Running a photography business can be incredible fun, offering unique experiences and opportunities to meet diverse people. However, it requires significant dedication and effort, often demanding extra hours beyond a typical workweek.
Harlowe, a company known for lighting accessories that cater to influencers and amateurs, has released a $95 alternative called the Omni 360 that evenly illuminates with a diffused soft glow in all directions. The Omni 360's 2W of light output can be boosted to up to 4W as needed but neither mode is quite bright enough to fully illuminate a dark environment.
Introduced yesterday, Photoshoot uses Google's powerful generative AI tools, including Nano Banana, to create "professional" images of a product. Users simply click on 'Create a Product Photoshoot' and upload a photo of their product. It can be any photo, no matter how bad. "Don't worry about polish - we'll take care of it," Google says facetiously. From that user-generated image, Photoshoot will create various shot templates, including 'Studio', 'Floating', 'Ingredient', and 'In use'.
If it's speed you want for sports or action shots of your kids, models like Canon's R50 can shoot bursts as fast as many high-end cameras. Creators, meanwhile, can choose Sony's ZV-E10 for vlogging jobs. There are also great, and cheap, models in the action and gimbal camera categories.
Previous leaks have hinted at a dual-lens design with a secondary zoom camera, akin to a recent Insta360 leak and more crucially, the dual camera systems on some of DJI's drones. However, this latest leaked short hands-on video shows a very familiar design with a single lens, but still some notable changes here and there. That dual-lens design might still become a reality as a Pocket 4 Pro.
Younger folks are snapping up old point-and-shoots because they view the aesthetic as more authentic and more appealing than smartphone images. Companies are even rereleasing old tech at new prices. And there are cameras like the original Camp Snap: a $70 single-button point-and-shoot with no screen, designed as a modern take on a disposable film camera. It's cheap enough to send off with a kid to summer camp and accessible enough for just about anyone to enjoy its lo-fi aesthetic.
Perhaps the most anticipated new camera of 2025, Sony's new A7V mirrorless camera just squeaked onto the scene before the end of the year. The A7 series is Sony's all-around camera. It lacks the resolution of the A7R cameras and the video focus of the A7S cameras, but in some ways offering enough of the best of those to make the plain A7 the best choice for most people.
Forget the film camera revival that never quite materialized at scale. The defining hardware trend of 2026 will be the continued adoption of C2PA (Content Credentials) signing in camera bodies beyond the flagship tier. Leica and Nikon have been early movers here, with Sony engaged in the broader Content Credentials ecosystem. This year, we are likely to see signing capabilities expand from flagship and select professional models into higher-volume lines as implementation costs fall and workflow integration matures.
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In recent years, smartphone photography has become increasingly dominated by software. Computational imaging, AI processing, and post-capture optimisation now play a central role in how images are produced. Yet as these techniques become more widespread, camera hardware is once again emerging as a key differentiator. The REDMI Note 15 Pro 5G Series reflects this shift clearly, placing renewed emphasis on sensor capability and optical fundamentals rather than relying solely on software to define image quality.
Insta360 has introduced two AI-powered 4K webcams, the Insta360 Link 2 Pro and Insta360 Link 2C Pro. The new models aim to narrow the gap between basic webcams and professional camera and microphone setups by offering improved video quality, enhanced audio capture, and smarter software tools. The Link 2 Pro has received a 2026 CES Picks Award in the TWICE category. Both webcams are built for desktop use and are said to be aimed at professionals, educators, and content creators seeking reliable performance.
Confession time: I'm not much of a moviemaker. I try. I strap action cameras to my bike handlebars all the time. And I have hours of GoPro footage I shot living in a vintage RV for years. All these clips sit, unused, collecting dust on external hard drives. I just haven't figured out how to tell stories with video, so the footage sits, waiting for me to learn.
