence, separated from the background without the harsh cutoff that flattens an image.

Sealed at Every Joint

Weather sealing is the difference between a lens that works in the conditions a photographer actually shoots in and a lens that has to be protected from them. The Voyager is built with sealed construction at the lens mount, focus ring, zoom ring, and front element. The internal zoom design contributes to sealing integrity by removing the extending external barrel that creates the most common point of moisture ingress on conventional zooms.

The lens is developed for dust and moisture resistance. Whether the shooting environment is coastal mist or a sudden urban downpour, the Voyager is built to keep working. Paired with Sony’s own weather-sealed Alpha bodies, the lens completes a sealed shooting system rather than introducing a weak point in it.

Cinema Zoom Heritage

The Voyager is Thypoch’s first autofocus lens. Its zoom architecture draws on the parent group’s experience in cinema zoom lens engineering, which includes constant-aperture and internal-zoom designs across multiple cine lens families. Cinema zooms are the discipline in which constant aperture and fixed barrel length were first solved as engineering problems. The Voyager applies that discipline to a stills-format AF lens.

Price and Availability

Launch price: USD $619 / EUR €539 (May 14 to May 31, 2026)

MSRP: USD $649 / EUR €569

The Thypoch Voyager 24-50mm f/2.8 is available in Sony E-mount.

Standard package: lens body, front cap, rear cap, warranty card.

Local availability from: early June 2026

Insta360 is leaning into the popularity of retro vibes with its latest release, the Go 3S Retro Bundle. The special edition bundle includes its tiny Go 3S action camera with a fresh design, along with a new Retro Viewfinder in place of the Action Pod it normally comes with, which mimics a more traditional action camera.

The focus of the new bundle is a more retro-looking replacement for the Action Pod. The standard 360 Go 3S can be docked in the Action Pod, which provides a touchscreen, charges the camera, and can also be used as a remote monitor. The new bundle, however, comes with the Retro Viewfinder. It also acts as a dock for the camera, though with some key differences.

The new Retro Viewfinder features an optical waist-level viewfinder instead of a rear display.

Image: Insta360

Unlike the Action Pod, the Retro Viewfinder doesn't offer a touchscreen display, remote shooting functionality or charging capabilities. It does, however, feature what Insta360 says is an optical waist-level viewfinder designed to mimic certain vintage film cameras. It also has a built-in selfie mirror for easier selfies.

To address the lack of extra battery that the Action Pod normally provides, the Retro Bundle comes with a separate battery pack. It doubles battery life, promising 76 minutes of run time. It can also charge while recording. Using the battery pack likely means that you can't have the camera slotted into the viewfinder, however.

The bundle also includes a "Custom Skin" that lets users tap their smartphone against it to instantly launch the Insta360 app, thanks to a built-in NFC tag. Since there's no display on the Retro Viewfinder, you'll need to use a phone to take the place of the Action Pod for reviewing photos and videos, editing clips or adjusting settings. The quick access via NFC should make it easier to do those things.

The Insta360 GO 3S Retro Bundle comes in Canvas White (left) and Classic Red (right).

Image: Insta360

In addition to hardware changes, Insta360 is also introducing three exclusive filters that mimic film. Negative Film features soft contrast and lower saturation, Positive Film offers punchier colors and contrast, and Sticker Filter functions like pre-exposed film with three pattern options and "film-like colors." There are also five new built-in film-inspired color profiles: NC, CC, GR-F, Mono and Vintage Vacation. We've asked Insta360 if any of these are coming to the standard Go 3S, but haven't heard back.

Beyond the new look, the camera portion of the Go 3S remains unchanged from the original version. It retains its tiny size outside of its enclosure, weighing just 39g (1.4oz), and the built-in magnetic mounting system. The camera can capture 4K video, uses Insta360's FlowState Stabilization to smooth out footage, and features integrated storage.

The Retro Bundle is available as of today in white with colorful stripes and red. It comes in two storage capacities, 64GB and 128GB, priced at $250 and $270, respectively. That’s significantly cheaper than the $399 (64GB) and $429 (128GB) launch prices of the Go 3S. You can also buy the Retro Viewfinder on its own for $48 if you already own the Go 3S but want the retro look.

Press release:

Insta360 today announced the Insta360 GO 3S Retro Bundle, a special edition that brings the nostalgic charm of film photography to its tiny POV camera. The new bundle introduces a Retro Viewfinder, film-inspired filters, and accessories designed to recreate the tactile experience of classic cameras, while keeping the portability and hands-free shooting that define GO 3S.

Built around the 39g standalone camera, the Retro Bundle combines 4K video, hands-free POV capture, and Insta360's leading FlowState Stabilization with a playful, retro-inspired shooting style. Designed for creators who enjoy documenting everyday life, street photography enthusiasts, and those drawn to the aesthetic of classic cameras, the GO 3S Retro Bundle offers a new way to capture spontaneous moments.

A retro-inspired shooting experience.

The Retro Bundle introduces several accessories that recreate the tactile feel of classic cameras while keeping GO 3S's signature portability.

Retro Viewfinder

At the center of the bundle is the Retro Viewfinder, which pairs with the standalone GO 3S camera to create a handheld shooting experience inspired by vintage film cameras. The optical waist-level viewfinder allows users to roughly frame shots without looking at a screen, encouraging a slower, more intentional approach to photography.

The viewfinder also includes a built-in selfie mirror for quick handheld self-portraits.

Battery Pack

The included Battery Pack extends recording time to up to 76 minutes and supports charging while recording, allowing creators to shoot longer sessions without interruption.

NFC Custom Skin

The NFC Custom Skin enables instant access to the Insta360 app. By tapping a smartphone against it, users can instantly open the Insta360 app to preview footage, edit clips or adjust settings.

Strap and Magnet Pendant

The bundle also includes a strap for easy everyday carry, allowing users to wear the camera like a necklace or attach it to bags and accessories. The popular Magnet Pendant, a signature GO 3S accessory, is also included for hands-free POV shooting by magnetically mounting the camera to clothing.

Film-inspired filters and new creative tools.

To complement the retro hardware design, the GO 3S Retro Bundle introduces three exclusive film-style filters:

• Negative Film: A softer look with cooler tones and lower saturation inspired by classic negative film.
• Positive Film: A bold style with stronger contrast and saturation reminiscent of slide film.
• Sticker Filter: Inspired by pre-exposed film, this filter adds a choice of three retro-style patterns and film-like colors to photos, creating playful sticker-like overlays.

GO 3S also features 11 built-in color profiles, including five new film-inspired styles introduced with the Retro Bundle: NC, CC, GR-F, Mono and Vintage Vacation. These profiles allow creators to capture stylized photos straight out of the camera without post-processing.

The Insta360 app takes on the role of the Action Pod, allowing users to switch shooting modes, adjust settings, and apply filters directly from their phone, while also providing the app's built-in editing tools. Both iOS and Android users can also make use of Live Activities, which provides quick recording controls and camera status updates directly from the phone's lock screen.

A tiny camera for everyday creativity.

While the Retro Bundle focuses on photography and spontaneous everyday capture, it retains the core capabilities of Insta360 GO 3S.

Weighing just 39g, the tiny camera can be worn, mounted or placed almost anywhere to capture immersive first-person perspectives, completely hands-free. The built-in magnetic mounting system allows users to quickly attach the camera to clothing, metal surfaces or creative positions that would be impossible with larger cameras.

The camera can shoot stunning 4K video with leading FlowState Stabilization, ensuring smooth footage even during movement. When inspiration strikes, QuickCapture allows recording to start instantly with a single button press. GO 3S is also waterproof up to 33ft (10m), making it easy to capture everything from city exploration to underwater moments.

After shooting, creators can take advantage of FreeFrame Video, which allows footage to be exported in any aspect ratio for social media. The Insta360 app also includes tools like Auto Editing, which automatically finds highlights and edits them together to music, and the Stats Dashboard, which overlays real-time data from Apple, Garmin, COROS, or iGPSPORT devices to turn everyday clips into shareable content.

By pairing GO 3S with the Retro Viewfinder, the bundle delivers a distinctive shooting experience that blends nostalgic camera design with the creative flexibility of a tiny POV camera, perfect for creative photography, spontaneity and everyday storytelling.

Available now.

The Insta360 GO 3S Retro Bundle is available today from the Insta360 store in Canvas White and Classic Red. It includes the standalone camera, Retro Viewfinder, Battery Pack, NFC Custom Skin, a Strap, Magnet Pendant, Lens Guard (pre-installed) and a USB-C to A Cable. Two storage options are available: 64GB and 128GB, priced at US$249.99 and US$269.99, respectively.

There probably isn’t any other bikemaker in the world that’s more synonymous with scooters than Kymco. It ranks right up there among top global scooter brands like Honda, Yamaha, and Piaggio/Vespa. Even in the USA, it’s relatively well-known, despite its small dealer footprint when compared to those other brands.

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Category: Motorcycles, Transport

Tags: Scooter, Kymco, Touring, BMW Motorrad, Honda Motorcycles

San Diego has a deep connection to America's military and naval forces, and it'll soon be home to a marvelous institution to showcase the history, legacy, and future of the Navy SEALs.

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Category: Architecture, Engineering

Tags: Museum, US Navy, Building and Construction, Building Facades

Mexico City is trapped in a dangerous feedback loop.

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Category: Environment, Science

Tags: Water, Geology, NASA, Satellite

New research shows that small changes in diet practiced for less than a calendar month can potentially improve your biological age – supporting the key functions that together lead to healthier lives later in life.

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Category: Aging Well, Wellness and Healthy Living, Body and Mind

Tags: University of Sydney, Aging, Age-Related, Biological age, Blood Pressure, Insulin, Chronic illness, Inflammation, Health

More than 80 years after the world-famous Trinity test showed humanity what to expect from an atomic detonation, researchers are still sifting new discoveries out of its twisted remains.

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Category: Chemistry, Science

Tags: Nuclear Fission, X-ray crystallography, Chemistry

Alex Brown & Grace Owen, Durham University/ The Conversation

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Category: Infectious Diseases, Illnesses and conditions, Body and Mind

Tags: pandemic, black-death, History

It was cold – but nowhere near what I expected; I’ve been colder in an outdoor swimming pool in Australia. It's part of a global feedback loop, the scale of which I only began to comprehend when I saw this remarkable continent for myself.

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Category: Environment, Science

Tags: Antarctic, Climate Crisis, Penguins, Sea-level rise, Ice, Features, xxShowcase

Built for the type of fast, remote motorized adventure that can go wrong in a hurry, the new Pocket Winch from startup Dragan Systems aims to be the lightest, most portable come-along out there. It fractionalizes weight while still multiplying muscle enough to move up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of stuck vehicle, trail-blocking deadfall or whatever else stands in the way of open-ended adventure. Chuck it in your Africa Twin's pannier and have an instant backup plan if things go sideways.

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Category: Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Adventure Bikes, Off-road, Mountain Bikes, Motorcycle Gear

Canon apparently thought that a camera, a lens and a list of accessories weren't enough for one week. The company has also released firmware updates for the EOS R5 II and EOS R1, bringing the first major update to their Action Priority mode, as well as other quality-of-life features and improvements. It also recently announced that it's rolling out a system that will allow news organizations to certify images taken with the camera using the C2PA content authenticity standard.

Action Priority mode, introduced with the two cameras, is designed to recognize key moments in specific sports and ensure that the autofocus tracking follows the correct player. When it launched, it supported football (soccer), basketball and volleyball. Now, the company has added support for American football, which it says will "optimize human subject detection for individuals wearing helmets and shoulder pads."

The release notes for the updates also say that performance is improved for the cameras' Register People Priority mode, which lets you take a picture of a specific person or people that you'd like the camera to pick out first when in human subject detection mode. The company says it should now work better "in challenging conditions-including profile views, blurred or partially obscured faces, small subjects in the frame, and children." This is good news, as when we tested it on the EOS R6 III, we found that it wasn't always the best at recognizing a person if their appearance had changed since you took the reference photo.

Both cameras gain the ability to have the pre-burst shooting mode assigned to a custom button, solving what's been an annoyance since the cameras' launch. There were ways to work around not being able to turn it on or off with a single button press, but there were downsides to those methods, so it's good to see it addressed.

The cameras also gain some video improvements, including features introduced with the EOS R6 V, a vlogging-focused camera. These include four custom white balance slots, which you can switch between using a custom button. It also adds the product demo mode as a menu option, letting you tell the camera to override face detection if you're clearly holding something up to the camera.

There are several other quality-of-life improvements for video shooters, too, including the ability to show the electronic level or gridline overlay while recording, and to use the false color overlay to check exposure even when using the Log assist view.

You can see all the other changes coming to the EOS R1 and EOS R5 II at the respective support pages on Canon's website.

In addition to the firmware updates, Canon announced that it is rolling out its Authenticity Imaging System, which uses the C2PA content authenticity standard. The system provides provenance data showing that images were captured with a supported camera, helping news organizations combat generative AI and image manipulation.

The announcement said that it will initially be available for news organizations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Canon says it partnered with Reuters for initial testing, and the news organization "found that authenticated provenance data could be generated reliably." It will also only be available on supported models for the time being, with Canon specifying the EOS R1 and EOS R5 II.

EDC Monster is a team of everyday carry (EDC) tool enthusiasts that has been creating compact gear since 2022. One of its signature products is a key-shaped multitool introduced three years ago. The idea behind the series is to create a multifunctional tool that is small and lightweight enough to stay on a keychain – essentially a full toolbox in the shape and size of a key.

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Category: Knives and Multitools, Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Multitools, Knife, Wrench, Titanium, EDC, Kickstarter, xxKickbooster

Countless industrial tools and robots need to grip things, and because we humans learn to grip since infancy, we can easily underestimate how complex gripping actually is. If our grip is too rigid, we can snap or shatter our payload; if our grip is too soft, our payload may slip from our fingers or exceed lift capacity. Human hands have advantages: rigid bones covered in pliable skin and muscles. So, what’s a poor mechanism to do when it simply wants to lift?

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Category: Robotics, Engineering

Tags: Octopus, Biomimicry, Peking University, National University of Singapore, Zhejiang University

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, have demonstrated that the blades of their next-generation Mars helicopter rotors can punch past the speed of sound and come out intact. In recent tests, a three-bladed rotor reached Mach 1.08 in simulated Martian conditions, boosting lift capacity by 30% without a single blade fracturing.

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Category: Space Systems, Engineering

Tags: NASA, JPL, Mars, Helicopters

In addition to announcing the a7R VI and FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS, Sony has unveiled its latest smartphone, the Xperia 1 VIII. The updated version brings a notable hardware change to the telephoto camera, but much of the focus of the phone is on the new AI Camera Assistant feature.

On the hardware side of things, Sony has moved away from the 85-170mm equivalent telephoto zoom lens used in the Xperia 1 VII, opting instead for a fixed 70mm equivalent lens. While the new telephoto camera loses the previous model’s optical zoom range, it gains a much larger sensor. The new 48MP telephoto camera in the Xperia 1 VIII features a Type 1/1.56 (50 mm²) sensor, a substantial boost over its predecessor's 12MP Type 1/3.5 (12 mm²) sensor.

The telephoto camera is the only one to receive a hardware change in this iteration of Sony’s flagship phone. The main (24mm equiv) and ultrawide (16mm equiv) modules carry over, with the main camera still built around Sony's larger Type 1/1.35 (65 mm²) sensor and both offering 48MP resolution.

There are some software changes for the cameras on the new phone as well. Sony says its Raw multi-frame processing now applies to all three rear cameras, expanding dynamic range for HDR images and promising less noise in low-light conditions.

The bigger focus for Sony, though, is the new AI Camera Assistant. Sony says the new feature, which is powered by Sony's Xperia Intelligence, is meant to "make photography even more enjoyable." When you open the camera, the AI assistant can automatically analyze the scene and subject and suggest various adjustments. For example, it may recommend you use a different lens, or suggest various color filters or different background blur styles (what Sony calls "bokeh expressions").

Outside of the cameras, the phone has a bit of a redesign, too. Sony has introduced a new "Ore" design, which it says is inspired by the color and textures of raw gemstones. There's a subtle texture on the back of the phone, which is intended to provide a better grip, something that phone photographers will likely appreciate. It keeps the dedicated shutter button and 3.5mm audio jack, a rarity on phones these days, and promises up to two days of battery life.

The Xperia 1 VIII is available for preorder now in black, silver and red for £1,399 / €1,499 for the 256GB model. Preorders come with the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones. Sony is also selling a 1TB gold version exclusively through its online stores in select countries for £1,849 / €1,999.

Press release:

• New AI Camera Assistant suggestsi creative color tones, lens options, and bokeh expressions tailored to subjects and scenes to enable users to choose their preferred creative shooting style / enhance creative expression.
• Features a new, more powerful Telephoto camera equipped with new 1/1.56-inch sensor for stunning shots in any light conditionsii. ​
• A new fresh ORE design using natural textures, available in four distinctive colors inspired by raw gemstones.

Sony today announces the launch of its latest flagship smartphone 'Xperia 1 VIII'. Featuring the new AI Camera Assistant powered by Xperia Intelligence, which leverages AI technology to enhance photography by suggesting helpful camera settings such as colour tones, lens selection, and bokeh effects which are optimized depending on the scene and subject. The new telephoto camera is equipped with a 1/1.56-inch image sensor, approximately four times larger than that used in the Xperia 1 VII, enabling improved delicate and highly detailed shots of distant subjects. All three of its cameras (16mm / 24mm / 70mm)iii deliver low-light performance comparable to that of a full-frame sensor in terms of noise reduction and dynamic rangeiv, allowing for clear imaging even in dark environmentsv.

With the introduction of Xperia 1 VIII, Sony aims to support the joy of everyday photography and creation by enabling customers in their drive to capture better photos. ​ ​

Improved Photography Experience Thanks to the New AI Camera Assistant and Telephoto Camera

The new AI Camera Assistant powered by Xperia Intelligence is designed to make photography even more enjoyable. By simply pointing the camera at your subject, it automatically recognises the scene by combining various factors such as the subject itself and weather conditions to suggest different options for your image that include colour tones, lens effects and bokeh expressions. These recommendations are based on Creative Look that reflect Sony’s unique imaging philosophy cultivated through α™ (Alpha™). With a simple tap on the suggestion, you can effortlessly achieve your desired creative expressionvi. ​

In addition, the telephoto camera is equipped with a 1/1.56‑inch image sensor that is approximately four times larger than that of the previous modelvii, delivering clear and detailed images even in low-light conditions. Furthermore, RAW multi-frame processing is applied to all lenses, simultaneously expanding dynamic range (HDR) and performing noise reduction in low-light conditions. This method effectively suppresses highlight clipping and shadow crushing, improving color reproduction accuracy in high-contrast scenes. Fine details with clear, sharp edges are faithfully preserved in both bright and dark areas. In addition, noise is reduced even in low-light environments, ensuring clear and crisp images.

Redesigned and Crafted to Inspire

The stunning new ORE design is inspired by natural materials with color inspiration for the four new choices originating from raw gemstones, Graphite Black, Iolite Silver, Garnet Red, and Native Goldviii. By incorporating a camera design that makes use of the new telephoto camera, along with newly developed processing applied to the materials used throughout the sides, back, and overall body, a unified and cohesive design has been achieved. Subtle surface textures provide a comfortable feel in the hand and enhanced grip. Xperia 1 VIII retains the famous dedicated camera shutter button which offers a photography experience similar to a dedicated camera, plus the 3.5mm audio jack continues to support high-quality audio using wired headphones, offering exceptional sound quality inherited from WALKMAN® DNA. ​

Advanced Full-Stage Stereo Speakers Deliver a Powerful, Immersive Sound Experience ​

Xperia 1 VIII is equipped with newly developed identical left and right speaker units, to deliver further advances in stereo performance. These speakers produce deeper bass and more extended high frequencies, while creating a wider and deeper soundstage. Voices and instruments are reproduced with greater clarity and richness, making music performances and movie scenes feel as though they are unfolding right in front of you for an immersive and engaging audio experience.

Peak Performance Combined with up to Two-Days Battery Lifeix

Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon® 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platformx, Xperia 1 VIII has improved processing speed and increased performance by 20%vi. From lightning-fast app launches and seamless multitasking to captivating gameplay and responsive content creation, this powerhouse platform delivers next-generation speed, performance, and efficiency.​ ​

The long battery life of up to two-daysxi and 4 years of healthy batteryviii can be enjoyed worry free so you can create, enjoy and relax with the reassurance you won’t easily run out of charge when out and about. ​

In addition to everyday activities such as browsing social media and websites, Processing Optimizationxii has also been newly applied to the usage of map apps with high power consumption, achieving further reductions in overall power usage.

​ ​A Case Designed to Protect and Harmonize

The Xperia 1 VIII can be protected with the optional casexiii, which features a translucent material designed to enhance the device’s ORE-inspired design. It also features a convenient built-in stand that supports both vertical and horizontal positioning, providing comfortable provision for video viewing. Additionally, the material is resistant to yellowing, maintaining its optimum appearance over time. ​

Pricing and Availability

Xperia 1 VIII will be available to pre-order from 13th May direct from Sony and select online retailers (depending on the country) for approximately 1499EUR / £1399 for the 256 version, during the pre-order period purchases of Xperia 1 VIII will include Sony’s high-end headphones WH-1000XM6. ​ The 1TB Native Gold version is available exclusively from Sony online in select countries for 1999EUR / £1849.

Notes:

[i] Suggestions may not be available depending on the shooting environment, subject, or scene

[ii] Accuracy of the feature may vary according to environmental circumstances and settings. Some performance restrictions may apply.

[iii] 35mm equivalent

[iv] Based on comparisons with Sony digital cameras equipped with full-frame sensors, evaluating still image noise performance and dynamic range under lighting conditions of LV (Light Value) 2 or lower.

[v] limited to still images

[vi] This feature may not be available under certain shooting conditions or settings, including continuous shooting or RAW capture.

[vii] Comparison with Xperia 1 VII

[viii] Colour availability may vary by market, variant or sales channel

[ix] The test assumes a usage scenario based on the standard battery usage profile of Xperia™ users, where internet browsing, video viewing, gaming, and other functions are used for 360 minutes per day (with 1080 minutes of standby time). This indicates that the battery will last for 48 hours of use. Actual battery life may vary depending on usage conditions and environment.

[x] Snapdragon and Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. ​

[xi] Based on simulations of repeated USB charging and discharging with the same type of battery. Battery health depends on usage.

[xii] The effect of power consumption reduction may vary depending on the type of app, its state, and the content being displayed.

[xiii] Sold separately

In a world dominated by glass rectangular towers, the recently completed Wasl Tower takes a different approach to skyscraper design. The supertall features a twisting form wrapped in thousands of sculpted terracotta fins that help shade and cool the building in Dubai's scorching heat.

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Category: Architecture, Engineering

Tags: Building and Construction, Skyscrapers, Dubai, Office

The Sony a7R VI is a high res, high speed full-frame mirrorless camera, built around a 66.8MP Stacked CMOS sensor, able to shoot at up to 30 frames per second.

• 66.8MP Stacked CMOS sensor
• Up to 30fps shooting with e-shutter, 10fps mechanical
• Adjustable pre-capture and Speed Boost options for action shooting
• Up to 8K/30 video with 1.2x crop
• Up to 4K/120p video
• 9.44M dot HDR-capable viewfinder
• Improved stabilization rated 8.5EV correction at the center, 7.0 at the edges
• New, higher capacity 'SA' battery
• Wi-Fi 6E

The a7R VI will be available in June, and will retail for $4499, a $600 increase from the a7R V's launch price, which has since risen to $4199.

• What's new
• Body & handling
• How it compares
• Image quality
• Video
• In-use
• Sample gallery
• Specifications

Buy now:

The heart of the a7R VI is a new, 66.8MP Stacked CMOS sensor. Unlike the sensors in Sony's previous high-end bodies, the second layer of the sensor isn't DRAM memory, to buffer the data coming off the sensor, instead it's described as a processing layer.

Noticeably, this means that the full sensor readout speed is slower than in the likes of the sports-focused a1 II; instead, it's able to combine the output of its two conversion gain modes, using both the low noise and high capacity modes to give wider dynamic range.

The net result is a sensor that's much faster than its predecessor (around 5.6x quicker than the a7R V, according to Sony) but with better dynamic range. This should significantly expand the range of photographic situations the a7R VI can lend itself to, without a negative impact on the areas where the a7R V already performed well.

The faster sensor allows the camera to shoot bursts at up to 30 frames per second, using its electronic shutter. This is a huge step forward from its predecessor, which took around 100ms (1/10th sec) to read its sensor in e-shutter mode.

The a7R VI is built around a "Bionz XR2" processor, similar to the one in the a7 V (though not necessarily identical). This brings features and AF capabilities, including the Auto subject recognition mode, introduced in cameras such as the a9 III, and the ability to recognize subjects from further away, without the need for a dedicated coprocessor for the AI-derived algorithms.

The faster shooting is backed up with all of Sony's latest support tools. For a start, the 30fps shooting is blackout-free, to let you follow the action. The camera also offers an adjustable pre-capture mode that starts buffering images when you half-press the shutter or hold down AF-On, then saves up to 1 second's worth of images from before you fully press the shutter. This can be tuned down to as little as 0.03 seconds (ie: a single pre-capture frame, in 30fps mode), so that you can compensate for your reaction times without filling your cards with preemptive nonsense.

However, despite all of this, the a7R VI is not, nor is it intended to be, a sports camera. Sony talks about the camera being well disposed toward wildlife shooting, but doesn't list sports as one of its target applications. Having used it in a sporting setting, we found a significant real-world difference between the a7R VI and the a1 II, despite the superficial similarities.

Why the a7R VI isn't a rival to the a1 II

The a7R VI becomes the first camera to use a new 'SA'-type battery. It's slightly larger than the existing Z-type batteries and delivers a higher voltage. It has a capacity of 20.9Wh, a 27% increase over the capacity of the batteries in previous high-end Sonys.

The new unit isn't much larger than the FP-Z100, with the locationing rails and contacts more tightly integrated into the body so that approximately 30% more cells can be incorporated into the case without increasing the overall size too much.

The faster sensor also allows for much improved video, even though that's not immediately obvious from looking at the specs. The 8K mode now stretches to 30p, but still comes with a 1.2x crop, much like its predecessor's. However, while the a7R V needed a 1.22x crop to achieve 4K/60, the a7R VI can do full-width 4K/120, provided you activate "Field of View Priority," which comes at the cost of noise reduction.

Like the a7R V, the VI has visible light and IR sensors designed to help produce more accurate and consistent exposure and white balance. The company says it has upgraded the algorithms that handle both parameters to better interpret things like shaded subjects and light sources, to reduce exposure or WB errors.

The new, larger battery, which sits longitudinally down the grip, rather than the transverse arrangement of the previous design, means the camera's grip has been reworked. It's a subtle change, but the lip around the top of the handgrip is slightly more prominent and the recess on the mount side of the grip, where your fingertips rest, has been reshaped.

Sony stressed that it's not the same as the a1 II/a9 III design (the shutter button isn't at nearly so steep an angle, for a start), but it seems more comfortable than even the recent a7 V's shape.

Another a9 III feature that's absent from the a7R VI is the C5 function button on the front plate of the camera. This is a shame, as we found it worked well for operating the Speed Boost function that the a7R VI has gained. It's a function we used most often in combination with using AF-On for back-button focus, so the absence of a front button makes it more awkward to find a control point that can be readily used while also using AF-On and the shutter button.

While the a7R VI's viewfinder resolution remains the same as its predecessor's, the underlying OLED panel is different. It can go much brighter and offers a wider color gamut than before, making it the first camera we've encountered with a viewfinder bright enough to preview HDR imagery. Sony also says it can achieve this brightness even when you're using both its 120fps refresh and highest quality modes.

Another brilliant addition (in the sense of light being emitted) is the provision of back-illuminated buttons. This is a first for Sony and makes a lot of sense for what is its leading landscape camera. A small button on the top plate lights most of the camera's buttons up, though you'll need to learn to locate it by touch, as it's not itself illuminated. This button can be reconfigured if you need, and illumination can be set to always-on, if you prefer this to battery endurance.

The camera uses the same pair of combined CFexpress Type A / UHS II SD slots, letting you choose between fast, warm storage or the better-established, slower, less rugged format.

The a7R VI's main USB port is a 10Gbps USB-C socket that can be used for data or power. Just below it is a second USB-C port. Despite the new shape, it's essentially a continuation of the USB 2.0 (480Mbps) port used for connecting accessories on previous models. The second port is compliant with the USB Power Delivery standard, though, and utilizes high enough power options that it can be used to charge or power the camera.

Every time you connect a USB cable to the camera, it'll ask you which function you want (eg: Live Steaming, MSC Image Transfer, MTP Image Transfer, etc), and remind you of the data rates of each port, and which port you're connecting to, though you can set the default behavior if you always want a specific mode.

The downside of this change is that any external accessories you have that used the Micro-B 'Multi-interface' socket won't now work, even though the second socket is still a USB 2.0 port at heart.

The new NP-SA100 has a capacity of 20.9Wh, a 27% increase over its predecessor. This powers the camera to a CIPA-rated endurance of 600 shots per charge if you use the viewfinder and 710 if you use the rear LCD.

Even when you bear in mind that CIPA ratings tend to significantly underestimate most people's real-world experiences – double the rated value isn't unusual, more if you shoot a lot of bursts – these are numbers that are likely to push into the realms of 'beyond needing to worry about it,' for a lot of users, with perhaps only wedding shooters having to make use of the two-battery charger that comes with the camera.

That said, it's worth noting that the charge level will diminish over time if you're just offloading data over the fast USB port: you'll want the PD port connected too for prolonged tethered shooting.

The a7R V was a high-resolution studio and landscape camera, but the VI's Stacked CMOS sensor expands its range of capabilities to something much closer to those of Nikon's Z8 and Canon's EOS R5 II, which offer both resolution and speed.

Not included on this chart, but still in the conversation, is the Panasonic S1RII. It targets a similar market of hybrid shooters, with a similar set of stills features and the most complete set of video features. It's not as fast as these rivals but accepts the more widely supported L mount.

We've also left off the Sony a1 II. On paper, it seems very similar to the a7R VI, raising the question of whether Sony has just obsoleted its top-tier sports/action camera. However, the actual shooting experience is quite different on the two cameras, in ways we've covered in more depth in a separate article.

8K/60 (30 non-Raw)
4K/120

8K/30 (1.24x crop)
4K/60 (1.24x crop)
4K/30 full width

As for autofocus and handling, the differences between the a7R VI, Z8 and EOS R5 II will all come down to your preferences and use cases (eg, whether you like a top-panel display, need illuminated buttons or both). All three cameras will outperform each other in different scenarios, and some people will prefer one camera's way of doing things over the others.

Autofocus was the main area where we found the S1RII fell behind this extremely capable competition, especially in terms of tracking reliability, but it offers a less expensive route to resolution if action isn't a regular feature of your photography.

The one major callout for the a7R VI is its rolling shutter speeds in its e-shutter modes; while it uses a Stacked sensor like the Z8 and EOS R5 II, it's the slowest of the kind we've seen. This means rolling shutter will put an upper limit on how fast the action it can follow is.

Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors, and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes, full even light and low directional light, to see the effect of different lighting conditions.

We're only able to publish the JPEGs of the test scene at the moment, but hope to be able to follow them up with the converted Raw images very soon. But even if we only look at the JPEGs, we can see that the higher resolution sensor is resolving detail that its predecessor couldn't, putting more of a gap between it and the Canon and Nikon.

The a7R VI's image quality is truly impressive. 66MP offers the best resolution this side of medium format and is backed up by very high dynamic range. In mechanical shutter mode, the camera appears to be combining the low and high-gain readout modes of its dual conversion gain sensor, something that's made explicit as an option in 4K video mode.

The s7R VI's autofocus system is able to consistently deliver 66.7MP's worth of detail.

Sony a7R VI w/ FE 85mm F1.4 GM II | F2.0 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100
Photo: Richard Butler

Sony says the camera captures 14-bit Raws, even at its fastest shooting modes, but doesn't make clear whether the equivalent of the 'Dual Gain Shooting' video function is being applied to e-shutter stills. Our measurements show that electronic shutter images have slightly higher noise levels in the shadows, and a sensor readout rate that's consistent with the 8K video mode (in which the "Dual Gain Shooting" option is not available), suggesting it's not.

The real-world impact of the difference is extremely subtle, though, with the differences really only visible in direct side-by-side comparison. And in charts of DR numbers.

The faster sensor in the a7R VI not only allows it to shoot stills much faster than its predecessor, it also allows much more extensive video capabilities. As usual for Alpha-series cameras, all the options are in the 16:9 aspect ratio, and there are also no options for Raw capture. You can output a Raw stream to an external recorder, if you wish.

UHD 8K
(7680 x 4320)

The most obvious difference is the much-improved rolling shutter rates, but the a7R VI also gains a mode, comparable to Panasonic's DR Boost mode, that combines the low and high gain output of the sensor to deliver much wider dynamic range. As with the Panasonic S1II, this feature is optional, can only be maintained at slower frame rates and approximately doubles the readout times.

The 8K footage, taken from an 8.2K region of the sensor, is comfortably the most detailed. All the 4K footage is taken from the full width of the sensor and derived from 5.0K capture, according to Sony. Given the sensor is essentially 10,000 pixels wide, that would neatly correspond to 2:1 sub-sampling, which would certainly explain the significant increase in aliasing.

The rolling shutter numbers for 4K capture are very close to being twice as fast as 8K mode, which would also be consistent with 2:1 subsampling. This number then roughly doubles when Dual Gain Shooting is activated, but the sampling method and detail capture stay the same.

Like other recent Sony cameras, the a7R VI can record up to four channels of audio, if you connect a mic into the multi interface connectors at the front of the hotshoe.

It can also record, via an optional (and, at $780, quite costly) XLR adapter, 96kHz, 32-bit float audio. This is still relatively rare on hybrid cameras, but the dual analog-to-digital converters needed to exploit the much wider value range of the 32-bit Float notation live in the XLR adapter, so the capability is not built into the camera body.

Even so, the faster rolling shutter rates and the Panasonic-like option to opt for greater dynamic range at the cost of readout speed make the a7R VI a much more credible video camera than its predecessor, again boosting its utility for modern wedding and events shooting.

The a7R VI is both the most polished camera yet in its series, while also very much being a camera of its series. So the familiar lag when the camera boots up, checks in with the lens, has a bit of a think and then lights up the screen is still present.

Similarly, the menus, while much more sensibly arranged and easier to navigate, are still creaking under the weight of the complexity of the camera, and aren't helped by overly condensed titles and occasional messages that feel like they've been literally translated from another language, rather than being regionalized into comprehensible phrasing.

This sense is reinforced by little details such as pre-capture, which is one of the default options in the Fn menu, but doesn't work until you first switch from mechanical to electronic shutter mode, then engage continuous shooting. Similarly, the camera offers three multi-shot modes that combine Raw files, two of them have menu settings to select which type of Raw file you want, the third simply defers to the camera's main file type setting. It all feels like it's become too large of a task to ever finish or refine.

Which is odd, because the camera has some lovely details, such as the fact that the e-shutter sound changes with your shutter speed. Rather than it being the exact same sound whether you're shooting at 1/8000 sec or 1/8 sec, it'll simulate changes in pitch, and even the sound of a shutter opening and closing, so that you have an audible cue about exposure time, even when in e-shutter mode.

The camera's grip feels like an improvement over its predecessor, but still isn't as well optimized as Sony's pro-targeting a1 II and a9 III models. For instance, they both have a custom button on the front, which is ideal for engaging the Speed Boost function that raises or lowers the burst rate when held. Without this extra button, the a7R VI has few choices that are easy to hold if you're already using AF-On for back-button focus and have another finger on the shutter.

Pre-capture mode brings a distinct lag and jerkiness to the viewfinder, presumably held back by the camera having to operate in its slower, full-resolution mode while it's buffering images. This is a shame, because the viewfinder is otherwise very good, combining both high resolution and a good refresh rate at most other times.

It's a little disappointing that the first camera to offer an HDR-capable viewfinder is also the only mainstream brand to shoot HDR HEIF images but force you to turn off Raw capture to do so (you can shoot HEIF files with the HLG response curve and Raw, but it you want the camera to include the necessary metadata to display the images as HDR, then it's Raw only).

All of which sounds like we disliked the camera, when that's really not the case. There are aspects that we felt would benefit from a little more polish, but the fact that it takes so many words to describe them doesn't mean they're the main things we took away from the experience of shooting with the a7R VI.

Instead, the first thing that hits you is the camera's seriously impressive image quality and the degree to which it's backed up by excellent autofocus. It only takes a single sentence to write it, but that's the thing that matters most.

The a7R V wasn't lacking in resolution, but the VI adds even more.
Sony a7R VI | Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | 41mm | F8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100

The a7R VI isn't as quick in practice as the Nikon Z8 or Canon EOS R5 II, but instead it offers higher resolution, excellent DR, a very customizable, multi-dial interface and by far the best battery life in class. There are plenty of people for whom that will (and should) matter a whole lot more than some of the menu phrasing needing another round of localization.

Anyone hoping for a cut-price a1 II will find themselves disappointed: you can definitely feel the limitations as you push towards the outer edge of what the camera promises to do. But, then again, it promises to do an awful lot, and it brings its image quality excellence to a much broader range of applications than previous a7R models could.

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.